BOOK V. I. 13-15 



150 miles from the Sallee is the River Asana, 

 which is a tidal river but which is notable for its 

 harbour; and then the river which they call the 

 Fut, and 200 miles from it, after crossing a river 

 named Ivor, the Diiis " range — tliat is agreed to be 

 the native nanie for the Atlas ; and that in the 

 neighbourhood are traces of the land having formerly 

 been inhabited — remains of vineyards and palm- 

 groves. 



Suetonius PauHnus, who was consul in our own 

 times,^ was the first lloman commander who actually 

 crossed the Atlas range and advanced a distance of 

 many miles beyond it. His report as to its remark- 

 able altitude agrees with that of all the other 

 authorities, but he also states that the regions at 

 the base of the range are filled vith dense and 

 lofty forests of trees of an unknown kind, with very 

 tall trunks remarkable for their glossy timber free 

 from knots, and foliage Hke that of the cypress 

 except for its oppressive scent, the leaves being 

 covered with a thin downy floss, so that with the 

 aid of art a dress-material like that obtained from 

 the silk-worm can be made from them. The summit 

 (the report continued) is covered with deep snow- 

 drifts even in summer. Ten days' march brought 

 him to this point and beyond it to the river called 

 the Ger, across deserts covered with black dust 

 occasionally broken by projections of rock that 

 looked as if they had been burnt, a region rendered 

 uninhabitable by its heat, although it was winter 

 time when he explored it. He states that the neigh- 

 bouring forests swarm with every kind of elephant 

 and snake, and are inhal)ited by a tribe called the 

 Canarii, owing to the fact that they have their 



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