xvi Jslote on Maps 



space is devoted to any detailed picture of the seas and oceans. Re- 

 course must be had to nautical charts, which are not normally avail- 

 able to the layman, and even these, being too full of detail, are often 

 singularly uninformative about the more basic general aspects of the 

 marine world. 



There is also another matter that must be taken into account when 

 we wish to depict history on maps. This is that the compass came 

 into general use only during the thirteenth century a.d., at least in 

 Europe, and prior to its introduction the concept of "north" was 

 quite different from what it is today. North has been one of the 

 cardinal points since early times in Egypt, but it was the least, rather 

 than the most, important of them. The ancient world looked pri- 

 marily east or west, and this brings us to another vital consideration. 

 The world appeared different to every group of people in those days, 

 depending upon where they lived, and this applies most especially 

 to the dwellers on coasts of all kinds, and to mariners in particular. 

 Straight ahead and left and right were much more important to the 

 early navigators than north, south, east, and west. Thus, a Roman 

 in Rome regarded North Africa as the World, with Greece behind 

 him to the left, Gaul to the right, and Spain half right; to a Roman 

 in Calabria, Egypt lay ahead, with Arabia and India beyond, while 

 Greece was half left and North Africa right. 



As we follow the whale, this approach to navigation must be 

 borne in mind, because up to the time of the Basques it dominated 

 all navigation and even thereafter retained great influence upon sea- 

 men of all nations, for they are a pragmatic breed and must rely for 

 survival primarily on what they know by actual experience to be 

 reliable. Even today in the most advanced stages of mechanical 

 navigation your destination point is of more ultimate importance 

 than the position of north. No true seaman, especially a whaler set- 

 ting out after his quarry, sets up his chart with "north" straight 

 ahead; rather, he slews the chart around so that it points to where 

 he wants to go; then he can see at a glance what snags are in his way 

 and which way to turn to avoid them. 



This may sound so basically obvious as not to warrant statement, 

 but it is surprising how seldom the concept is appreciated by any 

 except navigators, and it is quite stunning what erroneous ideas we 

 all have of the relative positions of land masses, islands and conti- 



