XI. Southern Africa

Mountains

282 M^o elefans: Elephas Mons on the east coast of Africa, Ptol. (IV, 7:10 (FA15));=Ras el-Fil (Vivien de St. Martin, 288).

283 Monti doue se caua m ... ro [molto oro, Leardo, 1448] (mountain where much gold is mined): Pliny (Nat. hist., VI, 189) mentions the abundance of gold in Ethiopia between Napata and the Red Sea.

Edifices

(A) South Shore of the Red Sea

284 gobari: Zobar or Gobar, Leardo, 1448;=?Zanzibar (Santarem, iii, 437).

285 uigie: ?Vuigie, in interior of Prester John’s realm, Mauro;=?

286 tobo|let(?): =?

287 scuendn(?): Stuendi, Mauro;=?Suakin.

288 traged|it(?): Tragoditi, Mauro; Troglodytica Regio, in East Africa, Ptol. (IV, 7: 27 (FA 15));=country along W coast of Red Sea between Egypt and Abyssinia (Vivien de St. Martin, 471-474).

289 satoris(?): Catoris, Mauro;=?

290 basag .. |r(?): =?

(B) Eastern “Horn” of Africa

291 acoan: Aicoum de Afra, Leardo, 1448 (Santarem, iii, 437); Hascum, Mauro;=?Axum in Abyssinia (La R., ii, 115).

292 safola: Sofrala, Mauro;=?Sofala.

293 medi|fola: =?—294 prouinzie | dofir: P. Davaro, Mauro;=?Dawaro in Abyssinia (La R., ii, 113, 132).

295 gfen|uj(?): =?

296 flmodo(?): =?

297 dela .. (?): =?

(C) Central Region

298 milua|s(?): =?

299 Inperio del | presto Jani (Empire of Prester John): Prester John is shown in this part of Africa on CA and CE. On the origins of the legend of Prester John and on the transference of the realm of this mythical potentate from Asia to Africa in popular tradition see Kret., CE, 99-101; Wright, Lore, 283-286.

300 ta . . . |n(?): =?

301 grafai: =?

302 fe . . .(?): =?

303 mesa: Con. (36) says that Prester John always resides at Malsa (Jiménez de la Espada, 222; La R., i, 61).

304 carap(?): =?

Longer Legends

305 DIXERTO DEXABITADO PER CALDO (desert uninhabited on account of heat): Leardo, 1448, Walsperger, 1448, and Borgia, 1452, “all show a similar torrid zone, though the theory was protested against by Fra Mauro, Diogo Gomez, and doubtless by others” (A. Rainaud, Le continent austral: hypothèses et découvertes, Paris, 1893, 199); on the development and history of this theory see especially Rainaud, passim; also Wright, Lore, 18, 157-161.

306 dixerto.

307 qui nase homeni | che ano Il uolto | nel petto (here are born men who have the face in the chest): Such monsters are described by Solinus, 31,5; Isidore, Etym., XI, 3, 17; and shown on the Hereford map (Miller, Mappaemundi, iv, 45).