There are just two known historical uses of this phrase in the Latin form “HC SVNT DRACONES” (i.e. hic sunt dracones, ‘here are dragons’). One is on the Hunt–Lenox Globe[4] (c. 1503–07), on which the term appeared around the east coast of Asia. This might be related to the Komodo dragons on the Indonesian islands, tales of which were quite common throughout East Asia.[5] The other appearance of the term is on a globe engraved on two conjoined halves of ostrich eggs, dated to 1504.[6] Earlier maps contain a variety of references to mythical and real creatures, but the Hunt-Lenox Globe and the egg globe are the only known surviving maps to bear this phrase. Furthermore, the two maps may be closely linked: an investigation of the egg globe performed by collector Stefaan Missinne concluded that the Hunt–Lenox Globe is in fact a cast of it. […]
The classical phrase used by ancient Roman and Medieval cartographers was HIC SVNT LEONES (literally, “here are lions”) when denoting unknown territories on maps.[7]
Source: Here be dragons – Wikipedia
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