34 



shores, lakes, rivers, tribes, cities, and promontories of Ireland, with 

 an accuracy which will be more particularly alluded to hereafter, plainly 

 insinuates that Marinus Tyrius was his principal source of information 

 as to what he writes of that country, and commends this Phoenician 

 geographer for having rejected some of the narratives of Philoemon, 

 as gathered yrow merchants, that were in a manner incapacitated by 

 their profession from scientific investigations.* In addition to all these 

 testimonies, the following passage-f from Diodorus Siculus is particu- 

 larly worth attention : " Passing the Pillars of Hercules, we will 

 treat of the islands which lie more remote in the great ocean. 



* " Atqui et ipse Marinus Tyrius mercalorum relationibus nequaquam fidem adhibere 

 videtur. Itaque Philasmonis sermoni longitudinem insula; Hibemiae ob ortu occasum usque xx 

 dierum esse tradenti haudquaquam adstipulatur, dicens heec eos a mercatoribus percepisse, 

 hos enim ait veritatis indagationem baud curare intentos mercimoniis." — Ptol. lib. 1. c. II. 



f "Postquam insulas (in consequence of its great length, the extract is given in the 

 translation of Wesselingius,) cis columnas Herculis percurrimus, ulleriores etiam in Oceano 

 exigemus. 



"Africamenim versus permagna qtiadam insula in vasto oceani pelago jacet, complurium 

 navigatione dierum a Libia in occasum declinans. Solum ibi frugiferum, cujus magna pars in 

 monies assurgit, nee exigua in campos sese expandit: et hsec pars anusnitate excelUt; amnes 

 enim per illam navigabiles decurrunl, a quibus hutnecfatur. Frequentes ibi Paradisi variis 

 arboribus consiti, pomariaque innumera dulcibus aquis intersecta. Villas etiam smnptuosis 

 (edificiis exornatae, et tabemae in hortis compotariae florido passim dispositu occursant Hie 

 cum terra ad voluptates et delicias commoda large subministret, aestivo tempore diversantur. 

 Montana regio crebros et amplos habet saltus, variaque arborum fructuosarum genera. Con- 

 valles etiam et fontes ad montanas vitae recreationes idoneos passim exhibet. Imo tota baec 

 insula dulcis aquae scaturiginibus irrigatur : • • * V«natio illic omnis generis ferarum 

 suppetit, quarum in conviviis copia nihil ad delicias et sumptus reliquum facit. Adhaec 

 piscibus abundat mare insulam banc ulluens. Olim propter remotiorem a reliquo terrarum or- 

 be situm incognita fuit, sed hoec tandem occasione reperta. Phoenices a vetustissimis inde 

 temporibus frequenter crebras mercaturae gratia navigationes instituemnt. • ♦ * 



Phoenices investigate ultra columnas ora, cum Africae littora legerent, ventorum procellis ad 

 longinquos in oceano tractus sunt abrepti. Per multos tandem dies vi tempestatis ad insulam 

 (de qua jam dictum) appulerunt, naturamque ejus et felicitatem a se primitus cognitam in 

 aliorum deinde notiliam perduxerunt." — Diod. Sic. vers. Wesseling. t. 1. p. 344. 



