PROCEEDINGS FOR 1897 CIX 



otherwise difficulties will be created, not by da Soiicino's letter, but l)y 

 our misinterpretation of his w^ords. This hurried note containing the 

 tirst wild rumours was followed later on by a lengthy and minute account 

 of the voyage, the course taken, and the results achieved. This letter 

 was not written from hearsay, he had his information from John Cabot 

 himself. Bearing this in mind, and remembering who and what da 

 Soncino was, and to whom he is writing, the conviction Avill be forced 

 upon us that his narrative is perfectly accurate. The whole letter 

 is most interesting, and we would search the archives of history in vain to 

 find a more lujuinous or a more sincere document on anj' question. It is 

 dated 18th December, 1497, and sets forth who and what sort of a man 

 Cabot is. He then tells the conditions on which he had secured the 

 royal privileges, and how he set out from Bristol in a small ship with 

 eighteen men. The course taken is given as folloAvs : " Having passed to 

 the west of Ireland, and having gone higher up towards the north, they 

 began to sail to the eastern parts, leaving, after a few days, the north on 

 their right hand, and having wandered much, they at length reached 

 land, on which they raised the royal flag, and took possession of it for the 

 king, and having secured certain evidences (orproofsof the reality of his 

 discovery — no doubt the snares and needles of which Pasqualigo speaks), 

 he returned." We learn from this that after a slight deflection to the 

 north, the course steered was due west. We are told that the land was 

 excellent (optima), the climate temperate, and they thought both silk 

 and the prized Brazil wood grew there. ' This agrees with Pasqualigo's 

 statement that the islands were " most fruitful," and supplies an un- 

 answerable argument for localizing the place. The writer then tells us 

 that John Cabot intends on his next voj'age to seek a passage, by the 

 northwest, to the eastern countries, explaining how this was to be accom- 

 plished. Now we know that this is precisely what was attempted in 1498 

 by the Cabots ; hence da Soneino's knowledge of it in December, 1407, 

 must have been derived, as he asserts it was, from John Cabot ; this is an 

 additional proof of the reliability of his narrative. His bit of pleasantry 

 at the end has been variously interpreted b}' those whose brains are im- 

 pervious to a joke. It is a delightful ending to a charming epistle, and 

 piquantly summarizes the popular excitement. 



The question now arises: Do the letters of Pasqualigo and da Soncino 

 furnish sufficient data to enable us to locate the site of the landfall ? All 

 who have hitherto treated the subject think not ; theories are advanced, 

 the variation of the compass is discussed, and almost invariably the testi- 

 mony of writers who recount the incidents of the second voyage is 

 adduced in support of a special line of argument.^ Now, theories have 

 no place in a discussion of facts ; learned dissertations on the variation of 

 the compass have, no doubt, an academic interest, but they are not germane 



1 Even Mr. Harrisse does this in his latest work. 



