BELIEF IN ASIA 85 



It will be noticed that in all cases it was contrary 

 to national interest to exaggerate longitude because, 

 after going i8o° eastwards or westwards from the Line 

 of Demarcation, the land fell in the sphere of a 

 rival. 



When we turn westward across the Atlantic we 

 do not have so clear a case. National interest seems 

 to play a part in placing Brazil and Terra de los 

 Baccalaos (Newfoundland) too far to the eastward, 

 thus bringing more territory within the Portuguese 

 sphere; but even then we have Apianus (1520)^^ 

 placing the Panama region 12° too far westward. 

 Verrazano (1529)^^ placed Terra Nova (Newfound- 

 land) 12° too far to the east, Florida about right, 

 and Vera Cruz 10° too far west. Cabot (1544) dis- 

 places Florida westward 12°, eastern ^Mexico 15°, 

 and Lower California 20°. Ortelius (1570) placed 

 Florida properly and displaced westward Vera Cruz 

 4° and Lower California 30°. Hakluyt (1599) dis- 

 placed Florida 5°, Vera Cruz 8°, and Lower Cali- 

 fornia 10° w^estward at the same time that he cor- 

 rected the position of Cape IMendocino eastwards by 

 45°, still leaving it too far west by 25°. It should also 

 be noted that Columbus, in 1494, greatly erred as to 

 the length of Cuba. His 335 leagues would make 

 about 20° as the length of somewhat less than all of 

 the island, whereas its true length is about 10°. One 

 has only to give thought to the extreme difficulty of 



" Ibid., PI. 38. 



=^- Stevenson, Maps Illustrating Early Divscovery, Portfolio 12. 



