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THE BIANCO MAP OF 1436
The Bianco map of I436 22 (Fig. 25) was the first of the Antillia
maps to attract attention in quite modern times but has suffered
far worse than Roselli's in the matter of limitation. The border
of the material cuts off all but Antillia and the lower end of
Salvagio, to which Bianco has given the strange name of La Man
(or Mao) Satanaxio, generally translated "The Hand of Satan"
but believed by Nordenskiold to be rather a corruption of a
saint's name, perhaps that of St. Anastasio. It remains a mystery,
though one hypothesis connects it with a grisly Far Eastern tale
of a demon hand. The initial "S" is all that Satanaxio has in
common with the names for this island on the other maps that
show it; and, as nearly all of these present very slight changes
from Salvagio, easily to be accounted for by carelessness or
errors in copying, the latter name is fairly to be regarded as the
legitimate one, while Satanaxio remains unique and grimly
fanciful, perhaps to be explained another day. The most that
can be said for its generally accepted meaning is that it corrobo-
22 A. E. Nordenskiold, Periplus, PL 20. Cf. also Kretschmer, atlas, PI. 4, map 2.
PARETO MAP OF 1455 157
rates Salvagio in so far as it intensifies savagery to diabolism.
One is tempted to speculate as to whether any very cruel treat-
ment from the natives had formed part of the experience of the
visitors along that shore; but there is no known fact or assertion
upon which to base such an idea. As to the delineation of the
islands, it is quite evident that Bianco showed the same group
as Beccario and Roselli so far as circumstances permitted;
and there is no reason to believe that the islands for which he
had no room would have differed from theirs in his showing, if
admissible, any more than his Antillia differs; that is to say,
hardly at all.
Humboldt was so impressed by this map of Bianco that he took
the pains of measuring upon it the distance of Antillia from
Portugal, making this about two hundred and forty leagues: an
unreliable test, one would say, for the distances over the western
waste of waters probably were not drawn to scale nor supposed to
approach exactness. For that matter, the interval between
Portugal and the Azores, as shown on maps for nearly a hundred
years, was greatly underestimated, and the discrepancy becomes
more glaring as the islands lie farther westward, Flores and Corvo
being conspicuous examples. We should naturally expect to find
the West Indies reported much nearer than they really are by
anyone mapping a record of them. Perhaps the explanation lies
in a disposition of cartographers to expect and allow for a great
deal of nautical exaggeration in the mariners' yarns that reached
them. A careful man might come at last to believe in the existence
of an island but doubt if it were really so very far away.
THE PARETO MAP OF 1455
Pareto, 1455, has a very interesting and elaborate map 23
(Fig. 21) showing Antillia, Reylla, and I in Mar (the latter without
name) in the orthodox size, shape, and position, but with a
great gap between Antillia and I in Mar where Salvagio should
be. Very likely it was there once. Perhaps this is another case of
2S Kretschmer, atlas, PI. 5.
158
ANTILLIA AND THE ANTILLES
FIG. 21 Section of the Pareto map of 1455 showing the Antilles, St. Brendan's
Islands, Daculi, and others. (After Kretschmer's hand-copied reproduction.)
BENINCASA MAP OF 1482 159
fading away. One doubts whether the loss might not still be
retrieved by more powerful magnifying glasses and close study
of the significant interval. Pareto is unmistakably disclosing the
same series of islands as the others. It may be that from him
Roselli borrowed the inaccurate "roella" for Reylla, since Pareto
is earlier in using a similar form (Roillo).
THE BENINCASA MAP OF 1482
Benincasa's map of I482 24 (Fig. 22) presents Salvagio as Sal-
uaga, and I in Mar without name, but omits Reylla, both name and
figure. The islands shown are in their accepted form and arrange-
ment, except that Saluaga has but two bays on the western side,
and his map adds a novelty in a series of names applied to the
several bays, or the regions adjoining them, of the two larger
islands. These names (Fig. 22) are twelve in number and seem
like the fanciful work of some Portuguese who was haunted by a
few Arabic sounds in addition to those of his native tongue. Sev-
eral of them, like Antillia, begin with "An," perhaps another illus-
tration of the law of the line of least resistance. I cannot think
that there is any significance in these bits of antiquated ingenuity,
though, as we have seen in Chapter V, some have believed they
found in them a relic of the Seven Cities legend.
THE WEIMAR MAP (AFTER 1481)
The Weimar map, 25 though long carefully housed, has suffered
blurring and fading with some other damage in its earlier history.
It is evidently a late representative of the tradition and begins
to wander slightly from the accepted standard. It has been
curtailed also from the beginning, like Bianco's map of 1436, by
the limitations of the border, which in this instance cuts off the
lower part of Antillia, though the name is nearly intact; but
enough remains to indicate a reduced relative size and a greater
slant to the northeastward than on Beccario's map. There is, of
course, no room for Reylla, and there is none for I in Mar; but
24 Kretschmer, atlas, PI. 4.
2i See footnotes 18 and 19.
i6o
ANTILLIA AND THE ANTILLES
FIG. 22 Section of the Benincasa map of 1482 showing the Antilles, St. Brendan's
Islands, and others. (After Kretschmer's hand-copied reproduction.)
Salvagio is given plainly and fully, with the letter S quite con-
spicuous. I cannot read more of the name on the photograph;
but the Weimar librarian reads San on the original, being uncer-
tain as to the rest. This map bears traces of local names arranged
in places like those of Benincasa but fragmentary and illegible.
Perhaps these names tend to show that the maps belong not only
to the same period, but to the same general school of develop-
LAON GLOBE OF 1493 161
ment. The other differences between this map and its predeces-
sors are trivial. The general idea of the island series is the same
so far as it is disclosed, and it is hardly to be doubted that all
elements of the islands of Antillia would have been presented in
the main on this map as they are by Roselli and Beccario, if there
had been room to do so.
THE LAON GLOBE OF 1493
The Laon globe, 26 1493, though mainly older, certainly had
room enough, but it appears to have formed part of some mech-
anism and to have had only a secondary or incidental, and in
part rather careless, application to geography. It shows two
elongated islands, Antela and Salirosa, undoubtedly meant for
Antillia and Salvagio. Perhaps the globe maker had at command
only a somewhat defaced specimen of a map like Bianco's or that
of Weimar, showing perforce only two islands, and merely copied
them, guessing at the dim names and outlines, without thinking
or caring whether anything more were implied or making any
farther search. This is apparently the last instance in which the
larger two islands of the old group or series, marked by their
traditional names or what are meant for such, appear together.
OTHER MAPS
It may seem strange that certain other notable maps, for ex-
ample Giraldi I426, 27 Valsequa 1 439, 28 and Fra Mauro I459, 29 show
nothing of Antillia and its neighbors. Perhaps the makers were
not interested in these far western parts of the ocean, or the
narratives on which Beccario and the rest based their maps had
not reached them; more likely they were skeptical and un-
willing to commit themselves.
28 A. E. Nordenskiold, Facsimile-Atlas, p. 73, map in text.
27 Theobald Fischer, Portfolio 8 (Facsimile del Portolano di Giacomo Giraldi di
Venezia dell' anno 1426).
28 Original in Majorca. A good copy is owned by T. Solberg, Register of Copy-
rights, Washington, D. C.
21 Theobald Fischer, Portfolio 15 (Facsimile del Mappamondo di Fra Mauro
dell' anno 1457 [i459])-
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