WAS AUSTRALIA KNOWN ? 121 



came to Java, they came to an island that had for centuries The form of 

 enjoyed the reputation of being the largest and most Co'ntinentYn 1 

 magnificent island in the world, an island of from three these maps 

 thousand to seven thousand miles in circuit. And, away 



to the South of Java, Marco Polo had been understood suggested by 



travellers' 



to say, was " an extensive and rich province that forms statements 

 a part of the mainland." And Ludovico Varthema that J ava 



\Vcis the 



had brought home stories of races of men who navigated largest 



by the Southern Cross, who lived in a country where island in the 



world. 

 the day did not last more than four hours, and where it 



was colder than in any other part of the w r orld. 



We have seen how Mercator interpreted these state- Java may be 

 ments. He found a place on the map for Marco Polo's southern 

 " extensive and rich province " by adding to his Southern Continent. 

 Continent a huge promontory stretching Northwards 

 towards Java. And- he wrote upon it that anyone who 

 has read certain chapters in Polo and Varthema will 

 easily believe that very vast regions here exist. But to 

 people who, like the Portuguese, actually visited Java, 

 it may well have appeared that a better interpretation 

 might be suggested. The travellers had not only spoken 

 of a continent South of Java ; they had also spoken of 

 Java itself as "Java Major," the greatest island in the 

 world ! Was it not likely that Java extended far South- 

 ward ? Was it not possible that, like Tierra del Fuego 

 and perhaps New Guinea, it was a tip ~of the Austral con- 

 tinent with a centre in the South Pole ? l To this it might 

 be objected that some said that Java was a comparatively 

 small island, and had even ventured to draw the vague 

 outline of its Southern coast, while admitting that no ships 

 went there. Well then, let us be reasonable cosmo- 

 graphers, and let us make a compromise. Let us suppose 

 that Java is a comparatively small island. But let 

 us also suppose that immediately to the South of it, 

 separated only by a tiny channel, lies a great continent, 

 which, being virtually a part of Java, we will call Jave 



1 Cf. Linschoten's statement, quoted above, p. 84, that some Javans 

 thought that Java was " firm land and parcel of the country called 

 Terra Incognita." 



