New-York tribune. [volume] (New York [N.Y.]) 1866-1924, 1870-06-28
NEW PUBLICATIONS.

M, ootor ,ortion Of this work was tirst used as
- ;,t,odpction 10 the work on the Tehuantepec
p.ilwav nv the brother of Mr. Stevens. We think II
veu that he has disconnected it, and submitted his
speeulations on the subject a. contribution 20 early
American history. As his work assumes TO determine
questions on which the greatest sdrdns have differed
NO nropose briefly to examine its positions, and to
give our readers an idea Of them. OF the maps, the
first referred to in the titepage is portion of the
celebrated map Of Juan de la Cosa dated 1900 This
Ias been reduced from the Jomard copy, and i'll
cludes only what has been supposed to be the Amer
lean portion
It is little remarkable that neither the Spanish,
Portuguese English, nor French Governments ofthat
date collected all available material, embodying 1t
IL mans which would have the Tespeotabilty OF OFF,
cisl sanction and the benefit of all official lnforma-
ton. Probably the was their mutual jealous
les and desire to keep their rivals In Ignorance as
to what their discoveries really were The congress
Of philosophers navigators, astronomers, and cos
uoqrophers at Badajoz in 1924 ought TO have been
able to accomplish more than squabble over the re-
snective claims of Spain and Portugal. For reasons
slch as we have suggested, the maps on which we
rely are mainly the work Of the chart or portolane-
makers and Of a few scientific men and institutions
The old portoanO makers made quite a business of
furnishing their cards" to -sea-going men. This
map-making was really The business of Christopher
Columbus before his Investigations led him to devote
his time to oceanic discovery. Juan de la Cosa was
his map or chart-maker. He accompanied Columbus
in that capacity in 1895 and made fewer than six
other voyages of discovery to the American coast,
until he fell beneath the poisoned arrows Of the ma
tives Of Cumana in 1909 During parts of 1899 and
1900 he was in SPAIN and made the map referred to
at Puerto not far from Cadiz Several OF his later
charts OF cards were used but there is nothing fur
Their authoritative from him. This map is on leather.
Its eastern extremity includes the golden CheTsOne
sus on the old PtOieny maps On the west, or the
region of new discovery, there is vast continent
which appears to stretch from the Frozen Ocean TO
point in the Southern Sea- reaching the limits OF his
map. This map was discovered by Humboldt in 1882,
and used by him to show that more thorough
knowledge Of America existed at that date than the
other records of discovery as followed would lndl-
cate The purpose of Mr.. Stevens is to show that
this coast line Of North America lsupposed was really
designed to be the eastern coast OF Asia, and that
Cosa had his data, not from discoveries made In
America but from the travels Of Marco Polo and the
digest of these ideas from Roger Bacon and those
who followed him.
In sketching the causes that mpeled European
discovery in the Fifteenth Century, the author
merely touches a subject that underles correct
knowledge of our history. The history of the wars
between Christianity and Mohammedsm has been
diced way Let us grant our author that the great
purpose os tie Spanish and Portuguese discovery was
trade with india and China and yet it is equally
tain that discoveries in new lands were expected.
The best evidence of this collect from the contracts
made in advance, for the government and use of
these new countries for we suppose Mr. Stevens will
not assume that it was designed that Columbus
should be viceroy of Cathay" and Zipangri"
II is true Columbus gave it his opinion that au-
riferous Hispaniola the Ophir" of Solomon and
Hiram, but the location Of Ophir was very vexed
question with cosmOgraphers some placing 1t In Al
rca, some on the Arabian peninsula, and some in a
country beyond the Aod Chesonesas. 1t is also true
that very erroneous opinion prevailed at the time
to extent of Asia The discoveries of Marco Polo
and Others NAV be said to have demonstrated simply
that the Gulf of China MdgRum Sinus of PtOlemy
was much too small, and that great countries and
probably a greater sea stretched in that direction
No one pretends that these Asiatc travellers in
hmuch better condition to give coast-line as data
for La COsa than the natives of these islands West
Indies who, at the date of the discovery made vOy
ages of 900 miles and frequently visited both North
and South America The earliest records tell us that
the navgatOrs generally found the statements of
these natives in regard to the continents and islands
correct. The ancient languages of both the Carib
and Arowack inhabitants Of these islands had words
Indicating Terra FiTma, continents in contradis-
tinctiOn to the islands Of course do not suggest
that these aboriginal the coas-lne would
constitute very Trustworthy data yet they to be
bynO excluded from the sources of information
Ia addition il known that in 1900 the very year
this map appeared, some 200 European vessels were
fishing off the banks of Newfoundland We cannot
discuss the question whether the Basques and Irish
had always preserved the knowledge of these fisher
ies- One thing is certain. that French and English
haH of
of all nations to that coast. Besides the voyages
that have come down 70 us many discoveries not
under royal license must have been made. Our
author admits that Cosa knew of the discoveries of
Cabot before he made his map. He undoubtedly
knew Of the greater portion of discoveries in that di
tectiOn. 1t is true he limits the discoveries of Cabot
by the flags to point indicating probably the Gulf of
st. Lawrence, for the Spaniards directly inter
listed III denying any right of the English near their
Swn discoveries An examination of the map Of
Cabot viii show that il represents if il represents
anything the gulf and islands of the St Lawrence,
and also very considerable coasline stretching far
south oft He cannot be credited with any portion
Uf that data without taking the whole of it.
Cosa also knew before he made his map that there
was a very considerable coast-hne to the west and
Southwest of Cuba and HspaniOls, across the Mexi-
can Gulf Both he and Columbus and all these vow
ayers knew that while it might be contiguous" to-
Ct was not the Cathay and Zinangn of the East
that it filed with people who had neither their
cities their commerce, their wealth. Could they
suppose themselves close to power then known to
possess considerable maritime activity, without meet
Ing their vessels, OF some traces of themi
The question to whether COsa represented Cuba
ts an island author settles in the negative. He
refers to the dash of green paint as indicating
Cosa's ignorance on that point, that his map
justification of the theories then held by that
Cuba was peninsula of Asia On this point, wedis-