TIIAWSACTIONS OK HECTIC N E. 



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nt'tic polf, nnd the forutt of j,'rt(a(e.st inafrin'tio force; aNo advu, hii(, iiicdrrcctlj-, 

 fiillffl n P"'*'- '1 '"' '"'■"'*^ "^ ihcsf, (liscovfreti hy Kosm in IM,')'), was rcvwittxl in .MnV 

 |K47 l)y (illictTN of tilt) Franklin K.vjicdition, wIiohi> olworvations liiivc inTiwlu'<l, and 

 wiLiaiJuin ivnclifil.or vi-ry nearly so, liy. Met 'lintock in iHoH.and l)y SchwatKain IH7!»; 

 tlitlttttt'r oC tlifw ;'\plorers, liowi-vor, was not t'quipprtl furob.servation. 'I'lit' iitnioHt 

 interest iitlaclit'.s to tht'qnt'.Htion wlu'llu'r tlif nia^'neticpoU) liaH sliiftcil its jxmitionin 

 tit'tv yt'ai'N "'"' 'illl'""si» ' 'I'" I'll' ''oni rating- tlio diilicully li^rbtly, it iH jji-ohably 

 ap[ir(iailiul)li' ovorland, without tliu j^rt'at ni.st of an Arctic cxpi'dition. Tlio st't()nd 

 |ia« never bt'cn visited at all, alllinu^rli I>r. 15. IJ.'ll, in his r\]»l(iration of liake 

 Nipigoii, was within J(XJ iniles of it, and the distan('e[i.s altout t he same fron> the Kat 

 I'nrtiige. It is in tlio iicifflilionrhood of ('at Lake. Jlero then we have ohjects 

 Wdvtliy of a s<'it'ntilii; ambition and of the ener^rifH of this younf,' country,' but 

 it|iiirinp liberal exiienditiire an<l well-plannod idlbrts, continued steadily, at, 

 last in tilt! caf«' of the first, for, )ierhnps, three or four yearn. Of objects morn 

 exi'hisively freo^raphical, to which it may be hoped tliat this meeting' nniy give 

 H .-tinuilus, I am inclined to give a jnominent placi' to the exploration of that 

 immense tract of seventy or eighty thousand scpiare miles, lying east of the 

 Athabasca liiver, which is still nearly a lilank on our maps, and in connection 

 ffitli sucli futurt! exploration, 1 cannot omit to mention that nuinumt!nt of 

 pliikiliigical ii'search, the IMctitniary of the Languages of the native Ohipewyans, 

 Ilare Indians, and houcheux, lately imblished by the IJev. E. Petitot. Tlie 

 lexicon is preceded by an introduction giving^ the result of ninny years' study 

 aiiionff these people ol the legends or traditions by which they account for their 

 fiwn origin. M. Petitot, who formerly was nnconviuced of their remote Asiatic 

 parentage, now finds abundant proof of it. But jierliaps his most interesting con- 

 iIuMon is that in these living languages of tlie extreme north, vve have not only 

 the language of the yudajus, one of the Apache tribes of .Mexico, which has been 

 Muarkeil as linguistically distinct from the others, but also tiie primitive Aztec 

 1'%'ue, closely resembling the language of the Iiicas, the Quichiia, .still .sj)oken in 

 South America. I need not say how greatly these relations, if sustained by the 

 CHnclusions of other students, are calculated to throw light upon the profoundly 

 interesting question of the peopling of America. 



5, This is perhaps a ])roper occasion to allude to a novd theory proposed about 

 two years ago, with high otlicial counteinince, upon a subject which will never 

 lease to have interest, and perhaps never be placed quite beyond dispute. I mean 

 the landfall, as it is technically called, of Columbus, in 1402. The late Captain 

 •'. V. Fox, of the Admiralty, Washington, argued in a carefully prepared work, 

 iliat Atwood's Key, erroneously called Samana on many charts, is the original 

 Ouanahani of ( "olumbus, renamed by him S, Salvador, also that ('rooked Island and 

 Acklin Island are the .Maria de la Concepcion of ('olumbus and the true Samana of 

 succeeding navigators in the sixteenth century. The la."*! supposition is unques- 

 tionably correct. Crooked, Acklin, and Fortune Islands, which from the narrow- 

 ness of the channels dividing them may have been, and very probably were, united 

 lour centuries ago, .are plainly the Samana of the Dutch charts of the seventeenth 

 century, and are so named on the excellent chart engraved in 1775 for Bryan 

 Edwards' ' History of the West Indies,' but the view that Atwood's Key is identical 

 with Guanahani is original, and is neither borne out by any old chart, nor by Colum- 

 W description. This small island is conspicuou.sly wanting in the one physical 

 fi'ftture by which Guanahani is to be identified ' una laf/tinii cu medio muy grandc.^ 

 fhere is no lake or lagoon in it, nor does its distance from Samana tally at all with 

 "uch slender particulars as have been left us by Columbus respecting his proceedings. 

 The name S. Salvador has attached, not to Atwood's Key, but to Oat Island, one 

 of the Bahamas ; it is true that modern research has shifted it, but only to the next 

 inland, and on very good grounds. Cat Island is not muy liana, very level ; on 

 tlie contrary, it is the most hilly of all the Bahamas, and it "has no lake or lagoon. 

 Watling Island, a little to the SE. of Cat Island, and now generally recognised as 

 'lie true Guanahari or S. Salvador, is very level ; it has a large lagoon, it satisfies 

 history as to the proceedings of (.'olumbus for the two days following his discovery, 

 !>) being very near the numerous islands of Exuma Sound, and I think few impar- 



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