USA > New York > History of the state of New-York : including its aboriginal and colonial annals, vol. pt 1 > Part 9
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t Ante p. 10, and Note 2.
# See Hackluyt's Collection of Voyages. Dr. Forster's Northern Voyages. Belknap's American Biographr. -
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Knowledge of America before Columbus. [PART 1.
§ 22.
But an elaborate disquisition upon cosmogony,* would not be less unprofitable or inappropriate than a minute examina- tion into the truth and particulars of all the ancient voyages, designed or accidental, which, it has been conjectured, led to this continent: even those of an European description, sup- posed to have been made prior to Columbus, we shall not no- tice, except they have some bearing upon our local history. That of Madoc was spoken of under the first question. The Scandinavian voyages were also referred to, and will be exa- mined under the third inquiry. Without attempting, therefore, to identify America, as the land to which Aristotle and Theo- phrastus (65) (two thousand years ago,) asserted that some mer- chants passing Gibraltar, had been tempest-driven far west, or to trace the discovery made by a part of the Phoenician fleet that circumnavigated Africa (66) according to Herodo- tus, or follow that of Carthage, which, Pliny says, extended to the Canary Islands; or inquire whether this continent was first discovered by the Chinese, as Vossius declares : (67) by the Cu- thite or Amonian family whose maritime adventures constitute, as Bryant advances, (6S) so much of ancient mythology ; passing by also the German navigator Martin Behaim, f and the Venetian voyager Zeno,t both of whom have had their advocates: let us turn to Columbus, and see whether at the period in which he flourished, the revival of learning had suf- ficiently prepared the age for the discovery he projected, by a disclosure of such facts as, if known, might justly have strip- ped him of the glory of its origination.
See Washington Irving's Knickerbocker, the first two chapters.
{ Whose discovery is advocated by Mr. Otto, but see Jer. Belknap's tract as to this pretension, and also Vol. I. Belk. Amer. Biog. p. 127, Vol. XIV. North American Review, p. 37.
t See Foster's Northern Voyages. &c. Vol. I. Belk. Amer. Biog. p. 67
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Columbus and his Contemporaries. 105
It may be remarked that these various pretensions have been made since his time. They would probably have slumbered till this day, unless some daring adventurer like him, should have given similar occasion to put them forth.
§ 23.
'The knowledge of the magnet and its power to impart to the needle its polar virtues, was known in Italy at the com- mencement of the fourteenth century .* Still for a century maritime adventure was cautiously hazarded. No idea of a western continent appears to have been prevalent. The torrid zone was still looked upon as a fiery and impassable barrier to modern discovery. (69) Although the project of Columbus resulted from just reasoning upon the figure of the earth, and his discovery, though differing from the one he sought, was the offspring of wise design and fortunate accident ; yet the same ignorance and bigotry which had condemned Virgilius, Bishop of Cologn, for asserting the antipodes, and which had spared his life only on a solemn renunciation, started a like objection to the proposals of Columbus, grounded upon St. Augustine's book, wherein he expressed his doubt of the existence of the antipodes, and the possibility of going from one hemisphere to another. To contradict the writings of this holy father were little less than heresy.f Columbus therefore had to contend . with bigotry and ignorance, to combat cowardly selfishness and that ignoble prejudice which elevates itself to the hypereri- tic's importance, and points to the novelty of a theory, as con- clusive against its verity. The same superstitious incredulity and illiberality of conception, which at other times virulently opposed Descartes for doubting the truth of Aristotle's philo. sophy, once the favourite of the learned; (70) which censo- riously condemned Newton for questioning Descartes ; which in- flicted the inquisition upon Galileo for demonstrating the
* Scc note 2.
See Herrera, Robertson, and Belknap's Life of Columbus VOL. I.
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Knowledge of America before Columbus. [PARTI.
earth's motion ; which treated Locke harshly even for his es- say on the human understanding ; (71) was the predominant characteristic of the times in which Columbus was treated as an insane projector, until by the triumphant result of his experi- ment, he overcame prejudice, ignorance, and superstition, and unfolded to the world a new era in its history.
§ 24.
Although he was not probably ignorant of the vague ideas of the ancients, and certainly had reason to believe, that by sailing westward he should meet new countries, a supposed part of India ; (72) although he was aware of the Portu- quese adventures, and knew that they had crossed the line (1471) twenty-one years before he sailed, yet the rejection of his plans alternately by his native city, by Portugal, and for several years by Spain, exhibit the incredulity of the age, and present him in the true light of an original discoverer.
Original and comprehensive in his views, Columbus improved upon the limited experience, and rejected the visionary theories of his predecessors ; and while he astonished Europe by crown- ing with success the unique singularity of his plans, he dis- played to the eye of philanthropy, a character which happily blended that fervor of inventive genius which dares to trans- cend the confines of long established error, with that decision which deliberates maturely, but adheres confidently to its con- clusions; that caution bordering on timidity, which vigilantly guards against every adventitious obstacle, with that energy of perseverance, which in the pursuit of a determinate object, is undismayed by temporary disappointment, peril, or muti- ny, and constantly rises superior to all opposition, under a strong and noble consciousness of pre-eminent merit and unimpeachable rectitude, which can look envy and malig- nity in the face with cool composure, and smile disdainfully upon ingratitude and chains!
The narrative and incidents of his voyages, and his biogra- phy, are too familiarly known and too remotely connected with
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Columbus.
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the history of this State, to require or justify a recapitulation. Poetry* has combined with historyf in commemorating his fame to immortality. Although this and subsequent Spanish discoveries were the basis of the Spanish claim, supported by the Pope's gift of the discovered continent, (which of course embraced the territory of this State,) yet for the reasons above assigned, we shall hasten by this, as well as the discovery o. Americus Vespucius, į to whom the honour of giving name to the whole continent has been bestowed, with less merit than even Madoc is entitled to, if we are to credit Herbert, and others who are his advocates. But whether this country should be called Colonia, Columbia, Madocia or Nova Brittania, (73) or its northern section, Sebastiana, Cabotia, or Fredonia, (74) is an inquiry, which at this day would be fruitless to institute. A task indeed would it be to induce mankind to stand sponsor to a national baptism.
§ 25.
The discovery of America dispelled the delusions of specu- Jative theory and bigoted prejudice, kindled an enthusiasm which had scarcely example or limits, and originated in modern history, another age of chivalrous crusade, not like that which precipitated Europe upon Asia Minor, but a cru- sade upon a different element, prosecuted with different views and attended with different results, except by that of the me- lancholy waste of life which ultimately followed in their train.
But while it is highly probable that America had been visit-
* Columbiad, by Joel Barlow.
t See life of Colon by his son, in Pinkerton's collections, Robertson's America. See Belknap's Americann Biography Columbus.
# See Viaggid'Amerigo Vespucci, &c. reviewed in Vol. III. (new series) North American Review, p. 318, where the biography and discoveries of Vespucci are traced, his merits vindicated, and those of Columbus, Cabots, &c. canvassed in a manner new and masterly. " America." was it seems, applied at first, to that part of the continent only which is now denominated Brazil.
M
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Knowledge of America before Columbus. [PART I.
ed by Europeans before Columbus, yet such was the state of knowledge in his day, that he richly merits the honour of ori- ginality. Neither can that honour be tarnished by the abuses which followed bis discovery, whether directed towards him- self or towards the unoffending natives of this continent. His was the glory of projecting an achievement which required a character precisely like his to plan and to execute, and which found in a female only, a capacity which could appreciate, and a liberality which would patronise one of the noblest de- signs that human intellect ever conceived. The spirit of mari- time adventure which the successfulresult of this design awak- ened, will be developed in the examination of the next ques- tion, viz:
a
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109 A
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Thirdly, What Europeans first explored the North American cousts, and discovered those and the harbours of New- York ?
IN the examination of the two prior questions, it will have appeared probable, that the North American coasts were visit- ed by adventurers from ancient Europe, many centuries before they were known to modern Europeans. We reserved our in- tended notice of the Scandinavian voyages for present in- quiry, because it is said they extended to our coasts. Dur- ing the eventful transfers of the territorial sovereignty of this State within the two last centuries, from the Iroquois and Le- nape to the Dutch, from the Dutch to the English, and prior to their recognition of our independence, it will be seen that Spain and France, as well as England and Holland, alternately claimed this territory, upon a principle which will be particu- larly developed in the examination of the fourth question. The voyages conducted under the auspices of each of those powers, will therefore be noticed. In the course of the exami- nation, we shall also occasionally refer chronologically to contemporaneous discoveries or events which transpired in North America, not only to illustrate those conflicting pre- tensions, and the principle upon which they were predicated, but also to unfold the grounds of the boundary disputes of our State while a colony, with the surrounding states, and the causes of the wars and revolutions in which New-York has . been involved in consequence of those claims and disputes.
By the coasts and harbours of New-York, we shall under- stand its frontiers and sea-board boundaries as they were de- fined or controverted during our proprietary and colonial governments. or as they are now settled. Consequently, they
110 European Discoveries and Claims to New- York. [PART I.
will partly comprise at the north, Lake Champlain, the rivers Sorelle and St. Lawrence; eastwardly, parts of Vermont, Mas- sachusetts, and Connecticut, as far as the river of that name, and as far as Nantucket, Martha's Vineyard, Elizabeth's isl- and, No Man's Land, Pemaquid, and the territories and islands adjacent, belonging to the Duke of York agreeably to the English eastern colonial boundary :* or from Cape May to Cape Henlopen, according to the Dutch claim; or from Connecticut river to the Delaware, according to their pos- session : westerly, including New-Jersey and part of Pennsyl- vania, until its western confines reached Lake Erie, Niagara, and Lake Ontario.
The discovery of the coasts of this State has been the sub- ject of controversy, especially between the English and Dutch writers of the seventeenth century. In many points they con- tradict each other. Even among the more modern writers of England, some declare that their nation lays a just claim to the discovery, not so much from motives of vanity, as from the desire to defend the British right of possession. (75) Ac- cording to the latter, Sebastian Cabot, sailed along the coast of New-York as early as the year 1497.
§ 27.
But, whether any of the navigators who explored the North American coasts in the sixteenth century, discovered those of New-York, will become the inquiry after we shall have examined the title of the Danes, Norwegians, or Swedes, to the honour, without having acquired the profits of an anterior discovery. If, indeed, the Scandinavian voyagers penetrated as far as
* The former having once comprised "Duke's County," the latter (Pemaquid, &c.) " The County of Cornwall," according to "an Act to divide this province and dependences into shires and countyes," passed 'by the first legislature that ever assembled in this colony, viz. in 1683. (See Vol. II. New-York Revised Laws of 1813. Appex. No. III.) These couri- ties were subsequently surrendered to Massachusetts. (ih.)
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Scandinavians.
§ 27.]
Montauk Point, or any of the islands in that vicinity, they clearly visited. our coast several centuries before any southern European nation had discovered America. If so, the English had no better claim to our territory than the Dutch, whom they dispossessed ; nor the latter, so much right as the Swedes, whose settlement, made in the reign of Gustavus Adolphus, on the Delaware river, was broken up by the Dutch during the administration of their governor, Peter Stuyvesant .*
In a late dissertation, ; written by Johannes Henry Scrho- der,į of the university of Upsal, a learned effort is made to prove that the Scandinavians in the eleventh century extend- ed their discoveries to the coasts of North America, from the 40 or 41st to the 49 or 50th degree of latitude ; consequently, that they coasted Long Island, Martha's Vineyard or Nan- tucket, to Newfoundland.
The learned men in the south of Europe, it would seem from this dissertation, do not appear to have been aware of the value of the records existing in the north, notwithstanding the publication of Torfous more than a century ago, viz. his Vinlandia and Gronlandia Antiqua.§
As early as the middle of the ninth century, the island of Iceland was known to the Norrman, (people of the north, Nor- wegians, Swedes, Danes, or, in one word, Scandinavians) un- der the name of Snaland. Gardar Svafarson, a Swede, cir- cumnavigated the island, and gave it the name of Gardars- holm. He was followed by Bloke, a Norwegian, who gave it its present name, Iceland ( Island.) In order to avoid oppres- sion under the reign of Harald, (surnamed Harfager, that is, with handsome hair) king of Norway, a colony, of the no-
$ As will appear in our History of the Colony of New-Netherlands here- after.
f Om Skandinavernes Fordna Upptäckts-resor Til! Nord Amerika, af Joh. Hear. Schroder. Upsala, 1813. For the translation of such parts of it as are comprised within the following abstract, we are indebted to the Swedish consul, resident in New-York, Henry Gahn, Esq.
# Philos Doctor et Art. Liberal. Magister in Academia Upsaliensi His- tor. Litt. Docens, etc.
! This rare work is in the library of Harvard University.
119 European Discoveries and Claims to New-York. [PARTI.
blest and best men of that country emigrated to Iceland, under their leader, Ingolf, who there established himself in the year 874. Here begin the Islandic written records, and from this period, the voyages and maritime excursions of the Scandina- vians can be traced with tolerable precision.
About a century after the colony of Iceland was establish- ed, Eric Raude, a Norwegian, in the year 981 sailed from that island towards the north, and discovered Greenland, where the climate was then so mild, and the fields so verdant, that it consequently acquired that name.
From those colonies, about the middle of the eleventh cen- tury, these voyages of discovery begin to be mentioned, as occasioned by the zeal of the celebrated Olof Tryggvason, who then appeared in Norway as the noble champion of Christian- ity.
Bjorn Herjulfson, a native of Iceland, a relation of its co- lonizing founder, Ingolf, and an adventurous navigator and shipowner, had proceeded to Norway, and passed some time there. On his return to Iceland, he ascertained that his fa- ther, Herjulf Bardarson, had, in the preceding spring, sailed for Greenland, where he had established himself at the place still called after him, Herjulfenas, * ( Herjulf's Point.) Bjorn Herjulfson, and his associates, immediately resolved to follow in quest of Herjulf, notwithstanding the reputed dangers of such a voyage. Accordingly, they left Iceland, and after a navigation of three days, when no land was in sight, the wind changed to the north, with foggy weather, and blew a heavy ·gale, so that, for several successive days, they did not know their course. At last, one day, when the weather cleared and the storm abated, so that they could hoist their sails, they discovered, towards evening, land, which, they were sure, could not be Greenland, the land-mark of which, (as is related by Sturleson, f) was known to them by its high snowy moun-
* In the map prefixed to Forster's Northern Voyages, it is ' Herjolfs-
i On whose fidelity Mr. Schroder places implicit reliance. He is often referred to in this dissertation, and appears to have been the father of histo- ry in the north.
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New- York a part of ancient Vinland.
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tains. They approached nearer, and discovered a country without mountains, covered with trees, and with here and there small bills.
They did not venture to land, but they now departed, lear- ing the country on their left side, (ba-bord ) and after a naviga- tion of two days, they again saw land, which they found to be flat, and covered with trees. Without landing, they conti- nued their course with a southwest wind (utsynningsbyr, in Islandic) for three days, when they discovered land again, which was high, with barren cliff's, and icy mountains. This they coasted, and found it to be an island. The wind continu- ing the same, they now steered their course to sea, when, after a further navigation of four days, attended by some gales and heavy weather, they at last discovered, and made to the south- easternmost point of Greenland, which was the place of resi- dence of Bjorn Herjulfson's father.
From this account of the voyage, as thus related by Stur- leson, the author of this dissertation, infers, that Bjorn Her- julfson discovered some parts of the coast of North America. He considers that the direction of the wind, as related by Sturleson, is conclusive, 'that the unknown coast was that of North America. A violent north wind drove them to a coun- try far distant, and they left it on their left side ; when they re- turned back to Greenland, with a wind from the south-west.
The fame of these adventurers induced Leifr Erison, an enterprising youth of distinguished courage among the Greenland colonists, to undertake and perform a voyage in the same direction. He had already derived experience from se- veral voyages to Norway, having been engaged in convey- ing to Greenland several of its missionary settlers. In the present novel and hazardous adventure, he associated thirty- five able and bold men like himself, and having purchased Bjorn's ship, he set sail with his comrades. The voyage was prosperous. They found the country Bjorn had disco- vered. Sturleson does not relate the number of days they employed in their voyage thither. They first approached a VOL. I. 15
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114 European Discoveries and Claims to New- York. [PART I. hilly country, which they called ' Helluland,' (land of hills) thence they put to sca, and sailed till they next arrived at ano- ther of a less forbidding aspect than the first. Consulting their safety, they anchored some distance from the coast, and sent their boat ashore. The country was flat, low, woody," contained plenty of roots, and a white sand. They named it ' Markland!' Again they continued their course, with a wind from the north-east, without seeing land for two days, when they arrived at an island, which, according to Sturleson, lay northward from the main land. Here they landed, and the weather being pleasant, they made an excursion into the coun- try. These Norrman were surprised when they found dew on the grass, which was very sweet. They did not remain long, but again entered into their ship, and sailed into a Sound, which, according to Sturleson, lay between the island and a point, which projected northward from the main land, and passing in, they steered westward, until they found the water so low, that they went aground, and lay till flood tide. Then they towed their vessel through the stream into an inlet; which led into a lake, in order to remain there in safety, as they determined to pass the winter here. They according- ly took their things on shore, built temporary huts, and afterwards erected a commodious house. They found abun- dance of fish, especially fine salmon. They were rega- led with excellent fruit. The climate was so mild, that the grass on the ground decayed very little, as there was not much frost during the winter. The days and nights were far more equal than those to which these Norrman had been ac- customed in the north.
Here the author of the dissertation observes, that a diver- sity of commentary upon this passage of Sturleson has pre- vailed among the learned. M. Schroder, however, prefers to follow Schroning, who shows, in his history of Norway, and upon the authority of the statement, as given by the learned Vidalin, that during the shortest day, the sun rose at half-past seven, and set at half-past four, and, of course, that the day was nine hours long ; consequently, that this country should
115
27.] New-York a part of ancient Vinland.
be looked for in the forty-first degree of north latitude. It is probably impossible, says Mr. Schroder, to come nearer to a Gxed conclusion. That the Scandinavians actually discover- ed North America, (he observes in another part of his disser- tation) is confirmed by an Islandic record, which describes that between Greenland and Finland, (the name, which, we shall presently find, was given to that part of the country thus discovered by these last-mentioned adventurers) was an im- mense inlet from the sea, which, without any effort of fancy, is obviously the Strait of Davis and the Bay of Baffin. Vin- land, he continues, must be sought between the fortieth and fiftieth degree of north latitude. The probability is, that these discoveries extended from the fiftieth or forty-ninth degree, down to the forty-first, or from Labrador by Newfoundland, to the coast of Virginia, (as the country comprising the New- England states, New-York, and the states south of it, was de- nominated in the days of Elizabeth.") The most northern region of their discovery, was the ' Helluland' of these ad- venturers. The southern, their 'Vinland,' as Leifr Erison called the country where he took up his abode for the winter, agreeably to the account of Sturleson, to which we shall recur after superadding to Mr. Schroder's observations, one or two of our own. If, as he concludes, the se discoverers penetrated to the fortieth or forty-first degree, some part of the territory, comprised within the colonial, or present boundaries of New- York, must consequently have been that where they located for the winter. Or, if we include its territory under the more comprehensive term of ancient Virginia, New-York, as a part of it, must therefore have been a part of ancient Viuland. We would not feel ourselves at liberty to undertake to fix the pre- cise spot of their wintering haven. If' we should, we might, in the bold flight of a licensed fancy, ranging through the vis- ta of eight centuries, perhaps follow Erison and his brave companions, as they passed into the Long Island .' Sound,' to some harbour westward of its northern extremity; or we might trace them along the eastern ' white sandy' beach of that
* See post. p. 125.
116 European Discoveries and Claims to New- York. [PART I.
island, until they should reach the main land, (now a part of Monmouth county, in New-Jersey) when, determining to winter, and discovering from the inlet at Sandy Hook, that the land they had coasted was an 'island,' lying 'north from the main land,' they proceeded round the point (Sandy Hook) 'which projected northward from the main land,' steered ' westward from it' into Amboy Bay, and wintered on the banks of that or some other bay in the vicinity of Sta- ten Island .*
From this retrospection of inere fancy, we will revert to something more tenable -- the authentic account of Leifr Eri- son in his winter quarters, as continued by Sturleson. Here, having erected a house, Erison divided his party into two di- visions, one of whom were to explore the country, the other to remain at their habitation. The exploring party returned every evening. In their excursions, they found the grape in abundance, and from this, they gave to the country the name of 'Finland,' (the land of the Vine) by which it has ever since been known in the Islandic records.
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