In the second part of a discursive paper the author examines the mythological beliefs of the mediaeval geographers and their successors. Their maps—or rather mappae mundi, as opposed to the factual navigators' guides, or portolani —are filled with images showing the search for the mother and its attendant perils. The river, which is both a means of exploration and an object of exploration, often stands for the sister, through whom the mother may be more easily experienced sexually.