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The Myths & Legends of the West Coast of America
Fascinating map of North America, highlighting the lack of information known about the American West at the outset of the American Revolution.
The Northwest Coast of America immediately pre-dates the reporting from Captain James Cook's first Voyage and includes the reported Russian Discoveries. The map also pre-dates the earliest maps to identify the Bay of San Francisco, which had been discovered by the Spanish in 1769, but not yet disclosed in Europe.
Among the more interesting features are the appearance of the mythical River of the West, which suggested that prospect of a continuous river from the Rocky Mountains to the Pacific Ocean, which was within reach from the upper Missouri or via the river system leading to Lake Superior and Hudson's Bay.
Along the coast, the mythical discoveries of Admiral De Font and Juan de Fuca are noted, along with the entrance to the River of the West sighted by Martin d'Aguilar in 1603 (mythical).
Drake's discovery of California in 1578 is referenced, along with Drake's Harbor.
Further north, the map gives a credible accounting of the known discoveries of the Russians in Alaska and the Arctic regions.
Most unusual is the reference to the "Land which is supposed to be discovered by the Fousang of the Chinese Geographers." This note reflected the belief that Chinese mariners might have reached America, the location of the mythical colony of Fou-sang.
The Legend of Fusang (Fou Sang)
The legend of Fusang (or Fou Sang) is quite complex. In the history of cartography, it is most notably associated with maps from second half of the 18th Century, when the legend of a Chinese voyage to the Northwest Coast of America thrived in certain scholarly circles.
Fusang, an atonal romanization of a Chinese term, appears in ancient literature as a mythical tree or location far to the east of China. In the Classic of Mountains and Seas, it is described as a tree of life associated with the sun’s rising and renewal. Early Chinese myths recount expeditions, notably by the court sorcerer Xu Fu under Emperor Shi Huang around 210 BC, seeking an elixir of life on an eastern island called Fusang. This mythical narrative laid the groundwork for later historical interpretations of Fusang as a distant land of marvels, potentially grounded in real-world geography.
The Buddhist missionary Huishen (慧深), arriving in China from Kabul in 450 AD, claimed to have traveled by ship to Fusang in 458 AD, some 20,000 Chinese li east of Dahan (likely Siberia's Buriat region). Recorded in the Book of Liang (7th century), his account described Fusang as a land rich in copper but devoid of iron, with well-organized communities producing paper and cloth from plant bark, and domesticating deer. While Huishen did not explicitly identify Fusang as the Americas, 18th-century French historian Joseph de Guignes posited this connection, arguing that Huishen's distances aligned with the west coast of North America. His claim, first published in Mémoires de l'Académie des Inscriptions et Belles Lettres (1761), inspired a flurry of speculation about Fusang as a pre-Columbian reference to the Americas.
A number of European mapmakers incorporated Fusang (or Fou Sang) in their maps of America. French cartographer Philippe Buache, in his 1753 Carte des Nouvelles Decouvertes entre la partie Orientle. de l'Asie et l'Occidentle . . . , placed "Fou-sang des Chinois" north of California, near British Columbia. These depictions stemmed from Huishen’s claim that Fusang lay across the Pacific, leading some to equate it with the American northwest. Marco Polo's purported maps, including one featuring supposedly covering Kamchatka and Alaska, further fueled connections between Fusang and North America. The 19th-century writer Charles Godfrey Leland revived interest in these theories with his 1875 publications, asserting that Fusang corresponded to areas on or near the Pacific coast.
Despite its allure, the American hypothesis faced strong criticism. Sinologists such as Emil Bretschneider, Berthold Laufer, and Henri Cordier pointed to inconsistencies in Huishen’s descriptions, notably his mention of domesticated horses and deer, neither of which existed in pre-Columbian America. Joseph Needham, a 20th-century historian of Chinese science, concluded that by the First World War, the hypothesis was largely discredited. He instead suggested Fusang might correspond to locations such as Sakhalin Island, the Kamchatka Peninsula, or the Kuril Islands, areas geographically closer to China and aligned with Huishen’s distances.
Samuel Dunn (bap. 1723-1794) was a teacher of mathematics and navigation who published, among other things, maps and charts. Although information about his early education is lacking, by age nineteen he was leading his own school and teaching writing, accounting, navigation, and mathematics in Devon. In 1751, he moved to London, where he taught in several schools and tutored privately.
By the 1760s, Dunn was known as a respected astronomer and had published a range of textbooks on math, navigation, and astronomy. After the publication of the Nautical Almanac, Dunn acted as a certifier of ships’ masters under the new system, on behalf of the Board of Longitude. He performed similar work for the East India Company, as well as made charts of the East Indies. In 1776 he published A New Variation Atlas and, in 1777, A New Epitome of Practical Navigation, or, Guide to the Indian Seas. By 1780, he was named editor of the New Directory for the East Indies, which included his own charts. In 1786, he released a pioneering study, Theory and Practice of Longitude at Sea. He also designed several instruments for navigation.
Dunn died at his home in Fleet Street in January 1794. His books and maps were auctioned at Sothebys in a sale of over 1,000 lots. Many of these were bought by Alexander Dalrymple, hydrographer of the East India Company and soon-to-be-named first head of the Hydrography Office.
![[An English Propaganda Map In French] Carte Des Possessions Angloises & Francoises Du Continent De L'Amerique Septentrionale 1755.](https://storage.googleapis.com/raremaps/img/small/86975.jpg)