Toby’s chronicle
In Maurice Toby’s Bristol chronicle of 1565, we read of the year 1497:
“This year, on St. John the Baptist’s day, the land of America was found by the merchants of Bristowe in a shippe of Bristowe called the ‘Mathew,’ the which said shippe departed from the port of Bristowe the second day of May, and came home again the 6th of August next following.”[297]
Of course this chronicle was written long after the voyage took place; but it is extremely probable that it was taken from older sources; for it agrees in every way (both as to the length of the voyage and the time of the return) with the contemporary statements of the Italian Ministers, with whose letters the author of the chronicle cannot possibly have been acquainted. I can, therefore, see no reason why this statement should not be correct. But the most important authorities are the letters referred to.
Cabot’s western course in 1497
If we compare all this we shall get a fairly complete idea of the voyage of 1497. After sailing round the south of Ireland, probably in the middle of May according to our calendar, Cabot would at first have held a somewhat northerly course. If this is correct, he may have done so for several reasons: unfavourable winds, which in May are prevalent from the south-west; the idea that great-circle sailing would prove the shortest way;[298] fear of encroaching on the waters of the Spaniards and Portuguese to the south; finally, perhaps, an idea that the course to Asia was shorter in northern latitudes (?). But we cannot tell what reasons decided him, nor whether he steered very far to the north at all; for it must be remembered that in speaking to a foreign Minister he may have had good reason for making his course appear somewhat northerly, lest it might be said that the lands he had arrived at were those discovered by the Spaniards. In any case, it was not long before he made for the west as rapidly as possible towards his goal, and we cannot, therefore, suppose that he went very far north. And it is expressly stated in Soncino’s first letter that the lands lay to the west of England, and in the letters of the Spanish Ambassadors in the following year we read that, after having seen the direction taken by Cabot, they thought that the land he had found was that belonging to Spain, or was “at the end of that land.” This again does not point to any northerly course.
Many writers have thought that from Soncino’s statements about the courses a conclusion might be drawn as to where on the American coast Cabot made the land; but this is impossible. In the first place Soncino’s words are anything but definite; besides which, of course, Cabot could not steer in a straight line across the Atlantic, but with the frequent contrary winds of May and June was obliged to shape many courses, and often had to beat; in fact, we are told as much in Soncino’s words, “havendo assai errato.” Every one who has had experience of the navigation of sailing ships knows how difficult it is under such conditions to make way in the precise direction one wishes, however good one’s reckoning may be; currents and lee-way set one far out of the reckoned course, and on a voyage so long as across the Atlantic the lee-way may be considerable. Whether Cabot was able to correct his reckoning by the aid of astronomical observations (with a Jacob’s staff or an astrolabe) we do not know, but we hear nothing of latitudes, so that it is not very probable (cf. also Columbus’s gross error in latitude). Especially during the first part of the voyage currents and prevailing winds may have set Cabot to the north-east; but he may also have encountered, particularly during the latter part of the voyage in June, heavy north-westerly gales which set him still farther to the south, and he may thus have had a southerly lee-way. In addition, as Dawson has so strongly insisted, the error of the compass must have set him to the south. Whether Cabot was aware of the error, and remarked its variation during the westward voyage, we do not know; it is possible, since we know that Columbus remarked this variation during his first voyage; but in any case, Cabot doubtless paid as little attention to it as Columbus in his navigation. Unfortunately we do not know the amount of the error at that time, but by examining the relation between the true direction of the coast-lines and those we find on the most trustworthy compass-charts (especially the Cantino chart) of a little later than 1500 (which are drawn in ignorance of the error), I have attempted to reconstruct the distribution of the error in the Atlantic Ocean at that time (cf. chart below); of course, this is purely hypothetical. According to this, during Cabot’s voyage westwards the error would have varied from about 6° east at Bristol to about 30° west off the coast of America. If we suppose that he was able to follow a magnetic western course the whole way from the south coast of Ireland, then he must have passed quite to the south of Cape Race in Newfoundland. But we are told that he first held somewhat to the north, though we do not know how much, and, on the other hand, his lee-way may have set him at least as far to the south. The assertion that the course mentioned by Soncino must have brought Cabot to land in Labrador or Newfoundland is thus untenable. Nor does it agree with Soncino’s allusion to the country as excellent and temperate, and one where dye-wood and silk might be expected to grow. If this be explained away as due to the usual propensity of discoverers at that time to exhibit the newly found countries in the most favourable light, which is very possible, it is not so easy to explain why we do not hear a word about their having encountered ice on the voyage. If on his western voyage Cabot came to Labrador or the north-east coast of Newfoundland some time in June, it is improbable that he should not have seen icebergs, and it is equally unlikely that the Italian Ministers should not have mentioned this, which to them would be a great curiosity, if they had heard of it; we see, too, that later, in descriptions of Sebastian Cabot’s alleged voyage, the ice is mentioned above all else. Even if John Cabot might have kept quiet about the ice, lest it should cool the hopes raised by his narrative, it is not likely that his crew would have done so, if they had met with it. But although other statements of the crew are reported, we do not hear a single word about ice, nor even of icebergs, which are common enough on the Newfoundland Banks at that time of the year, and would be an entirely new experience even to Bristol sailors who were accustomed to the voyage to Iceland. From this we must suppose that in the course of his beating to the west Cabot was set so far to the south of the Newfoundland Banks that he did not encounter icebergs, and that he first made land somewhere farther west.[299]
Hypothetical chart of the variation of the compass in the Atlantic, circa 1500
Cabot sighted America June 24, 1497