Such a coincidence of mistakes, could not have been accidental. One of these documents must, therefore, have been the source of the other. In determining between them, there can be no mistake in adopting as the original, that one which has a certain and indisputable authenticity, and rejecting that which is unsupported by any other testimony. The voyage of Gomez was long the subject of consideration and preparation, and was heralded to the world for months before it was undertaken. The order of the king of Spain under which it was made, still exists in the archives of that kingdom. The results of the expedition were announced by credible historians of the country, immediately after its return; and the nautical information which it brought back, and in regard to which alone it possessed any interest at the time, was transferred at once to the marine charts of the nation, imperfectly it is true, and spread before the world. These charts still remain in their original form, as they were then prepared. With these incontrovertible facts to sustain it, the discovery of Gomez must stand as established in history and, consequently, the claim of Verrazzano must fall. [Footnote: The map of Ribero is not a faithful representation of the exploration of Gomez, in many respects. The tierra de Ayllon is made to embrace a large portion of the country the coast of which was discovered by Gomez. The bay of Santa Maria, or the Chesapeake, is placed two degrees further south than it should he, that is, in latitude 35 degrees, instead of 37 degrees N. The R. de los Gamos, or Penobscot, mentioned by Cespedes, is not named at all. The question, however, of its greater or less correctness is of no importance on the present occasion; it is sufficient that it was followed by the writer of the letter, erroneous as it was.] X. THE CAREER OF VERRAZZANO. AN ADVENTUROUS LIFE AND AN IGNOMINIOUS DEATH. CONCLUSION. The true history of Verrazzano, so far as known, is now to be given, in order to make a final disposition of this story. Nothing is preserved in relation to his early life. Even the year of his birth is matter of conjecture. He is called by Ramusio, Giovanni da Verrazzano, Florentine; and according to Pelli, was born about the year 1485, His father was Piero Andrea, son of Bernardo, the son of Bernardo of Verrazzano, a little town situated in the Val di Greve, near Florence,--the latter Bernardo having belonged to the magistracy of the priors in 1406. All that his eulogist was enabled to gather concerning him, beyond this brief genealogy, is taken from the Verrazzano letter and the discourse of Ramusio, relating how he was killed, roasted and devoured by the savages in a second voyage to America; [Footnote: The account which Ramusio gives of Verrazzano, and the manner of his death, occurs in his Discourse on Labrador, the Baccalaos and New France (vol. III fol. 41), in which, after reffering to the Cortereaes and Sebastian Cabot, he adds: