10 



THE DISCOVERY OF AUSTRALIA 



it ? And what can be more obviously absurd than the 

 Greek doctrine of the Antipodeans, " men carrying their 

 heads downwards!" These pagans, in fact, "take in hand 

 to turn everything upside down rather than follow the 

 doctrines of the truth," even as " they are whirled round 

 in ceaseless revolutions along with their sphere." You 



COSMAS : THE ANTIPODES IN DERISION. 

 (From Beazley's The Dawn of Modern Geography.) 



have only to draw a picture of the sphere with four men 

 standing on it at the four points to realise the absurdity 

 of the idea. " We therefore depict, according to your view, 

 the earth and the antipodes, and let each one of you who 

 has sound vision, and the power of reasoning justly, turn 

 the earth round whichever way he pleases, and let . him 

 say whether the Antipodeans can be all standing upright 

 in the same sense of the expression." These are clearly 



