Historic Maps of Staten Island 1 



By George W. Tuttle 



Three centuries ago a great love for maritime adventure was 

 the ruling passion. The sailor was a popular idol, and the 

 boundaries of the known world were rapidly expanding. Great 

 commercial companies which endeavored to control the trade of 

 the world and find a short way to the treasures of India and 

 China, spurred on their navigators to great deeds of daring and 

 discovery. Cabot, Frobisher, and Davis, had made fruitless 

 searches for a northern passage to China ; Hudson had already 

 made two unsuccessful voyages for the Muscovy Company in its 

 quest and was about to begin another for the Dutch East India 

 Company. This latter voyage resulted in his exploration of the 

 great river bearing his name. 



The maps we are to consider take us back to about the time 

 of this discovery which is so soon to be commemorated. At the 

 time of Hudson's voyage, to determine their position at sea, navi- 

 gators had usually only a sea compass, a cross staff similar to 

 that shown on Map No. 3, with which they determined the lati- 

 tude by an altitude of the sun or pole star, and sometimes a very 

 imperfect chart. The log had just been introduced to determine 

 the speed of vessels but was not in general use until many years 

 later. Longitude, which was generally reckoned from the Grand 

 Canary, was determined from an estimate of the distance sailed 

 and the compass bearing. The point so located was called by 

 one of the authors of the period the point of imagination, pos- 

 sibly because it so often proved to be in error. With the prog- 

 ress of discovery many improvements in the art of navigation 

 were greatly needed, particularly an accurate method for the 

 determination of longitude. To hasten its discovery Philip III 



1 Presented April 18, 1908. 



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