FIFTEENTH-CENTURY WORLD MAPS 57 



into two very stumpy peninsulas, resulting in the confusion 

 of relative positions in the interior, and in the placing of Cape 

 Deli in the latitude of Cape Comorin. Seilan (Ceylon) appears 

 more or less correctly related to Cape Comorin, with a note 

 that Ptolemy had confused this island with Taprobane, and a 

 representation of Adam's Peak. To the east, there is a more or 

 less recognizable Bay of Bengal, confined on the further side 

 by the great island of Sumatra. Into this bay flows in the north 

 a great river here named Indus, the repetition of a mistake 

 which seems to go back at least as far as the Catalan Atlas. 

 There is nothing corresponding to the Golden Chersonesus or 

 the Malay Peninsula, but to the east again, rather surprismgly, 

 is placed the 'Sinus Gangeticus', with the Ganges entering 

 on the north: that river is therefore brought into close relation- 

 ship with southern China. A conspicuous feature in the Indian 

 Ocean is the Maldive Islands, shown with their characteristic 

 linear extension. Instead however of running north and south, 

 they extend approximately from north-west to south-east, and 

 this direction is emphasized in an inscription. The position 

 in which the Andaman Islands are shown in relation to Sumatra 

 also suggests that there is a general tilting of the map in this 

 area of about 45° west of north. In the south-east close to the 

 border of the map is an island with the inscription 'Tsola 

 Colombo, which has abundance of gold and much merchandise, 

 and produces pepper in quantity. . . . The people of this 

 island are of diverse faiths, Jews, Mahomedans and idolaters. 

 ..." This refers to the district of Quilon (the 'Colombo' 

 of the Catalan Atlas) in the south of the Indian peninsula. 

 Arab topographers were accustomed on occasion to refer 

 rather loosely to districts approached by sea as 'islands' 

 {gezira) and this often led to confusion, as in the present 

 instance. This error suggests that portions of the map were 

 probably based on written descriptions or sailing instructions 

 by Arab merchants or pilots. Fra Mauro, or the draughtsman 

 of his prototype, clearly misunderstood the passage referring 

 to 'Colombo'. The notes attached to some of the islands, 

 giving their direction in relation to others, as in the case of the 

 Maldives already quoted, support this probability. Certainly 

 the whole southern outline of the continent as depicted here 



