■Voyage o f Colon, Mr. M u ir has jd ftly ObferVed that this great m l »
gator could n ot pofiibly have derived any- intdllgonce from that ;gtobe,
From the p rin t which-he has published it appears that, beyond rib'
Azores and Manda o f& p e
ifle o f A n t i B d ; a n d beyond this, near the equator; the ifland of & t .3 ? a n -
e&», alfo called B u t , a fort o f ideal para<fife, de'feribed m A- work o f the
middle a g ^ ftyled th e Voyage o f St. BraWdartj âltd tv h k h ïs pMpàMy
founded upon the belief o f the pagan In fo , «hat,:, after death, thefr fouls
returned to theirfathers m adellghtful ifland to th e weft. After paffcng
the ifle o f St. Brandan ocfciïra th e Z i p a n g u , or Japan, o f MardO at
nearly an equal diftance from St. Brand an a s th e -M e r -b e a ts f r e n i J re
ifles o f Gape Vërd ; for Ptolemy h ad extended h is o rk n t-M 'k ^ em fe s
to foch a furprifing degree, th a t there was little
after laying down at random - die jfifcoveries- o f Marco- Polo.' -Bence
w hen Colon arrived at the Weft* Indies hé. conceived th a t taf was m l ê t e
neighbourhood o f J a p a n ; and the ü am & tr fM a w^impF<rfedlns«mw
and improper fenfe. — " -
4 From this brie f inveftigation it will fufficiently appear that* there' is no
room to deprive Colon o f one atom o f Ms* gfcry, as Behaimv Who was
the moft complete geographer o f his time, evinces that there was no
prior diftovery, upon thfe route followed by that great rtàVrgâtôrlS^’Phe
difcôvéry o f Vmland could fcarcely have been known 60 huh i- and that
o f Greenland was fo remote, tha t there was no room for a fuggeftion
th a t this region formed a part o f a,prodigious continent,* I t w4fl now
Be proper to ftate the ehief epochs o f American difcovery.
A. D. 982. Greenland difcovered by the Norwegians, who fîâïited
* a colony. ~~ '
t o b $ . Vinland, th a t is a p a rt o f L abrador or Newfouftd&My Vifled
b y the Norwegians, an d a {mail colony left, which, however, foon- pe-
rifhed.
» In the curious life of Colon by his fon Fernando, cap. vi: vii. the rcafons are explained.which
led Colon to fnfpeft the exiftence of land to the weft ; that the world was fpherical, and m ig h t be
circumnavigated ; the difcovery of the Azores, &c., between-which and the extreme lo n g itu d e ot,
Ptolemy there could'only be the thirdpart of a fphere ; the great fize of India as defenbed by the
ancients, which induced.him,to think of reaching that country from the weft, as Colon im ag in ed
that the HefperMes of the aheients muft be iflands of the Eaffe Indies, &c. &c. The difcoveries
of Marco.-Polo, and the iflands of Antilla and St. Braudan, had alfo great weight. After
After this tSiefe fte n b aflph’g ^aufe,-for1 no fufrhër difcoVery in- America
has hitherto*’Beèd tftmbft exbftionj oflearned r-efearch,
fill fhl'rinre o f GJbïëfri. But ithh'-PbrÉtigtaëfè -iip the fifteenth
ceritifrj-had gradttólï^ erriSar^etl kpov^éd^è* ata*d?'emèÖü*raged entetprifo.
T t k Gftnary Bland's appear-tb have been faintly1 known to the Spaniard# ,
aboM-htiïè' • Vfrffilflte -foqiteén tsh- ,< ëéfi t-tif,y-: ' in d the * N-órmans ó 4
fraSê%”irt- th e uftfal- eHterprifeig fpirit ó f ris-efr progenitors, had made
pirafktd'-eixfèürii'ons- as-far as1 fhefe' ifles, which were aelëiïgtfe completely
conquered by a Norman, gentleman,* JéSto de- BetbenGonrt, in *4028,
Who; By the-eómëtit ^efürfy.Aftm-e'd* «hei title of king o f
the Canaries.* Madeira, is* {Md. to havb been difeovered by 1 thé RngliMi:
»*'' “but &e iflhnds o f Cap^'fle* Vèrd feetïi not to have bee» *
know« rill »446^ttor iBe AzoifesfiMi 1*449-.? Tkefe heft ifles,i-fröm ifffèir
pèfftfonv ^properly belong to- Europe ; and; the king of Portugal,' in -
1466, gave them* to Ms After the dbchefc o f Burgundy,. W a r and fo*
i&iti#then* prëvai&ig' M*ElandjerSy mMay people pafféd from, th a t co u n try ,
to the Azores; among whom* wafe *Jobidè ^Hi^rjilr; ford- o f MöïEkirèhen:;»
ih tlaW&rs, who afterwards* r e f td e d S Fayal, and appears to haye-hadi
a grant o f h fe Azores- from the djuchefs- o f B-urgundy, - The, celebrated
geographer Behaiia married- the daughter o f Huecter :• by his, account,,,
as iriferibed on his globe, the Azmes Were difoovered in 143,1, and were.'
fo named-from the numetoos gofliawks there found» T h e difcoycry o f
foéfétafle% fö fa t to^ th e Weft, proved* apf important motive to the further «
refearehes! o f Colon-; w h o was* alfo mftigated-by the-numerous. Portu« -
guefeiifdoveties in- Africa, where the Cape o f G o o d Hope had been,-
feerbby Diaz in 1-486*.
149®.; Celow foils-froth- Spain,, in queft o f the n ew world, on Fri- -
day tihe 3 d day o f Auguft. - On. the ift ofoOdiober n(e* was, by his reck-
°aingi leagues W; o f the Canaries. H is men began to mutiny^,
and he was forced to promhfe. to return in three days, i f land did. not*:
* See the very curious hiftory of -this con^ueft, writteii -by- hfo- dbnle&ib chaplMnSy ^id pUbfilfeia 6
at Paris 1,630; 8v0.
* Bergeron, p. 36. Rpbertfou, America, £ 57. fays in 1419' b'ythe Pottugutfe, by whom it-
was cblönize'diri* t4tro.
s But Murr lays that the Azores were explored fucceffiv*ely 1432-1449. iPhfe chronology o f -
theft difcoveries wpuld require a diircrtation, and an infpeftftn of the Portuguefe archives.
appear* . -