the portolano of 1536, preserved in the Bodleian library at Oxford, shows a track of navigation from the north of France, across the Atlantic, running between the Bacalaos and the land of the Bretons, through the gulf of st. Lawrence, to the Pacific, and thence to Cathay.  There is no representation of the western sea, as shown on the Verrazano map, but on the contrary, the whole of the western coast of North America is shown conjecturally in a different form, by dotted lines.  So far as this map affords any indication on the subject, it refers to the route of Cartier, and delineates the Atlantic coast according to the Spanish map of Ribero, that is, with a trending of the coast in a more northerly direction than the Verrazano map, and with the peculiar return of that coast westerly, in latitude 40 Degrees N., given on that map.  The next chart (No.  XV. d) from a map made by Diego Homem in 1540, shows the western sea nearly the same as on the map of Agnese, but conjecturally only; while the representation of the Atlantic coast has the same characteristics as the Bodleian and Agnese maps, showing its derivation from Ribero and not the Verrazano map.  The remaining sketch given by Mr. Kohl (No.  XV. b) from a map made by G. Ruscelli in 1544, presenting the same features, as do the two others, in regard to the Atlantic coast, puts beyond all question that the map of Ribero is its authority, by adopting from it the name of Montagne Verde which is applied by Ribero to the hills at the mouth of the river San Antonio, in latitude 41 Degrees N., thereby certainly excluding any recognition of the Verrazzano discovery or the Verrazano map.

The first published map which refers to the Verrazzano discoveries, that of Mercator in 1569, makes no reference to the Verrazano map, and does not recognize it in any manner.  Mercator was the first to give the name of Claudia to the island of Louise, evidently mistaking the name of the wife of Francis for that of his mother, after whom the island was called, according to the letter, without stating her name.  Mercator gives a legend in which he mentions that Verrazzano arrived on the coast on the 17th of March 1524, which is the day according to the version of Ramusio, following our mode of computation, as before explained.  It is evident, therefore, that Mercator had the Ramusio version before him, and not the Verrazano map, as his authority on the subject.  His delineation of the Atlantic coast, moreover, is according to the plan of Ribero, and he gives no indication of the western sea of the Verrazano map, but mentions in a legend the fresh water inland sea spoken of by Cartier, of the extent of which the Indians were ignorant.

The existence of the Verrazano map, much less its date, is obviously not proven by any of the maps or charts to which reference has here been made, and which are supposed to reflect some of its features, or indicate the verity of the Verrazzano discovery.  There is, however, some evidence of a positive character, both historical and cartographical, which points to the existence of this map in two different forms, one originally not representing the Verrazzano discovery, and the other subsequently, as now presented.