The Chronicle of the Discovery and Conquest of Guinea. Vol. IIZurara, Gomes Eannes de
History
The Chronicle of the Discovery and Conquest of Guinea. Vol. II
Zurara, Gomes Eannes de
Guinea (Region) -- Discovery and exploration -- Early works to 1800
[Footnote 213: The inscription apparently runs "Isola
Otinticha xe longa a ponente 1500 mia;" which has been
translated--(1) "Genuine island distant 1,500 miles to the
west." (2) "Genuine island, 1,500 miles long to the west." (3)
"Genuine island extends 1,500 miles to the west." Also,
reading ... a [= e] la sola otinticha. (4) "Is the only
genuine ..." (The first line being altogether separate in
sense from what follows--"xe longa," etc.) Once more,
supplying "questa carta," (5) "This map is the only genuine
one," leaving the second line unintelligible. (6) "Genuine
island, stretching 1,500 miles westwards, ten miles broad."
And lastly, reading Antillia for Otinticha, (7) "Island of
Antillia," etc. (This would explain the difficulty of the
Antillia Isle being otherwise absent from the 1448 Bianco.)
See Desimoni, in _Atti della Società ligure di Storia patria_,
1864, vol. iii, p. cxiv; Canale, in _Storia del Commercio
degl'Italiani_, 1866, p. 455; Fischer, _Sammlung ... Welt- und
See-Karten italienischen Ursprungs_, Venice, 1886, p. 209;
_Proceedings R. G. S._, London, March 1895, pp. 221-240.
Whatever the explanation, it must be remembered that this Map
and Inscription were never produced by Portugal as evidence of
a Pre-Columbian discovery, either in 1492-3, or later, in
formal negotiations with Spain--as at Badajoz in 1524. It is
possible that the delineation and legend in question were
added by a later hand; and it is probable that, if really
inserted by Bianco himself, the reference is to one of the
legendary Atlantic Islands under a new form. It cannot well be
identified with that stated by Galvano to have been discovered
about 1447, for the latter was reached by a course of 1,500
miles due west from the Straits of Gibraltar, which would
bring us to the Azores. The coast line of the "Genuine Island"
is, moreover, quite inconsistent with the north-east
shore-land of South America.]
[Footnote 214: The most singular point in this controversy is
that the pilots of Cabral's fleet professed to recognise the
new land as the same they had seen marked on an old map
existing in Portugal. This is stated by one John, "Bachelor in
Arts and Medicine, and Physician and Cosmographer to King
Emanuel." He accompanied the expedition of 1500, and declared
that the country where Cabral landed was identical with a
tract marked upon a Mappemonde belonging to Pero Vaz Bisagudo,
a Portuguese.]
[Footnote 215: Columbus.]
[Footnote 216: In the Cape Verdes.]
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
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