478 EARLY MAN IN BRITAIN. [CHAP. xin. 



Pytheas turned back southwards from Thule, 1 and 

 reached the mouth of the Ehine and the nation of the Osti- 

 aeans. He then steered north-east for 6000 stadia (150 

 geographical miles), along the broad gulf Mentonomon, 

 probably the bay between North Holland and Jutland, 

 and discovered the Amber Islands, or Electrides referred 

 to by later Eoman writers, among which Abalus, termed 

 afterwards by the Greeks Baltia, is likely to be one of the 

 islands off East Frisia or Schleswig. A large river which 

 he termed the Tanais, probably the Elbe, opened on the 

 shore. After about a year's absence the expedition re- 

 turned to Massilia. 



From this account it may be concluded that Pytheas 

 steered as far into the North Sea as Norway. That 

 he arrived in Jutland is rendered certain by the posi- 

 tion assigned to the Amber Isles, and to the Guttones, 

 whom he describes as living on the coast. The discredit 

 which has been thrown upon his narrative by ancient and 

 modern criticism seems to me, 2 as it does to Sir John 

 Lubbock, 3 wholly undeserved. His discoveries are to be 

 viewed not as standing alone, but as the inevitable 

 result of the increased trade and commerce with the 

 north. Himilco's voyage first indicated the position of 

 Britain and Ireland, and to Pytheas is the merit due of 

 opening out the British Channel and the North Sea to 

 the ancients. Each of these explorations forms a link 

 in the chain of geographical discovery by which the 

 shores of northern Europe and Asia have been made 

 known, and which has been so successfully terminated 



1 Wiberg, Einfluss der Jdassischen Volker, has been my principal guide 

 in the narrative of Pytheas. 



2 Polybius, Strabo, and Cornwall Lewis. 



3 Prehistoric Times, 4th edition, p. 66. 



