The sun. [volume] (New York [N.Y.]) 1833-1916, 1891-12-20

uoVS bSSA 0N<eAVSbVNu'N SVop9ostsVy W Wv
Rev. n :. De Costa Mr.. Edwsrd Manning But.
tonher. and the Rev. Daniel Van Pelt
!. =.
. IL n satisfactory to ind that Dr. De Costa
appreciates tho fact that not only wary criti-
ctsrp. but aisn . trained imagination. has
pAyt 10 play In tho Interpretation 1.-THE legends
snd traditions relating 10 the prshistorio past.
He reninla as that the phoenieian navigators
BY no meAps eontped their voyages within
xisht Of land. pushing forward timidly from
.hesdlsnd 10 hsadlaud. but passed far beyond
tn piil9rs d Hssoales Into what seemed the
ltmitleSs Atlantic. discovering and naming tho
LAnSxY lslanda. IA pliny and stsabo havo both
tsstinsd 10 tssla ~ othrss hove felt before
him! that there ID nothing inoonoeivnble In tho
hypothesis that aon,o Phnnioian or Carthasin-
Ian mariner. more ventpresome eyon than his
follows. mar. like Columbus OIL his flrstvoyage,
have pEsssed westward over tranquil seas
until he reached that summer isle Of Eden.
Cuba, and thus furnished the Greek poets
with their myth ~ the Hesporides, the homo
Of the immortaks, whore swlit-footed Achilles
md Diemede. <,on Of Tydeus. dwell. With re-
gard 70 the AZORES. DR.. De Costa mentions that
they are ~ Ariy indicated In the chart OF PHI
Eani. pnH .shod In 1887, but he omits to note
that thss are laid down in the earlier Lauron-
ti&n IcctolRno OF 1851. preserved at Florence.
and Faat even as far back as the twelfth GEN.
t,,fy the Arabian geogrsphsr. EdrisL described
piHe islcs IN the western ocean which are
identified with tho Azores. not only by number
and climate. but also by special reference to
the hawks, which gave rise to the Portuguese
name. ...-
Tow nj the alleged discovery OF tho Amer
isao nsinland BY the Northmsn. Or. De Costa
.:os not maintain tho sksptlcal attitude taken
b. Bancroft. and which Mr. Justin Wlnsor
r,eems inclined to adopt. In view Of the evil
lenes recently collected and published In
En- gland BY Mr.. Arthur Middleton Reeves.
~HUh sko9ticlsm seems no longer tonable. Dr..
De CostA, for his part. does not eveu feel war
ranted In rejecting the conjecture that America
NAV have been discovered by IrIshn,sn. who
hal unluestionably settled In Iceland before
ths Narthmen. and who spoke OF u more extern
sivo 60 intry lying further 10 the west which
they sailed vlrlously Ireland tho Great and
Grssnlzad. the region contemplated by the
latter sppellatlon not being necessarily iden-
titled with that to which tho sane name
MAS subsequently given by Eric the Red. An
other voysse to which Or. De Costa does not
fall 10 refor Ii that made by the Zeni brothers
In the fourteenth century--lf the account flrst
published In 1858 can be accounted authentic
lin the course Of which they discovered
countries In the far west which they called
Estotiland and Drogeo. and which have been
Identified BIZ some geosraphers with New
france. Admitting the reality OF all these
prs-C Columbian discoveries. and even OF tho
fabulous voyage OF the Welsh to tho western
continent about the year 1170. there 10 no
sialinlts aliusion to the region Of the Hudson
IN any OF the Ieoordso; these medieval mari
ners. It Ia not until the year l524 that an
European 10 absolutely known to have passed
the Narrows; tho letter addressed In that
wear by thu italian navigator. verra.ano. to
lis employer. Frnpeis L Of France contains
the tlrst pen picture Of the bny and hurbor Of
New York. Describing his VOYAGE north
ward along the Atlantic coast, he says
that aftor proccedipQ about q hu nS,red ioas ,,os
beyond Delaware Bay no found u very pleas
amt situation an,on. som, little steep hills
through which A worry lurae river. doom ut It's
mouth. fo,ccl its way 10 tho sen" Ho adds
flint .from tho sen 4, tbs estuary OF tho river
INV shin might naas with tho help OF the tide
which r,ses eight feet n--about the average
via. Of tia Hudson Mt the present time. The
J" Iittls rts.n hills +" dexsribe antly enough thu
heiahts of Staten Isand and the shors of Long
Islnnd A r,r up an the present Bay Ridge,
Vsrrs. .no goes on to toll how no passed up
thin river about half n league. whereupon he
found n forming a moot beautiful lake. three
ie.Yues In circumference. This beautiful
lsle was. q, FAR us We nre nblo TO Judge. The
bny of New Yorl.
III.
In the chapter which he contributes on tn
native inhabitants Of Manhattan and its Indian
sntiauities, Mr.. Ruttenbsr divests Manhattan
Island Of any claim to that title except that Of