270 MEM OTR on THE 
ters are dated in 1486; that is, fix years before the expe~ 
dition of Columbus. ‘This wonderful difcovery has not 
efcaped the notice of cotemporary writers. The follow- 
ing paflage is extracted from the chronicle of Hartman 
Schedl: “In the year 1485, John the fecond, king of 
“ Portugal, a man of a magnanimous fpirit, furnifhed 
“ fome gallies with provifions, and fent them to the fouth- 
*¢ ward beyond the {traits of Gibraltar. He gave the com- 
“mand of this {quadron to James Canus, a Portuguefe, 
“ and Martin Behem a German of Nurenberg in Upper: 
“ Germany, defcended of the family of Bonna, a man 
“ very well acquainted with the fituation of the globe, 
“ bleffed with a conftitution able to bear the fatigues of 
“‘ the fea, and who by actual experiments and long ‘fail- 
“ing, had made himfelf perfe&ly mafter with regard to 
“the longitudes and latitudes of Ptolemy, in the weft. 
“ Thefe two, by the bounty of Heaven, coafting along the 
“ fouthern ocean, and having crofled the equator, got 
“into the other hemifphere, where facing to the eaft- 
“ward, their fhadows projected towards the fouth and 
“ right-hand. Thus, by their induftry, they may be faid 
“to have opened to us another world hitherto unknown, . 
“ and for many years attempted by none but the Genoefe, 
“ and by themin vain. Having finifhed this cruife in the 
“ fpace of twenty-fix months, they returned to Portugal, 
« with the lofs of many: of their feamen, by the violence: 
‘ of the climate.” This. 
lettres font datées de 1486, c’eft a dire fix années avant l’expédition de Chriftophe Colomb. 
Quelques auteurs contemporains n’ont pas manqué de faire mention d’une decouverte aufft 
€tonnante. Je trouve entre autres dans Ja chronique de Hartman Schedl le paflage fuivant : 
«© Anno Domini 1485, Johannes fecundus Portugalliz rex, altillimi vir cordis, certas galeas 
*¢ omnibus ad vidtum neceffariis inftruxit, eafque ultra columnas Herculisad meridiem mifit. 
«¢ Prefecit autem his patronos duos Jacobum Canum Portugallenfem et Martinum Behemum, 
«* hominem Germanum ex Nurimberga fuperiorisGermaniz de Bonna familia natum, hominem 
«« inquam in cognofcendo fitu terre peritiflimum, marifque patientiflimum, qui Ptolomxi lon- 
«< gitudines et latitudines in occidente ad unguem experimento longevaque navigatione novit. 
«< Hi duo, bono Deorum aufpicio mare meriodionale fulcantes a littore non longe evagantes 
« fuperato circulo aquinoctiali in alterum orbem excepti funt, ubi ipfis ftantibus orientem 
*¢ yverfus umbra ad meridiem et dexteram projiciebatur. Aperuere igitur fia indufria alium 
«€ orbem haétenus nobis incognitum,et multisannisa nullis quam a Fanuenfibus licet frufira tentatum ; 
« peraéta autem hujufmodi navigatione viciflimo fexto menfe reverfi {unt in Portugalliam, 
« pluribus ob deris impaticntiam mortuis.” 
* 
Cequi 
