Formosa became heard of in Europe before more than a tiny number of people had ever actually been there, and ever on the mainland the island was still barely known.
當時所以會誤把台灣畫成二個島或三個島，很可能是在海上看到很大的河口，誤以為島是分離的。荷人貿易通商據點此時福爾摩沙已為歐洲人所知，但真正到過台灣的人少之又少，甚至大陸上的中國人對台灣也不熟悉。