154 





to the earliest voyagers, the Phoenicians and the Carthaginians. 



know 



certain that it was visited by Roman navigators during the reign 

 of Juba II, King of Mauritania (about 25 B.C.)- The Romans 

 regarded the islands as being the western boundary of the world. 

 Pliny gives us Juba'st account of them, of which the following 

 is a free translation: " Juba learned much about the Fortunate 



[ = Canary Islands] 



[-Mad 



bend 



* See Sander Brown, Madeira, Canary Islands and Azores, ed. x. p. g. 8 

 {1910). 



t Pliny's text is as follows, as given in the Hardouin Edition, Liber vi. 

 Cap. 37 J '* Juba de Fortunatis ita mquisivit: sub meridie quoque positM 



prope ucrasum a Purpurariis DC XXV mille passu urn sic ut UOL supra 



occasum uavigetur deinde per LXXV mdle passu n in ovtus petatnr. Primum 

 vocari Ombrion, nullis aedificiorum vestigiis ; habere in montibus stagnum, 

 arbnres similes ferulae, ex quibus aqua exprirnatur, ex nigris araara, ex 

 candidioribns potui jucunda. Alteram insularn Junioniam appellari in ea 

 aediculam esse, tantum lapide exstructarn. Ab ea in vicitio eodem nomine 

 minorem. Dpir.de Caprariam lacertis grandibus refertam. In conspectu 

 earuni esse Nivariam. quae hoc nomen a«-cepit a perpetua nive nebulosam. 

 Proximam ei Canariam vocari a multitudine can urn ingenti^ m&gnittidinis, 

 -ex quibus perducti sunt Jubae duo: apparentque ibi vestigia aedificiorum. 

 Cum autem ornnes copia pomorum et avium omnia generis abundant, banc 

 ^t palmet'S caryotas ferentibus ac mice pinea abundare. Esse eopiam et 

 mellis. Papyrum quoque et sihiros in amuibus gigni. 



} Hardouin, I.e. 



§ P. Galindo and Nunez de la Penna. 



Ji 





I 



one must sail 250 miles west and then for 75 miles more 

 one's course eastward. The first island is called Ombrios, 

 where there are no signs of habitations; among the mountains 

 there is a pool, with trees resembling the Ferula plant, from I 



which water is obtained] from the black trees the water is bitter, 

 from the whiter ones sweet to the taste. A second island is 

 called Junonia, where there is a little house built of stone. Near 

 to the latter there is a smaller island of the same name. And 

 next in order there is an island called Capraria, which is full 

 of large lizards. Within view of these islands is Nivaria, so 

 named from its perpetual covering of snow and clouds. The ( 



next island is called Canaria, from its huge and numerous dogs, 

 two of which King Juba brought away with him; here there are 

 remains of dwellings. Moreover, in all these islands there is 

 an abundance of fruit trees and birds of all kinds, as well as 

 date-palms and pine- kerne is. There is also plenty of honey, 



besides Papyrus and fresh-water fishes." 



According to Hardouin^ the larger Junonia was the island of 

 <Gomera, the smaller one near it a more or less submerged rock; 

 Capraria was Palma; Nivaria the island of Tenerife ; Canaria 

 the Grand Canary of to-day, and Ombrios the island of Hierro. 

 Another authority §, however, considered the larger Junonia to 

 be Palma, the lesser one Gomera, but agreed with Hardouin bs 

 to Ombrios being the modern Hierro, the only one which imme- 

 diately concerns us here. There are also other interpretations. 



It is noteworthy that the name applied by the Romans to the 

 last-mentioned island had some association with water supply, 

 ofifipos being the Greek for rain. The modern Spanish name 



