Delineatio orarum maritimarum, Terrae vulgo indigetatae Terra do Natal ... / ad exactissima...

A highly detailed 16th-century nautical chart, in the portolan style, showing the East African coast from the Horn of Africa down to the Cape of Good Hope, the island of Madagascar, and parts of the Indian Ocean including Ceylon and the Maldives. The map is adorned with rhumb lines, several ornate compass roses, and various illustrations. In the upper center, two large European sailing ships, or galleons, appear under full sail; one fires a cannon near a large sea monster or whale. In the top left, the interior of Africa is labeled with regional names and ethnographic notes. The bottom right features two large, elaborate Mannerist-style cartouches containing text in Latin and Dutch. A smaller circular medallion at the base of these cartouches contains the name of the engraver. At the bottom center is a decorative scale bar. A large coat of arms is situated in the bottom left corner above a compass rose.

AFRICA

[Region: Northeast Africa / Abyssinia]

Tigremahon
BAGA MIDRI
Prester John is mentioned here as the ruler of the Abyssinians.
Prete Giani Prester John the great Emperor of Abyssinia

Amara mons Mount Amara: here the sons of the Ethiopian emperor are kept in custody by guards.
AMARA
XOA
LINDE
QUARA
CAFATES PARS Part of Cafates
GAVI
GASABELA
TIRUT
MONOMOTAPA PARS Part of Monomotapa

[Coastline and Sea Features]

Melinde
Mombaça
Quiloa
Mozambique
Rio de Spirito Sancto River of the Holy Spirit
Terra do Natal Land of Christmas

[Islands]

MADAGASCAR, which is also called the island of St. Lawrence
Is. de Comoro Comoro Islands
Seylon Ceylon
Maldivae Maldives
Is. do Almirante Admiral Islands
Is. de S. Brandano St. Brandon Island

[Latin Cartouche - Bottom Right]

A delineation of the maritime

coasts, of the land commonly

designated as Terra do Natal, also
of Sofala, Mozambique, & Melinde,
and the island of Saint Lawrence, and the
islands adjacent, namely Ceylon, the Comoro
Islands, the Island of Juan de Castro, the Admiral
Islands, the Island of St. Brandon, and many
others. Also the islands, sandbanks,
shallows, reefs, and corals, as well as
all places to which navigators are accus-
tomed to be carried, reviewed and
corrected according to the most
exact Hydrographic charts of
the Indian regions.

[Dutch Cartouche - Bottom Right]

A depiction of the coasts of the land named Terra do
Natal, as well as all the coasts of Sofala, Mozambique,
Melinde, and the island of St. Lawrence, with all their is-
lands, cliffs, shallows, and deeps, derived from these, as
well as from the maps of the islands of Ceylon, the Comoro
Islands, the Island of Juan de Castro, the Admiral
Islands, the Island of St. Brandon, and others, all
carefully reviewed and corrected from the best and
most certain Portuguese sea charts.

[Distance Scale - Bottom Center]