142 ROYAL SOCIETY OF CANADA 



it in vain for positive evidence in support of Bonavista ; for I thought 

 that if there existed anything conclusive upon the point, the untiring 

 research evident in that volume would have discovered it. I then wrote 

 a second paper (Trans. R. S. C, 1896). A heated controversy succeeded 

 in Newfoundland, but nothing new, save a comparatively recent map by 

 Dupont (a cartographer of Dieppe in 1625), was elicited. 



Jf. — Methods of the Discussion. 



The discussion in Newfoundland (in which 1 took no part) assumed 

 an adjectival form very unusual in the forum of historical inquiry. The 

 use of such words as "senseless," '* absurd,"' *■ preposterous," belongs to 

 another age and to another arena. These adjectives prove nothing. Nor 

 is it in the least degree conclusive to write of " the great Dr. Harvey " or 

 "young Dr. Dawson." If, indeed, there were any one in Newfoundland 

 old enough to remember having seen John Cabot land at Bonavista, such 

 an argument might be satisfactory ; but, as it is, considerations of that 

 nature are irrelevant. The birthplaces of those who have written upon 

 this subject have, moreover, no bearing on the question of the landfall of 

 1497. The question is broader than any colony — broader than the 

 Dominion ; for the attendance of many scholars from the United States 

 showed that the peojjle of that nation claim, and justly so, as much right, 

 title and interest in the discovery of America as we do. It may be true, 

 as Judge Prowse remarks, that he "prepared his history for his own 

 " countrymen," ^ but, as I had ventui-ed to point out, no argument can 

 be founded upon that fact. 



In like manner, Bishop Howie}'-, writing in 1891, thus pleads his 

 nationality : " As a Newfoundlander, reared in the tradition which has 

 '•' been held from time immemorial, that Bonavista — happy sight — was 

 " the landfall, I feel loath to give it up without a struggle." ' While 

 such circumstances may not be the most favourable for impartial in- 

 vestigation, ihey may account for the warmth of the discussion and the 

 magnitude of the adjectives employed. He adds, when discussing my 

 papers : " I was not aware that he (Mr. Dawson) was born in Cape 

 " Breton," ^^ and Mr. Harrisse, catching the same idea, speaks of my papers 

 as "patriotic."'' Cape Breton is a good place to be born in, and no 

 wonder John Cabot spoke so highly of it in its summer adornment and 

 thought silk and brazil-wood might grow there. In a valuable paper on 

 the ports and ocean routes of the North Atlantic Capt. Smith, R.N.H., 

 while discussing the projected line of fast ocean steamers, incidental!}' 

 observes of Cape Breton that " some of the loveliest and most picturesque 

 " places in any portion of the globe are to be found within its borders in 

 " every direction."'" As a matter of fact, however, I was not born there 

 and the people who live there have not now, or at any previous time, 

 manifested the slightest interest in this question. 



