The sun., 1896-07-05
note only Of its northeriy meaning. and Mr..
Thachsr inds comfort in following his lead.

IN.
1t 10 admitted that there are two weak points
In the narrative OF Vespucius. Tho frat is the
failure TO identify Little Venice" The de-
acription of village built like Venice upon tho
water has given some foundation for tho esser-
tion that this pile-built village was not on the
coast of North America at all, but noar Lake
Maracaibo, in Venezuela IT. true enough that,
as far as We know, there were no people on the
coast Of Mexico and South America who lived
habitually in this way. On tho other hand, It 10
well established that tho lowlands to the west
Of Yucatau abounded in lagoons and were fire.
auently inundated. As late as 1850 Padre
Zepeda, Jesuit missionary. speaking of the
tribes in Costa Rica, says that they built their
huts In tho trees to escape from the hood Ban
croft observen that on many parts of tho coast
OF Darien and on the Gulf of Uraba tho villages
are built on the water. II Is TO bo noted. more
over, that the people OF Little Venice"
expressly told Vespucius that they were at tho
sea for the purpose OF fishing. and so had built
temporary homes over the water to be con-
venient in this business. The fact that tho
structures were only intended to be temporary
would account for our failure to ind any traces
OF them. There is another weak point in tho
narrative of Vespucius which cannot be satis-
factorily explained. Tho little feet must have
touched tho southern const of the Aztec en-
pire. and whom 1t halted so long at Panuco It
must have been close to its other frontier on the
northeast. On the high plateau behind these
border lands were at that very time powers and
prinolpalities, pantheons and palaces. There
was an influential Government, an enlightened
Jurisprudence, . trained diplomacy, and disci-
plined armios. Astronomy, architecture
sculpture mural painting. and music lourlshod
and were honored. All these things In kind
or in degree existed In world not many
leagues from whero tho little fleet lay anchored,
and yet, in tho narration of his voyage. Vespu-
clus says never word about having encoun-
tered q civilization In tho midst Of barbarlsm.
Shall we assume that Vespuclus saw, or at least
heard, something Of Aztec civilization, and sim
ply failed to include account of It in his mar
rative, either by accident or with tho design OF
placing 1t In n more pretentious work, which he
repeatedly declares no purposed TO wrte under
the title of Tho Four Journeys?" In one pas
sage he even says that the book 10 already writ
ten, but It was mover given out, or at least no
copy OF 1t has ever como to light. Some day We
may find Tho Four Journeys" or tho mystery
may be cleared up by showing that tho native
tribes near Tampico at tho end of tho
fifteenth century were OF rowing char
acter, and did not themselves know of
tho Aztec warriors on the hills above them.
It must have been about tho 1st OF November,
1897. that the feet left tho province of Lariao,
which 10 believed to have been Tampico. in
Mexico. and coasted tho shore for $40 leagues.
Recurring to the stumbling block presented In
tho description of tho course followed as Macs
trale, or toward tho northwest, Mr.. Thacher
points out that the course at starting trotild be
west of north, and Vespucius, not always OK
act in his writinss may have had merely that
In his mind; or he may have been thinking OF
the general direction from the Canaries, and
thus have been led to employ term
Of navigation which has ever since puz-
zled the commentators on his voyages. Map
ping out these $40 leagues on n marine chart,
and making allowances for the windings OF the
coast. the mouths OF tho Mississippi and the
long course around the southerly point OF
Florida Mr.. Thacher brings the Vespucian
feet to about Cape Hatteras. tho easternmost
point of North Carolina, which stretches far
out into tho Atlantic. vespucius says that
after coasting these $40 leagues. and having
been already thirteen months on the voyage
and tho vessels being much damaged. II was de-
cided By o general council that the ships should
be hauled on land for tho purpose Of having
their sides calked. when we came to this de-
termination" he says. We were close to har-
Dor. the best In tho world" 1t 10 pointed out
that Cape Hatteras is separated from tho
mainland by q magnificent bay. Pamlico
Sound. not unworthy Of being called tho
" best harbor in the world" since It is eighty
miles In length by thirty miles In width. Tho
boats having been repaired after q lapse of
thirty-seven days, and tho fleet being ready to
start homeward. the natives entreated Ameri-
Gus and his companions to avenEe them on
some cruel enemies who dwelt far out to sea
on certain islands, and who made periodic ex-
cursons to tho mainland to enslave the inh abi-
tants. and who even ate their prisoners. As
tho Islands were on their way. the Europeans
resolved to avenge tho wrongs Of a people that
had shown them Kindness. Taking with them
seven OF tho natives, who wero to return alone
in their canoe. they sailed seven days out to
sen between east and northeast at the end of
which time they camo upon many islands and
fought n battle with tho natives OF one of
them, killing not a few and carrying away 2o2
into captivity. Mr.. Thacher is evidently dis
posed to identify these islands with the Ber-
mudas