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Strabo's Introduction to Geography THE FIRST CHAPTER OK STRAHO S CEOGRAPHV. 1. If the scientific investigation of any subject be the proper avocation of the philosopher, Geography, the science of which we propose to treat, is certainly entitled to a high place ; and this is evident from many considerations. They who first vent- ured to handle the matter were distinguished men. Homer, Anaximander the Milesian, and Hecataus (his fellow-citizen according to Eratosthenes), Democritus, Eudoxus, Dicaearchus, Ephorus, with many others, and after these P>atosthenes, Po- lybius, and Posidonius, all of them philosophers. Nor is the great learning, through which alone this subject can be approached, possessed by any but a person acquainted with both human and divine things, and these attainments con- stitute what is called philosophy. In addition to its vast im- portance in regard to social life, and the art of government. Geography unfolds to us the celestial phenomena, acquaints us with the occupants of the land and ocean, and the vegetation, fruits, and peculiarities of the various quarters of the earth, a knowledge of which marks him who cultivates it as a man earnest in the great problem of life and happiness. 2. Admitting this, let us examine more in detail the points we have advanced. And, first [we maintain], that both we and our predecessors, amongst whom is Hipparchus, do justly regard Homer as the founder of geographical science, for he not only excelled all, ancient as well as modern, in the sublimity of his poetry, but also in his experience of social life. Thus it was that he not only exerted himself to become familiar with as many historic tacts as possible, and transmit them to posterity, but also with ti ft ^ n ti the various regions of tiie inhabited land and sea, some inti- mately, others in a more general manner. For otherwise he would not have reached the utmost limits of the earth, travers- ing it in his imagination. 3. First, he stated that the earth was entirely encompassed by the ocean, as in truth it is ; afterwards he described the countries, specifying some by name, others more generally by various indications, explicitly defining Libya, Ethiopia, the Sidonians, and the Erembi (by which latter are probably in- tended the Troglodyte Arabians); and alluding to those farther east and west as the lands washed by the ocean, for in ocean he believed both the sun and constellations to rise and set. "Now from tlie gcntlv swelling flodd ])rof()uiui The sun arising, witli his earliest rays. In his ascent to heaven sniote on the fields." " And now the radiant sun in ocean sank, Dragging night after him o'er all the earth." The stars also he describes as bathed in the ocean. 4. He portrays the happiness of the people of the West, and the salubrity of their climate, having no doubt heard of the abundance of Iberia, which had attracted the arms of Her- cules, afterwards of the Ph(enicians, who acquired there an extended rule, and finally of the Romans. There the airs of Zephyr breathe, there the poet feigned the fields of Elysium, when he tells us Menelaus was sent thither by the gods; "Thee the gods Have destined to the blest Elysian isles, Earth's utmost boundaries. Khadamanthus there ?'orever reigns, and there the human kind Enjoy the easiest life ; no snow is there, No l)iting winter, and no drenching shower, But Zephyr always gently from the sea Breathes on them, to refresh the happy race." 5. The Isles of the Blest are on the extreme west of Mauru- sia, near where its shore runs parallel to the opposite coast of Spain ; and it is clear he considered these regions also Blest, from their contiguity to the Islands. 6. He tells us, also, that the Ethiopians are far removed, and bounded by the ocean : far removed, — "The Ethiopians, utmost of mankind. These eastward situate, those toward the west." Nor was he mistaken in calling them separated into two di- visions, as we shall presently show ; and next to the ocean, — " K(ir to tin- Itaiiks of ilic Oct-anus, Whure l\tliio|)ia holds a feast to Jove, He journcy'd yesterday." Speaking of the Bear, he implies that the most northern part of the earth is bounded by the ocean : — "Only star of these denied 'l\) slake his beams in ( >cean's brinv .aths." Now, by the "Bear" and the "Wain" he means the Arctic Circle ; otherwise he would never have said, " It d/i'/ir is de- prived of the baths of the ocean." when such an infniity of stars is to be seen continually revolving in that pare of the hemisphere. Let no one any longer blame his ignorance for being merely acquainted with one Bear, when there are two. It is probable that the second was not considered a constella- tion until, on the Phoenicians specially designating it, and em- ploying it in navigation, it became known as one to the Greeks. Such is the case with the Hair of Berenice, and Canopus, whose names are but of yesterday; and, as Aratus remarks, there are numbers which have not yet received any designa- tion. Crates, therefore, is mistaken when, endeavoring to amend what is correct, he reads the verse thus : replacing olri by o?os, with a view to make the adjective agree with the Arctic Circle, which is masculine ; instead of the Arctic Constellation, which is feminine. The expre.'^sion of Heraclitus is far more preterable and Homeric, who thus figu- ratively describes the Arctic Circle as the Bear, — "The Bear is the litr.it of the dawn and of the evening, and from the re- gion of the Bear we have fine weather." Now it is not the constellation of the Bear, but the Arctic Circle, which is the limit of the rising and the setting stars. By the Bear, then, which he elsewhere calls the Wain, and describes as pursuing Orion, Homer means us to understand the Arctic Circle ; and by the ocean, that horizon into which, and out of which, the stars rise and set. When he says that the Bear turns round and is deprived of the ocean, he was aware that the Arctic Circle [always] e.xtended to the sign opposite the most northern point of the horizon. Adapting the words of the poet to this view, by that part of the earth nearest to the ocean we must understand the hori/on, and by the Arctic Circle that which extends to the signs which seem to our senses lo touch in succession the most northern point of the horizon. Thus, according to him, this portion of the earth is washed by 1 r il the ocean. Willi the nations of the North he was well ac- (luainteci, althouj^h he does not mention them by name, and in- deed at the present day there is no re<;ulat title by which they are all distinguished. He informs us of their mode of life, de- scribing them as "wanderers," "noble milkers of mares," "liv- ing on cheese," and "without wealth." 7. In the following speech of Juno, he states that the ocean surrounds the earth : — "■ For to tlie green earth's utmost bounds I go To visit tiiere the jiarenl of the gods, Oceanus." Does he not here assert that ocean bounds all its extremities, and does it not surround these extremities ? Again, in the Hoplop(Lia, he places the ocean in a circle round the border of Achilles' shield. Another proof of the extent of his knowl- edge is his acquaintance with the ebb and How of the sea, call- ing it " the ebbing ocean." Again, " Kacli day she thrice disgorges, and again Thrice drinks, insatiate, the deluge down." The assertion of thrice, instead of twice, is either an error of the author or a blunder of the scribe, but the phenomenon is the same, and the expression soft-flowing has reference to the flood-tide, which has a gentle swell, and does not flow with a full rush. Posidonius believes that where Homer describes the rocks as at one time covered with the waves, and at another left bare, and when he compares the ocean to a river, he alludes to the flow of the ocean. The first supposition is correct, but for the second there is no ground , inasmuch as there can be no comparison between the flow, much less the ebb, of the sea and the current of a river. There is more probability in the expla- nation of Crates, that Homer describes the whole ocean as deep flowing, ebbing, and also calls it a river, and that he also describes a part of tiie ocean as a river, and the flow of a river ; and that he is speaking of a part, and not the whole, when he thus writes : — " When down t!ie smooth Oceanus impelled l]y jirosjjerous gales, my gallev, once again, Cleaving the billows of the spacious deep. Had reach'd the .I'.aian isle." He does not, however, mean the whole, but the flow of the river in the ocean, which forms but a part of the ocean. Crates says he speaks of an estuary or gulf, extending from the winter tropic toward the south pole. Now, any one quitting this might I 5 still be in the ocean ; but for a person to leave the whole, anil still to be in the w'.iole, is an iinpcssibility. But Homer says that, leaving the flow of the river, the ship entered on the wavt-s of the sea, which is the sani .111(1 'larkiu.'NS veiled, on wIkhii tlu' siiii ])figiis not ii> luok with liis hLMmdartiiig eye, Hut sad night canoi)ic.s thi.' wnliil race.'' lie must also have been acfjuainted with the Ister. since he speaks of the Mysians, a 'J'hracian race, dwelling; on the banks of the Ister. He knew also the whole 'I'hracian coast adjacent thereto, as far as the Peneus ; for he mentions individually the J'.ionians, .Alhos, the Axius, and the neighboring islands. P'rom hence to Thesprotis is the Grecian shore, with the whole of which he was acquainted. He was besides familiar with the whole of Italy, and speaks of Temese and the Sicilians, as well as the whole of Spain and its fertility, as we have said before. ]f he omits various intermediate places, this must be pardoned', for even the compiler of a Geography overlooks numerous de- tails. We must forgive him, too. for intermingling fabulous narrative with his historical and instructive work. This should not be complained of : nevertheless, what Eratosthenes says is false, that the poets aim at amusement, not instruction, since those who have treated upon the subject most profoundly re- gard jxjesy in the light of a i)rimitive philosophy. But we shall refute Eratosthenes more at length, when we have occasion again to speak of Homer. II. What we have already advanced is sufficient to prove that poet the father of geography. Those who followed in his track are also well known as great men and true philosophers. The two immediately succeeding Homer, according to Eratos- thenes, were Anaximander, the disciple and fellow-citizen of Thales, and Hecat;i,'us the Milesian, Anaximander was the first to publish a geographical chart. Hecat;i^us left a work [on the same subject], which we can identify as his by means of his other writings. lid IS ice re- lall ion 12. Many have testified to the amount oi' knowledge which this subject rt.'(|nirt's ; and llipparchus, in his Strictures on IlratDSihcni's, well obs^Tves "that no one can become really proficient in geojj;raphy, either as a private individual or as a ijrol'essor, without an acquaintance witii astronoin\. and a knowledge of eclipses. I'or instance, no one could tell wiiether Alexandria in I'-gypt were north or south of 15aby!on. nor yet the intervening distance, without observing the l.ititudes. Again, the only means we possess cjf l)econiing acquainted with the longitudes of dilYerent places is alVorded i)y the ec lipses of the sun and moon." Such are the very words of Hipp.irchus. I V i'.very one who undertakes to give an accurate descrip- tion of a place should be jiarticular to add its astronomical and geometrical relations, explaining carefully its extent, dis- tance, degrees of latitude, and "climate." l'"ven a builder before constructing a house, or an architect before lavinjr out a city, would take these things into consideration : nnuh more should he who examines the whole earth, for such things in a peculiar manner belong to him. In small distances a little deviation north or south does not signify, but when it is the whole circle of the earth, the north extends to the furthest con- fines of Scythia, or Iveltica, and the south to the extremities of iahiopia: there is a wide difference here. The case is the same, should we inhabit India or Spain, one in the east, the other far west, and. as we are aware, the antipodes to each other. 14. The [motions] of the sun and stars and the centripetal force meet us on the very threshold of such subjects, and com- pel us to the study of astronomy, and the observation of such phencjmena as each of us may notice ; in which, too, very con- siderable differences appear, according to the various points of observation. How could any one undertake to write accurately and with propriety on the differences of the various parts of the earth, who was ignorant of these matters? and although, if the untlertaking were of a popular character, it might not be advis- able to enter thoroughly into detail, still we should endeavor to include everything which could be comprehended by the gen- eral reader. 15. He who has thus elevated his mind, will he be satisfied with anything less than the whole world ? If, in his anxiety accurately to portray the inhabited earth, he has dared to survey heaven, and make use thereof for purposes of instruc- tion, would it not seem childish, were he to refrain from examin- ing the whole earth, of which the inhabited is but a part, — its J 1: 4 ,1 1( im ■ '( size, its features, and its position in the universe: whether other portions are inhabited besides those on which we dwell, and, if so, their amount ? What is the extent of the rej^dons not peopled ? what their peculiarities, and the cause of their reinaininj^ as they are ? Thus it appears that the knowledj^e of geography is connected with meteorology and geometry, that it unites the things of earth lo the things of heaven, as thf)ugh they were nearly allied ;iiid not separated. "As far as heaven from cartli." i6. To the various subjects which it embraces let us add natural history, or the history of the animals, plants, and other dirfferent productions of the earth and sea, whether serviceable or useless, and my original statement will, I think, carry perfect conviction with it. 'I'hat he who should undertake this work would be a bene- factor to mankind, reason and the voice of anticiuiiy agree. 'I'he poets feign that they were the wisest heroes who travelled and wandered most in foreign climes, and to be familiar with many countries, and the disposition of the inhabitants, is, according to them, of vast importance. Nestor prides himself on Slaving associated with the Lapitha, to whom he went, "having been invited thither from the Apian land afar." So does Menelaus : — "Cyprus, rhcL'iiiiia, Sidon, :iiul the shores Of Kgypt, roaming witaout liope I reach'd ; In distant Ethiojiia thence arrived. Ant! Lihya, wiurc thi' land)s tiieir foreheads show With budding horns defended ^oon as yean'd." Adding as a peculiarity of the country, "There thrice within the year the flocks produce." And of Egypt : " Where the sustaining earth is most prolific." And Thebes, "The city witli an luindred gates, Whence twenty thousand cliariots rush to war." Such information greatly enlarges our sphere of knowledge, by informing us of the nature of the country, its botanical and zoological peculiarities. To these should be added its marine history ; for we are in a certain sense amphibious, not exclu- sivelv connected with the land, but with the sea as well. Her- cules, on account of his vast experience and observation, was described as " skilled in mighty works." All that we have previously stated is contirmed both by the H testimony of antiquity and by reason. One con>i(lfration, how- ever, a|)pears to l)t'ar in a peculiar manner o?i the case in point , viz., the importance of ;;('oj;ra|)ii\- in a politic. il view. I'or the sea an:l the earth in which we dwell furnish theatres tor action; limited, for limited actions; vast, for {grander deeds, hut that which contains them all, and is the scene of the greatest undertakings, constitutes what we term the habit- able earth ; and they are the <;reatest {generals who, subduing nations and kinj;doms under one sceptre, and one political administration, have acquired dominion o\'er land and sea. It is clear, then, that }i;eo{j;raphy is essential to all th*; transactions of the statesman, informing us, as it does, of the position of the continents, seas, and oceans of the whole habitable earth. In- formation of especial interest to those who are concerned to know the exact truth of such p.?-*irulars, and whether the places have been explored or not; for ,';oveinment will certainly be better administered where the si/t and position of the country, its own peculiarities, and thos'^ ot the surrounding disti'cts, are understood. Forasmuch aj ..here are ..lany sovereigns who rule in different regions, and some stretch their dominion over others' territorle"., and undertake ; iC j^overnment of different nations and kingdon.s, and tl as ^ularge the extent of their do- minion, it is not possible thai either themselves, nor yet writers on geography, should be equally acquainf^-d with the whole, but lO both there is a great doal more or less known. Indeed, were the whole earth under one government and one adminis- tration, it is hardly possible that we should be informed of every locality in an equal degree ; for even then we should be most acquainted with the places nearest us : and, after all, it is better that we should have a more perfect description of these, since, on account of their proximity, there is greater need for it. We see there is no reason to be surprised that there should be one chorographer for the Indians, another for the Ethiopians, and a third for the Greeks and Romans. What use would it be to the Indians if a geographer should thus describe Bteotia to them, in the words of Homer? — "Tilt; ilwellers on the rocks Of Aulis followM, with the hardy clans Of Ilyria, Schcenus, Scoliis." To US this is of value, while to be acquainted with the Indies and their various territorial divisions would be useless, as it could lead to no advantage, which is the only criterion of the worth of such knowledge. 17. Even if we descend to the consideration of such trivial I.' !;)); .1 Ml •1 II i *ll I ir 5 !^ matters as hunting, the case is still the same ; for he will be most successful in the chase who is acquainted with the size and nature of the wood, and one familiar with the locality will be the most competent to superintend an encampment, an ambush, or a march. But it is in great undertakings that the truth shines out in all its brilliancy ; for here, "'hile the success resulting from knowledge is grand, the consequences of ignorance are disastrous. The Heet of Agamemnon, for in- stance, ravaging Mysia, as if it had been the Trojan territory, was compelled to a shameful retreat. Likewise the Persians and Libyans, supposing certain straits to be impassable, were very near falling into great perils, and have left behind them memorials of their ignorance; the former a monument to Sal- ganeus on the Euripus, near Chalcis, v^hom the Persians slew, ' for, as they thought, falsely conducting their fleet from the Gulf of Malea to the Euripus; and the latter to the memory of Pelorus, who was executed on a like occasion. At the time of the expedition of Xerxes the coasts of Greece were covered with wrecks, and the emigrations from /Kolia and Ionia furnish numerous instances of the same calamity. On the other hand, matters have come to a prosperous termination, when judi- ciously directed by a knowledge of the locality. Thus it was at the pass of Thermopylns that Ephialtes is reported to have pointed out to the Persians a pathway over the mountains, and so placed the band of Leonidas at their mercy, and opened to the Barbarians a passage into Pyla;. But, passing over ancient occurrences, we think that the late expeditions of the Romans against the Parthians furnish an excellent example, where, as in those against the Germans and Kelts, the Barbarians, taking . advantage of their situation, [carried on the war] in marshes, woods, and pathless deserts, deceiving the ignorant enemy as to the position of different places, and concealing the roads and the means of obtaining food and necessaries. 1 8. As we have said, this science has an especial reference to the occupations and requirements of statesmen, with whom also political and ethical philosophy is mainly concerned ; and here is an evidence. We distinguish the different kinds of civil government by the office of their chief men, denominating one government a monarchy, or kingdom, another an aristocracy, a third a democracy ; for so many we consider are the forms of government, and we designate them by these names, because from them they derive their primary characteristic. For the laws which emanate from the sovereign, from the aristocracy, and from the people, all are different. The law is, in fact, a type II le of the form of government. It is on this account that some define right to be the interest of the strongest. If, therefore, political philosophy is advantageous to the ruler, and geography in the actual government of the country, this latter seems to possess some little superiority. This superiority is most observ- able in real service. .9. But even the theoretical portion of geography is by no means contemptible. On the one hand, it embraces the arts, mathematics, and natural science ; on the other, history and fable. Not that this latter can have anv distinct advantage : for instance, if any one should relate to us the wanderings of Ulysses, Menelaus, and Jason, he would not seem to have added directly to our fund of practical knowledge thereby (which Is the only thing men of the world are interested in) unless he should convey useful examples of what those wan- derers vvere compelled to suffer, and at the same time afford matter of rational amusement to those who interest themselves in the places which gave birth to such fables. Practical men inte.rest themselves in these pursuits, since they are at once commendable, and afford them pleasure, but yet not to any great extent. In this class, too, will be found those whose main object in life is pleasure and respectability; but these by no means constitute the majority of mankind, who naturally prefer that which holds out some direct advantage. The geog rapher should therefore chietiy devote himself to what is prac tically important. He should follow the same rule in regard to history and the mathematics, selecting always that which is most useful, most intelligible, and most authentic. 20. Geometry and astronomy, as we before remarked, seem absolutely indispensable in this science. Tliis, in fact, is evi- dent, that without some such assistance it would be impossible to be accurately acquainted with the contiguration of the earth, its climata, dimensions, and the like information. .\s the size of the earth has been demonstrated by other writers, we shall here take for granted and receive as accurate what they have advanced. We shall also assume that the earth is spheroidal, that its surface is likewise spheroidal, and, above all, that bodies have a tendency towards its centre, which latter point is clear to the perception of the most average understand- ing,, However, we may show summarily that the earth is sphe- roidal from ihe consideration that all things however distant tend to its centre, and that every body is attracted towards its centre of gravity : this is more distinctly proved from observa- tions of the sea and sky, for here the evidence of the senses. 12 '1' i. ^ ! and common observation, is alone requisite. The convexity of tiie sea is a further proof of this to those who have sailed; for they cannot perceive lights at a distance when placed at the same level as their eyes, but, if raised on high, they at once be- come perceptible to vision, though at the same time further removed. So, when the eye is raised, it sees what before was utterly imperceptible. Homer speaks of this when he says, "Lifted lip on the vast wave, lie (|uickly beheld afar." Sailors, as they approach their destination, behold the shore continually raising itself to their view; and objects which had at first seemed low begin to elevate themselves. Our gnomons, also, are, among other things, evidence of the revolution of the heavenly bodies; and common sense at once shows us that, if the depth of the earth were infinite, sucK a revolution could not take place. Every information respecting the climata is contained in the " Treatises on Positions." 2 1. Now there are some facts which we take to be estab- lished ; namely, those with whicii every politician and general should be familiar. For on no account should they be so unin- formed as to the heavens and the position of the earth that when they are in strange countries, where some of the heavenly phenomena wear a different aspect to what they have been ac- customed, they should be in a consternation, and exclaim, " Neither west Know we, n,or east, where rises or where sets The all-enlighlening sun." Still, we do not expect that they should be such thorough mas- ters of the subject as to know what stars rise and set together for the different quarters of the earth ; those which have the same meridian line, the elevation of the poles, the signs which are in the zenith, with all the various phenomena which differ as well in appearance as reality with the variations of the horizon and arctic circle. With some of these matters, unless as philosophical pursuits, they should not burden themselves at all ; others they must take for granted without searching into their causes. This must be left to the care of the philosopher ; the statesman can have no leisure, or very little, for such pur- suits. Those who, through carelessness and ignorance, are not familiar with the globe and the circles traced upon it, some parallel to each other, some at right angles to the former, others, again, in an oblique direction ; nor yet with the position of the tropics, equator, and zodiac (that circle through which I ;; the sun travels in his course, and by which we reckon the changes of season and the winds), — such persons we caution against the perusal of our work. For if a man is neither prop- erly acquainted with these things, nor with the variations of the horizon and arctic circle, and such similar elements of mathe- matics, how can he comprehend the matters treated of here ? So for one who does not know a right line from a curve, nor yet a circle, nor a plane or spherical surface, nor the seven stars in the firmament composing the Great Bear, and such like, our work is entirely useless, at least for the present. Unless he first acquires such information, he is utterly incompetent to the study of geography. So those who have written the works en- titled "On Ports," ''Voyages round the World," have per- formed their task imperfectly, since they have omitted to sup- ply the requisite information from mathematics and astronomy. 22. The present undertaking is composed in a lucid style, suitable alike to the statesman and the general reader, after the fashion of my History. By a statesman we do not intend an illiterate person, but one who has gone through the course of a liberal and philosophical education. For a man who has bestowed no attention on virtue or intelligence, nor what con- stitutes them, must be incompetent either to blame or praise, still less to decide what actions are worthy to be placed on record. 23. Having already compiled our Historical Memoirs, which, as we conceive, are a valuable addition both to political and moral philosophy, we have now determined to follow it up with the present work, which has been prepared on the same system as the former, and for the same class of readers, but more particularly for those who are in high stations of life. And as our former production contains only the most striking events in the lives of distinguished men, omitting trifling and unim- portant incidents, so here it will be proper to dismiss small and doubtful particulars, and merely call attention to great and remarkable transactions, such in fact as are useful, memorable, and entertaining. In the colossal works of the sculptor we do not descend into a minute examination of particulars, but look j^rincipally for perfection in the general ensemble. This is the only method of criticism applicable to the present work. Its proportions, so to speak, are colossal ; it deals in the general- ities and main outlines of things, except now and then, when some minor detail can be selected, calculated to be serviceable to the seeker after knowledge or the man of business. We now think we have demonstrated that our presenc under- T^ ■ ) r V 5 '.I si I I i ' ^ ! 15 taking is one that requires great care, and is well worthy of a philosopher. m Slrabo, the most famous geographer of ancient times, lived just at tlie beginning of our era. He was born at Amasea in I'ontus, about sixty vcais liefore the birth of Christ, and died, probably at Rome, about twciitv-five years after the birth of Christ, — that is, just as Christ was beginnini,' his public ministry. He lived, therefore, during the reign at Rome of Julius C?esar, Augustus, and Tiberius, llis earliest writings were two historical works no,v lost. Plutarch calls him "the philosopher," and (j notes lii> Memoirs. But his great work is his Geo^t^^rnp/iy. There had been GreeU geogr.aj)hers before Strabo, and Eratosthenes is considered by some scholars an even greater geograjiher than Strabo; but .Strabo's work is the most comprehensive that had been attempted up to his time, giving a survey of the whole world as then known. His work, as Humboldt remarked, " sur- passes all the geographical writings of anti(|uily, both in grandeur of pl.ui and in the abundance and variety of its materials." Strabo was a great traveller, although he had of course seen but a comparatively snull |)ortion of the regions he descril)es, and necessarily relies on other travellers and writers. He had a passionate love for Homer, as appears from the pass.ige given in the present leaflet, and accejJted fully the Homeric geographv. Towards Herodotus, on the other hand, he is very unjust, and his slight regard for the accounts of Herodotus betrays him into mistakes. He refers to Caesar's Commentaries once, and evidently made further use of them. He designed his work, he tells us, largely for the statesman ; and his obser- vations upon the people, productions, and political conditions of the dif- ferent countries are therefore especially full. Strabo's Geography consists of seventeen books. The first two form a general introduction, the ne.xt ten deal with Europe, the four following with Asia, and the last with Africa. His discussions, in his introduction, of the changes in the earth's surface effected by earthtpiakes and otherwise are praised by Sir Charles I.yell and others for the soundness of their geo- logical theories. He denies the existence of Thule, making Ireland (lerne), which lie places north of Britain, the farthest land in that direction. He regards the Cas])ian Sea as opening into the N'orthern Ocean, lierc follow- ing Patrocles. Of Eastern Asia and Northern Africa of course he knows but little. He held the earth to be spherical, and placed in the centre of the universe. His illustrations of the spheroidal form of the earth are the same as in our own school geograjihies. The earth's circumference he makes 25,200 geographical miles. He gives directions for making a plane map of the world, as a globe of sufficient size is so cumbrous. The most famou^; passage in his book is that (Book I., chap, iv., § 6) in which he conjectures that, as the inhabited world was only one-third of the globe's circumference, there might be two or more continents besides that then known. "It is quite possible," are his words, "that in the temperate zone there may be two or even more habitable earths, especially near the circle of latitude which is drawn through Athens and the Atlantic Ocean." There is an English translation of Strabo's Geography, in three vol- umes, in Bohn's Library. The student should also read the article on Strabo in the Encyclopaedia Britannica. The more thorough student will consult Bunbury's great History of Ancient Geography : the account of Strabo and his work is in the second volume of this work. The work is full of most valuable maps of the world, according to Eratosthenes, Ptolemy, and others, including the map reproduced in the present leaflet. .i i6 In the Ahirrath'c and Critical History of America, vol. i., there is a valuable chapter on "The Geographical Knowledge of the Ancients consid- ered in Relation to the Discovery of America," by William II. Tillinghast, which should have special attention. On the whole, it is remarkable how little geographical science was extended between the time of Strabo and the time of Columbus, although the travels of Marco Polo and the explorations of the Portuguese naviga- tors were, of course, most important. The name of Ptolemy, who lived about one hundred and fifty years after Christ, was still the dominant name in geography in the fifteenth century. The student is referred to the allu- sions to I'tolemy and the other early geographers down to Toscanelli, who corres])onded with Columbus and furnished him with the map of the world which he carried with him on his voyage, in the first volume of Fiske's Discovery of America^ pp. 263, etc. This work of Mr. Fiske's covers the whole period treated in the Old South lectures for 1S92, in a most interest- ing and thorough manner; and it is especially commended for reading in connection with the subject. ,1 i 1 ii IS a isid- last, was ugh ■Ra- ved inie illu- vho )rld ce's the est- : in