Iganong] origin of ACADIA AND NORUMBEGA 111 



Oranbega which stands in much the same general position as the 

 Anorobega etc. of the Desceliers maps, and is possibly the source 

 of the latter. Again, Norumbega is specifically derived from an 

 earlier Arambec, applied to the same region, by Hakluyt, who, in con- 

 nection with the voyage of John Rut of 1527 identifies the two by the 

 phrase "Arambec corruptly called Norumbega." This use of Arambec 

 may represent editorial interpolation, but we can hardly doubt 

 that it is identical with a name Arambe which it given in a document 

 of 1523 as the name of a province then known to the Spaniards on the 

 east coast of North America, although there is reason to believe that 

 the name may have been a fabrication, and by an Indian! (Harrisse, 

 Discovery, 204). Finally De Costa has suggested a possible connection 

 of Norumbega with the name Bergis or Bergia applied on early 

 maps to eastern Asia, but brought apparently into eastern North 

 America by the merging of the two regions in consequence of the early 

 belief that they were one. A particularly good example of such maps 

 is found in the Monachus globe given by Harrisse {Discovery, 548). 

 Such are the data, and we have as yet no more. 



There is one important fact which may hold the clue to the 

 origin of the name, viz., it makes its first appearance as a precise 

 geographical equivalent for Terra Francesca, given in honor of 

 Francis I, to all the region from Florida to Cape Breton by Verrazzano, 

 as he tells us in his newly-discovered letter above mentioned. This 

 name soon became incongruous and inconvenient because of the 

 introduction of Nova Francia for the country just to the northward, 

 following Cartier's voyages. All known circumstances are consistent 

 with the hypothesis that some cartographer, noting this incongruity, 

 deliberately introduced Norumbega as a substitute for Francesca, 

 and his map formed the authority for all later usage. What course 

 would the mind of a French or Italian cartographer of the time follow 

 in selecting such a substitute ? 



In summary, if Norumbega is Indian at all, it seems clearly to have 

 no connection with the Penobscot roots which have been adduced 

 for its explanation. It is probably a European word modified and 

 elevated into a major geographical term. On this basis it would be 

 homologous historically with Acadia, earlier discussed. 



