USA > Maine > A history of the discovery of Maine > Part 27
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* Oviedo, I. c. p. 14S.
+ Oviedo, I. c. p. 149.
# Oviedo, I. c. pp. 149, 150.
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CHART OF CHAVES, 1536.
tude 30° 30', and gives it very little prominence. By which it would appear. that this name was given by Gomez, whose authority both au- thors followed, to Cape Ifenlopen, or some headland in its vicinity.
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Oviedo and Chaves call Cape Cod "Cabo de Arecifes" (the reef- cape), which was probably the name originally given to it by Gomez, who cannot be supposed to have overlooked this extraordinary pro- jection.
The following names, "Cabo de St. Jago," " Rio de S. Antonio," " Rio de Buena Madre," " Bahia de Juan Baptista," are placed by Oviedo and Chaves south-west of their Reef-cape. Their river "San Antonio," from Oviedo's description, and from what Gomara says, ap- pears to be the name given by Gomez to Hudson River. The other names are given to places on the southern coast of New England :- Montauk Point, Narraganset Bay, etc.
On the north of his Reef-Cape, Oviedo describes a deep large bay, or Archipelago (Gulf of Maine); making Reef-cape (Cape Cod) a very prominent headland, an " unique point," as Oviedo has it, on the coast.
Ribero, on his map of 1529, has given to the above-named places the same latitude as Oviedo has done; but, unlike Oviedo, puts thein north of "Cabo de Arenas." along the shores of the semicircular gulf, so similar to our Gulf of Maine. He has also a very prominent headland, " a unique point;" but to this headland, looking so much like Cape Cod, he gives the name, not of " Reef-capc," like Oviedo, but of "Cabo de Arenas."
From this it appears probable, that Ribero had before him a copy of Gomez's chart, which was either imperfect, or which he did not inter- pret correctly. He found in the chart of Gomez a good representation of the indented coast of Maine, bordered by innumerable islands ; and also of a prominent headland, very much like Cape Cod. But for some reason, he took this headland to be the "Cabo de los Arenas " of Gomez; overlooking, or not having before him, the name " Reef-cape," the name by which this headland had really been designated by Gomez; and. having committed this error, he followed it out by placing north of this headland the names above mentioned, which had been placed by Gomez north of his Cabo de Arenas. These errors of Ribero were cor- rected by Chaves and Oviedo, who appear to have had the charts and descriptions of Gomez in a better and more complete copy.
From all that has been said, it must appear to be a matter of deep regret, that the chart of Chaves has not come down to us. Nor does it appear to have been known to the geographers of the sixteenth cen- tury, who continued to represent our east coast according to the old map of Ribero, more or less înaccurately copied. The chart of Chaves
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SKETCHES OF VARIOUS CHARTS.
was probably hidden away in some inaccessible archives; while copies of the map of Ribero were dispersed throughout the world; the em- peror himself, by whose order they were composed, having aided in making thiem known.
And although it would appear, that some subsequent geographers must have had some incidental knowledge of Chaves and Oviedo, from their giving now and then some name on their maps not found in Ribero; it was not, however, until 1852, when Oviedo's work was pub- lished by the Academy of Madrid, that his true and full description of the coast became generally known.
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3. MAP, No. 17, SKETCHES 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7 OF THE EAST COAST OF THE UNITED STATES, BY DIFFERENT AUTHORS OF THE SIX- TEENTH CENTURY.
Under this head I will present a series of sketches of our east coast, to show how the materials furnished by Ribero, Chaves, and Oviedo were used by subsequent map-makers. By this it will appear, that in the northern portion of the coast of the present United States, a gulf is represented on all the maps of the time, similar to the Gulf of Maine, and south of it, a cape resembling Cape Cod.
And first I will review the seven sketches copied on our sheet, and name the works from which they have been taken. I regret that, for want of space, I am unable to add the degrees of latitude given on the originals ; but in describing them I will mention, from the originals be- fore me, such as may appear necessary.
No. 1 is taken from an interesting Spanish manuscript map in the possession of Mr. Henry Huth of London, kindly allowed by this gen- tleman to be lithographed for me. I do not know the author of the map, nor the time of its composition. But as the Gulf of St. Lawrence, the isl- and of Antieosti, and the western side of Newfoundland, are quite cor- rectly drawn, it cannot have been made before the time of Cartier, who discovered these coasts in 1534. The mouth of the St. Lawrence is repre- sented, not as a river, but as a strait, with an indistinct ending, just as Cartier, in 1534, supposed it to be. The map was therefore made, prob- ably, in 1534, or at least from materials furnished by Cartier in that year. Our copy gives the map only from "C. Hondo " (Cape Sable) near the Bay of Fundy, toward the west.
The name of Gomez occurs twice on the map; first given to a capo or small inlet, next to the great inlet full of islands, which Ribero has depicted in the same manner, and which Chaves, Oviedo, and many
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SKETCHES OF VARIOUS CHARTS.
others have called "Rio Gamas," the Penobscot Bay. It is called on this map " Rio de Gomez," which may, therefore, be considered as one of the names given by the Spaniards to this principal river of Maine. Gomez appears to have explored this bay somewhat minutely, and inay have given it the name of Deer River; but others may have preferred to name it after liim, as being one of his principal discoveries. A cape west of the Penobscot Bay, on Ribero and Chaves, is called " Cabo de muchas islas,"-one of the headlands near Owl's-head, or, following Oviedo, our Cape Elizabethi.
South-west and south of this cape is delineated a gulf, filled with small islands, like the Gulf of Maine. This gulf at the south, in about 40º N., is terminated on our map by a prominent and pointed cape without a name, resembling Cape Cod. The rest of the coast as far down as Florida is also without names.
No. 2 is taken from an interesting manuscript chart, likewise obtain- ed from the collection of Mr. Huth. I do not know the author; but as the river St. Lawrence, and all the discoveries made by Cartier, 1536 to 1542, are accurately represented, it must have been drawn later than No. 1, probably soon after 1542.
Our sketch gives the coast only from " Rio Fundo" (Bay of Fundy) westward. The configuration of the coast, which for us is the princi- pal point, is accurately delineated on the copy as in the original, al- though I have not retained all the names.
" Rio de Gamas" is drawn in the same manner and position as on the former chart, and as on that of Ribero, and here as there unques- tionably represents the Penobscot. From this a gulf filled with isl- ands trends to the south-west, which in about 40º N. is euded by a large and prominent peninsula, the northern cape or point of which is called " C. de las Arenas."
No. 3 is also obtained from a manuscript map of Mr. Huth. A copy precisely like it exists in Germany in the archives of the Duke of Coburg-Gotha. There it has the inscription: " Baptista Agnese fecit, Venetiis. 1513. die 18 febr." (Baptista Agnese made it, Venice, 1543, on the Isth February). The map, like Nos. 1 and 2, is evidently made from the map of Ribero, and not from that of Chaves and Oviedo. Though it is a very rough sketch, still it preserves the great semicircular gulf in " the country which Estevan Gomez discovered." The gulf is termin- ated at the south, as on the former maps, by a prominent cape, here called " Cabo de Santa Maria;" a name which Oviedo places north of Cape Cod, intending, I suppose, to designate Cape Ann. The names
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SKETCHES OF VARIOUS CHARTS.
" b. de S. Antonio" (Hudson River), "Rio de buena madre," etc., are put, as by Ribero, north of the " prominent cape."
No. 4 is from a printed map made by " Nicollo del Dolfinato, cos- . mographer of his most Christian Majesty," and is annexed to the work " Navigationi del mondo nuovo " (Navigations of the new world), pub- lished in Venice in the year 1560.
It is a very rough sketch, but has clearly marked upon it a deep semi- circular gulf south of "Tierra de los Bretones" (Nova Scotia). The names " S. Antonio " and "S. Christofalo " show, that the same gulf is meant, which Ribero has placed in this part of the coast. It is cut off in the south by the same prominent cape, extending far eastward, and called " C. de S. Maria."
No. 5 is a sketch in exact imitation of the features of the east coast of North America, as drawn in the atlas of Gerard Mercator, published by J. Hondius in 1619. Though the atlas bears this late date, the map itself originated at a much earlier period. It is well known that IIon- dius, a map-maker and map-seller, procured all the old plates of Mer- cator, who died in the year 1595, and reprinted them repeatedly with- out improving them. The map may be ascribed to about the year 1590. It designates the land discovered by Gomez as " Norumbega," and has along its coasts all the old Spanish names first given by Gomez, and found on the map of Ribero, and in the same order in which Ribero has written them.
The semicircular gulf formed by the coast of " Norumbega " is drawn much deeper than usual; and trending to the south as far down as about 39º N., there ends in a very prominent and broad peninsula, the northern point of which is called " C. de las Arenas." To Norum- bega (Northern Virginia, New England) are given none but Spanish names, while south of " C. de las Arenas "in Southern Virginia, some English names appear, introduced by the expeditions made under Sir Walter Raleigh in 1584 and following years.
No. 6 is a sketch taken from the " Novus Atlas," published by Wil- liam and John Blaeu, 2d vol. Amsterdam, 1612. Though published at so late a date, the plate must have been engraved much earlier. It con- tains on the coast of Nova Scotia only the Bay of Fundy, and along the coast of Maine as far down as " Rio de Quenbequin " (Kennebec) a few indications of the discoveries made by the French under De Monts, at the beginning of the seventeenth century. South of the Kennebec, the old Spanish names of Ribero are retained. Along the region of the coast
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SKETCHES OF VARIOUS CHARTS.
of Maine, the name " Norumbega " is written; and here we see again a large gulf with a prominent cape in the south, called "C. de las Are- nas," in about 39º 30' N.
No. 7 is a copy of a delineation of our east coast, taken from a map of America, contained in the " Atlas minor Gerardi Mercatoris," pub- lished by Hondius in the year 1607. It gives to the coast about the same delineation as sketch No. 5, only in a manner somewhat .more rude.
Each of these sketches will serve as an example of many others. The same things were copied and published over and over again, during the whole course of the sixteenth century. I might have given a great many more copies ; but they would only repeat the same or similar delineations and names.
The results of an examination of these sketches, and a comparison of them with each other, and with the maps of Ribero and Chaves, and with the description of Oviedo, may be given as follows :
All the maps exhibit, in the northern region, a semicircular gulf, va- rying in its depth, which in its latitude and its configuration resembles the Gulf of Maine.
They all have a very prominent headland south of this gulf, and in the latitude of about 40º N .; where indeed no prominent headland ex- ists, but where, on the contrary, we find the deep Gulf of New York receding far to the west; while a little more to the north, such a prominent headland, Cape Cod, is actually found.
To this prominent headland nearly all the sketches, agreeing with Ribero, give the name of " Cabo de Arenas;" while this name, accord- ing to Oviedo, originally belonged to a cape not at all prominent on the inner part of the Gulf of New York.
All these charts have consequently perpetuated the error of Ribero, in placing this "Cabo de Arenas," meaning by it Cape Cod, not in 42º N. where it actually is, but in 40° or even 39º N. Some of them have given it the name " Cabo de S. Maria," though this name is given by Chaves and Oviedo to a more northern cape, probably meaning by it Cape Ann.
As the east coast of the United States, during the sixteenth centu- ry, was visited by many other navigators after Gomez, some additional knowledge, or confirmation of what was previously known, may have reached our map-makers from these sources. These navigators no doubt carried home some report about a certain prominent headland existing in the neighborhood of 40º N., or somewhat further in that di-
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rection. None of them could have failed to observe this conspicuous point, as they might easily have overlooked that in the Gulf of New York. By these reports the map-makers were confirmed in holding and transmitting the traditionary error, of identifying the Cabo de Arenas with this prominent cape.
Most of these navigators, like Verrazano in 1524, and Hawkins in 1565, sailed along the coast from south to north with the Gulf-stream. And having been borne by the Gulf-stream further north than by their reckoning they would take themselves to be; in short, having uncon- sciously arrived at 42º N. when they thought themselves to be only at 40°, and having observed a great headland lying in the latitude to which they had arrived, they might naturally have taken it to be a headland belonging to the latitude in which they supposed themselves to be, and have given it the name " Cabo de Arenas," which had been ap- propriated by Chaves to the more southern headland, instead of the proper name, which had been given to it by Gomez, of Cabo de Arecifes. This is exactly what appears to have been done by Ribero, who, as has been before suggested, drew Cape Cod quite correctly, but gave to it a wrong name; and then quite consistently with that error, placed north of it, along the coast of the Gulf of Maine, some names, particularly the Rio de San Antonio, which had before been correctly placed along the Gulf of New York, north of Cape Henlopen or Sandy Hook, the " Cabo de Arenas," of Chaves.
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CHAPTER IX.
FRENCH EXPEDITIONS TO CANADA, IN 1534-1543; AND HORE'S VOYAGE, 1536.
1. FIRST VOYAGE OF JACQUES CARTIER TO THE GULF AND RIVER OF ST. LAWRENCE, IN 1534.
SOME sections of the Gulf and River St. Lawrence, the exploration of which was so intimately connected with that of our State, had been visited and become known long before the year 1534.
The Portuguese and French fishermen, from the year 1504, no doubt repeatedly entered the gulf and perhaps gave it the first name it received of "Golfo Quadrado"* (the square gulf), or "the great bay." Denys in 1506, and Aubert in 1508,-early French commanders of fishing expe- ditions,-are said to have even made maps of this gulf.
The great Spanish, French, and English official explorers,- Gomez in 1524, Verrazano in 1525, and Rut in 1527,-no doubt observed the entrance of the gulf, but probably did not enter it, by reason of information from the fishermen, that it was an interior basin of water, surrounded by land.
The reports and charts of the regions north of Maine and west of Newfoundland, which the French and Portuguese are said to have committed to paper, are nearly all lost. Coming from private persons, and scattered through many
* This name is mentioned in Gomara, Historia de las Indias, vol. 20. Saragossa, 1553.
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little seaports and towns, they would not be generally known to geographers and cosmographers. We possess, however. one old chart, which preserves and represents the information concerning those regions gathered during the first quarter of the sixteenth century; namely, the chart of Gastaldi, of which I have given a copy in No. 11; but even this chart, though based probably on very early explorations, was not published before the middle of the century. Another chart of the Gulf of St. Lawrence, made before Cartier, I will give in the Ap- pendage to this chapter, No. 18 a.
Probably the fishermen and their employers did not favor the diffusion of knowledge respecting their "Terre neuve." They, no doubt, like the governments of that time, had their secrets, and did not like to have others intermeddle with them. They wished to traffic with the Indians for furs, and to dry their cod-fish at the accustomed stations, according to old usage. They would have made, if they could, a mare clausum of the "Square Gulf,"-this prolific habitat of the walrus, the seal, and fish of various sorts. They would gladly have excluded even such of their own countrymen as did not belong to their fishing corporations, from sharing their knowledge and using their charts of these regions ; just as the kings of Spain and Portugal forbade the communica- tion of their charts to foreigners. We observe this reserva- tion of the French fishing interest in every exploring expe- dition not their own, and the hostility of this interest toward nearly every great undertaking ordered by the kings of France. All the subsequent great French explorers, Cartier. De Monts, Champlain, and others, had to contend with this fishing interest, which threw all possible obstacles and troubles in their way. We may, therefore, ascribe to this cause, in part, the deficiency of old reports and charts of this region.
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FRENCH EXPEDITIONS TO CANADA.
The first official exploring expeditions, which changed this state of things, and which were particularly directed to the waters of the St. Lawrence and the north of Maine, were those of Cartier, Roberval, and their companions under the French flag. During the course of their operations, continued for about ten years, they settled nearly all the principal geo- graphical questions connected with this gulf, and the lower part of the River St. Lawrence; determined the shape of the coasts, the course and bendings of the river ; gave names to the important bays, harbors, capes, and remarkable points ; and constructed very accurate charts of them, which were soon afterwards copied in France and other countries.
The River St. Lawrence, including its gulf, lying west, north, and east of Maine, has been and still is to her inhabi- tants an object of considerable commercial importance. It was always a great highroad for the Indian tribes of Maine. At a later time, it served as the basis for many French ex- ploring, commercial, military, and missionary expeditions to and through the territory of Maine, and is to-day an impor- tant outlet for the northern frontier of this State. The first effectual explorations of this river by the French must, there- fore, be regarded as strictly pertinent to the history of the discovery of our State. But since it will be impossible for me to examine and discuss all the points and questions con- nected with the operations of the French in this region, I shall here confine myself to such only as may appear most applicable to our position.
Jacques Cartier was a native of St. Malo, a principal port of Brittany. He was born there in 1494, two years after the first voyage of Columbus to the new world. Like many of his townsmen, he was familiar with the ocean from his child - hood, and accompanied, perhaps conducted, fishing exped tions to the Great Bank. On these occasions he may have
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seen or heard something of the inviting regions lying west, and in the rear of these fishing-grounds,* and may have con- ceived the plan of exploring them more thoroughly in the interest of France. .
With this view, in 1533, he addressed a letter to Philippe de Chabot, seigneur de Brion. admiral of France, proposing a voyage in the name and at the cost of the king, to continue the discoveries commenced in 1524 by Jean Verrazano.
Francis I. was then-soon after the treaty of Cambray, which gave him Burgundy and peace with Spain-in a situa- tion favorable to such an expedition. He agreed to the prop- osition of his admiral and his captain of St. Malo. Two vessels were fitted out with all necessaries for an exploring voyage. armed and manned with a hundred and twenty per- sons, and put under the command of Cartier, and left the port of St. Malo on the 20th of April, 1534.1
Like Cortereal and many others. he directed his course to the east coast of Newfoundland ; and having most favorable weather, after a sail of three weeks he arrived there on the 10th of May, near Cape Buonavista, one of the most eastern headlands of Newfoundland, and usually the " Prima vista " of European discoverers sailing to these regions, and not far from the land-fall of Cortereal in 1500.
* In the first royal commission given to him is the following: "Nous vous avons commis à la navigation des terres par vous ja commencees à decourrir."
We have a report of this voyage, written probably by Cartier himself, or by one of his companions, and preserved to us in an Italian translation by Ramusio, in his 3d vol., fol. 435 seq. Venice, 1556. This was, for a long time, the only authority for Cartier's voyage. Of late, the French think they have discovered in their archives the original report, written by Cartier himself in French; and they have published it under the title "Relation originale du voyage de Jacques Cartier au Canada en 1534, etc." Paris, 1867. But it does not add much to the knowledge drawn from Ramusio.
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From this cape, Cartier, like Cortereal, directed his course to the north, and was much obstructed by great masses of ice. Why he did not go at once to the south-west, to the broad entrance of the St. Lawrence, where he would have escaped the ice, we do not learn. From some allusion in his last report we infer,-what yet appears extraordinary,-that at this time he was still unacquainted with the southern broad entrance to the gulf.
On the 27th of May, he arrived at the gulf of the Castles (Golfe des chateaux), the present Strait of Belle Isle. He found this so full of ice, that he was not able to continue his voyage until the 9th of June. Taking an observation of lati- tude, he found his harbor near the mouth of the strait to be in 51º N., which is nearly correct.
Entering the Strait of Belle Isle, he ranged along the south coast of Labrador, occasionally planting names there in remembrance of some places of Brittany, or in commemora- tion of the events of his voyage ; as for instance : " Isle de St. Catherine," at the entrance of the strait, so named from one of his vessels ; "Brest," from the well-known port in Brittany, which name the French also carried to the coast of Brazil ; "Saint Servan," from a British saint ; " Rivière Cartier," from the commander's name. All these names are found on old maps, but are now forgotten.
Not far from the "Port of Brest," he met a French ship of Rochelle, occupied in fishing ; a proof of what has been stated above, that the French fishermen were accustomed to enter the Gulf of St. Lawrence before the time of Cartier. He found also some aborigines employed in fishing, who were " well built, of good figure, and tall in stature." They told him that they did not live in that region, but in a warmer country; and that they came now and then to these northern shores to catch fish and obtain food. This northern coast
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appeared to Cartier so disagreeable, unproductive, and barren, that he thought "it ought to be the country which God had given to Cain," and resolved to leave it, and cross to the other side of the Strait of Belle Isle, which had here become very broad.
After a sail of twenty leagues from Brest, not far from the present Checatica Bay, he touched a cape which, from its appearance, he named "Cap Double," the present " Point Rich," on the west side of Newfoundland. From this point he sailed along the coast of the great island, in a south- south-west direction, having sometimes fine weather, and sometimes contrary winds and fogs; so that often he could see nothing of the coast. On the 24th of June he arrived at a very prominent cape, which, in honor of the Saint of the day, he named " Cape de St. Jean " (St. John's Cape), the present " Cape Anguille," the most southern point of the west coast of Newfoundland. This is the first time that we have any account of a navigator having been on the west coast of Newfoundland. This part of the coast had been neglected by former discoverers, and left unrepresented on their maps.
From Cape Anguille, leaving Cape Breton and the great entrance of the gulf on the south, he sailed westward and discovered three small rocky islets, which were covered with large flocks of birds "as innumerable as the flowers on a meadow," and therefore were named " Isles aux margaulx." They are still well known to all mariners entering the gulf, under the name of " Bird Rocks."
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