Note 174 — PRIMO VIAGGIO INTORNO AL MONDO (continued 2)

Regarding the reckonings Eden says: “In ſo much that it was neceſſarie to helpe the needle with the lode ſtone (commonly cauled the adamant) before they could ſaile therwith, bycauſe it moued not as it doothe when it is in theſe owre partes.” Eden also gives a cut of the “ſtarres abowt the pole Antartike.” The same author also (pp. 277–280) compiles from Amerigo Vespucci and Andreas de Corsali a treatise entitled “Of the Pole Antartike and the stars abowt the same and of the qualitie of the regions and disposition of the Elementes abowt the Equinoctiall line. Alſo certeyne ſecreates touching the arte of ſaylynge.” The former says: “The pole Antartike hath nother the great beare nor the lyttle as is ſeene abowte owre pole. But hath foure ſtarres whiche compaſſe it abowt in forme of a quadrangle. When these are hydden, there is ſeene on the lefte ſyde a bryght Canopus of three ſtarres of notable greatneſſe, whiche beinge in the myddeſt of heauen, repreſenteth this figure.” The latter says: “Here we ſawe a marueylous order of ſtarres, ſo that in the parte of heauen contrary to owre northe pole, to knowe in what place and degree the ſouth pole was, we tooke the day with the ſoonne, and obſerued the nyght with the aſtrolabie, and ſaw manifeſtly twoo clowdes of reaſonable bygneſſe mouynge abowt the place of the pole continually nowe ryſynge and nowe faulynge, ſo keepynge theyr continuall courſe in circular mouynge, with a ſtarre euer in the myddeſt which is turned abowt with them abowte. xi. degrees frome the pole. Aboue theſe appeareth a marueylous croſſe in the myddeſt of fyue notable ſtarres which compaſſe it abowt.... This croſſe is so fayre and bewtiful, that none other heuenly gne may be compared to it....” These are the Magallanic clouds (Nuebecula major and Nubecula minor) and the constellation of the Southern Cross or Crux. The Magellanic clouds resemble portions of the milky way, Nubecula major being visible to the naked eye in strong moonlight and covering about two hundred times the moon’s surface, while the Nubecula minor, although visible to the naked eye, disappears in full moonlight, and covers an area only one-fourth that of the former. They were first observed by the Arabians. The Portuguese pilots probably called them at first “clouds of the cape.” (Mosto, p. 66, note 2). The Southern Cross, which resembles a lute rather than a cross, was first erected into a constellation by Royer in 1679, although often spoken of before as a cross. Only one of its five principal stars belongs to the first magnitude. The cross is only 6° in extent north and south and less than that east and west.