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A generall description of the World.
AS touching the description, diuision and inhabitation of the partes of the earth most commonly described in vniuersall maps, you shall vnderstand that the ancient Cosmographers, not knowing then the West Indies, nor many other places situated both northward and southward, and sithence discouered, di∣uided the whole earth into three partes, Europe, Asia and A∣frike, and the world into fiue zones, two cold, two temperate, and one extreme hot, affirming three of those zones to be vn∣habitable, the one for extremitie of heate, the other two for extremitie of cold: but because a new and whole world hath been found out since those times, our moderne Cosmogra∣phers haue added a fourth part called America; so called from Americus Vespuccius a Florentine, which did first discouer it; which againe is subdiuided by our later trauellers into three partes, viz. Mexicana, Peruana, and Magellanica, hauing found by good experience (as in this discourse shall be fully manifested) that these three partes are well inhabited and woonderfully replemshed with people of sundry languages. Of all these sixe partes because Europe is far lesse then all the rest, and yet exceedeth all others in noblenes, magnificence, multitude of people, in might, puissance and renowne, we will first begin with the description thereof. It is bounded on the North with the north Ocean sea, on the South with the Medi∣terranean, on the East with the flood Tanais, & on the West with the West Ocean. In measuring with a right line from the