Part 1184

ALEXANDRIA: Library.

See LIBRARIES, ANCIENT (page 2003).

AMANA COMMUNITY, The.

See SOCIAL MOVEMENTS: A. D. 1843-1874 (page 2945).

AMERICA: Start--------

AMERICA: The discoverers of the Northern Continent. Mr. Harrisse's conclusions.

"The main points attained in this elaborate survey of all the facts and documents known can be recapitulated as follows,—perhaps with less assurance than a desire to be succinct may undesignedly impart to our expressions:

1. The discovery of the continent of North America, and the first landing on its east coast were accomplished not by Sebastian Cabot, but by his father John, in 1497, under the auspices of King Henry VII.

2. The first landfall was not Cape Breton Island, as is stated in the planisphere made by Sebastian Cabot in 1544, but eight or ten degrees further north, on the coast of Labrador; which was then ranged by John Cabot, probably as far as Cape Chudley.

3. This fact was tacitly acknowledged by all pilots and cosmographers throughout the first half of the 16th century; and the knowledge of it originated with Sebastian Cabot himself, whatever may have been afterwards his contrary statements in that respect.

4. The voyage of 1498, also accomplished under the British flag, was likewise carried out by John Cabot personally. The landfall on that occasion must be placed south of the first; and the exploration embraced the northeast coast of the present United States, as far as Florida.

5. In the vicinity of the Floridian east coast, John Cabot, or one of his lieutenants, was detected by some Spanish vessel, in 1498 or 1499.

6. The English continued in 1501, 1502, 1504, and afterwards, to send ships to Newfound·land, chiefly for the purpose of fisheries. …

7. The Portuguese mariners who lived in the Azores were the first who probed the Atlantic in search of oceanic islands and continents. Their objective, after the discovery achieved by Christopher Columbus, was the north-east coast of the New World.

8. The earliest authentic records of Lusitanian transatlantic expeditions begin only with Gaspar Corte-Real, who made three, and not two voyages only; all to the same regions, as follows: The first voyage of that navigator was undertaken previous to May, 1500, in the direction of Greenland and Newfoundland, and proved an absolute failure. The second voyage lasted from the early part of the summer of 1500 until the autumn of that year, and embraced the east coast of Newfoundland, from its northernmost point down to Cape Race. The third expedition set out from Lisbon early In the spring of 1501. It was composed of three vessels. One of these returned to port On the 8th or 9th of October, the second on the 11th following. As to the third, which was under the Immediate command of Gaspar Corte-Real, it was ice-bound or shipwrecked, we do not know when nor where, but probably in Hudson Bay, during the winter of 1501-1502. The country visited during the first part of the expedition seems to have been the northern extremity of Newfoundland and the coast of Labrador.

9. The expedition of Miguel Corte-Real in search of his brother, sailed May 10, 1502, and was also lost. …

10. Portugal continued to send ships to the fishing banks; and the region south of Newfoundland was explored, particularly by João Alvares Fagundes before 1521. …

11. The assertion that already in the time of Christopher Columbus navigators and geographers believed in the existence of a continent interposed between the West Indies and Asia, and which was not Cathay, stands uncontroverted either by contemporary authorities, or by the early Spanish charts. Nay, it is corroborated by that class of proofs.

12. The absolute insularity of Cuba was an acknowledged fact years before the periplus made by Sebastian de Ocampo, in 1508.

13. The mainland of the New World was believed to be a continent distinct from Cathay and from India the moment navigators commenced to search after a strait leading from the Atlantic Ocean to the Asiatic seas.

14. The idea that America was a mere prolongation of Asia ceased therefore to be entertained almost immediately after the discovery of its east coast; by John Cabot in 1497; by Americus Vespuccius, before 1501; by Gaspar Corte-Real, before 1502.

15. Christopher Columbus himself soon ceased to think that he had discovered Cathay, or the Asiatic coast.

16. So early as October, 1501, the notion prevailed in Europe that from Circulus articus to Pollus Antarticus, the newly discovered land formed a single coast line belonging to a separate continent."

_H. Harrisse, Discovery of North America, part 1, book 8, chapter 5._

AMERICA: The alleged first voyage of Vespucius.

In the first volume of this work (page 52) the argument in support of the disputed claim for Amerigo Vespucci, or Vespucius, that he made a voyage in 1497-8 during which he coasted the American continent from Honduras to Cape Hatteras, is given in an excerpt from Dr. Fiske's "Discovery of America." The following, from a paper by Mr. Clements R. Markham, read before the Royal Geographical Society in June, 1892, presents, in part, the counter argument: "Vespucci's account of his alleged first voyage is briefly as follows. He says that he went to Spain to engage in mercantile pursuits, but that after some years he resolved to see the world and its marvels. King Ferdinand having ordered four ships to go forth and make discoveries to the westward, Vespucci was chosen by His Highness to go in the fleet, to assist in the work of discovery. They sailed from Cadiz on May 10th, 1497, and reached Grand Canary, which, he says, is in 27° 30' North, and 280 leagues from Lisbon. {3679} There they remained eight days, and then sailed for thirty-seven (twenty-seven, Latin version) days on a W. S. W. course ('Ponente pigliando una quarta di libeccio'), reaching land when they were nearly 1,000 leagues from Grand Canary. For they found, by their instruments, that they were in 16° North latitude and 75° West longitude. Vespucci then gives a long account of the natives. After some days they came to a village built over the water, like Venice, about forty-four houses resting on very thick poles. Sailing along the land for 80 leagues, they came to another people, speaking a different language, where Vespucci saw an iguana being roasted, which he describes. He made an excursion inland for 18 leagues, and found the country very populous. This place was on the Tropic of Cancer, where the latitude is 23° North. The province is called 'Parias' (Latin version), 'Lariab' (Italian version). Thence they sailed, always in sight of the land, on a Northwest course ('verso el maestrale') for 870 leagues, having intercourse with many tribes, and finding some gold. When they had been absent thirteen months the ships begun to leak, and required caulking, so they entered the best harbour in the world, where there were many friendly people. Here they refitted, and remained for thirty-seven days. They then sailed eastward for seven days, and carne to some islands 100 leagues off the mainland, inhabited by fierce people called 'Iti.' They had encounters with the natives, when one of their men was killed and twenty-two were wounded. They then sailed for Spain with 222 slaves, arriving at Cadiz on October 15th, 1498, where they sold their slaves, and were well received. This is the story of Vespucci. It has been considered to be a fabrication from that time to this, for the following reasons. Vespucci was at Seville or San Lucar, as a provision merchant, from the middle of April, 1497, to the end of May, 1498, as is shown by the official records, examined by Muñoz, of expenses incurred in fitting out the ships for western expeditions. Moreover, no expedition for discovery was despatched by order of King Ferdinand in 1497; and there is no allusion to any such expedition in any contemporary record. The internal evidence against the truth of the story is even stronger. Vespucci says that he sailed West South West for nearly 1,000 leagues from Grand Canary. This would have taken him to the Gulf of Paria, which is rather more than 900 leagues West South West from Grand Canary. It would never have taken him near the land at 16° North. Even with a course direct for that point, instead of a West North West course, and disregarding intervening land, the distance he gives would leave him 930 miles short of the alleged position. No actual navigator would have made such a blunder. He evidently quoted the dead reckoning from Ojeda's voyage, and invented the latitude at random. It is useless for the defenders of Vespucci to refer to the faulty reckonings of those days, and to pilots thinking they were near the Canaries when they were off the Azores. This is a different matter. It is the case of a man alleging that he has fixed his position by observations, and giving a dead reckoning nearly a thousand miles out, in the belief that it would bring him to the same point. It is fudging, but the fudging of a man ignorant of a pilot's business. His statement that he went Northwest for 870 leagues (2,610 miles) from a position in latitude 23° North, is still more preposterous. Such a course and distance would have taken him right across the continent to somewhere in British Columbia. The chief incidents in the voyage are those of the Ojeda voyage in 1499. There is the village built on piles called Little Venice. There is the best harbour in the world, which was the Gulf of Cariaco, where Ojeda refitted. There was the encounter with natives, in which one Spaniard was killed and 22 were wounded. These numbers are convincing evidence. … Vespucci does not mention the commanders of the expedition, nor any Spanish name whatever, and only gives two names of places, namely, 'Parias' or 'Lariab,' and 'Iti,' both imaginary. Humboldt was aware of the proofs that Vespucci could not have been absent from Spain in 1497-98, and that the incidents of his alleged first voyage belonged to that of Ojeda; but he was reluctant to believe in actual fraud. He therefore suggested that there were misprints with regard to the dates; that the first voyage of Vespucci was that of Ojeda; and that the Florentine merchant returned home from Española in time to join the voyage of Pinzon in 1500, which was the second voyage. But no one was allowed to land from Ojeda's ships at Española, and the dates are too detailed, and occur too clearly in both versions, to admit of the wholesale alterations demanded by this theory. The Baron Varnhagen, in his defences of Vespucci, published in 1865 at Lima, and in 1869 at Vienna, takes a bolder course. He adopts the whole of the statements of Vespucci as perfectly true, including the dates; but his defence does not amount to much. He was evidently unaware of the extent of the error in Vespucci's reckoning, and did not realise the inevitable inference. He got over the Little Venice difficulty by suggesting that there were many other villages built on piles, and that there might have been one on the coast of Tabasco. That is true. There was also the old Quebec hotel in Portsmouth Harbour; but this is not the point, and he failed to see where the difficulty lies. The Little Venice was a discovery in Ojeda's voyage when Vespucci was present. Its recurrence here, and its omission in the version of Ojeda's voyage by Vespucci, are the suspicious points which Varnhagen fails to explain away. Of the words 'Parias' and 'Lariab' in the two versions, Varnhagen prefers the latter. It is quite impossible to tell which form, or whether either, was in the original manuscript. Although there is no such place as 'Lariab,' yet a Mexican author, named Orozco, said that some of the names of places near Tampico, where the Huasteca language is spoken, ended in 'ab.' This is a point, so far as it goes—which is not very far. Even the voyage of 870 leagues Northwest from latitude 23°, does not daunt the Baron. He ignores Vespucci's course, and takes him a marvellous voyage round the shores of the Gulf of Mexico and the peninsula of Florida, to Cape Hatteras, where he certainly does not find the best harbour in the world. Thence Vespucci is taken to Bermuda, identified as 'Iti,' and so home. It is well known that Bermuda was uninhabited before its settlement by Europeans, and that there were no signs of previous inhabitants; while the 'Iti' of Vespucci was densely peopled with fierce savages. But this is ignored by Varnhagen. {3680} It would certainly have been a most extraordinary voyage, and it is still more extraordinary, that though the secret must have been known to many people at the time, it should have been inviolably kept without any object in such secrecy, and that the discoveries should have appeared on no map and in no narrative. Yet Vespucci's story, though a bold flight, bears no comparison with the grandeur of Varnhagen's conception of it."

_C. R. Markham, Fourth Centenary of his Discovery, note 2 (Royal Geographical Society, Proceedings, 1892, September)._

AMERICA: Monetary effects of the discovery of America.

See MONEY AND BANKING: 16-17TH CENTURIES (page 2208).

AMERICA: End--------

AMERICAN ABORIGINES: Iroquois Confederacy. Hiawatha the founder.

See IROQUOIS CONFEDERACY (page 1802).

AMERICAN COLONIAL TRADE.

See (in this Supplement) COMMERCE, MODERN.

AMERICAN LIBRARIES.

See LIBRARIES, MODERN (page 2017, and after).

AMERICAN LIBRARY ASSOCIATION.

See LIBRARIES, MODERN (page 2021).

AMHERST COLLEGE, The founding of.

See EDUCATION, MODERN (page 733).

AMPERE'S ELECTRO-MAGNETIC DISCOVERIES.

See ELECTRICAL DISCOVERY AND INVENTION: A. D. 1820-1825 (page 772).

[Transcriber's note: For a detailed look at electrical theory of 1892.]

_T. O'Conor Sloane, The Standard Electrical Dictionary, www.gutenberg.org/ebooks/26535._

AMSTERDAM, The founding of the Bank of.

See MONEY AND BANKING (page 2208).

ANÆSTHETICS, The discovery of.

See MEDICAL SCIENCE: 19TH CENTURY (page 2143).

ANARCHISM AND NIHILISM.

See SOCIAL MOVEMENTS: A. D. 1839-1894; and 1860-1870 (pages 2941 and 2948).

ANDORRA.

"The pastoral and picturesque valley of Andorra, a jumble of hills, enclosed on all sides by the Pyrenean spurs, extends about 7 L. long by 6 broad, and is bounded by the French and Spanish ridges, by Puigcerdá to the South and East, by the Comté de Foix (départ. de l'Ariège) to the North, and by the Corregimiento of Talaru to the West. Watered by the Balira [or Valira], Ordino, and Os, it is one of the wildest districts of the Spanish Pyrenees, abounding in timber, which is floated down the Balira and Segre to Tortosa. The name Andorra is derived from the Arabic Aldarra, 'a place thick with trees,' among which is found the Cabra Montaraz, with bears, boars, and wolves."

_R. Ford, Handbook for Travellers in Spain, part 1, section 6._

"The republic of Andorra is said to owe its existence to a defeat of the Saracens by Charlemagne or Louis le Débonnaire, but in reality up to the French Revolution the valley enjoyed no sovereign rights whatever. It was a barony of the Counts of Urgel and of Aragon. In 1278 it was decided that Andorra should be held jointly by the Bishops of Urgel and the Counts of Foix. In 1793 the French republic declined to receive the customary tribute, and in 1810 the Spanish Cortes abolished the feudal regime. Andorra thus became an independent state. The inhabitants, however, continue to govern themselves in accordance with old feudal customs, which are not at all reconcilable with the principles of modern republics. The land belongs to a few families. There is a law of entail, and younger brothers become the servants of the head of the family, whose hospitality they enjoy only on condition of their working for him. The tithes were only abolished in 1842. The 'liberty' of these mountaineers consists merely in exemption from the Spanish conscription and impunity in smuggling; and, to increase their revenues, they have recently established a gambling-table. Their legitimate business consists in cattle-breeding, and there are a few forges and a woollen factory. The republic of Andorra recognises two suzerains, viz. the Bishop of Urgel, who receives an annual tribute of £25, and the French Government, to whom double that sum is paid. Spain and France are represented by two provosts, the commandant of Séo de Urgel exercising the functions of viceroy. The provosts command the militia and appoint the bailiffs, or judges. They, together with a judge of appeal, alternately appointed by France and Spain, and two 'rahonadores,' or defenders of Andorran privileges, form the Cortes. Each parish is governed by a consul, a vice-consul, and twelve councillors elected by the heads of families. A General Council, of which the consuls and delegates of the parishes are members, meets at the village of Andorra. But in spite of these fictions Andorra is an integral part of Spain, and the carabineers never hesitate to cross the frontiers of this sham republic. By language, manners, and customs the Andorrans are Catalans. Exemption from war has enabled them to grow comparatively rich."

_E. Reclus, The Earth and its Inhabitants: Europe, Spain, section 6._

ANN ARBOR, University at.

See EDUCATION, MODERN (page 732).

ANNAM.

See TONKIN (page 3114).

ANSELM: Dispute with William Rufus.

See ENGLAND: A. D. 1087-1135 (page 796).

ANTIOCH, The early Christian Church in.

See CHRISTIANITY: A. D. 33-100 (page 435).

ANTIOCH COLLEGE.

See EDUCATION (page 744).

ANTI-SEMITE MOVEMENT, The.

See JEWS: 19TH CENTURY (page 1931).

APOSTLES, Missionary labors of the.

See CHRISTIANITY: A. D. 33-100 (page 433).

ARABS: Ancient and Mediæval Commerce.

See (in this Supplement) COMMERCE.

ARABS: Medical Science.

See MEDICAL SCIENCE: 7-11TH CENTURIES (page 2129).

ARCTIC EXPLORATION: Start--------

ARCTIC EXPLORATION: A Chronological Record.

ARCTIC EXPLORATION: 1500-1502. Discovery and exploration of the coast of Labrador and the entrance of Hudson Strait by the Cortereals.

ARCTIC EXPLORATION: 1553. Voyage of Willoughby and Chancellor from London, in search of a northeast passage to India. Chancellor reached Archangel on the White Sea, and opened trade with Russia, while Willoughby perished with all his crew.

ARCTIC EXPLORATION: 1556. Exploring voyage of Stephen Burroughs to the northeast, approaching Nova Zembla.

ARCTIC EXPLORATION: 1576-1578. Voyages of Frobisher to the coast of Labrador and the entrance to Davis Strait, discovering the bay which bears his name, and which he supposed to be a strait leading to Cathay; afterwards entering Hudson Strait.

ARCTIC EXPLORATION: 1580. Northeastern voyage of Pet and Jackman, passing Nova Zembla.

ARCTIC EXPLORATION: 1585-1587. Three voyages of John Davis from Dartmouth, in search of a northwestern passage to India, entering the strait between Greenland and Baffinland which bears his name and exploring it to the 72nd degree north latitude.

{3681}

ARCTIC EXPLORATION: 1594-1595. Dutch expeditions (the first and second under Barentz) to the northeast, passing to the north of Nova Zembla, or Novaya Zem]ya, but making no progress beyond it.

ARCTIC EXPLORATION: 1596-1597. Third voyage of Barentz, when he discovered and coasted Spitzbergen, wintered in Nova Zembla with his crew, lost his ship in the ice, and perished, with one third of his men, in undertaking to reach the coast of Lapland in open boats.

ARCTIC EXPLORATION: 1602. Exploration for a northwest passage by Captain George Weymouth, for the Muscovy Company and the Levant Company, resulting in nothing but a visitation of the entrance to Hudson Strait.

ARCTIC EXPLORATION: 1607. Polar voyage of Henry Hudson, for the Muscovy Company of London, attaining the northern coast of Spitzbergen.

ARCTIC EXPLORATION: 1608. Voyage of Henry Hudson to Nova Zembla for the Muscovy Company.

ARCTIC EXPLORATION: 1610. Voyage of Henry Hudson, in English employ, to seek the northwest passage, being the voyage in which he passed through the Strait and entered the great Bay to which his name has been given, and in which he perished at the hands of a mutinous crew.

ARCTIC EXPLORATION: 1612-1614. Exploration of Hudson Bay by Captains Button, Bylot, and Baffin, practically discovering its true character and shaking the previous theory of its connection with the Pacific Ocean.

ARCTIC EXPLORATION: 1614. Exploring expedition of the Muscovy Company to the Greenland coast, under Robert Fotherby, with William Baffin for pilot, making its way to latitude 80°.

ARCTIC EXPLORATION: 1616. Voyage into the northwest made by Captain Baffin with Captain Bylot, which resulted in the discovery of Baffin Bay, Smith Sound, Jones Sound, and Lancaster Sound.

ARCTIC EXPLORATION: 1619-1620. Voyage of Jens Munk, sent by the King of Denmark to seck the northwest passage; wintering in Hudson Bay, and losing there all but two of his crew, with whom he succeeded in making the voyage home.

ARCTIC EXPLORATION: 1632. Voyages of Captains Fox and James into Hudson Bay.

ARCTIC EXPLORATION: 1670. Grant and charter to the Hudson Bay Company, by King Charles II. of England, conferring on the Company possession and government of the whole watershed of the Bay, and naming the country Prince Rupert Land.

ARCTIC EXPLORATION: 1616. Voyage of Captain John Wood to Nova Zembla, seeking the northeastern passage.

ARCTIC EXPLORATION: 1728. Exploration of the northern coasts of Kamtschatka by the Russian Captain Vitus Behring, and discovery of the Strait which bears his name.

ARCTIC EXPLORATION: 1741. Exploration of northern channels of Hudson Bay by Captain Middleton.

ARCTIC EXPLORATION: 1743. Offer of £20,000 by the British Parliament for the discovery of a northwest passage to the Pacific.

ARCTIC EXPLORATION: 1746. Further exploration of northern channels of Hudson Bay by Captains Moor and Smith.

ARCTIC EXPLORATION: 1753-1754. Attempted exploration of Hudson Bay by the colonial Captain Swaine, sent out from Philadelphia, chiefly through the exertions of Dr. Franklin.

ARCTIC EXPLORATION: 1765. Russian expedition of Captain Tchitschakoff, attempting to reach the Pacific from Archangel.

ARCTIC EXPLORATION: 1768-1769. Exploration of Nova Zembla by a Russian officer, Lieutenant Rosmyssloff.

ARCTIC EXPLORATION: 1769-1770. Exploring journey of Samuel Hearne, for the Hudson Bay Company, from Churchill, its most northern post, to Coppermine River and down the river to the Polar Sea.

ARCTIC EXPLORATION: 1773. Voyage of Captain Phipps, afterwards Lord Mulgrave, toward the North Pole, reaching the northeastern extremity of Spitzbergen.

ARCTIC EXPLORATION: 1779. Exploration of the Arctic coast, east and west of Behring Strait, by Captain Cook, in his last voyage.