[256] 1857, vol. ii. p. 317.
[257] Harrisse, in his Jean et Sébastien Cabot (Paris, 1882, p. 206), quotes from La grande insulaire of Thevet a manuscript in the Bibliothèque Nationale, showing that he was detained a prisoner at Poitiers by Francis I.; while in his Cosmographie universelle, folio 1021, he says it was “pour la prinse de quelques naviere d’Espaigne.” Allefonsce was a privateer, or “corsair,” and was so zealous in his work, that, to propitiate Spain, the King was obliged to put him in prison. He probably gave too much offence to the king’s enemies.
[258] Vol. iii. p. 240.
[259] It might appear that Allefonsce was dead at the time; his Cosmographie was finished in 1545, as the finishing touch was given by Paulin Secalart. The lines referred to are as follows:
“La mort aussi n’a point craint son effroy,
Ses gros canons, ses darts, son feu, sa fouldre,
Mais l’assaillant l’a mis en tel desroy,
Que rien de luy ne reste plus que poudre.”
[260] See also Harrisse, in Jean et Sébastien Cabot, p. 203, on Allefonsce.
[261] The Northmen in Maine, p. 131; and Lescarbot, Nouvelle France, p. 46. Bergeron, in his Voyages faits principalments en Asie, dans les XII., XIII., XIV., et XV. Siècles, a La Haye, 1735, part ii. p. 5, criticises the misprints of proper names in this volume.
[262] This work is preserved in the Manuscript Department of the Bibliothèque Nationale, Paris, no. 676, under Secalart. It is a stout paper folio, 9 × 13 inches, written on both sides. This rude specimen of penmanship was originally designed for Francis I., like the book of John Rotz now in the British Museum. It contains 194 leaves; the titlepage is wanting. On what now forms the second leaf of the third page is found the following: “Jehan allafonsce—:—Paulin secalert,” with the motto: “Pouvre et Loil.”
It is signed “Nous Jehan allefonsce et Paulin Secalert.” Underneath is the date. “Paulin” might, perhaps, be read “Raulin.” The first line of every page is in red, the initials forming grotesque human faces. The work abounds in flourishing capitals, and the text is difficult to decipher. The maps are rude sketches, intercalated to illustrate the text, and washed with yellowish, reddish, and greenish tints. The islands are chiefly in gold, though some are red and green. At the end of the volume is a map of France with the royal arms. On a map of England is a rude representation of London. There are also four pages of plans and diagrams, relating chiefly to London and Bordeaux. The legends on the maps are written in a brown tint, much faded, though upon the whole the volume is in a good state of preservation. Cf. “L’hydrographie d’un découvreur du Canada,” in Margry’s Navigations Françaises.