Taken from: Li livres dou tresor; publié pour la première fois

 d'après les MSS. de la Bibliothèque impériale, …..PAR

P. CHABAILLE

Know that Egypt is a land that stretches to the south, and

towards the rising sun, and behind it is Ethiope, and through it runs the river Nile, the Geon (1), which starts at the Ocean, where he makes a lake called Nilides, which in everything resembles the Nile. On the other hand, when there are in Mauretania (2) big rains the big streams empty in this lake; this makes the Nile river to rise…..

The map of the world. Only one manuscript out of many survivors of this popular work contains a world map and dates from 1310. This map is in bad condition and without legends of any kind. Town symbols, rivers, and mountains seem to be arranged more or less at random, but the geographical forms, particularly around the Mediterranean, echo the sea charts of the day. There are, however, no rhumb lines. The Caspian Sea described in the text as a gulf of the outer ocean, is not shown at all on the map. The configuration of southern Africa, bending around to the east, and the Indian Ocean, open to the east, are similar to Sanudo's world picture. The text is a little unclear but seems to imply that the Indian Ocean is also a gulf of the greater encircling world ocean. Possible Arab influence is shown in the southern orientation of the map and the shape of Africa and the Indian Ocean. (See also map of Fra Mauro)