effect of diminishing that continent in his estimation, and his hesitation to admit such an outline of Europe as system alone would delineate, are equally to his credit. Into whatever errors Herodotus may have run when he himself ventured to speculate, he was seldom led astray by the theories of others; and he not only laid before his countrymen the most valuable accumulation of facts which the world had to that age received, but he also taught them the useful lesson how to doubt and dis→

cuss.

CHAP. IV.

THE GREEKS CONTINUED.

HERODOTUS IGNORANT OF
VOYAGE OF HANNO TO

SCARCITY OF BOOKS IN ANTIQUITY.
THE CARTHAGINIAN DISCOVERIES.
THE NEGRO COUNTRY. SEES CROCODILES AND HIPPOPO
TAMI.-NOCTURNAL FIRES.-GORILLÆ, OR OURANG OUTANGS.
HIMILCO EXPLORES THE NORTHERN SEAS. FINDS THE TIN
COUNTRY. ALBION AND IERNE. -SCYLAX OF CARYANDA
THE FIRST GREEK WHO MENTIONS ROME. PYTHEAS OF MAR-
SEILLES. -VISITS BRITAIN. DISCOVERS THULE. DESCRIBES
THE AMBER COAST IN THE BALTIC.-WAS AN ACUTE OB-
SERVER. XENOPHON DESCRIBES THE RETREAT OF THE TEN
THOUSAND. THE CURDS. -THE ARMENIAN MOUNTAINEERS.
CTESIAS.

RESIDES IN PERSIA.

WITH HIS RELATIONS.

MIXES ORIENTAL FABLES

MEN WITH THE HEADS AND TAILS

OF DOGS. THE MAGIC POOL OF SILAS. SPEAKS OF THE KERMES INSECT. GREEK PHILOSOPHERS. -ARISTOTLE

THOUGHT THAT INDIA

MENTIONS THE HERCY NIAN MOUNTAINS OR THE HARTZ.-THE
BRITANNIC ISLANDS AND TAPROBANE.
MIGHT BE REACHED BY THE WEST.

THE progress of geographical knowledge depends more on the general intercourse subsisting between nations than on the exertions of individual travellers. Such an intercourse existed but imperfectly in ancient times; and this circumstance, together with the scarcity of books (in consequence of which contemporary authors

were often ignorant of one another's labours), prevented the geography of the Greeks from reaching the perfection which might have been expected from the diffusion and enlightenment of that enquiring people. The voyages of the Carthaginian admirals, Hanno and Himilco, in the western ocean, along the coasts of Africa and of Europe, were unknown to Herodotus, although performed, apparently, long before his time. Yet among the early attempts at maritime discovery, of which we have any authentic accounts, these were, unquestionably, the most important.

Hanno was despatched by the senate of Carthage to establish some colonies on the western coast of Africa. The fleet which he commanded was composed of sixty large vessels, and had on board no less than thirty thousand persons of both sexes. After sailing for two days beyond the columns of Hercules, the fleet anchored opposite to a great plain, where a town called Thymiaterion was built, and a settlement effected. Still sailing westward, the expedition next arrived at the promontory of Soloe (perhaps Cape Cantin), covered with thick woods. Having doubled this cape, they built five other towns on the sea side, and at no great distance from one another. They continued their southerly course, and at length reached the great river Lixus, flowing from Libya: some wandering shepherd tribes inhabited its banks. Beyond this people, in the interior, Æthiopian (negro) savages inhabited a hilly country, overrun with wild beasts. The Carthaginians, taking with them some of the friendly Lixites as interpreters, continued their voyage to the south, along a desert shore. Two days' sail brought them to an inlet, at the bottom of which was an island about five stadia in circumference, to which they gave the name Cerne: here they calculated the reckonings of their voyage, and found that Cerne was as far from the Pillars of Hercules as the latter place was from Carthage. The next remarkable object which occurred was the great river Chretes: this they entered, and found that it opened within into a wide haven, con

taining several large islands. The hills in the neighbourhood were inhabited by black savages clothed in the skins of wild beasts, who drove away our voyagers with stones and other missiles. Not far from this was another great river filled with crocodiles and hippopotami. After sailing twelve days to the south from Cerne, the Carthaginians came to a hilly country, covered with a variety of odoriferous trees and shrubs. The Æthiopians or negroes of this coast were a timid race, who fled from the strangers, and whose language was quite unintelligible to the Lixite interpreters. Seven days' sail from this coast brought the expedition to a great bay, to which they gave the name of Western Horn. In this bay was an island, on which they landed to repose themselves for a little after the hardships of the sea. During the day all was calm; but at night strange appearances presented themselves; the mountains seemed to be all on fire, and the sound of flutes, drums, and cymbals was mingled with wild screams and piercing cries. Our voyagers, terrified at what they saw and heard, immediately took to flight. As they continued their course to the south, the odoriferous vegetation of the coast perfumed the air; but still columns of flame illuminated the midnight sky, and the ground was so hot that it was impossible to walk upon it for a moderate distance. Sailing seven days along this coast, they came to a bay, which they called South Horn, and found within it an island with a lake, and in the middle of this lake another island filled with savages of a peculiar description, probably some species of ourang outang. The females were covered with hair, and were called by the interpreters Gorilla. The males fled across the precipices, and defended themselves obstinately with stones; but the Carthaginians captured three females: these, however, broke their cords, and fought so furiously with tooth and nail, that it was found necessary to kill them: their skins were stuffed and brought to Carthage. The want of provisions prevented our voyagers from proceeding any farther to the south.

It is impossible to read the narrative of Hanno's expedition without being struck with the simplicity and genuineness of the relation, or without being astonished at the immutability of manners among savage nations; for the stillness by day, the nocturnal fires, the clang of musical instruments, and wild merriment in the cool of night, are the same now on the coast of Africa as they were five-and-twenty centuries ago. The imperfect manner in which the details of this voyage, relating to time and distance, have been transmitted to us by the Greeks, render it impossible to ascertain with precision how far it extended. The wild negroes, the hairy Gorillæ, the great rivers filled with crocodiles, and the fragrance of the woods, all seem to point out the Senegambia as the country where the progress of the expedition terminated. Some great authorities, indeed, have extended it to Guinea, while others confine it within the limits of Cape Non, on the southern confines of Morocco. Many of these geographers have erred continually in their calculations, by mistaking the meaning of the expression, keras (a horn), which the Greeks generally applied to inlets of the sea, rather than to promontories. Those who restrict the voyage of Hanno to the coast north of the Senegal, insist on the unlikelihood of his passing such remarkable headlands as Cape Blanco and Cape Verd, without making particular mention of them; but to this it may be answered, that we do not possess the original journal of the Carthaginian admiral, and that the deficiencies of an extract made from it by a Greek, apparently of a much later age, ought not to be weighed against the positive indications it contains.

While Hanno explored the coasts of Africa to the south, Himilco held his course in the opposite direction. Unhappily but a few scattered details remain of his discoveries. On the coasts of Spain he found the Ostrymnians, who gave their name to a promontory of the mainland, to a bay, and to some islands adjacent, which abounded in tin. These are supposed to be the Cassiterides. The Ostrymnians were wealthy and industrious;

it appears, therefore, that the tin trade existed on those western shores before they were visited by the Carthaginians. Himilco mentioned also the British islands, Al-fionn and the sacred island, Ierne. It is remarkable, however, that Ireland is never mentioned by the ancients under a native name: the relative designation Ier-nye, or Western Isle, was evidently taken from the Celts of Gaul or Britain.*

*

Scylax, of Caryanda, who wrote a few years later than Herodotus, was the first who made known to the Greeks the discoveries of the Carthaginians. The work of his which remains to us describes the coasts of the Euxine, of the Mediterranean, and those of western Africa, as far as the isle of Cerne: he is the earliest Greek writer who mentions the name of Rome. Of the western coasts of the Mediterranean he knew much more than Herodotus, and enumerates many cities, among which Massilia, the modern Marseilles, was already distinguished for its wealth and commerce.

This Greek colony must, from its situation, have soon become acquainted with the maritime enterprises of the Carthaginians; and was, perhaps, as much incited by a spirit of rivalry as by the adventurous disposition nurtured by commercial pursuits, to engage in the career of discovery. Pytheas of Marseilles was a man eminently qualified, by his courage and scientific acquirements, to open new routes of commerce across unknown seas, and promote the interests of geography. The date of his voyage cannot be fixed with precision, but it is certain that his writings were known in Greece in the time of Alexander the Great; and as the circulation of books was not very rapid in antiquity, it is likely that he belonged to the preceding age. Sailing along the coasts of Spain and Gaul, Pytheas reached Great Britain, called Albion, or Al-fionn, that is, the White-land, by the in

* Unless we suppose the Mictis of Timæus (see Pliny) to mean Ireland, an ancient native appellation of which was Muic. The description of a country situated six days' sail within Albion, suits better with Ireland than with the Scilly islands. As to the account of tin being brought from it, it is of little consequence, as the Greeks adopted every supposition that could solve the enigma of the tin islands.