[1] Ramusio. Forst. Voy. and Disc, p. 158.
INTRODUCTION.
Although we have admitted this article into our collection, on the authority of Ramusio and J. R. Forster, we are disposed to consider the whole as a fabrication, altogether unworthy of any credit. The first section, indeed, may possibly have had some foundation in truth, as the Zenos may have navigated about the close of the fourteenth century to the Orkneys, and some imperfect and disfigured narrative of their voyage may have fallen into the hands of Marcolini, the author or editor of these strangely distorted and exaggerated or pretended voyages. In regard to the second section, unless we could suppose, that, by Estoitland and Drogio, some strangely distorted account of different districts in Ireland were meant to be enigmatically conveyed, the whole of that section must be pronounced a palpable and blundering forgery. But it appears obviously intended by the relater, to impress upon his readers, that some portion of the western hemisphere, afterwards named America, had been visited by Antonio Zeno; and the high probability is, that Marcolini, a patriotic Venetian, had invented the whole story, on purpose to rob the rival republic of Genoa of the honour of haying given birth to the real discoverer of the New World. If there be any truth whatever in the voyages of the Zenos, it is only to be found in the first section of this chapter; and even there the possible truth is so strangely enveloped in unintelligible names of persons and places, as to be entirely useless. The second section is utterly unworthy of the slightest serious consideration; and must either have been a posterior fabrication, engrafted upon an authentic, but ignorantly told narrative; or the seeming possibility of the first section was invented to give currency to the wild forgery of the second. Latin books, a library, gold, ships, and foreign trade, corn, beer, numerous towns and castles, all in the most northern parts of America in the fourteenth century, where only nomadic savages had ever existed, are all irrefragable evidence, that the whole, or at least that portion of the voyages of the Zenos, is an idle romance. To increase the absurdity, as if to try the gullability of the readers, Dedalus, a king of Scotland! is assumed to have been the first discoverer of the Western World; and his son Icarus is introduced to give his name to a civilized island, already named Estoitland in the narrative.
After this decided opinion of the falsehood and absurdity of the whole of this present chapter, it may be necessary to state, that, in a work so general and comprehensive as that we have undertaken, it did not seem advisable or proper to suppress an article which had been admitted into other general collections of voyages and travels. The remainder of this introduction is from the work of Mr J. R, Forster, extracted partly from Ramusio, and partly consisting of an ingenious attempt to explain and bolster up the more than dubious production of Marcolini: But these observations are here considerably abridged; as an extended, grave, and critical commentary on a narrative we believe fabulous, might appear incongruous, though it did not seem proper to omit them altogether.--E.
The family of Zeno, in Venice, was very ancient, and not only of the highest rank of nobility, but celebrated for the performance of great actions, and the highest offices of the state had been filled from time immemorial by persons of the family. About the year 1200, Marin Zeno assisted in the conquest of Constantinople, and he was Podesta, or governor of that city, about 1205. He had a son named Pietro Zeno, who was father to Rinieri Zeno, who was elected doge, or Duke of Venice, in 1282, and governed the republic for seventeen years, during which period he waged a successful war against the Genoese. he adopted Andrea, the son of his brother Marco, who was afterwards raised to be captain-general of the Venetian fleet, in the war against Genoa. Rinieri Zeno, the son of Andrea, was the father of Pietro Zeno, who, in 1362, was captain-general of the Venetian squadron in the allied fleet of the Christians against the Turks, and had the surname of Dracone, from the figure of a dragon which he wore on his shield. Pietro had three sons; Carlo Leone, the eldest, who was procurator and captain-general of the fleet: of the republic, and; rescued, her from imminent danger in a war in which, almost all Europe was leagued for her destruction; the second, Nicolo, called likewise il Cavaliere, or the night, shewed great valour in the last mentioned war of Chioggia against the Genoese; Antonio was the youngest.
Francesco Marcolini, a learned Italia, extracted the whole of the ensuing relation from the original letters of the two Zenos, Nicole and Antonio, which is published in the collection of Ramusio; and declares that Antonio laid down all the particulars of these voyages, and of the countries he and his brother had visited, on a map, which he brought with him to Venice, and which he hung up in his house as a sure pledge and incontestible proofs of the truth of his relations, and which still remained as an incontrovertible evidence in the time of Marcolini. Many have been inclined to reject the whole of this narrative because the names which it assigns to several of the countries are nowhere else to be found. After having carefully examined, and made a translation of the whole, I am fully convinced that the narrative is true, and that it contains internal proofs of its own authenticity, and I hope fully to solve, in the course of this dissertation, all the difficulties attending the names, which have been strangely perverted by a vicious orthography.
It has been alleged that the whole narrative has the appearance of a mere fable; and it may be asked where is Friesland and the other countries which it mentions, to be found? Who has ever heard of a Zichmuni who vanquished Kako, or Hakon, king of Norway, in 1369, or 1380? All this is very plausible; but we think a good deal may be done for clearing away the difficulties.
Marcolini extracted this relation from the original letters of the two Zenos, who were of one of the most considerable families in Venice; a family which could not be supposed to have boldly forged a story of this kind. The truth could easily have been detected, whether these brothers existed or not, and whether they ever made voyages to the north. Besides this, the map, actually constructed by Antonio, and hung up in his house at Venice, existed in the time of Marcolini, as a sure and incontestable proof of the fidelity of the narrative. How then is it possible to harbour any doubts? In this case, there must be an end of all faith in history.
I once held, that the countries described by the Zenos had been swallowed up by an earthquake; but, reflecting that so great a revolution in nature must have left some historical vestiges, or traditions, I examined the matter over again, and found that the countries described, bore a strong resemblance to the Orkneys, Shetland, Faro, and Western Islands, &c. The Zenos having represented Porland as composed of a cluster of small islands, I suspected the other names might likewise refer to collective groups. Thus Estland appeared to resemble in name the Shetland, Zetland, or Hitland Islands; and on comparing the names of Tolas, Broas, Iscant, Trans, Mimant, Dambre, and Bres, with those of Yell, Zeal or Teal, Burray or Bura, of which name there are two places, West Bura, and East Bura, and when taken collectively the Buras, Unst, Tronda, Main-land, Hamer, which is the name of a place in the mainland of Orkney, and Brassa, or Bressa, the resemblance seemed so obvious, that I no longer harboured any doubt. The land of Sorani, which lay over against Scotland, naturally suggested the Suderoe, or southern islands of the Norwegians, now called the Western Islands or Hebrides. Ledovo and Ilofe, are the Lewis and Islay. Sanestol, the cluster of islands named Schants-oer. Bondendon, Pondon, or Pondon-towny in Sky. Frisland, is Faira or Fera, also called Faras-land. Grisland seems Grims-ay, an island to the North of Iceland: though I would prefer Enkhuysan to the eastwards of Iceland, but as that was probably nothing more than an island of ice, we are compelled to assume Grims-ay, Engroneland is obviously Greenland. Estoitland must have been Winland, the Newfoundland of the moderns; and the Latin books may have been carried there by bishop Eric of Greenland, who went to Winland in 1121. Drogio lay much farther south, and the people of Florida, when first discovered, had cities and temples, and possessed gold and silver.
Icaria with its king Icarus, could be no other than Ireland[2] and perhaps the name took its origin from Kerry; and as Icarus was chosen for the name of its first king and lawgiver, his father must of course be Dedalus who, in all probability, was some Scottish prince, having a name of a similar sound. Neome I take to be Strom-oe, one of the Faro isles, Porland probably meant the Far-oer, or Faro islands; as Far-oe, or Far- land, is easily transmuted into Porland.