OPINIONS OF AKISTOTLE. 27 



and Tartaria, there is no doubt but this distance and lati- LlB - I - 

 tude will proove as great as the longitude, which is from 

 Gibraltar vnto the East Indies. It is certaine the Ancients 

 had no knowledge of the springs of Nilus, nor of the ende 

 of Ethiopia, and therefore Lucan reprooves the curiositie T ^ ucan &amp;gt; x - 

 of lulius Caesar, searching out the springs of Nilus in these 

 verses : 



&quot; O Romaine, what availes thee so much travell, 1 

 In search of Niles first source thy selfe to gravell.&quot; 



And the same Poet speaking to Nile sayth : 



&quot; Since thy first source is yet so unrevealed, 

 Nile, what thou art, is from the world concealed.&quot; 2 



But by the holy scripture we may conceive that this 

 land is habitable, for if it were not, the Prophet Sophonias soph., ca. 

 would not say (speaking of these nations called to the Gos- 

 pell), &quot; The children, of my dispersed (so he calleth the 

 Apostles) shall bring me presents from beyond the bancks 

 of Ethiopia&quot;. Yet, as I have said, there is reason to pardon 

 the Philosopher who beleeved the writers and Cosirio- 

 graphers of his time. Let vs continue and examine what 

 followes of the same Aristotle. &quot;One part of the world 

 (saith he) which lieth towards the North, beyond the tem 

 perate zone, is inhabitable for the exceeding cold j the 

 other part vpon the South is likewise inhabitable beyond 

 the Tropicke for the extreame heate. But the partes of 

 the world lying beyond India on the one side, and the 

 pillars of Hercules on the other, without doubt cannot bee 

 ioyned and continued one with the other; so as all the 

 habitable earth is not conteined in one continent by reason 

 of the sea which divides it. ; In this last point he speakes 

 truth. Then hee continues touching the other partes of 



1 u Que tienes tu Romano quo ponerte 



A inquirir de Nilo el nacimiento ? &quot; 



2 u Pues es tu nacimiento tan oculto 



Que ignora el mundo todo cuyo seas.&quot; 



