The Voyage of the Verrazzano | Page 3

8th of July (O. S.), 1534, on his return
to that port from a voyage, undertaken by order of the king, for the
purpose of finding new countries; and to give an account of the
discoveries which he had accordingly made. He first reminds his
majesty that, after starting with four ships, originally composing the
expedition, he was compelled by storms, encountered on the northern
coasts, to put into Brittany in distress, with the loss of two of them; and
that after repairing there the others, called the Normanda and Delfina
(Dauphine), be made a cruize with this FLEET OF WAR, as they are
styled, along the coast of Spain. He finally proceeded on the voyage of
discovery with the Dauphine alone, setting sail from a desolate rock
near the island of Madeira, on the 17th of January, 1524, with fifty men,
and provisions for eight months, besides the necessary munitions of
war. This voyage, therefore, is to be regarded, according to the
representations here made, to have been begun with the sailing of the
four ships, from Dieppe, in the preceding year they fell upon a "country
never before seen by any one either in ancient or modern times."
[Footnote: Some writers have regarded this introductory as referring to
two voyages or cruises, one with the four ships before the disaster, and
the other with the Dauphine afterwards. But it seems clear from their
being described as assailed by tempests in the north, which compelled
them to run into Brittany for safety, that they were not far distant from
Dieppe when the storms overtook them; and must have been either on
their way out or on their return to that port. If they were on their return

from a voyage to America, as Charlevoix infers (Fastes Chronologques
1523-4), or simply from a cruise, as Mr. Brevoort supposes, they would,
after making their repairs, have proceeded home, to Dieppe, instead of
making a second voyage. They must, therefore, be regarded as on their
way from Dieppe. The idea of a voyage having been performed before
the storms seems to be due to alteration which Ramusio made in this
portion of the letter, by introducing the word "success," as of the four
ships, Charelvoix expressly refers to Ramusio as his authority and Mr.
Brevoort makes a paraphrase from the Carli and Ramusio versions
combined. (Notes on the Verrazzano Map in Journal of the Am. Geog.
Society of New York, vol. IV, pp 172-3)] On leaving Madeira they
pursued a westerly course for eight hundred leagues and then, inclining
a little to the north, ran four hundred leagues more, when on the 7th of
March [Footnote: There is some ambiguity in the account, as to the
time when they first saw land. The letter reads as follows: "On the 17th
of last January we set sail from a desolate rock near the island of
Madeira, and sailint westward, in twenty-five days we ran eight
hundred leagues. On the 24th of February, we encountered as violent a
hurricane as any ship ever weathered. Pursuing our voyage toward the
west, a little northwardly, in twenty-four days more, have run four
hundred leagues, we reached a new country," &c. If the twenty- four
days be calculated from the 24th of February, the landfall would have
taken place on the 20th of March; but if reckoned from the first
twenty-five days run, it would have been on the 7th of that month.
Ramusio changes the distance first sailed from 800 to 500 leagues; the
day when they encountered the storm from the 24th to the 20th of
February; and the twenty-four days last run to twenty-five; making the
landfall occur on the 17th or 10th of March according to the mode of
calculating the days last run. As it is stated, afterwards, that they
encountered a gale WHILE AT ANCHOR ON THE COAST, EARLY
in March, the 7th of that month must be taken as the time of the
landfall.] It seemed very low and stretched to the south, in which
direction they sailed along it for the purpose of finding a harbor
wherein their ship might ride in safety; but DISCOVERING NONE in
a distance of fifty leagues, they retraced their course, and ran to the
north with no better success. They therefore drew in with the land and
sent a boat ashore, and had their first communication with the

inhabitants, who regarded them with wonder. These people are
described as going naked, except around their loins, and as being
BLACK. The land, rising somewhat from the shore, was covered with
thick forests, which sent forth the sweetest fragrance to a great distance.
They supposed it adjoined the Orient, and for that reason was not
devoid of medicinal and aromatic drugs and gold; and being IN
LATITUDE