226 ROYAL SOCIETY OF CANADA 



Bristol, prior to Cabot, were all in search, not of the Seven Cities, but of 

 the island of Brasil. The search for the island of the Seven Cities had 

 been long going on from the Canaries and Azores in more southern 

 latitudes. 



In the presidential address of this year attention is called to the 

 mention of the Seven Cities, by Soncino, as having been found by Cabot 

 at 400 leagues' distance, and Chateau bay, on Labrador, is supposed to be 

 the place indicated, because of the basaltic cliffs which rise steep from the 

 shore and form by their peculiar shapes a grand scene, suggestive of 

 castles and turrets. The distance from England, however, is 2,000 miles, 

 and the scenery, though imposing, is desolate, nor could the cliffs ever be 

 mistaken for buildings, so that it is not easy to recognize in it any sug- 

 gestion of the rich and populous island colonized by the seven bishops. 

 The whole story and the island itself are mDrely Middle- Age legends, and 

 the residue of fact germane to the present question is that the J and 

 found was to the west and well to the south, and that it was not over 400 

 leagues from England. The coast of Newfoundland, from Cape Eace to 

 St. John's, is the nearest land to England, but it also is far more than 400 

 leagues away. There is nothing about it to suggest the Seven Cities. I 

 venture to think that, if Soncino had been an Englishman or an Irish- 

 man, he would have called the land Brasil or St. Brandan's ; but, being 

 an Italian, the legend most familiar first suggested itself to his mind. 

 These early maps and first impressions of the new world will lead us 

 astray if we interpret them as if they were authoritative statements of 

 geographical truth. Humboldt says that in the Middle Ages conjectures 

 were religiously inscribed upon maps, as is seen by Antilia, S. Brandon or 

 Borondon, the Hand of Satan (Mansatanaxio), Isle Verte, Maida, and the 

 immense continents of the south. The first chapter of Mr. Gr. E. Weare's 

 recent book, "Cabot's Discovery of North America," gives a very inter- 

 esting summary of the legendary lore about these imaginary islands. 



