Maps aren’t just about getting from A to B. One new tome takes a slightly
diff erent approach by showing us the places slipping off the radarVANISHING ACT
The latest in a series of unexpected atlases
by Quarto o
ers up places that were once
the centre of our human worlds but have
now disappeared under the sands of time
(or, in some cases, literal sand). Written by
pop cultural historian Travis Elborough,
this book delves into the faded fortunes of
legendary cities, examines rivers and seas
whose changing forms have reshaped the
human settlements around them, and digs
up the dirt on ancient civilisations that have
vanished without a trace. We take a look at
four destinations fading out of sight.IMAGE: GETTY
Congo Basin Rainforest
Spanning central Africa, from the border of
Uganda-Democratic Republic of the Congo
across to Cameroon, the basin lost around
64,000sq miles between 2000 and 2014 due
to extensive logging. The need to protect the
forest is now greater than ever; more than
10,000 species of plants and 400 mammals
call its swamps, rivers, canopies and
savannah home, including scores of great
apes. SARAH BARRELL & CONNOR MCGOVERNDead Sea, Israel/Jordan
This Middle Eastern sea is an eerie place
that earned its lifeless epithet from its high
levels of salinity (more than seven times
saltier than the ocean), meaning neither fl ora
nor fauna can thrive in its waters. Since the
1970s, neighbouring countries have diverted
water from its tributaries, so it’s shrunk
from 50 miles long to barely 30 miles, with
water levels plummeting at an alarmingly
fast rate. Initiatives are in place to impede
its recession, but without drastic action, the
Dead Sea may well soon be dead.River Fleet, London
The only clue that Angler’s Lane — a street
o
Kentish Town Road in north London
— has a watery past is its name. This was the
erstwhile haunt of fi shermen who worked
on the River Fleet, a waterway that once ran
from the boggy uplands of Hampstead south
towards the Thames. However, by the 1300s
the waterway had become an open sewer
and was entirely blocked by the 1600s. An
expensive scheme was devised to widen the
river for commerce, but the project never
proved economically viable and by the 1800s
the river had been driven underground.Mahabalipuram, India
The ever-changing oceans have the power
to unearth ancient wonders as well as wipe
them away. A er the 2004 tsunami, the
retreating sea around the Shore Temple of
Mahabalipuram on the Bay of Bengal scoured
centuries of grit from the site and uncovered
several granite sculptures buried beneath
layers of sand. Figures of elegant beasts
now bask in the sunshine a er centuries of
obscurity — lending weight to the myth that
Mahabalipuram had once been a powerful
port. Its survival o
ers insight into how our
coastal relics might be preserved.Atlas of Vanishing Places by Travis Elborough is
published by White Lion Publishing. RRP: £22October 2019 41SMART TRAVELLER