Mappy goodness

The 'Maris Pacifici' is believed to be the first Pacific-dedicated map to be printed anywhere ever.

How awesome are old maps? Very, according to this page and the 9,270,647 people who have clicked on it.

There's so much to love about this map:

1. It was drawn by a chappy called Abraham Ortelius (I'm a big fan of 'O' names, especially 'Ormerod'. 'Ortelius' comes a close second);

2. It was drawn in 1589 (I couldn't even hold a pencil then);

3. It contains the word 'qvod' (high up in the 'blurst' poetry family tree); and

4. According to the map, giant ships (about half the size of a small continent) used to inhabit the waters around South American. I wonder when they died out?

Wouldn't you like to travel the Pacific Ocean with Ortelius and his giant ships? GPS is for chumps.