108 CONCEPTIONS OF COLUMBUS 



bus, and Christopher Columbus himself, a single one 

 of the twenty- two names which are inserted on the 

 northwestern continental region of the Cantino chart. 



The Problem Reconsidered 



The arguments of Harrisse place the problem fairly 

 before us. With his conclusions the present writer 

 takes issue. The problem of the continental land will, 

 therefore, be considered anew in respect to (i) the 

 shape depicted; (2) the names derived from Colum- 

 bus; (3) the names possibly derived from other 

 sources; (4) doubtful names; and, finally (5), the 

 geographical theories which led to the location of the 

 region northwest of the so-called island of Isabella. 



The Shape of the Land 



The shape of the land seems to have been derived 

 from statements concerning the coasts discovered on 

 the second voyage of Columbus. In the "Infor- 

 macion y testimonio" of Fernand Perez de Luna, con- 

 cerning the oath taken by the pilots and crew to 

 the effect that Cuba was a continental land, is a 

 passage^ ^ that seems to be the origin of the shape of 

 the land as it appears on the Cantino map : 



17 J. B. Thacher: Christopher Columbus: His Life, His Work, His 

 Remains, 3 vols., New York, 1903-04; reference in Vol. 2, p. 327 (Spanish 

 text and English translation, the former from M. F. de Navarrete: 

 Relaciones, cartas y otros documentos concernientes a los cuatro viages 

 que hizo el Almirante D. Cristobal Colon para el descubrimiento de las 

 Indias occidentales, Madrid, 1825: and idem: Coleccion de documentos 



