one of the most curious fragments transmitted to us by antiquity. The learned and industrious Mr Dodwell, in a dissertation prefixed to the Periplus of Hanno, in the edition of the Minor Geographers published at Oxford, endeavours to prove that this is a spurious work, the composition of some Greek, who assumed Hanno's name. But M. de Montesquieu, in his l'Esprit des Loix, lib. xxi. c. 8. and M. de Bougainville, in a dissertation published, tom. xxvi. of the Memoires de l'Academie des Inscriptions, &c. have established its authenticity by arguments which to me appear unanswerable. Ramusio has accompanied his translation of this curious voyage with a dissertation tending to illustrate it; Racolte de Viaggi, vol. i. p. 112. M. de Bougainville has, with great learning and ability, treated the same subject. It appears that Hanno, according to the mode of ancient navigation, undertook this voyage in small vessels, so constructed that he could keep close in with the coast. He sailed from Gades to the island of Cerne in twelve days, This is probably what is known to the moderns by the name of the isle of Arguim. It became the chief station of the Carthaginians on that coast; and M. de Bougainville contends, that the cisterns found there are monuments of the Carthaginian power and ingenuity. Proceeding from Cerne, and still following the winding of the coast, he arrived, in seventeen days, at a promontory which he called The West Horn, probably Cape Palmas. From this he advanced to another promontory, which he named The South Horn, and which is manifestly Cape de Tres Puntas, about five degrees north of the line. All the circumstances contained in the short abstract of his journal which is handed down to us, concerning the appearance and

state of the countries on the coast of Africa, are confirmed and illustrated by a comparison with the accounts of modern navigators. Even those circumstances which, from their seeming improbability, have been produced to invalidate the credibility of his relation, tend to confirm it. He observes, that in the country to the south of Cerne, a profound silence reigned through the day; but during the night innumerable fires were kindled along the banks of the rivers, and the air resounded with the noise of pipes and drums, and cries of joy. The same thing, as Ramusio observes, still takes place. The excessive heat obliges the negroes to take shelter in the woods, or in their houses, during the day. As soon as the sun sets they sally out, and by torch-light enjoy the pleasure of music and dancing, in which they spend the night. Ramus. i. 113. F. In another place, he mentions the sea as burning with torrents of fire. What occurred to M. Adanson, on the same coast, may explain this: "As soon," says he, "as the sun dipped beneath the horizon, and night overspread the earth with darkness, the sea lent us its friendly light. While the prow of our vessel ploughed the foaming surges, it seemed to set them all on fire. Thus we sailed in a luminous enclosure, which surrounded us like a large circle of rays, from whence darted in the wake of the ship a long stream of light." Voy. to Senegal, p. 176. This appearance of the sea, observed by Hunter, has been mentioned as an argument against the authenticity of the Periplus. It is, however, a phenomenon very common in warm climates. Captain Cook's Second Voyage, vol. i. p. 15. The Periplus of Hanno has been translated, and every point with respect to it has been illustrated with much learning and ingenuity, in a

work published by Don Pedr. Rodrig. Campomanes, entitled, Antiguedad Maritima de Cartago, con el Periplo de su General Hannon traducido è illustrado. Mad. 1756. 4to.

NOTE III. p. 15.

LONG after the navigation of the Phenicians and of Eudoxus round Africa, Polybius, the most intelligent and best informed historian of antiquity, and particularly distinguished by his attention to geographical researches, affirms, that it was not known, in his time, whether Africa was a continued continent, stretching to the south, or whether it was encompassed by the sea. Polybii Hist. lib. iii. Pliny the naturalist asserts, that there can be no communication between the southern and northern temperate zones. Plinii Hist. Nat. Edit. in usum Delph. 4to. lib. ii. c. 68. If they had given full credit to the accounts of those voyages, the former could not have entertained such a doubt, the latter could not have delivered such an opinion. Strabo mentions the voyage of Eudoxus, but treats it as a fabulous tale, lib. ii. p. 155.; and, according to his account of it, no other judgment can be formed with respect to it. Strabo seems not to have known any thing with certainty concerning the form and state of the southern parts of Africa. Geogr. lib. xvii. p. 1180. Ptolemy, the most inquisitive and learned of all the ancient geographers, was equally unacquainted with any part of Africa situated a few degrees beyond the equinoctial line; for he supposes that this great continent was not surrounded by the sea, but that it stretched, without interruption, towards the south

pole; and he so far mistakes its true figure, that he describes the continent as becoming broader and broader as it advanced towards the south. Ptolemæi Geogr. lib. iv. c. 9. Brietii Parallela Geogr. veteris et novæ, p. 86.

NOTE IV. p. 23.

A FACT, recorded by Strabo, affords a very strong and singular proof of the ignorance of the ancients with respect to the situation of the various parts of the earth. When Alexander marched along the banks of the Hydaspes and Acesine, two of the rivers which fall into the Indus, he observed that there were many crocodiles in those rivers, and that the country produced beans of the same species with those which were common in Egypt. From these circumstances, he concluded that he had discovered the source of the Nile, and prepared a fleet to sail down the Hydaspes to Egypt. Strab. Geogr. lib. xv. p. 1020. This amazing error did not arise from any ignorance of geography peculiar to that monarch; for we are informed by Strabo, that Alexander applied with particular attention in order to acquire the knowledge of this science, and had accurate maps or descriptions of the countries through which he marched. Lib. ii. p. 120. But, in his age, the knowledge of the Greeks did not extend beyond the limits of the Mediterranean.

NOTE V. p. 23.

As the flux and reflux of the sea is remarkably great at the mouth of the river Indus, this would render the phenomenon more formidable to the Greeks. Varen. Geogr. vol. i. p. 251.

NOTE VI. p. 27.

Ir is probable that the ancients were seldom induced to advance so far as the mouth of the Ganges, either by motives of curiosity, or views of commercial advantage. In consequence of this, their idea concerning the position of that great river was very erroneous. Ptolemy places that branch of the Ganges which he distinguishes by the name of the Great Mouth, in the hundred and forty-sixth degree of longitude from his first meridian in the Fortunate Islands. But its true longitude, computed from that meridian, is now determined, by astronomical observations, to be only a hundred and five degrees. A geographer so eminent must have been betrayed into an error of this magnitude, by the imperfection of the information which he had received concerning those distant regions; and this affords a striking proof of the intercourse with them being extremely rare. With respect to the countries of India beyond the Ganges, his intelligence was still more defective, and his errors more enormous. I shall have occasion to observe, in another place, that he has placed the country of the Seres, or China, no less than sixty degrees farther east than its true position. M. d'Anville, one of the most learned and intelligent of