TRANSLATOR'S PREFACE
THE present volume, devoted to the history of voyages of discovery said to have been made to America before the time of Columbus, serves as a proper introduction to the biographical sketches of Columbus, Cortes, and Pizarro, contained in this series — a fitting prelude to the thrilling trilogy of the three great explorers who discovered the West Indies, Mexico, Central America, and South America as far south as Chili and Peru.
It embraces, the discovery of Greenland by Erik the Red; the expedition of Biorn, son of Hjerulf, who first saw the east coast of North America but made no landing, upon it; the highly interesting voyage of Leif the Lucky, son of Erik, to the New England coasts in the vicinity of Cape Cod and Rhode Island; the expeditions of Thorwald, Thor-stein, Thorfinn, and the inhuman Freydisa, to the same region; the somewhat mythical story of
Madoc, the Welsh prince, who, if the story be true, must have gone as far south as Florida; the still more mythical adventures of the brothers Zeno of Venice; and the interview of Columbus with the Bishop of Skalholt in 1477, fifteen years before he sailed in search of the East Indies and found the West Indies.
There is now but little doubt that the Northmen were the first to reach the American continent, that they discovered Iceland, Greenland, Newfoundland, Nova Scotia or Markland, and Vineland or the region adjacent to Cape Cod, and that they may have sailed as far to the south as New York. The sagas of Iceland, the poems of the Skalds, and the documents collected and printed by the Northern Antiquarian Society of Denmark bear incontrovertible testimony to the truth of these discoveries. When we come, .however, to the alleged expedition of Madoc, the prince, we at once find ourselves in a region of immemorial dispute. The evidence on Madoc's skte is purely circumstantial. The tradition, however, which is three centuries old, has been accorded a place in history. It originated with the Welsh bards, but their sources of belief, or registers, are unknown. The strongest
argument in its favor is the statement made by two or three different authorities that "white'* Indians, or Indians hghter than their fellows, were found in this country in the seventeenth century, who spoke the Welsh, or a language resembling it, and were descendants of the Welsh who came with Madoc and never went back to Wales. No such Indians, however, have been known during the last century and no mention of the tradition is made by contemporaries. The question, however, will always be an open one. It has stout defenders as well as opponents. In spite of the many objections raised against it, it may be true, but, in the meantime, as the years go by and no original records or registers of the Welsh bards are discovered, the probabilities grow more and more cloudy.
The narrative of the Zeno brothers has some able champions, while others, equally able, denounce it as a fiction, devised to strip Columbus of his honors. If it be true, the discoveries of these Venetians exceed in importance and extent those of Columbus, for they must have traversed the whole Atlantic coast and Gulf of Mexico and penetrated Mexico and Yucatan. The first knowledge of the countries said to have been visited by the Zeno brothers was
furnished by a fisherman, which of itself is a suspicious fact, considering the abilities of that class in fiction. The letter left by Nicolo, eldest of the brothers, makes allusion to so many islands which must have sunk to the bottom of the sea if they ever existed, abounds in so many historical discrepancies, and so mixes up Daedalus, Icarus, and other classic fabulous names, in the frozen region, as to tax belief in its truthfulness. The existence of this letter and other papers and of the map upon which the alleged voyages are traced, is a strong argument, but even then the question arises whether they may not have been fabricated for a purpose. Even the stoutest ...
THE present volume, devoted to the history of voyages of discovery said to have been made to America before the time of Columbus, serves as a proper introduction to the biographical sketches of Columbus, Cortes, and Pizarro, contained in this series — a fitting prelude to the thrilling trilogy of the three great explorers who discovered the West Indies, Mexico, Central America, and South America as far south as Chili and Peru.
It embraces, the discovery of Greenland by Erik the Red; the expedition of Biorn, son of Hjerulf, who first saw the east coast of North America but made no landing, upon it; the highly interesting voyage of Leif the Lucky, son of Erik, to the New England coasts in the vicinity of Cape Cod and Rhode Island; the expeditions of Thorwald, Thor-stein, Thorfinn, and the inhuman Freydisa, to the same region; the somewhat mythical story of
Madoc, the Welsh prince, who, if the story be true, must have gone as far south as Florida; the still more mythical adventures of the brothers Zeno of Venice; and the interview of Columbus with the Bishop of Skalholt in 1477, fifteen years before he sailed in search of the East Indies and found the West Indies.
There is now but little doubt that the Northmen were the first to reach the American continent, that they discovered Iceland, Greenland, Newfoundland, Nova Scotia or Markland, and Vineland or the region adjacent to Cape Cod, and that they may have sailed as far to the south as New York. The sagas of Iceland, the poems of the Skalds, and the documents collected and printed by the Northern Antiquarian Society of Denmark bear incontrovertible testimony to the truth of these discoveries. When we come, .however, to the alleged expedition of Madoc, the prince, we at once find ourselves in a region of immemorial dispute. The evidence on Madoc's skte is purely circumstantial. The tradition, however, which is three centuries old, has been accorded a place in history. It originated with the Welsh bards, but their sources of belief, or registers, are unknown. The strongest
argument in its favor is the statement made by two or three different authorities that "white'* Indians, or Indians hghter than their fellows, were found in this country in the seventeenth century, who spoke the Welsh, or a language resembling it, and were descendants of the Welsh who came with Madoc and never went back to Wales. No such Indians, however, have been known during the last century and no mention of the tradition is made by contemporaries. The question, however, will always be an open one. It has stout defenders as well as opponents. In spite of the many objections raised against it, it may be true, but, in the meantime, as the years go by and no original records or registers of the Welsh bards are discovered, the probabilities grow more and more cloudy.
The narrative of the Zeno brothers has some able champions, while others, equally able, denounce it as a fiction, devised to strip Columbus of his honors. If it be true, the discoveries of these Venetians exceed in importance and extent those of Columbus, for they must have traversed the whole Atlantic coast and Gulf of Mexico and penetrated Mexico and Yucatan. The first knowledge of the countries said to have been visited by the Zeno brothers was
furnished by a fisherman, which of itself is a suspicious fact, considering the abilities of that class in fiction. The letter left by Nicolo, eldest of the brothers, makes allusion to so many islands which must have sunk to the bottom of the sea if they ever existed, abounds in so many historical discrepancies, and so mixes up Daedalus, Icarus, and other classic fabulous names, in the frozen region, as to tax belief in its truthfulness. The existence of this letter and other papers and of the map upon which the alleged voyages are traced, is a strong argument, but even then the question arises whether they may not have been fabricated for a purpose. Even the stoutest ...
