Caput II. America

by Michael Lambert

May 2023

Caput II. America

by Michael Lambert

May 2023

Going a-maying against May, Whitsonday or other time, all the yung men and maides olde men and wives run gadding over night to the woods, groves, hils & Mountains, where they spend all the night in plesant pastimes, & in the morning they return bringing with them birch & branches of trees, to deck their assemblies withall, and no mervaile, for there is a great Lord present amongst them, as Superintendent and Lord over their pastimes and sportes, namely, Satan prince of hel: But the cheifest iewel they bring from thence is their May-pole… Phillip Stubbes. 1583

+++

Robert Hues, mathematician and navigator, is the author of the work America. He recounts his wonder of the world. His first overseas voyage was to Newfoundland and Labrador. His second and third voyages circumnavigated the globe in 1586 and 1591. Sailed, deinde Virginia, postea Florida, from then on Virginia, thereafter Florida. No account of landing

Hues possessed a passion for taking precise compass bearings. He also had an acute eye, reciting places visited, some with amusing names, such as Nova Francia, New France. Other places visited are described in broad terms, with vast tracts of land, postrema est Brazilia et Peruvia, following is Brazil and Peru

In the second paragraph; Hues asks the question all geographers and mariners wanted answered, utrum insula an continents terra Australi, nondum satis cognitum, whether an island or the Southern land continent, it is not yet known

Neither declension nor conjugation are a problem in reading Robert Hues. If there is difficulty, the problem is names of persons and places, with whom you may not be familiar. Australissimam is an accusative feminine singular adjective in the superlative, therefore: either the southern most [land] or the most southern [land]

America 1, quae ab Americo Vespucio, qui primus hanc terram aperuit nomen accepit fines ac terminos habet; ab Oriente (qua Europam spectat et Africam) Oceanum Atlanticum; ad Occidentem, Mare quod vocant del Zur 2; Australissimam partem claudit fretum Magellanicum 3: Borealissimam partem adhuc incognitam, Mari congelato 4 terminatam magnum fidei argumentum faciunt multae nostratium navigationes, D. Martini Frobisher 5, et Ioann. Davis 6. Has praecipuas numerat regiones: ad Boream Terra Laboris 7, quae Hispansis dicitur Tierra de Labrador 8. Succedit Baccalearum regio 9, inde Nova Francia 10: deinde Virginia, postea Florida 11, proxime nova Hispania, urbe Mexicana maxime nobilis, postrema est Brazilia et Peruvia 12 ad Austrum vergentes 13. Multas habet adiunctas Insulas. Plurimae in sinu iacent Mexicano, Americae ad Ortum, quarum insigniores sunt Cuba, Hispaniola 14, et multae ignobiliores aliae

Sunt praeterea aliae orbis partes nondum satis lustratae et cognitae: ultra mare Indicum terra Australis, Nova Guinea, utrum insula an continens terra Australi, nondum satis cognitum; quemadmodum et tractus Magellanicus; Boreali orbis partes, Europae, Asiae et Americae obiectae, quas nostratium multae navigationes detexerunt

Footnotes:

  1. America. Refers to the New World. No reference to a specific country
  2. del Zur. Refers to a specific location. Our era, the location is unknown
  3. Australissimam partem claudit fretum Magellanicum, the Southernmost [land] shares a closeness with the Strait of Magellan. Ferdinand Magellan, 1480-1521. Portuguese explorer, worked for Span, led 1519 expedition. Died in battle Philippines. Voyage continued without Magellan. Significant contribution to navigation. Strait of Magellan, so named
  4. Mari congelato, the congealed [frozen] Sea. Refers to either sea ice or to the Arctic Ocean
  5. D. Martini Frobisher. Sir Martin Frobisher, 1532-1594. Name cited curiously. The D. is an Italian title written as Don, a corruption of the Latin, Dominus. Martin is Italianised, and the surname is English
  6. Ioann. Davis. John Davis or John Davys, 1550-1605. English explorer searching for the Northwest Passage. Davis Strait between Greenland and Baffin Island, so named
  7. ad Boream Terra Laboris, toward the Boreal/Northern Land of Labrador. Hues uses an alternate spelling of the masculine, first declension Greek loan word. boreas, boreae
  8. Tierra de Labrador, Land of Labrador. Name is spelt in Spanish
  9. Baccalearum regio. Refers to Danish 1470s Arctic Circle expedition claiming a strait divides Terra Corterealis and Baccalaerum Regio, west coast of Greenland. Our era, the location is unknown
  10. Nova Francia, New France. Original and imaginative spelling of France
  11. deinde Virginia, postea Florida, from then on Virginia, thereafter Florida. Refers to broad areas of the Eastern Coast of North America so named. No reference to a specific country
  12. postrema est Brazilia et Peruvia, following is Brazil and Peru. Refers to broad areas of South America so named. No reference to a specific country
  13. ad Austrum vergentes, towards the bending Auster Wind. Refers to a strong south wind
  14. Hispaniola, Hispanola. Refers to the island so named, presently; shared between the Dominican Republic and the Republic of Haiti
Return to articles
Print this article