ABSTRACT

The Coatzacoalcos River is one of the most important rivers in Mexico. The oldest map of this river was drawn by Francisco Gali in 1580. Unlike most maps made in New Spain in the last quarter of the sixteenth century, this map is purely European in style and is somewhat reminiscent of a nautical chart. Analysis of the map suggests that it was made hastily. Both the errors in the distances and the numerous corrections that can still be observed support this conjecture. It seems that Francisco Gali was more interested from his point of view as an explorer and navigator in the most important aspect of the region: the possibility of connecting the North Sea and the South Sea through the Strait of Tehuantepec. In this respect, the map of Coatzacoalcos would have been drawn to show the viability of using the river as an interoceanic passage.

摘要

夸察夸尔科斯河是墨西哥最重要的河流之一。这条河最古老的地图是弗朗西斯科·加利 (Francisco Gali) 于 1580 年绘制的。与 16 世纪最后 25 年新西班牙制作的大多数地图不同，这张地图完全是欧洲风格，有点像航海图。对地图的分析表明它是仓促制作的。距离误差和仍然可以观察到的大量修正都支持这一猜想。作为一名探险家和航海家，弗朗西斯科·加利似乎更感兴趣于该地区最重要的方面：通过特万特佩克海峡连接北海和南海的可能性。在这方面，绘制夸察夸尔科斯地图是为了显示将这条河用作跨洋通道的可行性。