Much farther south, on the lines followed by Columbus and his Latin
successors and in the tracks of vessels plying between the eastern
Atlantic archipelagoes and the West Indies, what may be considered
as a contrary impulse--that of exultant religious enthusiasm--came
into play in island naming. The Island of the Seven Cities (Ch. V)
will be recalled but needs no further consideration here. St. Anne,
La Catholique, St. X, and Incorporado (in the sense of Christ’s
Incarnation) are among the more conspicuous instances. The second-named
was always in low latitudes. It occurs in the latitude of the tip of
Florida, in mid-Atlantic in the Desceliers map of 1546[301] (Fig. 9);
also as “La Catolico” on Portuguese maps, with similar situation.
Desceliers shows Encorporade (Incorporado) about east of Cape Hatteras
and south of western Newfoundland; but he also has Encorporada Adonda
not far from Nova Scotia. Thomas Hood (1592)[302] makes a wild and
unenlightened transformation of Incorporado to “Emperadada” and puts
it about opposite the site of Savannah, but not so far east as the
considerable outjutting of the coast which must be meant for Cape
Hatteras and its neighborhood. However, this location is not very
different from that usually given it. Desceliers has two islands
marked St. X, one being in the longitude of St. Michaels and latitude
of Bermuda; the other in the longitude of eastern Newfoundland and
latitude of the Hudson. In about the same latitude as the latter, and
more than half way between it and the Azores, an island called St.
Anne is shown. There seems nothing real to prompt the derivation of
these religiously named islands. Perhaps they are merely the offspring
of optical delusion, fancy, and fervor.
DACULI AND BRA
On the other side of the Atlantic the much earlier map island Daculi
must be reckoned as of kin to them, since its map legends deal with
beneficent wonder working or magical medical aid, and its name may be
identical with or have originated the saintly one which still denotes
an outlying Hebridean island. Though less renowned than the island of
Brazil and less significant, Daculi shares with it the record for first
appearance of mythical islands on portolan maps.
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
Reviews
Reviews
No reviews yet
Be the first to share your thoughts on this work.
Elsewhere in the archive
Join the Discussion
Join the discussion
Sign in to leave a comment or review.
Sign InorCreate an account