Martin de Hoyarçabal

Martin de Hoyarçabal (Martin Oihartzabal in modern spelling) was a French Basque mariner. Little is generally known about his life.

Hoyarçabal's Navigational Pilot The Pilot is the only known extant work by Hoyarçabal. As a reference work, the Navigational Pilot was invaluable for ships traveling in the Newfoundland area. The following is an example taken from Hoyarçabal's work; in this text, Hoyarçabal is giving distances between several places in Newfoundland:

With Cape S. Marie & Plaisence lying north northeast & south southeast, go 9 leagues. Further, you should know that when you will go from Cape S. Marie, along this route of north northwest, you will find a long point which is named Amigaiz, from which to Plaisence go 4 leagues, & from Cape S. Marie 5 leagues, after which you will have passed the aforementioned Amigaiz, you will find Plaisence.

In 1677, Pierre Detcheverry translated and expanded the Navigational Pilot into Labourdin Basque. The following is the corresponding passage:

Present day Basque: Halaber jakin behar duzu joaten zarenean erruta horretan kausituko duzula punta bat, zeinari baiteritza Punta Mehea eta handik(an) Plazentzara(t) dira 5. legoa handi eta Punta Mehitik(an) burura(t), 4. l. noiz ere iragaten baituzu Punta Mehea handik lehenbiziko baian izanen da Plazentza istriborreko aldearekin. "Anyway, you have to know when you go that route that you will find a point which is called point Mehea and from there to Placença, 5 leagues from there and from point Mehea to the cape, 4 leagues because you pass point Mehea soon Placença will be in the first bay at the starboard side".