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Page 43
One of these documents must, therefore, have been the source of the
other. In determining between them, there can be no mistake in
adopting as the original, that one which has a certain and
indisputable authenticity, and rejecting that which is unsupported
by any other testimony. The voyage of Gomez was long the subject of
consideration and preparation, and was heralded to the world for
months before it was undertaken. The order of the king of Spain
under which it was made, still exists in the archives of that
kingdom. The results of the expedition were announced by credible
historians of the country, immediately after its return; and the
nautical information which it brought back, and in regard to which
alone it possessed any interest at the time, was transferred at once
to the marine charts of the nation, imperfectly it is true, and
spread before the world. These charts still remain in their original
form, as they were then prepared. With these incontrovertible facts
to sustain it, the discovery of Gomez must stand as established in
history and, consequently, the claim of Verrazzano must fall.
[Footnote: The map of Ribero is not a faithful representation of the
exploration of Gomez, in many respects. The tierra de Ayllon is made
to embrace a large portion of the country the coast of which was
discovered by Gomez. The bay of Santa Maria, or the Chesapeake, is
placed two degrees further south than it should he, that is, in
latitude 35 degrees, instead of 37 degrees N. The R. de los Gamos,
or Penobscot, mentioned by Cespedes, is not named at all. The
question, however, of its greater or less correctness is of no
importance on the present occasion; it is sufficient that it was
followed by the writer of the letter, erroneous as it was.]
X.
THE CAREER OF VERRAZZANO. AN ADVENTUROUS LIFE AND AN IGNOMINIOUS
DEATH. CONCLUSION.
The true history of Verrazzano, so far as known, is now to be given,
in order to make a final disposition of this story. Nothing is
preserved in relation to his early life. Even the year of his birth
is matter of conjecture. He is called by Ramusio, Giovanni da
Verrazzano, Florentine; and according to Pelli, was born about the
year 1485, His father was Piero Andrea, son of Bernardo, the son of
Bernardo of Verrazzano, a little town situated in the Val di Greve,
near Florence,--the latter Bernardo having belonged to the
magistracy of the priors in 1406. All that his eulogist was enabled
to gather concerning him, beyond this brief genealogy, is taken from
the Verrazzano letter and the discourse of Ramusio, relating how he
was killed, roasted and devoured by the savages in a second voyage
to America; [Footnote: The account which Ramusio gives of
Verrazzano, and the manner of his death, occurs in his Discourse on
Labrador, the Baccalaos and New France (vol. III fol. 41), in which,
after reffering to the Cortereaes and Sebastian Cabot, he adds:
"There also sailed along the said land, in the year 1524, a great
captain of the most Christian king in France, called Giovanni da
Verrazzano, a Florentine; and he ran along all the coast, as far as
Florida, as will be particularly seen by a letter of his, written to
the said king, which alone we have been able to have, because the
others have got astray in the troubles of the unfortunate city of
Florence. And in the last voyage which he made, having wished to
descend on the land with some companions, they were all put to death
by those people, and in the presence of those who remained on board
of the ship, were roasted and devoured. Such a wretched end had this
valiant gentleman, who, had not this misfortune intervened, would,
by the great knowledge and intelligence which he had of maritime
affairs, and of navigation, accompanied and favoured by the immense
liberality of King Francis, have discovered and made known to the
world, all that part of the earth, up to the north pole, and would
not have been contented with the Coast merely, but would have sought
to penetrate far inland, and as far as he could go; and many, who
have known and conversed with him, have told me, that he declared it
was his intention to seek to persuade the most Christian King to
send from these parts, a good number of people to settle in some
places of said coast which are of temperate climate, and very
fertile soil, with very beautiful rivers and harbors capable of
holding any fleets. The settlers in these places would be the
occasion of producing many good results, and among others of
bringing those rude and ignorant tribes to divine worship, and to
our most holy faith, and to show them how to cultivate the land,
transporting some of the animals of our Europe to those vast plains;
and finally, in time, having discovered the inland parts, and seen
whether among the many islands existing there, any passage to the
south sea exists, or whether the main land of Florida or the West
Indies continues up to the pole. This and so much is what has been
related of this so brave a gentleman, of whose toil and sweat, in
order that his memory may not remain buried, and his name pass into
oblivion, we have desired to give to the light the little that has
come into our hands."
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