The voyage of Verrazzano : $b a chapter in the early history of maritime discovery in AmericaMurphy, Henry Cruse
History
The voyage of Verrazzano : $b a chapter in the early history of maritime discovery in America
Murphy, Henry Cruse
America -- Discovery and exploration -- French; Verrazzano, Giovanni da, 1485-1528
"Following beyond the cape of the Brettons there is a land
contiguous to the said cape, the coast whereof extends west by
southwest as far as the land of Florida and it runs full 500
leagues, (WHICH COAST WAS DISCOVERED FIFTEEN YEARS AGO, BY MESSER
GIOVANNI DA VERRAZZANO, IN THE NAME OF KING FRANCIS, AND MADAME THE
REGENT,) and this land is called by many la Francese, and likewise
by the Portuguese themselves and its end towards Florida is at 78
Degrees west longitude and 30 Degrees north latitude. The
inhabitants of this land are tractable peoples, friendly and
pleasant. The land is most abundant in all fruit. There grow
oranges, almonds, wild grapes and many other kinds of odoriferous
trees. The land is called by its people Nurumbega, and between this
land and that of Brazil is a great gulf which extends westwardly to
92 Degrees west longitude, which is more than a quarter of the
circuit of the globe; and in the gulf are the islands and West
Indies discovered by the Spaniards." [Footnote: Ramusio, III. fol.
423-4 (ed. 1556).]
This account emphatically contradicts the Verrazzano letter which
claims the discovery of the coast from Cape Breton in 46 Degrees N,
as far east and north, as 50 Degrees N. latitude, embracing a
distance of two hundred leagues, both according to the letter and
the discourse. It distinctly affirms this long stretch of coast to
have been discovered long before the Verrazzano voyage by the
Portuguese and the Bretons and Normands, assigning to the Portuguese
and French specific portions of it. This is in perfect harmony with
the truth as established by the authorities to which occasion has
already been had to refer. This account therefore unequivocally
repudiates the Verrazzano claim to the discovery of that part of the
country, and thus derogates from the pretensions of the letter
instead of supporting them.
The letter contains a distinct and specific claim for the discovery
of the coast as far north as 50 Degrees N. The writer of the
discourse, if he had any knowledge on the subject, must have known
of the extent of this claim. In attributing to others the discovery
of that large portion of the coast, east and north of Cape Breton,
he must have considered the claim to that extent as unfounded. It is
difficult therefore to account for his admitting its validity as
regards the country south of Cape Breton as he apparently does; as
it is a manifest inconsistency to reject so important a part as
false, and affirm the rest of it to be true, when the whole depends
upon the same evidence.
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
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