The map of Ruysch, which is substantially the same as Mercator's, shows in a sector of about 240 degrees round the Pole four large islands, and then an outer fringe of nineteen islands or peninsulas, covered with mountains and parted by narrow channels. The "Mare Sugenum" lies north of a line from Norway to "Gruenlant." The map and the fantastical currents—which have, however, some small basis in nature—are evidently founded upon the topography of Giraldus Cambrensis. There is nothing in them either to prove or disprove the voyage of the supposed Nicholas, as the early voyagers were proverbially fond of drawing the long bow. The magnetic rock is a common feature in such stories, though it does not appear to warrant the conclusion, which has been drawn, that Nicholas had approached the magnetic pole.[1]
Even this entry of Ruysch contains nothing to prove that he had seen the book; and if he had seen it there is nothing to show that he reproduced Nicholas's ideas correctly. It is improbable that Nicholas would have drawn Greenland as incorrectly as in this map,[2] that is, supposing him to have made his voyage to the North. At the middle of the fourteenth century there was still intercourse between Iceland and Greenland, and that intercourse must have been reflected in the charts of English traders to Iceland. The four islands reappear in Orontius Fine's map.[3]
Finally, Las Casas, the historian of America, mentions burning islands which are to be seen in the sea near the Cape Verde Islands and the Azores, adding that these are spoken of in the book of 'Inventio Fortunata'; and the author of Columbus's life tells us that "Juventius Fortunatus relates that there is an account of two islands to the west and a little to the south of the Cape Verde Isles which skim over the water."[4] The book cannot, however, be
- ↑ The dipping of the needle excited great alarm amongst early navigators. Vide the inscription on the Cabot map: "Here the compass loses its power, and no ship with iron on board can get away."
- ↑ 1531 a.d. Reproduced in De Costa, 'Arct. Expl.,' 28., and in Nordenskjöld's 'Facsimile Atlas,' plate xxxii.
- ↑ Nordenskjöld, 'Facsimile Atlas,' plate xli.
- ↑ Op. cit. 33.
habitatio." This is obviously corrupt: probably "dictis" or "e dictis" should be read for "dietis," and "qvi" or "qvae" for "qbo." "Svgenvm" is apparently the Latinized Dutch word "zuigend," or "indrawing." The general meaning is fairly clear, and is made clearer by the map. See De Costa, 'Arct. Expl.,' 22, 23.
