That this map did not proceed from him is also proven by the
representation upon it of a great ocean, called Mare Occidentale,
which is laid down between the parallels within which these
discoveries are confined. It lies on the west side of the continent
but approaches so near the Atlantic, in latitude 41 Degrees N., that
is, in the vicinity of New York, that according to a legend
describing it, the two oceans are there only six miles apart, and
can be seen from each other. This isthmus occurs several hundred
miles north of Dieppa, and therefore at a point absolutely fixed
within the limits of the Verrazzano discoveries, and where the
navigator must have sailed, according to both the letter and the
map, whether the latitudes on the map be correctly described or not.
This western sea is thus made by its position a part of the
discoveries of Verrazzano, and is declared by the legend to have
been actually seen; and as he was the discoverer, it must be
intended to have been seen by him. As, however, there is no such sea
in reality, Verrazzano could never have seen it; and therefore, he
could not have so represented; or if he did, then the whole story
must for that reason alone be discredited. There is no escape from
this dilemma. Verrazzano could not have been deceived and have
mistaken some other sheet of water for this great sea, and so
represented it on any chart, or communicated it in any other way to
the maker of this map; for he makes no mention of the circumstance
in his letter to the king to whom he would have been prompt to
report so important a fact; as it would have proved the
accomplishment of the object of his voyage,--the discovery of a
passage through this region to Cathay, or if not a passage, at least
a way, which could have been made available for reaching the land of
spices and aromatics, by reason of its low grade, evident by one sea