1730 Toms Map of Central Africa

A very curious map of central Africa dating to approximately 1730 by Henry H. Toms. It covers the mid-section of Africa roughly from the Gulf of Guinea and the Atlantic eastward to the Red Sea and the horn. Extends southward as far as modern day Tanzania. The map is full of curious and often spurious information. The Kingdoms of the Axuxmites in modern day Ethiopia, as well as the Nubians, the Amanites, and many other mysterious peoples are identified. In the west, the Niger River begins and ends without a source or oceanic outlet. Further east, the map follows the course of the Nile river southward, past the lands of the Elephantophagi, to two mysterious lakes. These great lakes, at the foot of the mountains of the moon, were part of a long enduring myth in African cartography that dates to the works of Claudius Ptolemy. In fact, though issued nearly 1600 years after Ptolemy's death, most of the information here is based directly on his work. Cartographically this map is very similar to Culver's map of the same name issued in 1736.