Early maps and charts of Africa--here defined as those produced before colonial penetration--have seldom been used as a source for historical studies. Generally they are valued more for their decorative qualities than for their geographical content. Jonathan Swift gave form to this viewpoint in his famous --or notorious--lines:
So geographers in Afric-maps
With savage-pictures fill the gaps
And o'er unhabitable downs
Place elephants for want of towns
lines which stereotyped the African cartography until today.
But it is not only eighteenth century maps that have been exposed to ridicule; those made in colonial times have also been subjected to stinging criticism. For instance, the linguist Pierre Alexandre noticed that on the official map of Cameroun made before independence a certain “Ambababoum” is shown as an important village on the road from Yaoundé to Bafia. However, it does not exist and has never existed within living memory. And, examining another map, he observed that certain peoples who do not exist are mentioned, while others who do exist are omitted.