REFORMATION OF CARTOGRAPHY IN FRANCE 133 



doubtedly his son owed much instruction and assistance in his 

 first ventures. The son also had the benefit of instruction in 

 astronomy from Cassini at the Academy, of which he became 

 an Associate in 1718. In 1700 Delisle began work as a compiler 

 and publisher of maps, and for the rest of his life was the 

 leader in cartographical progress with an international reputa- 

 tion. In his maps and globes he followed with understanding 

 the progress of the Academy's work. Among his first produc- 

 tions was the 'Mappe-Monde Dressee sur les Observations de 

 Mrs de 1' Academic Royale des Sciences', 1700, a map in two 

 hemispheres on the stereographic projection, carrying further 

 the improvements of the Tlanispherum terrestre', and from 

 time to time (e.g. 1724, 1745) amended versions were published. 

 If compared with a modern map, the outlines of the continents 

 are seen to be extremely accurate. Africa is particularly well 

 drawn and correctly placed in latitude and longitude. South 

 America is also well placed, though like North America, is still 

 given too great an extent in longitude. The main area for which 

 information is noticeably lacking is the northern Pacific, where 

 Yezo (Hokkaido) is not yet clearly distinguished from the 

 mainland, and ideas on the mythical 'Company Land' and the 

 'Strait of Anian' still plague the cartographer. 



But if the continental outlines were now in great part known 

 with considerable accuracy, the interiors of the continents 

 outside Europe were still compounded of half truths, imagina- 

 tion and tradition. In dealing with them Delisle made another 

 departure, for he was prepared to admit, by 'blanks on the 

 map', the limitations of contemporary knowledge. In Africa, 

 for example, he abandoned the system of central lakes which 

 was an inheritance from the sixteenth century, and showed the 

 main branch of the Nile as rising in Abyssinia, and elsewhere he 

 displayed the same critical spirit. Since much information, in 

 Asia particularly, still reposed on the authority of Greek and 

 Latin writers, he gave much time and thought to determining 

 the equivalents of ancient measures of length. As he lacked 

 capital, and therefore the assistance of skilled engravers, 

 Delisle's maps are not outstanding in their execution, but they 

 are free of the mythical monsters and other devices with which 

 the older cartographers had disguised their ignorance — or 



