island to which they give
the name that already occurs in Pliny, _Insula Tazata_, which
reminds us, perhaps by an accidental resemblance of sound, of the
name of the river and bay, Tas, between the Ob and the Yenisej.
Finally, the borders of the maps are often adorned with pictures of
wonderfully formed men, whose dwellings the hunters placed in those
regions, the names being at the same time given of a larger or
smaller number of peoples and cities mentioned by Marco Polo.

[Illustration: MAP OF THE WORLD AFTER FRA MAURO FROM THE MIDDLE OF
THE FIFTEENTH CENTURY. (From Il mappamondo di Fra Mauro Camaldolese
descritto ed illustrato da D. Placido Zurla, Venezia, 1806.) ]

[Illustration: HERBERTSTERN'S MAP OF RUSSIA, 1550 (photo-lithographic
facsimile). ]

On the whole, the voyages of the Portuguese to India and the Eastern
archipelago, the discovery of America and the first circumnavigation
of the globe, exerted little influence on the current ideas
regarding the geography of North Asia. A new period in respect of
our knowledge of this part of the old world first began with the
publication of HERBERSTEIN'S _Rerum Moscoviticarum Commentarii_,
Vindobonae 1549[292]. This work has annexed to it a map with the
title "Moscovia Sigismundi liberi baronis in Herberstein Neiperg et
Gutnhag. Anno MDXLIX. Hanc tabulam absolvit AUG. HIRSFOGEL Viennae
Austriae cum gra. et privi. imp.,"[293] which indeed embraces only a
small part of Siberia, but shows that a knowledge of North Russia
now began to be based on actual observations. A large gulf, marked
with the name Mare Glaciale (the present White Sea) here projects
into the north coast of Russia, from the south there falls into it a
large river, called the Dwina. On the banks of the Dwina there are
forts or towns with the names Solovoka (Solovets), Pinega, Colmogor,
&c. There are to be found on the map besides, the names Mesen,
Peczora, Oby,[294] Tumen, &c. Oby runs out of a large lake named
Kythay lacus. In the text, mention is made of Irtisch and
Papingorod, of walruses and white bears[295] by the coast of the
Polar Sea, of the Siberian cedar-tree, of the word Samoyed
signifying self-eaters, &c.[296] The walrus is described in great
detail. It is mentioned further that the Russian Grand Duke sent
out two men, SIMEON THEODOROVITSCH KURBSKI and Knes PIETRO UCHATOI,
to explore the lands east of the Petchora, &c.

Herberstein's work, where the narrative of Istoma's circumnavigation