690 



SCIENCE. 



[N. S. Vol. XIX. No. 487. 



B. de IlheH.— {Bay of the Islander, or 

 native of the Azores.) 



Costa Baixa. — (Low Coast.) 



B. de S. Joaw.— Bahia da Braganga (?). 



Costa Descoberta.— {Open Coast.) This 

 name, which comes on the other map of 

 Diogo Homen, is given as 'Coste descon- 

 nne' on that of Desceliers. 



B. de S. Joan das Amazonas. —Uio Para 

 or southern mouth of the Amazonas. The 

 last part of the name is evidently an in- 

 terpolation after the voyage of Orellana. 

 At this point the Desceliers map emends 

 the new Portuguese prototype with an old 

 Spanish map eliminating the Amazonas 

 and the nomenclature of this prototype to 

 the mountains to the north of the Oyapock. 

 A similar elimination occurs in the maps 

 of Alonzo de Chaves and Alonzo de Santa 

 Cruz. 



To the north of the mouth of the Ama- 

 zonas the Diogo Homen map has the old 

 nomenclature of the Spanish maps mixed 

 with some new names (B. de mnchas ishas, 

 R. de Nuno and R. del Casique), which 

 indicate a new exploration of this part of 

 the coast. As these names appear in the 

 map of the Riccardian Library this explo- 

 ration must have been before the year 1543. 



Combining the deductions that can be 

 legitimately drawn from the study of these 

 maps with the scanty da'ta of the written 

 history, we may now attempt a restoration 

 of the story of the discovery and delinea- 

 tion of this portion of the coast. For this 

 purpose we shall make use, as regards the 

 historical data, principally of that care- 

 fully collected and verified by Harrisse in 

 his great work entitled ' The Discovery of 

 North America.' 



Vicente Yanez Pinzon, setting out from 

 Spain towards the end of 1499, sighted a 

 cape, which he denominated 'Santa Maria 

 de la Consolacion, ' towards the end of 

 January (20th or 26th, according to the 

 chroniclers; 2d of February if the name 



indicates a date) of 1500. A few days 

 afterwards he landed and executed acts 

 of possession, including the planting of a 

 cross on a point that he denominated 'Ros- 

 tro Hermoso, ' perhaps for being on the 

 4th of February, feast of the Veronica 

 which in an old Spanish calendar is de- 

 nominated 'Rostro Hermoso.' Continuing 

 his voyage, Pinzon entered the mouth of 

 the Amazonas, which he called 'Santa 

 Maria de la Mar Dulce, ' probably on ac- 

 count of being here on the 25th of March, 

 feast of the Annunciation. Entering a few 

 leagues in the great river, -syhich he called 

 ' Marina tabalo, ' * he had an encounter with 

 the Indians. Continuing to the northward, 

 he gave the name of 'S. Vicente' to a cape 

 which he probably passed on the 4th of 

 April, and arrived at Hespaniola on the 

 23d of June and at Palos in Spain on the 

 30th of September. 



The Cape Santa Maria of Pinzon should 

 be relatively well placed on the Juan de la 

 Cosa map, and in this case it must be some 

 promontory to the west of Cape S. Roque 

 on the coast of the present states of Rio 

 Grande do Norte or Ceara, his Rostro Her- 

 moso being some leagues farther on. Varn- 

 hagen quite plausibly identified Cape Santa 

 Maria with the Ponta do Mueoripe and the 

 Rostro Hermoso with the Ponta Jericoa- 

 coara. 



Diego de Lepe, starting from Spain 

 shortly after Pinzon, took the same course 

 and sighted the land at about the same 

 point, whence steering eastward, he coasted 

 along until he perceived the southward 

 bend of the coast in the vicinity of Cape 

 S. Roque, but, notwithstanding the affirma- 

 tion in 1513 of his companions to the con- 

 trary, did not double the cape. Turning 

 about, he landed at the mouth of a river 

 that he named 'S. Julian,' which is per- 



* May not tliis be a reference to the pororSoa 

 (bore), Marina tabalo being- a corruption of 

 ' Marina-tambales ' (Agitated sea)? 



