1 'í.i:
^il . ! .Al
Ü i í l f /
»fi'lti
304 AXTENDIX.
No. 52.
In pp. 228-9 of vol. ii, it is stated, " In 1.501-2 Americus Vespucius,
tlien employed by tlie King of Portugal, sailed six hundred leagues
south, aiid one hundred and fifty leagues west, from Cape San Agostinho
(lat. 8° 20' S.) along the coast of a countiy then nataed Terra
Sanctis Crucis. His account of longitude may he very erroneous,
but how could his latitude have erred thirteen degrees in this his
southernmost voyage ?"
Since those jîages were printed, I have obtamed a perfect copy
of the four voyages of Americus Vespucius, written in Latm ; and
I now hasten to correct any erroneous impression which might arise
out of my havmg asserted that Vespucius " could not have explored
farther south than the right bank of La Plata."
By the subjoined extracts from the third voyage of Vespucius, it
appeal's that he sailed to about fifty-two degrees of south latitude ;
and near that latitude discovered land :—which I have no doubt
whatever was Georgia.
These extracts are not only verbally but Hterally copied from
the original : every passage which can throw even the sHghtest
light upon dates, times, courses, distances or positions, is here given ;
the portions of the narrative which are omitted relate solely to what
Vespucius saw on the land. According to his narrative, he went to
the Canaries, thence to the coast of Aftica near Cape Verde ; from
which place he sailed to the coast of Brazil, near, but to the westward
of Cape St. Roque ; thence he worked to mndward against
the current, till he reached Cape San Agostmho ; and from that point
he coasted to about the River Grande, in thirty-two south. From this
port, whether the River Grande or a place near it, Vespucius steered
to the south-east (per Seroccum) five hundred leagues ; found the
south pole elevated fiftj'-two degrees, the night fifteen hours long,
the cold excessive, a high sea, a succession of tempestuous weather,
and land precisely. like Georgia, but not at all resembling any part of
the FalHands. Georgia lies somewhat farther south than the
latitude mentioned (being in 54°—55°) ; but we should talie into
consideration the instruments used at sea in 1502 ; the all but utter
ignorance of southern stars ; and the succession of had weather
encountered by Vespucius about the time of his seeing land near
52° S.
APPENDIX.
From this latitude he sailed thirteen hundred leagues towards the
north and north-east, and arrived at Sierra Leone; whence he went
to the Azores and to Lisbon.
The internal evidence eontamed in the naiTative of this voyage
affords satisfactory proof of its authenticity. Whether the design
of Vespucius was to seek for southern land, or endeavour to sail
to ' Cathay' by the shortest line (the arc of a great circle), does not
appear : but as we know he was skilled in mathematics and of an
enterprising character, such a conjecture as the latter may be not
totally improbable.
Navigatio tertia Americi Vesputii.
" Igitur ab hoc Lisbon» portu cum tribus consers'antise navibus
die Maii decima MDI abeuntes, cursum nostrum versus magnos Canarise
Ínsulas arripuhnus, secimdum quas et ad earum prospectum
instanter enavigantes, idem navigium nostrum coUateraliter secundum
Aphricam occidentem versus sequuti fuimus."
* * * * * * *
" Exinde autem ad partem illam jEthiopise, quae Besilicca dicitur,
devenimus : quce quidem sub torrida zona posita est, et superquam
quatuordecim gradibus se septentrionalis erigit polus in climate primo
: ubi diebus undecim nobis de lignis et aqua provisionem parantes
restitimus, propter id quod Austrum versus per Atlanticum pelagus
navigandi müii inesset aífectus. Itaque portum ^thiopife ilium post
hsec relhiquentes, tunc per Lebeccium ventum in tantum navigavimus,
ut sexaginta et Septem infra dies Ínsulas cuidam appheuerimus, quae
insula septingentis à portu eodem leucis ad Lebeccii partem distaret.
In quibus quidem diebus pejus perpessi tempus fuimus, quam unquam
in mari quispiam antea pertulerit, propter ventorum nimhorumve
impetus, qui quamplurimum nobis intulere gravamina, ex eo
quod navigium nostrum linese prsesertim sequinoctiali continue june»
tum fuit, Inibique in mense Junio hyems extat, ac dies noctibus
sequales sunt, atque ips0e umbrse nostrse continue versus meridiem
erant. Tandem vero omninotanti placuit novam unam nobis estendere
plagam, decima séptima, scihcet, Augusti, juxta quam, lenca
sepositi ab eadem cum media, restitimus, et postea assumptis cymbis
nonnulhs in ipsam visuri si inhabitata esset, profccti fuimus."
* * * * * ;|t ;|!
I