The sun., 1897-06-01
Is tho Cabot Celebration justified ?

Is tho Cabot Celebration Justified ?
The good people of the ancient town of
Bristol in the kingdom of England are pre-
pairing to commemorate with impressive
ceremonies, on June "a. the supposed 4OOth
anniversary Of the landing of JOHN CABor
On the coast Of the North American conti-
nent. There is yet time for the men of
Bristol to resxamine the question whether
they have hit upon tho proper dat
for the proposed celebration. Apparently
1t would behove them to do go. for Mr..
HENRY HARRIssE. undoubtedly the high
est living authority concerning the discov-
cry period of American history. maintains
in the June number of the Forum that
neither do we know exactly when or where
JOHN CABOT first sighted the New World,
nor do we possess means of ascertaining
these two points, the settlement of one Of
which, at least, seems to be prerequisite
of any celebration at all.
1t Is pointed out by Mr.. HARRIssE that
the alleged date of CABoT's landfsll rests
exclusively upon a statement brought for
ward for the first time forty-seven years
after the event, and uncorroborated up to
the present hour. The statement is con-
tained in spanish pamphlet written about
1914 by one DR.. GRAJALEs Of the Puerto
de Santa Maria, about whom nothing else
is known. The pamphlet was printed out
side of Spain, and was intended to accom-
pany a map by SEBASTIAN CAsor SEEM
ingly engraved in the Netherlands. The
passage relating to the date reads As fol-
lows: This land 1.-THE corresponding in
scription is engraved on the map over the
IL
Labradorl was discovered by JOHN CABOT, a
Venetian, and SEBASTIAN CABOT, his son,
in the year of the birth of our Saviour, JE-
sUs CHRIST, fourteen hundred and ninety
four, on the tw wenty fourth of June in the
morning, to which they gave the name
'Prima TERRA VISTA and q large island ad-
jacent to it they named San juan it hav.
ing been discovered on the day of that
saint June 24l"
The first observation made by Mr.. HAIR
RIssB on this passage is that the year
"1494" is clearly an anachronism, mas
much as the voyage was not undertaken
until 1497, by virtue Of letters patent
| granted on March 8. 1895. The inhabit-
ants Of Bristol, therefore, arc right about
the year; but Mr.. HARR1ssE goes on to ar
| que that the statement in the Spanish
pamphlet concerning the month and day
is also doubtful, II not entirely inadmissi-
BILE. This he undertakes to provo by re-
viewing the testimony of JOHN CABOT
himself relating to his first voyage. The
| Venetian discoverer, when he returned
to England, gave an account of his voy-
age which is briefly reported in a letter
written from London. Aug. %, 1897, by
| InRENT0 pAanrA In hia hroth hara N
Venice, and by two dispatches sent by RAJ
MONDE DI SoSCINo to the Duke Of Milan, on
Aug. "a and Dec 1s, 1897. Mr.. HARRIssE
has inspected these documents, and he tells
us that, according to PAsoUALIGo, JOHN
CABOT "coasted three hundred leagues [of
the newly discovered countryl" This state
ment is corroborated by SoNcNo, who
"saw the description of the country
discovered by CABOT marked in a chart
and on solid globe which the latter
had made" Mr.. HARRIssE reminds
us that these three hundred leagues
amounted actually to six hundred. mas
much as CABOT when sailing homeward
had to retrace his coastwise course before
striking eastward across the Atlantic. Now,
JOHN CABOT WAS already In London on Aug.
10, 1497, which implies that he had reached
Bristol about five days earlier II, then.
we accept, as the inhabitants Of Bristol
have accepted, the alleged date of June "a
as that of CABoT's lAndfall In America,
there are left only forty-two days between
his sighting of the New World and his
arrival in England on his return voyage.
Mr.. HARRIssE contends that this term OF
forty.tw days is altogether too short for
the work which CABOT is known to have
performed, and for the conditions under
which he accomplished 1t. He and his
small crew of eighteen men left England
early in May, 1497, and the outward voy.
age is alleged by those who accept June "a
as the date Of the landfall to have lasted
more than fifty-two days. We must as.
sumo, Mr.. HARRIssE submits, that after
a voyage, which in a small craft Juno
piccolo naviglio) and amid unknown seas
must in any event have been protracted, the
discoverer and his crew must needs have
rested awhile and devoted some time to re
fitting or repairing their diminutive vessel
as we'll as to taking in wood and water. and
10 renewing the stock Of vietuals by hunt.