Map/Chart > The Caribbean

The Island of Cuba with part of the Bahama banks and the Martyrs

Originally produced in 1775 for inclusion in Thomas Jefferys atlas of the West Indies, this is the later 1794 edition published by Laurie & Whittle.

Description

The chart is very much in the style of other charts produced by Jeffreys  at the time and indeed was drawn to adjoin Jeffreys chart 'The Peninsula and Gulf of Florida or New Bahama Channel with the Bahama Islands' (see Heritage Charts A412).

Jefferys also includes on the chart a great deal of hydrographical information including soundings and channels through the great Bahama Banks north of Cuba.  He also marks sandbanks, reefs currents, anchorages and Rhumb or loxodromic lines (taken from an initial bearing it is a line on a sphere that cuts all meridians at the same angle. It is the path taken by a ship that maintains a constant compass direction).  The Florida Keys and the Martyrs are also shown with detailed hydrographical information.  The inclusion of ships to illustrate the channels not only decorates the chart but it also highlights the economic importance of the area at the time.