92 THE DISCOVERY OF AUSTRALIA 



West coast of Australia existed, appears a short line in 

 the shape of a rough-drawn S, without any sort of legend. 

 What does it stand for ? Its very modesty suggests that 

 it is no mere fancy, but stands for some definite piece of 

 news that had come to the map-makers. I would venture 

 to suggest that it may stand for the " certain islands under 

 the Tropic of Capricorn " which, according to Galvano, 



j 



I ' X" / \XBBB^BHBMHH^MHV4BBHaB 



PART OF MAP IN HAKLUYT'S Voyages (PUBLISHED 1598-1600). 



were seen from the Victoria one hundred leagues beyond 

 Timor. We know that Hakluyt very greatly valued 

 Galvano's book. He published an English translation, 

 and declared that " the work though small containeth so 

 much rare and profitable matter as I know not where to 

 seek the like within so narrow and straight a compass." 

 One wonders whether Galvano's vague phrase was not in 

 Hakluyt's mind when he discussed the " new map " with 

 its maker, and suggested perhaps the vague curve under the 

 Tropic of Capricorn. 1 



1 Cf. a somewhat similar map of 1571 in the polyglot bible of Arias 

 Montanus. Coote's Remarkable Maps, ii. i. Here South of Java 

 is a land in the form of a broad-based pyramid, pointing North. " It 



