316 Evidence of French Discoveries of JVew York, etc. 



nearly twenty-five years before Henry Hudson was born. He bas in- 

 dicated by the national ensigns the portions of America in possession 

 of the several nationalities of Europe. Over the tract of country from 

 what is now Georgia to Xcw Brunswick is spread out in large letters 

 the name of the possessor Francesca, the Italian form of the name of 

 France. The Hudson river is not there, for the French had not yet 

 m de p il 1 c the 1 eries. This map, by the way, was photo- 

 graphed a few years ago at the request of Dr. Homes of the State 

 Library, .Mr. Weise of Troy having learned of its existence in the 

 Ambrosian Library in Milan, and expressed to Dr. Homes a wish for 

 a copy to illustrate his work on early discoveries in America, then in 

 process of preparation. This map of itself, being a eonteniporary 

 witness, ought to be sufficient to settle the question of French pos- 



One other point of interest is the location of JSTorumbega which has 

 not unfrequently attracted the attention of scholars. In the two maps 

 before alluded to, by Thevet and Mercatorof 1575 and 1569, the name 

 of Norumbega is printed across the Hudson river, showing that this 

 river ran through the territory of Norumbega as it now runs through 

 the State of New York. 



