68 SAMUEL EDWARD DAWSON ON THE 



Mr. Harrisse, until the publication of his " Discovery of N'orth AmcM-iea '" in 1892. used 

 to maintain that the Spanish and Portuguese governments were very jealous of imparting to 

 foreigners anj' information concerning their colonial enterprises and discoveries, and in that 

 belief all other writers concurred and still concur. Moreover, it agrees with all that is 

 known of the manners and methods of that pieriod, and especially with the genius of those 

 two governments." This last volume, however," gives a kaleidoscopic turn to the whole 

 picture. We are now informed that map-making was freely taught in Spain and practised 

 by all ; that there was no tendency, at any time, to concentrate map-making in the hands of 

 government ; that Spain never made a secret of its maritime discoveries ; that any one might 

 buy the ofRcial charts. The general impression conveyed is that these governments, while 

 they had colleges of cosmographers and official standard charts, were no more chary of dis- 

 seminating their manuscript maps than the British Admiralty and the United States Hydro- 

 graphical Survey are uow. It is impossible to follow Mr. Harrisse in this new departure. 

 His own learned researches forliid it. When Robert Thorne, resident in Seville in 1527,"' 

 sent a map to the English ambassador, he was careful to add " that it is not to be showed 

 " or communicated there " (in England) " with many of that court. For though there is 

 " nothing in it prejudiciall to the emperor, yet it maj' be a cause of paine to the maker ; as 

 " well for that none may make these cardes but certayne appointed and allowed for masters." 

 The patent fact exists that no maps of these discoveries were printed in Spain ; all the 

 Spanish ma[)s are in manuscript. The exceptions of the small map) of the West Indies 

 found in a few copies of au edition of Peter Martyr in 1511, and the sketch map in Medina's 

 " Arte di Navegar" in 1545, prove the rule ; for in 1511 an edict was issued forbidding the 

 communication of charts to foreigners, and the later and complete editions of Martyr are 

 without the map. Columbus in 1503 seized all the maps in the possession of his crew. In 

 1527 an edict was issued by Charles V. excluding all strangers from the positions of pilot 

 or mate. It could not have been a mere form, when the official charts were kept in a cotfer 

 with two locks, one of which was kept by the pilot major and the other b}- the junior cos- 

 mographer. The Portuguese government decreed the penalty of death to any one who 

 should communicate a map of their discoveries in the east. It is irrational to suppose that 

 no restrictions existed in other directions. These facts cannot be explained away, and the}^ 

 arc important to remember, or we shall not be able to account for the intermittent character 

 of the progress of geographical knowledge as shown u^ion the maps. 



Another important point to be borne in mind is that the sailors of those days sailed l)y 

 dead reckoning. They had no means of checking their longitudes, while their latitudes 

 might be tairly accurate. Distorted as the maps may appear, there is, however, on American 

 maps one i)oint clear and unmistakable, which serves as a point of reference, namely, Cape 

 Race. It is the pole star of the early maps, as it still is and always has been the great 

 beacon of the ocean highway. The name apjjcars lirst on the King chart as Capie Raso 

 about the year 1502, and as Raz, Razzo, Rasso, and in our English corrupted form Race it 

 has persisted to the present day. The name signifies the "fiat cape," and whoever gave so 

 suitable a name must have seen the locality. 



The distortion of some of these early majis is, however, due to a. much more infiuential 

 cause, and I should not have ventured to treat ot so difficult a matter if I had not had the 

 shelter of so great an authority as Chaniplaiu. At tiie present day nuijis are drawn to tVieir 

 true meridian, irrespective of the magnetic meridian. This is indii'ated by a subsidiary 



