CARTOGRAPHY OF THE GREAT DISCOVERIES 89 



meridian'. Off the land of Corte Real in the north-west Atlantic, 

 is a scale of latitude, additional to the main scale, and placed 

 obliquely to it. It has been shown by H. Winter that this is 

 intended to indicate the geographical meridian in this area, 

 and that the angle which it makes with the main meridian is 

 the magnetic variation, in this instance 22J° W. Since the 

 ordinary pilot would not be equipped to determine the variation, 

 the coasts were laid down by the compass without correction, 

 and the oblique meridian gave the allowance to be made when 

 they were transferred to a graticule of latitude and longitude.^ 

 The Kunstmann III chart has a scale of latitude divided in 

 degrees; the value of a degree, according to the scale of leagues, 

 is 75 miles, a more accurate value than that usually adopted. 



On these and other early Atlantic charts, the outline of 

 Cuba at first resembles that on the La Cosa chart, and the 

 island is placed in a high latitude. About 1506, the curious 

 'caterpillar' outline is abandoned. They show the progressive 

 exploration in the north-west, the 'Terra Corte Real' (New- 

 foundland) and 'Terra do Lavrador' (probably Greenland). 

 From the evidence of these charts, one may conclude that the 

 coastline hereabouts on the La Cosa chart very probably should 

 be sought south-west of Cape Race. 



The chart of the Indian Ocean, c. 1510, may best be 

 discussed with the charts of the next decade. But before 

 passing to them, something should be said of Pedro and Jorge 

 Reinel, the leading Portuguese cartographers of this epoch, 

 who served the Portuguese crown for many years. Pedro, 

 described as "master of charts and of navigation compasses", 

 was probably the draughtsman of, among others, the important 

 1518 chart of the Indian Ocean discussed below. During 

 the preparations in Spain for Magellan's voyage of circum- 

 navigation, the Reinels played a somewhat mysterious part. 

 Jorge was at Seville in 1519, and appears to have made a globe 

 and a world map for Magellan's use when arguing his cause 

 with the Spanish king. There he was joined by his father, who 

 also provided the expedition with two maps, which were taken 

 on the voyage. It seems that neither had actually entered the 



^Winter, H., Imago Mundi, vol. 2, 1938, and Taylor, E. G. R., lb., 3, 

 1939. 



