![]() ![]() In his 1570 atlas, he labeled his imaginary southern continent of Terra Australis with tantalizing place names like "Land of Parrots," "Cape of the Good Signal," and "Sweetest River." No one had ever actually been to these nonexistent places, but hey, it was either that or leave an entire landmass suspiciously naked. The great Flemish cartographer Abraham Ortelius evidently agreed with me. ![]() There may be poetry in the curl of a coastline, but there's personality in a Humpty Doo, Australia or Oaxaca, Mexico, or Chililabombwe, Zambia. Names are the alchemical infusion that bring a map to life. Maps that aren't dotted with text look barren and lonely to me-what could be more soulless than one of those grade-school outline maps of a region with only a few sad oil derricks or ears of corn drawn on it to depict industry or agriculture? Those are the abominations that make kids hate geography. As long as I've loved maps, I've been an enthusiastic toponymist: a student of place names. ![]()
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