374 



BOOK Y. 



AN ACCOUNT OF COUNTEIES, NATIONS, SEAS TOWNS 

 HAVENS, MOUNTAINS, EIVERS, DISTANCES, AND PEo' 

 PLES WHO NOW EXIST OR FORMERLY EXISTED. 



CHAP. 1. — THE TWO MAUEITANIAS. 



The Greeks have given the name of Libya ^ to Africa, and 

 have called the sea that lies in front of it the Libyan Sea 

 It has Egypt for its boimdary, and no part of the earth is 

 there that has fewer gulfs or inlets, its shores extending in a 

 lengthened line from the west in an oblique direction The 

 names of its peoples, and its cities in especial, cannot pos- 

 sibly be pronounced with correctness, except by the aid of 

 their own native tongues. Its population, too, for the most 

 part dwells only m fortresses'^. 



(1.) On our entrance into Africa, we find the two Mauri- 

 tanias, which, until the time of Gains C^sar^ the son 

 ol Grermamcus, were kingdoms ; but, suff^ering under his 

 cruelty, they were divided into two provinces. The extreme 

 promontory of Africa, which projects into the ocean, is caUed 

 Ampelusia^ by the Greeks. There were formerly two towns 

 Lissa and C<)tte^ beyond the Pillars of Hercules; but, at 

 the present day, we only find that of Tingi«, which was for- 



1 Not reckoning under that appellation the country of Effypt which 

 was more generally looked upon as forming part of Asia. Josep'hus in- 

 tormsus that Africa received its name from Ophir, great-grandson of 

 Abraham and his second wife, Keturah. ^ ' & & 



2 'CasteUa,' fortified places, erected for the purpose of defence: not 

 towns lormed for the reception of social communities. 



3 The Emperor Caligula, who, in the year 41 A.D., reduced the two 

 Mauntamas to Roman provinces, and had King Ptolemy, the son of 

 J uba, put to death. '' 



4 Now Cape Spartel. By Scylax it is caUed Herm^um, and by 

 Ptolemy and Strabo Cote, or Coteis. Phny means «' extreme," with re- 

 lerence to the sea-line of the Mediterranean, in a direction due west. 



Mentioned again by Phny in B. xxxii. c. 6. Lissa was so caUed 



accordmg to Bochart, from the Hebrew or Phoenician word liss, «a 



lion. At the present day there is in this vicinity a headland caUed the 



Cape of the Lion. Bochart thinks that the name ' Cotta,' or ' Cotte ' 



W£^ derived from the Hebrew quoihef, a ' vine-dresser.' ' 



Ihe modem Tangier occupies its site. It was said to have derived 



