DID FISHERMEN DISCOVER THE NEW WORLD?
by Charles W. Moore
© 1998 Charles W. Moore
This year marks the 600th anniversary of an alleged voyage to Nova Scotia by Henry
Sinclair, Earl of Orkney, 94 years before Columbus. Sinclair is believed by some
to have landed at what is now Guysborough, N.S. in June 2, 1398, with a fleet of
13 ships.
Two organizations, The Prince Henry Sinclair Society of North America, and the Clan
Sinclair Society, will sponsor commemorative events through the summer. Nova Scotia's
Provincial Legislature recently passed a motion unanimously supporting further research
into the Sinclair legend.
However, whether or not Henry crossed the Atlantic in 1398, in all likelihood, the
real European "discoverer" of the New World was an unknown, unheralded fisherman
-- probably hundreds years before Columbus "sailed the ocean blue" in 1492.
Before the 15th Century invention of the printing press made it possible to disseminate
information widely and cheaply, there is little doubt that European fishermen had
already made many landfalls on uncharted shores to the West. A letter written in
the winter of 1497-1498 by John Day, an English merchant in Andalusia, to the Lord
Grand Admiral of Spain refers to transatlantic discoveries by men from Bristol.
These discoveries would have been common knowledge at wharfside, but given the social
realities of medieval times, news of this sort would not have reached the ears of
historians and scholars, so officially they remained "non-events."
The Norsemen
It is now universally acknowledged that Vikings from Norway, Iceland, and Greenland
briefly colonized North America around AD 1000. The famous Viking settlement unearthed
at l'Anse Aux Meadows, Newfoundland bears witness to this fact. However, ancient
Norse sagas indicate that Greenlanders led by the Ericsson family also set up short-lived
colonies farther south in what they called "Vinland"-- possibly in Nova Scotia, Massachusetts,
or even the Hudson River estuary.
The Norsemen were accomplished fishermen who preferred herring, but also fished for
cod, haddock, halibut and turbot. While in Vinland, Lief Ericsson and his men spent
several weeks fishing for plentiful salmon "larger than they had ever seen". They
probably fished at night using a light to attract the fish, as was common in their
native Norway.
Cartier - Champlain
Irish, Breton, Norse, Flemish, Basque and Portuguese fishermen likely came to the
Grand Banks for centuries before the big-name explorers arrived.
When Jacques Cartier "discovered" St. Pierre and Miquelon in 1536, he found fishing
boats from France and Brittany anchored there. The fishermen were already calling
the harbour St. Pierre.
Samuel de Champlain recorded an encounter in 1601 at Tor Bay, N.S., with a fishing
vessel skippered by M. Savalette out of St. Jean de Luz. The latter claimed to have
made the Atlantic crossing "every year for forty years".
Sixteenth century records indicate that Newfoundland's Beothuk Indians understood
many European languages. Cartier noted that they knew words from French, Breton,
Norman, Provencal, Catalan and Italian. They could only have learned these tongues
from fishermen, or perhaps the odd Catholic monk.
Antonio Zeno and Henry Sinclair(?)- "The Fisherman's Tale" - 1397
One of the most remarkable, albeit controversial, fisherman-explorer accounts is attributed
to Venetian adventurer Antonio Zeno, whom Henry Sinclair aficionados believe served
as Admiral of Sinclair's navy, which was one of the largest in Europe.
Zeno's tale begins with the unexpected return home of a fisherman, long presumed dead,
who had been aboard one of four fishing boats that had disappeared in a storm 26
years earlier.
In Zeno's account, the fisherman told of being driven helplessly before the winds
for many days. When the tempest finally blew over, the men found themselves on the
shore of an island they called "Estotiland."(Newfoundland?)
Their boat wrecked, six of the fishermen were taken by natives to a large "town" where
the chief sent for many interpreters, finally finding an earlier castaway who could
peak to the fishermen in Latin.
The fishermen said he also saw Latin books in the Indian chief's home, handwritten
manuscripts the natives couldn't read, indicating that Catholic monks had been there.
The natives had boats but no compasses (lodestones) and were greatly impressed by
the fishermen's ability to navigate. After several years, the chief sent them with
twelve boats to a Country called ''Drogio'' (Nova Scotia?). Upon landing, they were
immediately captured by local natives who killed most of the party.
Zeno's fisherman lived to tell his tale because the natives became fascinated by fish
nets they found in his boat. Using gestures and pictures drawn in the sand, the fisherman
communicated the nets' purpose, whereupon the natives demanded that the surviving
Europeans teach them net fishing.
A 14th Century European fishnet would be about sixty yards wide by fifteen yards deep.
Its top edge was held on the surface by floats with the bottom end weighted by stone
sinkers. Each fishing vessel would carry about forty of these nets Up till then,
the natives had only spear and line fishing.
At an archeological excavation site in New England, fishing line sinkers were found
at the dig's lowest levels, but net sinkers appear around 1345 (+/- 50 years) --
around the time Zeno's shipwrecked fisherman was castaway.
The natives were amazed and delighted at the amount of fish that could be netted in
a short time. News traveled fast. Other bands were prepared to go to war and capture
the Europeans to learn their secret.
Over 13 years the fisherman claimed he was passed among at least 25 tribes far to
the south where he saw large cities, temples and human sacrifice. He finally escaped,
and helped by friends made during his journey southwest, successfully returned to
"Drogio" in 1389.
In 1392, a fleet of fishing boats from "Estotiland" .showed up and he returned there
with them, signing on as an interpreter.
He then took up trading, and over the next four years, became very rich. With the
means to build his own vessel, he did so and sailed back to his homeland in 1397
where he related his adventures to Antonio Zeno and the prince called "Zichmni"--
thought by many to have been Henry Sinclair.
Unfortunately, the fisherman took ill and died shortly after returning home -- a great
irony after all the perils he said he had survived.
According to Zeno, Zichmni/Sinclair, inspired by the fisherman's tale of a land rich
in timber, fish, and game, mounted an expedition to "Drogio," landing there on June
2, 1398. Whatever, fishermen had been there first.
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