Arab Discovery of New Zealand in 13th Century

BCFOS -- Eccles, in Proceedings New Zealand Institute, vol. III, p. 65, discusses the claim that Arabic geographers were acquainted with the existence of New Zealand, and quotes from "The English Mechanic" for December 3, 1869, p. 279, to the effect that various Arabic geographical works of the 13th and 14th centuries (many of which have been translated) describe New Zealand as a large and very mountainous island in the farthest southern ocean, beyond and far south-east of Borneo, and as being uninhabited by man but by gigantic birds (sheemoah).


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