Harrisse says that Maillard based his description upon the manuscript of Allefonsce, and not on the printed work, saying that the former was “begun in 1544 and finished in 1546;” whereas the manuscript itself shows that it was “finished the 24th day of November, 1545.” It is also said that Francis I., for whom Maillard wrote, died March 31, 1547, while the Voyages avantureux did not appear until 1559, which seems to have been the case; yet the verses agree with the printed work instead of the manuscript of Allefonsce, and bear no relation to the manuscript other than that borne by the book. We speak here, of course, only of that part of Maillard’s performance given in Jean et Sébastien Cabot. In several cases Maillard makes a point not in the book; as, for instance, where (line 131) he says of the Norumbega peltry,—
“De maint marchant bien cherement requise;”
but this statement is not found in the manuscript of Allefonsce itself. That Maillard wrote these verses describing our coast after the corresponding portion of Voyages avantureux had been composed, might seem to be indicated by the fact that the substance of a line omitted after line 28 is found in the prose version of 1559, as follows: “Tous le gens ceste terre ont queue,” which is an allusion to the old story told in the manuscript of Allefonsce, who says that towards the north, “in some of these regions are people with pig’s tails and faces,”—a statement which the printed work reduces so as to read, “All the people of this land have queue.” This was overlooked by the poet or transcriber.
The connection between Maillard’s work and the printed narrative is curious, for the two pieces show a common origin, while two different writers, independently of one another, could not have produced two versions so much alike; though it should be noted that at line 138 Maillard spoils the sense by writing “vne isle,” instead of “une grand ville,” as in the printed book,—unless, indeed, he intended to discredit the story of the “great city” of Norumbega, which Allefonsce in his manuscript simply styles “une ville.” There is no necessity for supposing that Maillard ever saw the manuscript of Allefonsce. He may have used the manuscript of the printed volume of 1559, if it was in existence in the time of Francis. It certainly was written March 7, 1557, when the printing was authorized. It is a curious fact that in 1578 one Thomas Mallard, or Maillard, published an edition of Allefonsce at Rouen: Les voyages avantvreux dv Capitaine Iean Alfonce, Sainctongeais: Contenant les Reigles & enseignmens necessaires a la bonne & seure Nauigation. Plus le moyen de se gouuerner, tart enuers les Barbares, qu’autres nations d’vne chacune contrée, les sortes de marchandises qui se trouuent abondamment à icelles: Ensemble, ce qu’on doit porter de petit prix pour trocquer avec iceux, afin d’en tirer grand profit. A Rouen, chez Thomas Mallard, libraire: pre le Palais deuant l’hostel de ville, 1578. Evidently Jehan Maillard, the poet, had some unexplained connection with the volume that appeared in 1559.
[271] Vol. iii. p. 237.
[272] “Les terres allant vers Hochelaga sont de beaucoup meilleures et plus chauldes que celles de Canada, et tient terre de Hochelaga au Figuier et au Perou, en laquelle abonde or et argent.”
[273] One thing must strike the student in going through these topics; namely, the indifference shown by the respective navigators and explorers to their predecessors. Cartier makes no reference to Verrazano, and Allefonsce pays no attention to Cartier. So far as the writings of Allefonsce go, it would hardly appear that any such person as Cartier ever existed. Of Roberval himself, the pilot of Saintonge makes but a single mention in passing, while Maillard speaks of Cartier only in a dedication.
[274] [There is a paper on the map literature of Canada, by H. Scaddin, in the Canadian Journal, new series, xv. 23. A large Carte de la Nouvelle France, pour servir à l’étude de l’ histoire du Canada depuis sa découverte jusqu’en 1760, par Genest, was published a few years since.—Ed.]
[275] Ramé’s Documents inédits, p. 3.
[276] Kohl (Discovery of Maine, p. 350) speaks of it as open on the map of Ribero. Maps iv. and vii. of Kunstmann’s Atlas show the straits open. [Some of these maps are sketched in the Editorial Note following the preceding chapter.—Ed.]