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60 ISLAND OF BRAZIL But it would seem that other observers were more impressed by the separation of Newfoundland, due to the Straits of Belle Isle and Cabot and the waterway (of the gulf) connecting them behind the great island. As a rule the maps presenting Brazil in this divided way adhere to the accepted latitude, which does not differ appreciably from that of the St. Lawrence Gulf region. The dividing passage, mainly from north to south but slightly curved at the ends which join the ocean, corresponds fairly well with the facts. The maps of Prunes, I553 34 (Fig. 12), and Olives, I568, 35 may be cited as instances of this divided form of Brazil. No explanation seems yet to have been offered except Nansen's, 36 that the dividing channel represents "the river of death (Styx)," and Westropp's, 37 that it may be owing to mistaken copying of a name space or label on some older map. But the former lacks any better basis than conjectured fancy and the latter is refuted by the position of the channel on most maps and by the general aspect of the delineation. As a matter of fact, the showing of most of the maps differs in little more than proportions from that of Gastaldi illustrating Ramusio in I55O, 38 when the Gulf of St. Lawrence was fairly well known to many, but appears as a rather narrow channel behind a broken-up Newfoundland, extending from the Strait of Belle Isle to the Strait of Cabot. As in the much older map referred to, the delineation of Gastaldi is perhaps to be explained by concen- tration of attention on the waterway and the ignoring of the wider parts of the expanse. Absolute demonstration of the causes of the divided Brazil of some maps and the ring of land inclosing an island-dotted body of water in others is, of course, impossible; but we can show that in the designated direction there is a region presenting both of these unusual features, so that one of the visitors might well be especially taken up with Kretschmer, atlas, PI. 4, map 5. A. E. Nordenskiold, Periplus, PI. 29. 38 Nansen, In Northern Mists, Vol. 2, p. 228. 37 T. J. Westropp: Brasil and the Legendary Islands of the North Atlantic: Their History and Fable, Proc. Royal Irish Acad., Vol. 30, Section C, 1912-13, pp. 223-260. 88 Winsor, Cartier to Frontenac, p. 60.