The earth was, according to him, a moderately sized plane, the inhabited parts of which were separated from the antediluvian world by the ocean, and at the four corners of the whole were the pillars which supported the heavens, so that the whole universe was something like a big glass exhibition case, on the top of which was the firmament, dividing the waters above and below it, according to the first chapter of Genesis.
[Illustration: THE HEREFORD MAP.] Cosmas' views, however interesting and amusing they are, were too extreme to gain much credence or attention even from the mediaeval monks, and we find no reference to them in the various _mappoe mundi_ which sum up their knowledge, or rather ignorance, about the world.

One of the most remarkable of these maps exists in England at Hereford, and the plan of it given on p.

53 will convey as much information as to early mediaeval geography as the ordinary reader will require.

In the extreme east, _i.e._ at the top, is represented the Terrestrial Paradise; in the centre is Jerusalem; beneath this, the Mediterranean extends to the lower edge of the map, with its islands very carefully particularised.

Much attention is given to the rivers throughout, but very little to the mountains.