CXI I ROYAL SOCIETY OF CANAD.^ 



dred leagues, and south of the country of Tauais, is a point on Cape 

 Breton Ishmd, either on the Atlantic coast, or Avithin the gulf, to the 

 southwest of Cape North. Of this there can no longer be a reasonable 

 doubt, since we have shown that the landfall must be south of a definite 

 latitude, viz., that of the country of Tanais. We may add that this 

 established conclusion confirms the accuracy of some, at least, of the 

 legends on the map of 154-i, and inferentiallj' establishes that Sebastian 

 Cabot supplied the information they contain. We have no need to 

 invoke its assistance, we give it ours. 



I^îow that we have established beyond question that the landfall 

 was on Cape Breton Island, those interested in the Cabotian voyages can 

 concentrate their efibrts on still further localizing the position. A careful 

 and dispassionate study of Pasqualigo and da Soncino's letters will enable 

 us to unerringly identify the two islands first seen. We must accept as 

 trustworthy all their statements and reconcile them with known facts. 

 It is illogical, uncritical, and unscientific to accept a portion because it 

 suits our theory, and reject or try to explain away the rest. This is only 

 justifiable when the statements involve an impossibility, or a w^ild improb- 

 ability. In the present case, this cannot be maintained. Where then 

 was the landfall ? It could not have been on the Atlantic seaboard of 

 Cape Breton Island. Da Soncino in his first letter says the " Islands are 

 very large and fruitful ''. And in his second one, that the " Soil is ex- 

 cellent." They even think that silk and the precious Brazil wood grow 

 there. This could not be said of any island on the seaboard, least of all 

 of Scatavi, which is a dreary waste of bog and rock. Nor could it be 

 said of the iron-bound coast line around the cape called Cape Bi-eton. 

 So desolate is the place that it remains to this day undisturbed in its 

 sombre grandeur, actually unvisited, so far as can be ascertained, by any 

 one. Mr. Harrisse thinks da Soncino's description applicable to any part 

 of America. Possibly, if one sailed by, at a distance from the shore, but 

 Cabot landed on the islands. He would not mistake rocks for "excellent 

 soil," nor would he think morasses particularly "fruitful." We shall 

 also see that Pasqualigo's testimony to the eftect that Cabot coasted for 

 three hundred leagues — and we must take him to mean leagues in this 

 connection, as well as when he speaks of the distance of the islands from 

 Bristol — cannot be reconciled with the theory of a landfall on the sea- 

 board. Therefore we must seek it within the gulf. There we find 

 verified all the minute particulars related by Pasqualigo and da Soncino, 

 particulars which they, without doubt, had from John Cabot. We are 

 aware of the many arguments made use of by learned men to show the 

 improbability, nay, even the impossibility, of a landfall within the gulf. 

 Too much erudition in discussing a plain matter of fact and evidence is, 

 at times, more hurtful than beneficial to the cause of truth. We must 

 enter a decided protest against mapping out John Cabot's course on a 



