Some continental contours are instantly recognisable, for instance the Kamchatka peninsula of Russia's Far East, and Canada's Baffin and Hudson Bays. But what is that thing in between, and what has it done to Alaska?
Even the mapmaker must have known there was something wrong with what he wrought. Notice the contrast between the mostly soft-edged shores of this half-baked Alaska and the jagged coastlines of the real parts of the world. The lack of detail for the former is intentional, a sign of deference by the cartographer to his lack of knowledge. Smooth shorelines are a code between the maker and reader of maps, to be read as: Not yet surveyed.
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