[263] It will be remembered (Hakluyt, iii. 6) that Cabot’s Prima Vista was near “the Island of St. John.” On the map is the fabulous island of St. John out at sea, and the real St. John, now Prince Edward, is in the Gulf of St. Lawrence. On this subject Hakluyt appears to have been confused. In his Principal Navigations (iii. 625) he speaks of “the isle of Iohn Luis or John Alverez in 41;” and in a marginal note says, “This is a very commodious Isle for us on our way to Virginia.” On page 627 he defines the position further, saying: “From Bermuda to the Isle of St. Iohn Luis or John Alverez 320 [leagues]. From the Isle of Iohn Luis or Alverez to Flores 320.” This appears to have been one of the flying islands. See Magazine of American History, viii. 510; The Northmen in Maine, p. 139. See also Harrisse’s Cabots, p. 275.
[264] Mr. Murphy, in his Voyage of Verrazzano, p. 38, mistranslated the text, reading ung as cinq, and making the latitude 45° instead of 41°. The original manuscript reads, “Le dict cap est par le quarente et ung degrez,” and overturns Mr. Murphy’s hastily formed theory. See also Verrazano: a Motion for a Stay of Judgment. New York, 1876, p. 10.
[265] In his narrative as given by Hakluyt (iii. 239): “I doubt not but Norumbega [River] entreth into the Riuer of Canada, and vnto the Sea of Saguenay.” Again, “from the entrance of Norumbega [at the Penobscot] vnto Florida are 300 leagues.”
[266] This may have been done by those Portuguese who disputed the title, and whose quarrels with the French were composed at Newfoundland by Roberval. Ante, p. 57; and Hakluyt, iii. 240.
[267] Voyages avantureux, Poitiers, 1559.
[268] “Premier livre de la description de tous les ports de mer de lunivers. Avec summaire mention des conditions differentes des peoples et addresse pour le rang de ventz propres a naviguer.” By Jehan Maillord, Mallert, or Mallard, preserved in the Bibliothèque Nationale, Paris, and quoted by Harrisse, Jean et Sébastien Cabot, pp. 223-227.
[269] Hakluyt, vol. iii.; see Vol. III. of the present work, pp. 171, 187.
[270] Here, indeed, it may prove of interest to give their respective descriptions of the same region. Vumenot writes: “La terre n’est pas fort haute, elle est bien labouree, et est garnie de ville et Chasteaux, ilz adorent le Soliel et la lune. D’icy tourne la coste au sud-sudoest et au sud, jusque un cap qui est haute terre, et ha une grand isle de terre basse, et trois ou quatre petits isles.”
This is a description of Cape Cod and the neighboring coasts, which, in the verse of Maillard, appear in the same way:—
“Ils ont chasteaux et villes quilz decorent
Et le Soliel et la lune ilz adorent
En ce pays leur terre est labouree
Non terroy hault mais assez temperee
Dicy la coste ainsy comme jai sceu
Au susseroest elle tourne aussy au su
Plus de cent lieux et jusque au cap va terre
Qui se congnoist en une haulte terre
Qui a vne isle en terre basse grande
Et troys ou quatre isleaux a sa demande
Et de ce cap a lisle se dit.”