1S2 



ROYAL SOCIETY OF CANADA 



In illustration of the preceding remarks 1 insert here (fig. 1) a recon- 

 struction of Toscanelli's chart, made from materials existing in his letters 

 to Columbus, and in other authorities, just preceding the discovery of 

 America. It is found in Nordenskiold, Winsor, Kretschmer, Markham 

 and other works of authority. The same information is on Martin 

 Behaim's globe of 1492. What is there on this map, embodying as it 

 does the belief of that period, to suggest a northwest passage ? Why 

 passage ? The way was over an open ocean, there was nothing to pass 

 round. That was the information patent to all sailors at the time. 



Fig. 1.— Toscanelli's Map. 



7. — Labrador. 



The theory of a landfall at Labrador has not gained ground of late 

 years. Sir Clements Markham, in his recent paper, declares that " La- 

 " brador must be rejected as out of the question." Judge Prowse is 

 equally decided. He says : " The great cod fishery does not begin until 

 " July, and its bleak and rugged shores could never be described as 

 " wooded, or beautiful and pleasant." ''^ Not one of those who argue 

 for Labrador has ever spoken of its attractiveness and fertility. Arch- 

 bishop O'Brien, in his presidential address, '* inexorably excludes Labra- 

 dor, Cape St. John and Bonavista " by a very ingenious and original 

 argument, drawn from Soncino's reference to the " country of the Tanais." 



