[382] It was not until 1728 that this conception of the navigator was disproved. Then Vitus Behring discovered the strait which divides the two continents. The distance between East Cape in Asia and Cape Prince of Wales on the continent of America is forty-five miles. [383] “_Nè pensiamo participando dello oriente per la circumferenza sieno senza qualche drogheria o liquore aromatico, et altre divitie oro ed altro del quale colore la terra tutta tende._” [384] Historical collections of South Carolina. By B. R. Carroll. vol. i. p. xxi. [385] In Ramusio’s text the word is _oriente_, east. Raccolta di navigationi e viaggi. Ramusio. vol. ii. fol. 350. It was the custom of the aborigines to set fire to the underbrush in spring to enable them to hunt and to inclose game within the limits of the burning wood. [386] The harbor of Beaufort was too far inland to be seen by Verrazzano. [387] In Hakluyt’s translation of the text of Ramusio’s condensed copy of Verrazzano’s letter is the following respecting the vines of Virginia: “We saw in this country many vines growing naturally, which, growing up, took holde of the trees as they doe in Lombardie, which if by husbandmen they were dressed in good order, without all doubt they would yeeld excellent wines; for hauing oftentimes seene the fruit thereof dryed; which was sweete and pleasant, and not differing from ours, we thinke that they doe esteeme the same, because in euery place where they growe, they take away the under branches growing round about, that the fruit thereof may ripen the better.”—Voyages. Hakluyt. vol. ii. p. 297. [388] Chesapeake Bay “extends 190 miles from its mouth, into the States of Virginia and Maryland; it is from 7 to twenty miles broad, and generally 9 fathoms deep.” The peninsula is “about 60 miles long, and from 10 to 15 wide, and bounded toward the sea by a string of low sandy islets. The waters of the Chesapeake enter the sea between Cape Charles and Cape Henry, forming a strait of fifteen miles in width.”—Gazetteer of Virginia and the District of Columbia. By Joseph Martin. 1835. pp. 23, 18. [389] _Vide_ Maiollo map of 1527 in the cover-pocket. [390] “Epistle dedicatorie” to Hakluyt’s Divers voyages, 1582. [391] “_Da questo mare orientale si vede il mare occidentale; sono 6 miglia di terra infra l’uno a l’altro._” [392] Hakluyt’s Particular discourse, 1584. The English collector illustrates his Divers voyages with Locke’s map, which the English cartographer dedicated to Sir Philip Sidney. [393] Sandy Hook light-house is in 40° 27´ 39´´ north latitude.