CARTOGRAPHY OF THE GREAT DISCOVERIES 87 



the names of SofFala, Mozambique, Kilwa, and Melinde occur, 

 and the island of Madagascar is inserted but not named. The 

 Indian sub-continent is drawn as a sharply tapering triangle, 

 on the western coast of which are names — e.g. Cambaya, 

 Calecut — and legends detailing the wealth of these parts, which 

 were drawn from accounts of Vasco da Gama's voyage. These 

 appear to mark the limit of first-hand knowledge; beyond, the 

 outline must have been inserted largely by report. That this was 

 obtained from native seamen is probable from the circumstance 

 that the term 'pulgada' is used in place of a degree ; it equalled 

 about 1° 42' 50". The places whose latitudes are given thus are 

 inserted only approximately in their correct positions. East of 

 India is a large gulf and then a southward-stretching peninsula, 

 a relic of the coasts which Ptolemy believed to enclose the 

 Indian Ocean. Near its extremity occurs the name 'Malaqua', 

 and off it the large island of 'Taporbana' (Sumatra). The 

 eastern coast of Asia runs away to the north-east, almost 

 featureless but with a number of names, mostly unidentifiable, 

 on the coast and indications of shoals off shore. Recognizable 

 names are 'Bar Singapur' (Singapore) and 'China cochin'. 



The main feature to be noted with regard to Asia is the 

 almost complete abandonment of Ptolemy's conception of 

 the southern coasts, and the great reduction in the longitudinal 

 extent of the continent. The south-eastern coastline of Asia is 

 shown as lying approximately 160° east of the line of demarca- 

 tion, a figure very close to the truth. 



The so-called King-Hamy chart also dated 1502 is interest- 

 ing as showing the Ptolemaic conceptions of Asia in the process 

 of being fitted to the new discoveries in the west. This chart 

 has many features of the Ptolemy world map in south-east 

 Asia, where 'Malacha' and 'Cattigara' appear together, but the 

 point of importance is that the longitudinal extent eastwards 

 from the demarcation line to the south-east Asian coast is 

 still approximately 220°-230°. 



The Cantino chart therefore demonstrates clearly that 

 Portuguese cosmographers had entirely abandoned the 

 Alexandrian's figures, and were already aware that the Spanish 

 discoveries in the west, far from neighbouring on Cipangu and 

 the Asian mainland, were separated from them by an interval 



