106 SAMUEL BDWAED DAWSON ON THE 



been fought. Brevoort erroneously translates it " even with." Mr. Nicholls makes it " not lying ia 

 front of the land but further on," a translation which has the unique merit of flatly contradicting its 

 original. Other translations there are, but the Latin version of the Paris map uses instead of ex adverso 

 the synonym oppositam in which the idea of adjacency is necessarily implied, and appositam recorded 

 by Chytra'US intensifies this idea. In the Latin version on the Paris map the meaning is also clearly 

 expressed that the inscription given is intended to apply generally to the whole region and not solely 

 to the island. A new sentence commences — Hujus terne incoUe. All these are indications that the 

 Latin versions are the originals. 



Latin Inscription No. 8 (^Copied by the Late Dr. Deane) on Map of 1544. 



Terram banc olim nobis clausam aperuit Joannes Cabotus Venctus, nee non Sebastianus Cabotus 

 ejus filius, anno ab orbe redempto 1494 , die vero 24 Julii, (sic) bora 5 sub diluculo, quam terram 

 primum visam appellarunt & Insulam quandam magnam ei oppositam, Insulam divi Joannis 

 nominarunt, quippe quse solenni die festo divi Joannis aperta fuit. Hujus terrse incolaj pellibus ani- 

 malium induuntur, arcu in hello, sagittis, hastis, spiculis, clavis ligneis, & fundis utuntur: sterilis in- 

 cultaque tellus fuit, leouibus, ursis albis, proccrieque cervis, piscibus innumei-is, lupis scilicet, 

 salmonibus & ingentibus soleis unius ulnte longitudine, aliisque diversis piscium generibus abundat, 

 horum autem maxima copia est, quos vulgus Bacallios appellat ; ad hœc insunt accipitres nigi'i cor- 

 vorum similes, aquilœ, pei'dicesque fusco colore, alia;quc diversaî volucres. 



The version of Chytrœus is the same as above but — 24 Junii instead of Julii — 1594 instead of 1494 

 and appositam for oppositam. 



Legend on Clement Adams's Map — Frmn Hakluyt. 

 Anno Domini 1497, Joannes Cabotus Venetus, et Sebastianus illius filius earn terram fecerunt 

 perviam, quam nullus prius adire ausus fuit, die 24 Junii, circiter horam quintam bene maue. lianc 

 autem appelavit Terram primum visam, credo quod ex mari in earn partem primum oculos injecerat. 

 Nam qua? ex adverso sita est insula, eam appellavit insulam divi Joannis, hac opinor ratione, quod aperta 

 fuit eo die qui est sacer Divo Joanni Baptista? : Hujus incolte pelles animalium exuviasque ferarum 

 pro indumentis habent, easque tanti faciunt, quanti nos vestes preciosissimas. Cum bellum gerunt, 

 utuntur arcu, sagittis, hastis, spiculis clavis ligneis et fundis. Tellus sterilis est, neque ullos 

 fructos affert, ex quo tit, ut ursis albo colore, et cervis inusitatœ apud nos magnitudinis referta sit ; 

 piscibus abundat iisque sanemagnis, quales sunt lupi marini et quos salmones vulgus appellat; soleœ 

 autem reperiuntur tam longa?, ut ulna> mensuram excédant. Imprimis autem magna est copia eorum 

 piscium, quos vulgari sermone vocant Bacallaos. Gignuntur in ea insula accipitres ita nigri, ut cor- 

 vorum similitudinem mirum in modem exj^rimant, perdices autem etaquite sunt nigri coloris. 



Hakluyt' s Translation, Ed. 1600. 

 (Words in italics are interpolated, or changed.) 



In the yeere of our Lord 1497 John Cabot, a Venetian, and his sonne Sebastian {with an English 

 fleet set out from Bristoll) discovered that land which no man before that time had attempted, on 

 the 24 of June, about five of the clocke early in the morning. This land he called Prima Vista, that 

 is to say, first scene, because as I suppose it was that part whereof they had the first sight from sea. 

 That island which lieth out before the land, ho called the island of St. John upon the occasion, as I 

 thiuke, because it was discovered upon the day of John the Baptist. The inhabitants of this island 

 use to weare bessts' skinnes, and have them in as great estimation as we have our finest garments. 

 In their warres they use bowes, arrowes, pikes, darts, woodden clubs and slings. Thesoile is barren 

 in some places and yieldeth litlo fruit, but it is full of white beares, and stagges farre greater than ours. 

 It yeeldeth plenty offish, and these very great, as scales, and those which commonly we call salmons ; 

 there are soles also above a yard in length ; but especially there is great abundance of that kinde of 

 fish which the savages call Bacaiaos. In the same island also theie breed hauks, but they are so 

 blacke that they are very like to ravens, as also their partridges and ogles, which are in like sort 

 blacke. 



