Immediately west of the statues appears “Mount Tanacomedo” ([48]), an amusing instance of Leardo’s carelessness; he has here evidently copied “Montana Comedorum” from a Ptolemaic map, combining the last part of the first word with the first part of the last! At the extreme eastern edge of the world disk we see the Terrestrial Paradise ([63]) surrounded by an enormous wall to keep out curious intruders. The River Indus flows southwestward to a great delta near the entrance of the Persian Gulf ([84]). Many of the place names in India correspond with those of the Catalan maps and in turn were derived from Marco Polo. The scene of St. Thomas’ mission and of the early introduction of Christianity into India is indicated by the inscription: “Here preached St. Thomas” ([113]).
In central Asia, we note two rivers entering the eastern side of the Caspian Sea, the Jaxartes ([117]) and Oxus ([118]). The Lake of Aral, in which these great streams actually have their outlet, seems to have been wholly unknown to the geographers both of antiquity and of medieval Europe. Moslem scholars, however, were aware of its existence. Leardo’s castles of Organa and of Organzia (Urganj) ([120], [121]) at the mouth of the Jaxartes and his place name Orcania ([132]) on the Oxus recall Matthew Arnold’s description of the Oxus at the close of Sohrab and Rustum:
But the majestic river floated on ...
Right for the polar star, past Orgunjè,
Brimming, and bright, and large.
The Tigris and Euphrates ([165], [166]) join, reaching the Persian Gulf ([267]) as a single stream flowing between two large edifices that represent Susiana ([172]) and Babylonia ([173]). To the east of the Tigris a nameless river ([139]) having its headwaters in a large lake ([138]) also enters the Persian Gulf. This same stream on the Catalan Atlas and on the Este map rises in a double source, two bodies of water that have been identified with Lakes Van and Urmia. Leardo connects the Euphrates ([166]) with the Mediterranean through the Orontes ([168]) and with the Red Sea ([268]) through the Jordan ([167]).
The most prominent feature in Arabia is Mecca ([211]), a large domed and towered building in good Italian Renaissance style and presumably representing a mosque. Several corrupted Turkish place names ([227], [228], [229], [232]) along with classical names ([224], [231], [233]-235) appear in Asia Minor.
The Indian Ocean is filled with yellow and red islands. A legend asserting that pepper and spice are found in these islands ([275]) comes from Marco Polo’s description of the East Indian archipelago. The largest of all the islands, lying off the coast of India, is marked Taprobana ([269]) and probably represents Sumatra.
Africa
Leardo’s Africa, like that of the Este map, has a very unusual shape. Two gulfs reach inland from the Indian Ocean and from the Atlantic, partially cutting off the southern extremity of the continent. On the Este map the eastern gulf is not as prominent as that of Leardo’s map, but the western is even deeper. Kretschmer suggests that these features have sprung from a combination of the ancient doctrine of a vast austral continent with Ptolemy’s theory that the Indian Ocean is surrounded by land.[23] Certain Arabic maps show an eastward projection of Africa like those of the Este map and Leardo, although they do not indicate anything corresponding to the western gulf.