A man of
a high spirit and great valour, had resolved to make himself master of the
sea, and for this purpose made use of the talents and advice of Antonio,
and ordered him to go with a few barks to the westwards, because in the
summer several islands had been discovered by some of the fishermen. Of
this voyage and the discoveries which were made in consequence of it,
Antonio gives an account in a letter to his brother Carlo, which we here
give exactly as it was written, having only altered a few antiquated
words[16].
[1] Faira, or Fara, in the Orkneys, called Farras-land, and corrupted into
Feislanda or Frisland. - Forst.
[2] Mr Forster is not happy in his explanation of this word, Porlanda or
Porland, which he endeavours to derive from Fara-land; precisely the
same with Fris-land from Faras-land, only dropping the genitive s.
Porland seems used as a general name of the earldom, perhaps connected
with the strange name Pomona, still used for mainland, the largest of
the Orkney islands. Frisland the particular Fara islands, or one of
them. - E.
[3] Sorany or Sorani, of which Sinclair is said to have been duke or lord,
Mr Forster considers to have been the Sodor-oe, or southern islands of
the Norwegians, or those now called the Western Islands; and traces
the corruption from the Norwegian plural Suder-oer contracted
Soroer, varied Soroen and transmuted to Sorani. All this may be
possible; but it does not appear in Scots history that the Sinclairs
ever held the Western Islands, and certainly not at this period:
Sorani ought therefore to be looked for in Caithness; or it may
possibly refer to Roslin near Edinburgh, which belonged to the
family of Sinclair. - E.
[4] By this latter distinction, Zeno probably means a decked vessel. - E.
[5] It is hardly possible to mention all the little islands, and the places
situated on the largest of the Orcadian Islands, which by the ancients
was called Pomona, and on account of its size, is likewise called
Mainland, also Hross-ey, i.e. Gross-ey, or large island. The town
was called Kirkiu-og or the harbour near the church, now called by
the Scots, Kirkwall. - Forst.
In this note Mr Forster wanders from the subject in hand, and his
observations have no reference to the present expedition. Ledovo is
probably the Island of Lewis, and Ilofe may possibly be Hay, though
that conjecture would lead them too far to the south. - E.
[6] Sudero, or Suder-oe, might mean the Western Islands so called by
the Norwegians; but certainly here means some bay of Sutherland, as
they here met the troops of Sinclair, who had marched by land. The
town of Sanestol is quite inexplicable. Though Mr Forster supposes
it to have been the cluster of islands called Schant, or Shanti-oer,
which he thinks is here corrupted into Sanestol: But, if correct in
our opinion, that they must have been on the main land of Scotland,
his conjecture must be erroneous. These conquests could be nothing
more than predatory, incursions, strangely exaggerated. - E.
[7] This is a very early mention of salted fish, yet within the lifetime of
William Beukels, the supposed inventor of the art of pickling herrings
who died in 1397. Professor Sprengel has shewn that herrings were
caught at Gernemue, or Yarmouth, so early as 1283. In Leland's
Collectanea we meet with a proof that pickled herrings were sold in
1273; and there are German records which speak of them so early as
1236. Vide Gerken, Cod. Diplom. Brandenb. I. 45. and II. 45l. - Forst.
[8] This is certainly a place in the isle of Sky called Pondontown. - Forst.
[9] Britannia in this place is assuredly put for Britany in France. - E.
[10] Estland is probably meant for Shetland, formerly called Yaltaland or
Hitland, and afterwards changed into Zet-land and Shetland. This will
appear more distinctly in the sequel, when the names given by Zeno to
the particular islands of the group, come to be compared with, the
modern names. - Forst.
[11] Grisland seems to be the island which lies to the eastward of Iceland,
called Enkhuyzen; perhaps the island of Grims-ey to the north, of
Iceland. - Forst.
[12] Probably Hamer, a place on the north of Mainland. - Forst.
[13] Engrgroneland, Groenland, or Greenland. - Forst.
[14] The poultry here mentioned in the text; must have been ptarmagans and
the flesh that of the reindeer. - Forst.
[15] The lime or mortar here described, appears to be the terra puzzuolana
or terras, a compound of lime and oxid of iron, which forms an
indestructible cement, even under water; and the remarkably light
stones ejected from the volcano, and used in the construction of their
vault, were probably of pumice. - E.
[16] The greater part of this concluding paragraph must necessarily be in
the language of the editor; perhaps of Ramusio. It contains, however,
some palpable contradictions, since Nicolo Zeno could hardly be
supposed to mention the rest of the Zenos, descendants of his
grand-nephew, while still living himself; neither does it appear how
the sons of Nicolo got back to Venice; and there is no account of
Antonio ever being allowed to return at all. - E
SECTION II.
Sequel of the Narrative by Antonio Zeno.
Twenty-six years ago, four fishing boats, which had been overtaken by a
violent storm, were driven out to sea for a great many days; and on the
cessation of the tempest, they discovered an island called Estoitland,
which lay above a thousand miles to the westward of Frisland. One of the
boats, containing six men, was cast away upon this island; and the men,
being made prisoners by the inhabitants, were conducted to a fine and
populous city where the king resided, who sent for various interpreters,
but none could be found except one who spoke Latin.
