The first maps made of what is now called Canada were not made by highly skilled cartographers, but instead by sailors who had come from far across the ocean and landed on what is now known as Newfoundland. These first drawings started at the end of the 15th Century, and typically, the sailor would sketch the land scape in his log book, and then when he got home, a skilled map maker would expand on his drawing, as to how he might suppose the shoreline to look.
The very first map to show parts of today's Canada was made in 1500 by Spanish cartographer Juan de la Cosa. It records the travels made by the explorer John Cabot during the last two years of the 1400's, and is interesting in that it shows three capes that do not appear to connect to land as well an elaborate “Asian” coastline. It is interesting to now look at these antique maps and see how life-like or imagined these first maps were.
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