BEFORE THE CONQUEST 



rumours of their existence, but later one of the Scipios visited Marseilles 

 and Narbonne in order to investigate the possibilities of Roman trade 

 with " the regions beyond South Gaul," the main idea being to injure 

 Carthage. The merchants there were very discreet, however, and he 

 had to go away without his information, but it would appear that his 

 enquiries turned their attention to the possibilities of their meaning and 

 it was not long before an expedition set out from Marseilles. Pytheas 

 sailed with this expedition, by which we can date it as being about 

 330 B.C., and from him we learn that it went round Spain and reached 

 Brittany and Kent. Ptolemy mentions Fairhaven Bay, which is 

 generally identified with the once important town of Hornsea in York- 

 shire, but by his day — the middle of the second century before Christ — 

 Britain was tolerably well known and certainly had some sort of a trade 

 with the neighbouring coasts of Gaul. Before his time there is a very 

 interesting voyage recorded, although the evidence is open to some 

 doubt. Himilco was a Carthaginian who is mentioned by Avienus, rather 

 a third-rate Roman poet whose sense of history is somewhat poor. 

 According to his story he was sent out to explore Britain, but after being 

 away for four months he came back and reported that it was a region 

 without wind, where the fog was perpetual and where the sea was 

 encumbered with forests of weed. Such a report would be sufficient to 

 deter most people from venturing in such waters, and this may well have 

 been his deliberate object — if, indeed, he ever made the voyage at all. 



Pytheas. 



The Pytheas mentioned above was a celebrated Greek navigator 

 and geographer, hailing from Marseilles. He lived in the time of 

 Alexander the Great but was far in advance of his day in knowledge, 

 for he appears to have been a first-class astronomer and also one of 

 the first to make observations for the determination of latitude. He 

 certainly fixed the latitude of Marseilles with remarkable accuracy, and 

 also realised the connection of the moon and the tides and pointed out 

 their characteristics. It is believed to have been in the year 325 B.C. 

 that he made his famous voyage of discovery along the west coast of 

 Europe, during which he visited England, Scotland, the Scottish 

 Islands, and Thule. Many regard this as the north coast of Scotland, 

 but it is far more likely to be northern Norway, for he undoubtedly 

 approached the Arctic circle. He also explored the northern coast 

 of Germany as far east as Jutland. 



CHAPTER II— BEFORE THE CONQUEST 



The Veneti. 



According to some authorities the real fathers of the British Navy 

 were the Veneti rather than the Vikings — a war-like tribe who lived 

 round about the modern Morbihan in Brittany, round the mouth of the 

 Loire. They had long been in communication with the Britons, and 

 when they opposed Ctesar it was with the assistance of a British fleet. 



