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THE VOYAGE OF GOMEZ, 1525.
2. EXPEDITION OF ESTEVAN GOMEZ ALONG THE EAST COAST OF NORTH AMERICA IN 1525.
From the time of Columbus, the pilots and cosmographers of Spain were continually occupied with the problem of a passage to India by a western route. The question was re- vived with renewed zeal on the return, in 1522, of the Vic- toria, Magellan's vessel, under command of Sebastian del Cano, from the great discovery at the south, that a passage had at last been found through the hitherto impassable bar- rier of the western continent.
Another expedition toward Magellan's Strait was at once prepared. But the mariners, who had returned in the Vic- toria, had found the new route long and dangerous, and could not, therefore, highly recommend it.
The hope again revived, that another strait might be dis- covered, by which America would be penetrated in a similar manner in the north, though the Cabots and the Cortereals had not succeeded in finding it. It was argued by some, that because there was a strait in the south, there ought also to be one in the north, under the conviction that, according to a certain law of harmony, nature must have disposed and shaped, in a corresponding manner, the countries verging toward the north and south poles.
Among those who inclined to this belief, was Estevan Go- mez, an experienced Portuguese pilot, who since 1518 had been in the service of the king of Spain. In that year the emperor gave him the title of "piloto," at the same time that he gave to Sebastian Cabot the title of " piloto major." *
Gomez had been several times with his Portuguese coun- trymen to the East Indies. He had also sailed with Magel- lan to the south of America in the subordinate capacity of
* Sce Herrera, Dec. II, lib. 3, cap. 7.
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pilot of the "San Antonio," one of Magellan's vessels. though he had much higher pretensions. In that capacity he had become, to some extent, an opponent and rival of Magellan, his commander; and at last had conspired against him, and left him with the ship Antonio and her mutinous crew, and returned to Spain. On his arrival he reported, that the strait in the south, which Magellan thought he had discovered, was too dangerous to be used for any good pur- pose, that Magellan and all his men would probably perish, and that he himself had concluded to save his vessel and crew for the future service of his king.
It was natural, therefore, that when Magellan's remaining vessel returned in 1522, Gomez should desire to offset this valuable discovery of his rival, by a more successful attempt in the north.
Fernando Cortes, the conqueror of Mexico, had also, in 1524, pronounced himself in favor of the existence of a north- ern passage to the Pacific. At this very time, Lucas Vas- ques D'Ayllon also entertained the same opinion. He had extended Spanish discoveries in 1520 to latitude 33° on our coast, including " Chicora," and had received a royal com- mission, signed June 12, 1523,* for the discovery of a pas- sage in the northern parts of Florida.
It appears, accordingly, that in the years 1523 and 1524, there were in Spain not less than three competitors for the discovery of a north-west passage on our coast,-Cortes, Ayl- lon, and Gomez. But Cortes was hindered by several cir- cumstances from the execution of his plan, and gave it up. Ayllon consumed a long time in the outfit of his vessels, and in preparing for his expedition, and was not ready with his
* See commission in Navarrete, " Colleccion de los viages y discubrimi- entos," etc., tom. 3, p. 153 seq.
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THE VOYAGE OF GOMEZ, 1525.
armament until 1526, and at last came to an unhappy end, in the southern part of the east coast ..
It was, therefore, left to Gomez in 1524 to conduct an ex- pedition for the discovery of this passage. An order had been made by Charles V. in 1523, for fitting out a vessel of fifty tons, to which he would contribute 750 ducats; the rest of the expense to be borne by private persons. But this expedition was delayed in the hope of securing the services of Cortes; and also by a disagreement between Spain and Portugal, in regard to the division of their respect- ive claims in the new world .* For the adjustment of these, a council was held at Badajos, to which Gomez was sent in 1524. Here he took his place, as one of the Spanish scientific commissioners, by the side of Sebastian Cabot, Juan Vespucci, Diego Ribero, and other celebrated cosmographers and pilots. t This honorable position shows the high estimation for knowl- edge and experience in which this " pilot" was held; who was destined to be the official Spanish explorer of the northern parts of the east coast of America.
This commission dissolved in 1524 without having come to a conclusion on the disputed points ; and Gomez was again at leisure to complete the preparations for his voyage. He sailed a few days after the 10th of Feb. in 1525,¿ from the port of Corunna in Gallicia, where the "Casa de contra- tacion " (court of Admiralty), formerly held in Seville, had been for some time established.
* Herrera, Dec. III, lib. 6, cap. 1.
t Herrera, Dec. III, lib. 6, cap. 6.
# Navarrete has found in the Spanish archives the Royal decree (la Real cedula), by which Gomez, before he started, was nominated, Feb. 10, 1525, his majesty's pilot. And Navarrete adds, "he left the port at the same time." There is also a perfect agreement between this date and the state- ments of the historians on the time of his return; respecting which I shall epeak hereafter; so that there seems to be no doubt, that his departure must have been on the days next following the 10th of February.
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THE VOYAGE OF GOMEZ, 1525.
We are unable to designate the track which Gomez fol- lowed on the ocean. No kind of ship-journal or report, written either by himself or any of his companions, has been preserved. And the Spanish historians Oviedo, Herrera, and Gomara, who may have seen such a journal, are extremely brief in their accounts of this expedition ; although it had a particular interest for Spain, being the only official expedition sent out by that country to the northern parts of our eastern coast.
We only know, that Gomez had the intention of going to the north, though not to the higher arctic regions, which the Cabots and the Cortereals had attempted. He thought he might find a passage to China " between the Bacallaos and Florida."* The coast of Florida had been discovered and . explored in 1512 and 1520, as high as 33º N. by Ponce de Leon and Ayllon ; by which it was known in Spain, says Herrera, that no passage existed there. Newfoundland, Lab- rador, and other coasts in that region, had been reconnoitered by Sebastian Cabot, the Cortereals, and others. But in the wide region between Florida and Cape Breton, "no Castilian vessel had sailed as yet."f The expedition made the year be- fore to the same region by the French " corsario," Ver- razano, was perhaps not yet known in Spain.
From this it appears, that Gomez, from the beginning, had this intermediate coast in view. " If China and the Moluc- cas could not be found that way," says Herrera, " many other goodly islands and provinces might be found, which had not been discovered as yet. It was also," he adds, " the opinion of Sebastian Cabot, that there might be discovered still many islands on the way to the Moluccas." #
* So says Peter Martyr, Dec. VI, cap. 10, "iter ad Cataiam inter Baca- laos et Floridam se reperturum inquit."
t Herrera, 1. c. Dec. III, lib. 8, cap. 8.
# Herrera, Dec. III, lib. 4, cap. 20.
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THE VOYAGE OF GOMEZ, 1525.
Sebastian Cabot was in communication with Gomez, having had, in 1524, his seat with him in the council of Badajoz ; and we may conclude that Cabot was consulted in regard to his voyage, and its direction ; and he may have suggested to Gomez to seek his object in this middle region. Cabot may have thought that enough had been done, in the higher lati- tudes, where the ice had proved so great a barrier, and that a practicable passage might be found between the extreme points already explored, and which he had not been able to examine himself with sufficient attention. The expedition of Gomez may, therefore, be considered in a manner as a con- tinuation and completion of Cabot's voyage .*
Near Newfoundland, Cabot had discovered broad openings which had not been satisfactorily explored. On the south of Newfoundland a large open space had been depicted on the chart of Reinel, the countryman of Gomez, and by others after him. It is therefore probable, that Gomez; on leaving Co- runna, shaped his course to the north, in the direction of Newfoundland ; leaving the south, which had been already now fully explored, and where success was more doubtful, to be examined afterwards. In fact, some authors state expli- citly, and others leave us to infer, that his course, like that of Cabot, was along our coast from north to south .; But Gal- vano, in many respects a good authority, affirms that Gomez went from Corunna first to the island of Cuba, and thence sailed by Florida as high north as Cape Race.# Thus Gal-
* Some authors affirm, that the expedition of Gomez was proposed in op- position to Cabot, and by his rivals and enemies. I find no allusion to such an enmity in any Spanish author. It only appears that there were two parties in Spain, entertaining different views on the usefulness and success of the undertaking of Gomez.
t Peter Martyr, I. c. hints this; also, Herrera, Dec. III, lib. 8, cap. 8; and Oviedo (Sommario, cap. 10, fol. 14), says that Gomez ran along the coast westward (discurriendo al occidente).
# See Galvano, "Discoveries of the World," ed. by Vice-admiral Be- thune, p. 167. London, 1862.
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THE VOYAGE OF GOMEZ, 1525.
vano, who was a Portuguese, either from want of information or from oversight, has reversed the whole track of Gomez. And in this important point he has been followed by some modern authors .* This construction we shall endeavor to prove to have been erroneous.
The reports, given by the Spanish historians, of the dis- coveries of Gomez along our coast, are lamentably short. They determine neither his northern land-fall, nor the south- ern end of his cruise, nor the gulfs, ports, and inlets which he entered. We learn nothing from them about the obsta- cles he encountered, nor any incidents of his voyage. They say nothing, but that " Gomez went along quite a large space of country which had been navigated by no Spaniard before him,"f and that he went as far south as Florida. But " Florida " was a vague and broad term. Oviedo says, that he went as far south as about 40° or 41º N. But in respect to all the particulars of his voyage we are left to probabilities, and also to the official Spanish charts, which were executed soon after the time of Gomez, and which speak more pre- cisely than the Spanish authors. I shall introduce these charts and examine them in the appendage to this chapter.
The result of this examination will be, that Gomez entered many ports and bays of the coast of New England, and gave names to them, by which they became known in geography for a long time. The territory, of which Maine is a part, was described on Spanish maps, as the "country of Gomez " (Tierra de Gomez).
* A discoverer sailing along our coast from south to north would be likely to make different discoveries, to enter different ports, to be arrested by different impediments, from one sailing from north to south.
t Gomara says: " Anduvo buen pedaco de tierra." And Herrera about the same: " Corria por toda aquella costa hasta la Florida, gran trecho de tierra."
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THE VOYAGE OF GOMEZ, 1525.
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The voyage of Gomez terminated in about 40° or 41º N.,* without his having found any passage to the west, or any of the rich products which he was expected to bring home.t
But determining to present something valuable to his owners, he caught as many Indians as he could take on board his small vessels, and carried them to Spain .¿ No account is given of the place or manner in which these poor captives were taken. But it is reasonable to suppose, that he would not have seized them until he had given up all hope of find- ing a passage to Cathay, and was about entering on his home voyage, and therefore, that they were taken from the southern termination of his cruise, in latitude about 40° N., or about New York bay.
Herrera says, that from " Florida" he went to the island of Cuba, stayed some time in S. Jago, there refitted his vessel, refreshed his men, and was well taken care of by Andres de Duero, whom the emperor afterwards rewarded for this hospi- tality to his pilot.§ Though Peter Martyr and Gomara mention nothing of this visit to Cuba, and make Gomez sail directly to Spain, still Herrera's statement is in the highest degree probable. Vessels coming from the north with exhausted crews, along the coast of Florida, have always considered the West Indies as a harbor of refuge. I could mention many expeditions which, before returning to Europe, have sought refuge in Cuba or Hayti for refreshment and supplies. And as the planters of Cuba were at this time much in need of slaves, it may have appeared to Gomez a good market for his cargo ; and he may have sold there the
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* Oviedo, a contemporary writer, says this quite distinctly in his Somma- rio, cap 10, fol. 14, which, for the first time, was published in the year 1520. t Gomara.
# Peter Martyr says: " utriusque sexus hominibus navem farcivit."
§ Herrera, Dec. III, lib. 8, cap. 8; and Navarrete, I. c. p. 179.
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THE VOYAGE OF GOMEZ, 1525.
greater part of his captives to indemnify his owners. Other writers, however, think that he carried them to Spain to gratify the curiosity of the emperor, as was then customary with explorers.
The circumstances last mentioned tend to confirm the opinion, that Gomez did sail along the coast from Newfound- land to the south ; and not, as Galvano and some modern writers affirm, from south to north.
The entire voyage of Gomez lasted ten months. On this point all the good authorities agree. And as he sailed from Corunna a few days after the 10th of February, he must have arrived at that place on his return about the 10th of December ; and this date agrees with the view which Peter Martyr takes in his letters on the subject. Although in his work he announces, as in a newspaper, the various movements in the progress of discovery, still in none of his letters, written in the month of November, 1525,* does he say anything of the return of Gomez. He speaks of him in a subsequent letter, written probably at the beginning of 1526 .¡ Oviedo says, that he arrived "in the month of November," perhaps at the end of it. The "ten months " of navigation should not, perhaps, be taken literally .¿ But they all concur in making the length of the voyage about ten months ; which is an ample period for his extensive and minute exploration.
On his arrival in Corunna, the public was very anxious to know whether he had succeeded in his great object, and if he had really reached the Moluccas through the northern regions. A good old gentleman, whom they told that the
* See this letter in Peter Martyr, Dec. VIII, cap. 9.
t Peter Martyr, Dec. VIII, cap. 10.
# That is confirmed by the expression used by Peter Martyr, who says that Gomez returned " within the tenth month " (intra mensem decimum a secessu).
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THE VOYAGE OF GOMEZ, 1525.
pilot Gomez had returned and had brought back " esclavos " (slaves), understood them to say " clavos " (cloves or spices). Thinking that this would be good news for the emperor, who at this time held his court at Toledo, he took the swiftest horses, and carried the report that Gomez had reached the Moluccas, and had returned with a ship full of spices and other precious articles. But the meagre truth soon followed, that not "clavos " had been brought home, but only es- clavos, kidnapped against the royal decree by Gomez, who therefore deserved punishment, instead of reward. This mistake gave occasion at the time for a good deal of amuse- ment to the courtiers, and has been related for more than a hundred and fifty years, by every historian and geographer who has written, even if only a few lines, on the discovery of Norumbega .*
A more important consequence of the voyage of Gomez is, that it was the means of introducing another nation to our waters and coasts. Although the Spaniards, since the year 1494, when the line of demarcation between Spain and Por- tugal was drawn, had considered all the regions west of this line as a part of their dominion, and had depicted them as such on their maps; still, no Spaniard, by any act of discovery or possession, had seized those coasts in the name of his king, until this voyage of Gomez in 1525. Gomez had now done this by actual survey, and by giving to the country a Span- ish name, " La tierra de Gomez," which was now entered on their charts.
The Spaniards, and more particularly the mariners and fish- ermen of Biscay, have pretended, like those of Brittany and Normandy, that they and their ancestors, from time immemo- rial, had sailed to Newfoundland ; and, even before Columbus,
* See Peter Martyr, Oviedo, Gomara, Herrera, Wytfliet, De Bry, and in fact all historians and geographers down to Mr. Biddle.
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THE VOYAGE OF GOMEZ, 1525.
had established their fisheries there. But the Spanish his- torian Navarrete, in more modern times, does not sustain this pretension of his countrymen, and shows that it is " not sup- ported nor proved by any contemporary and trustworthy document whatever ; " but that it is proved, on the contrary, by many facts and testimonies, that the fishermen of Guy- puzcoa, S. Sebastian, and other Biscayan ports, did not appear in our waters, or commence their fisheries before 1526, the year after the return of Gomez .* Then and not before, says Navarrete, the Biscay people commenced their voyages to the north-western regions, going every year in the early spring, and returning in the latter part of autumn,-the same seasons of the year in which Gomez had sailed and returned.
Though the proofs on which Navarrete founded his opin- ion,-namely, certain recollections, testimonies, and state- ments of old Biscay fishermen, made upon examination in a lawsuit in 1561,-do not appear to me to be quite conclusive, f still the views of a Spanish historian like Navarrete, are of great force. At any rate, we may come to the conclusion, that if the fisheries of the Spanish Basques on the Banks of Newfoundland and in the vicinity, did not begin with the voyage of Gomez, they received from it a new impulse. Gomez, fitted out as he was in Corunna, very probably took his principal crew from among the hardy navigators of the north of Spain. Herrera, in speaking of the preparations for this voyage and its outfit, says, that the emperor had ordered " the province of Biscay and the four Biscay towns to give him thereunto every possible assistance."# Gomez, on his voyage, made known to the Biscayan sailors who accompa-
* See Navarrete, Colleccion de los viages y descubrimientos, etc., tom. 3, p. 1766 seq. Madrid, 1829.
t The recollections of those old fishermen, examined in the year 1561, may, from want of memory, have gone no higher up than 1526.
# See Herrera, Dec. III, lib. 4, cap. 20.
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nied him, the coasts surrounding the Banks of Newfound- land, Newfoundland itself, the coasts of Nova Scotia and the Gulf of Maine, as far at least as 41º or 40° N. IIe brought back also from these regions accurate maps, or sail- ing charts, and thus made the navigation to them more easy. Moreover, he proclaimed the news through all the north of Spain, that these regions, if not rich in spices, were at least " full of walrusses, cod-fish, salmon, and fish of all sorts." * Such news must have made a great impression on the fishermen of Biscay, and have given them a fresh impulse. From this time, for more than a century, they appeared in these waters every year with a large fleet, and took their place upon the banks as equals by the side of the Bretons, Normans, and Basques of France, until the middle of the seventeenth century, when rival nations dispossessed them of their privileges. i
3. EXPEDITION OF TWO ENGLISH SHIPS, THE MARY OF GUIL .- FORD AND THE SAMSON, UNDER THE COMMAND OF JOHN RUT, 1527.
A wealthy and intelligent merchant of Bristol, Robert Thorne, " in the time of Henry VIII. of, England, a notable member and ornament of his country," was very active in promoting voyages of discovery. In 1527 he was, for some time, settled in Seville in Spain, and from thence he wrote two letters or memoirs, one of which he directed to Doctor Ley, "ambassador in Spain" of Henry VIII, in which he gave information of the parts of the world discovered by the emperor and the king of Portugal ; and another, which he addressed to Henry VIII, exhorting him to prosecute the
* This is mentioned in the inscription on Ribero's map of the year 132). See this map in the appendage to this chapter.
1 Navarrete, I. c. p. 180.
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work which had been begun, of discovering unknown coun- tries.
Hakluyt, who afterwards found and published these two in- teresting old documents, " says, that " this motion took present effect," and that the king sent out "two faire ships, well manned and victualled, and having in them divers cunning men, to seeke strange regions."
One of these vessels was called " The Mary of Guilford," and the other the "Samson." ; They sailed from Plymouth on the 10th of June, 1527.
Biddle § thinks it absurd to suppose, that a letter, written in the year 1527, could have been forwarded, its suggestions considered and adopted, the course resolved on, commanders selected, vessels suitable for such an enterprise prepared, and all the arrangements completed, so as to admit of that early departure on the 20th of May. Hence he concludes, that Robert Thorne is associated with this expedition by Hakluyt, without due consideration. He thinks, on the contrary, that Verrazano, soon after his return from his expedition of 1524, perceiving that in the confused and exhausted state of France, he would have no chance of employment there, had proceeded to England, presented his chart, and probably a report of his former expedition to Henry VIII, and was therefore the true instigator of this undertaking of 1527. So far as Verrazano is concerned, all this appears very probable. Still, Hakluyt's statement regarding Thorne may also be
* See Hakluyt's "Divers Voyages," Ed. John Winter Jones, pp. 27 and 33.
t Hakluyt (Voyages and Navigations, vol. 3, p. 166, London, 1810) says, that according to what he had heard, one of the vessels was named "The Dominus vobiscum." Master Rut, the commander of the expedition, in a letter written by him, gives the two names above mentioned.
# Purchas, Pilgrims, vol. 3, p. 809. Hakluyt says, on the 20th of May from the Thames. Both may be right.
§ Memoir of Cabot, p. 280.
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true to a certain extent. Henry may have lent his ear to the words of Verrazano, and also to the letters of Thorne, if we suppose them to have been written and delivered at the be- ginning of 1527. Thorne's letter may have contributed to confirm the king in his support of Verrazano's scheme. Often, in such cases, an impulse has been derived from differ- ent sources.
The discovery of a north-west passage appears to have been the principal object of the expedition. The ships sailed toward Newfoundland, but went no further north than 53°, where they met with "many great islands of ice," and " a marvailous great storm," which separated the two vessels on the 1st of July. The Mary of Guilford, under command of Master John Rut, "cast about to the southward," and "on the third day of August entered a good haven in Newfound- land, called St. John, where they found eleven sails of Nor- mans, one of Brittany, and two Portugal barks, all a fishing." *
As we have no further account of the Samson, it is proba- ble that she perished in the great storin above mentioned.
The Mary of Guilford "returned by the coasts of New- foundland, Cape Breton, and Norumbega; " often, as Hak- luyt inforins us, "entering the ports of those regions, landing men, and examining into the condition of the country. They reached England in the beginning of October." ¡
The name "Norumbega," or " Arambec," in Hakluyt's time, was applied to Maine, and sometimes to the whole of New England. We have, therefore, in this report, informa- tion of the first instance in which Englishmen are certainly known to have put their feet upon these shores. Though the
* Purchas, I. c.
t Hakluyt, Voyages, Navigations, etc., vol. 3, p. 168. London, 1810. The old edition of Hakluyt (fol. 517, London, 1589) has " coasts of Norumbega." The later editions, including that of 1398-1600, fol. 3, p. 219, have " coasts of Arambec." The names are synonymous.
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