:54:00
Very good, sir.
:54:03
If you will notice, sir, all my charts
are drawn on the very best parchment...
:54:07
and mounted on the finest linen.
:54:09
The numbers every half-inch
along the coastline...
:54:12
indicate the depth of the ocean in fathoms
at that point.
:54:15
This is very interesting.
:54:17
I just finished that
when you gentlemen came in.
:54:19
Here is a section
of the west coast of Africa.
:54:22
You will notice it is worked out
with such detail...
:54:25
that a navigator can sail through
waters unknown with perfect safety.
:54:28
- Yes, indeed. Excellent work.
- Here are some straits.
:54:31
Tricky to navigate, and if I may say so,
tricky to chart.
:54:36
What do the constellations
at the top of the map signify?
:54:39
Purely a decoration, milord.
:54:40
I take the constellation that has its zenith
over the charted territory.
:54:44
Every seaman knows them.
:54:45
Just like the Southern Cross
over the Strait of Magellan.
:54:48
Merely a conceit of mine
so that people may recognize my work.
:54:52
- Quite an original idea.
- Thank you, sir.
:54:56
This figure
with the dagger pointing down...
:54:59
- is Orion the Hunter, is it not?
- Yes, Your Excellency.
:55:02
Then Your Excellency has some knowledge
of astronomy?
:55:05
Not as much as I should like to have.
:55:07
They say that even our fortunes
rest with the stars.
:55:12
You see, gentlemen, the orbit of Orion
is approximately this narrow path...
:55:16
between the equator
and the 10-degree parallel.
:55:19
The constellation appears to move
overhead as the earth turns on its axis.
:55:24
Obviously, the section of land you are
seeking must be somewhere on this belt.
:55:29
And from your memory of the chart...
:55:31
it appears this strip is too long
to be an island...
:55:34
not large enough to be a continent.
:55:36
Therefore, we may deduce
it is an isthmus.
:55:40
The only isthmus running
east and west under Orion's orbit...
:55:45
is this connecting link between
the two continents of the New World.
:55:50
Gentlemen,
here is your charted strip of land...
:55:54
the isthmus of Panama.