ratyfied & confirmed my boke in all poyntes." If any portion of this is true, it is probable that the "boke of latin" may have been Pliny, Solinus, or some other equally veracious writer. As to the "Mappa Mundi" constructed from such sources, that at Hereford may be taken as a type of ideal geography of the time. This was almost contemporary with Mandeville, and is ascribed to the very early part of the fourteenth century. Indeed, it can be proved to be of this date, for, among other inscriptions on the map, is the following:- "Tuz Ki cest estoire ont. Ou oyront ou lirront ou veront. Prieut a ihesu su deyte. De Richard de Haldingdam e de Lafford eyt pite. Ki lat fet e compasse. Ki ioie eu cel li seit donc." Which may be thus translated:-- "All who have, or shall have, or shall read, or shall see this history--pray to Jesu in deity (or as God) that he may have pity on Richard of Haldingham and of Lafford, who has made and contrived it, that joy in heaven may be given unto him." Richard of Haldingham, or Holdingham, whose real name was Richard de la Battayle, or de Bello,[2] held the prebend of Lafford (now Sleaford), in Lincoln Cathedral up to the year 1283, and afterwards held the prebend of Norton, in Hereford Cathedral. Hardy, in his edition of Le Neve's _Fasti Ecclesiæ Anglicanæ_, says he was appointed to this stall in 1305. He was afterwards preferred to the Archidiaconate of Berkshire. Perhaps the best description of this map is in a paper read before the Geographical Society of Paris, 30th November, 1861, by M. D'Avezac, President of the Society, a translation of which may be found in the _Gentleman's Magazine_ of May, 1863. He considers it to have been executed early in the year 1314, because Lyons was not annexed to France till the 30th of April, 1313, and gives other reasons, equally strong, in support of his argument. Thus, then, we have a contemporary map as a guide, and on this Hereford map are portrayed all the monsters described by Mandeville--the one-eyed men, those with their heads in their breasts, even the big-footed one-legged man--all those things which are regarded as fable in Mandeville--are here drawn, and evidently must have been currently believed in. So that when Mandeville, or some subsequent editor, challenged the _Mappa Mundi_ as confirmatory evidence, he clearly knew what he was about.