148 KOYAL SOCIETY OF CANADA 



marks that none of the four letters which undoubtedly refer to the first 

 voyage have any mention of latitude. That, in fact, is another distinguish- 

 ing mark of class A. They speak of soil, climate and vegetable produc- 

 tions, but no latitude is specified. He then states that he had previously 

 said " that the subsequent writers, G-omara and Peter Martyr and others, 

 " when they mention latitude, were speaking expressly of the second voy- 

 " age." ^^ "If this be not the case," he remarks, "they were confound- 

 " ing the two voyages." He does not assert that, but adds, " Whatever 

 " may be thought of this it does not affect the present argument." Then, 

 taking the admitted fact that Cabot turned at first to the north, he adds 

 to it " that there is no reason to suppose that he went north on the second 

 " voyage " (which is clearly in the teeth of the writers above mentioned)^ 

 and he concludes, " Hence, when these writers tell us that he went north 

 " to a certain point, we are safe 'm applying the statement to the first 

 " voyage, even though the writer himself may have been confounding 

 "the two voyages." In other words, that the latitudes characteristic of 

 the second voyage may safely be transferred to the first. In this way 

 the whole of the documents are bunched up together. 



With such a canon of criticism it is no wonder that the bishop com- 

 plains of " bewildering confusion " having arisen. It must result when 

 the statements cited are wrested away from the plain intent of the 

 writers to fit into the requirements of an elaborate theory. Then when it 

 is desired to get Cabot to Greenland, we are told his reason for going 

 there was " that he wished to keep as long as possible on the well-known 

 " and well-beaten track to Iceland before trusting himself to the vast un- 

 " known regions of the west." ^^ Therefore he sailed north until he reached 

 latitude 60°, when he turned west, for "his object was (p. 17) to reach 

 " Cape Farewell in Greenland." Wanting to go west, he went north be- 

 cause he knew the way ! And again, " It (p. 15) cannot then be doubted 

 " for a moment that Cabot knew of this land (Greenland), and that it 

 " would be necessary for him to make the southern point of it Cape 

 " Farewell, and doubling this point bear away towards the northwest. 

 " This is what he tried to do " — and so he got to Greenland. Because he 

 knew the way he coasted northward along the west of Ireland and Scot- 

 land (p. 15) to St. Kilda's, and then turned west to Cape Farewell. But 

 he could not have known the way or he would not have gone west of 

 Ireland. The course from Bristol for St. Kilda's was inside of Ireland 

 and through the Irish channel and every mile he sailed to or beyond 

 Cape Clear was a mile lost. The very fact that he went south of 

 Ireland proves that his intended course was not north but west. The 

 more he knew about Iceland and Greenland the less he would be disposed 

 to associate them with Cathay and Zipango. 



Keeping in mind that the question is of the first voyage and of John 

 Cabot, we shall soon see where this canon of liberty of selection and 



