Tímarit Þjóðræknisfélags Íslendinga - 01.01.1962, Page 93

INVENTIO FORTUNATA
75

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Norihweslern pari of ihe Medici Marine chari of 1351
and beautiful country south of it
must be the Markland and Vinland
of the Sagas together probably with
the region west of Hudson Bay. In-
cidentally the Planora de Berga
shown in Asia west of Greenland
and bordering the mare sugenum
on Ruysch’s map is almost certainly
not the “pianura de Bargu” of Mar-
co Polo, as has been conjectured.35
Together with the Bergi extrema
shown in Greenland itself on the
same map, it is rather the region
in which the Bergen merchants
enjoyed a monopoly after the
middle of the fourteenth century.
Indeed the word “commerce” which
occurs in Mercator’s summary and
is translated “country” by Prof Tay-
lor36 is probably rather a reference
to the very “commerce” carried on
with Arctic Canada by the Bergen
merchants.
The next channel may be identi-
fied as Lancaster Sound. North of
it is the third, Smith Sound, where,
if we are to pay any attention to
the statement, the author of the
Invenlio foríunata saw tree trunks
and planks of ships. The final one
is possibly Kennedy Channel. All
these are conjectures and other
channels might be suggested, e.g.
Foxe Channel.
35. E.g. Taylor, “A Letter”, p. 65.
36. Ibid. p. 60, 1. 5.