The distance of seven hundred leagues Verrazzano reckoned in the following way, as explained by him in his geographical exposition of the voyage: “In addition to the 92 degrees we ran toward the west from our point of departure before we reached land on the thirty-fourth parallel, we have to count 300 [French] leagues, which we ran northeastwardly and 400 nearly east along the coast before we reached the fiftieth parallel of north latitude.” Measured directly north from the thirty-fourth parallel to the fiftieth, the space includes sixteen degrees, which multiplied by 31¼ French leagues, which at that time equaled a degree of latitude, the product of 500 French leagues is obtained.[406] Two leagues added to these, for the distance sailed directly south of the thirty-fourth parallel, make 502 French leagues, or about eleven hundred and four land-miles, the geographical extent of the coast explored by Verrazzano.[407] The New Land (_Nuova Terra_), discovered by Verrazzano, was as early as the year 1527 delineated on a map of the world and denominated Francesca. This Italian name it bore for a number of years until the French geographical designation La Nouvelle France (New France) was substituted for it.[408] Concluding his description of the new country, Verrazzano remarks: “As to the religious faith of all these tribes, not understanding their language, we could not learn either by signs or gestures any thing certain. It seemed to us that they had no religion or laws, nor any knowledge of a First Cause or Mover,—that they worshipped neither the heavens, stars, sun, moon, nor the other planets. We could not learn if they were given to any kind of idolatry, or offered any sacrifices or supplications, or if they have temples or houses of prayer in their villages. Our conclusion was that they had no religion, but lived without any. This seems to be the result of ignorance, for they are very easily persuaded, and imitated us with earnestness and fervor in all that they saw us do as Christians in our acts of devotion.” Verrazzano added to this general description of his remarkable discoveries, an elaborate cosmographical explanation of the situation of the New Land. His geometrical elucidation of the distances sailed by the Dauphine, shows how desirous he was to make plain the geography of the vast continent, which he and others had partly explored. He says: