"Here be dragons" was a poetic turn of phrase used by cartographers in the past to indicate terra incognita. But it was unwittingly accurate on one 16th-century map of what is now Indonesia. Though the area in question was unexplored by Europeans at the time, it was already well traveled by local people, who had long known it as Nusa Nipa, or Dragon Island.
Tea Leaves
Enter the dragon: When science catches up with folklore
A journey to Indonesia's Komodo and Flores islands yields refreshing insights
One of the Komodo dragons encountered by the author on a recent trip to Indonesia's Komodo Island. (Photo by Andrew Benfield)
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