56 CELESTIAL, ATMOSPHEKIC, AND 



on the east to the Atlantic on the west, and from the 

 northern parts of Europe on the north to the sources of the 

 Nile on the south. In whatever direction his ancient World 

 is traced, it may be said to be distorted in proportion to its 

 distance from Athens. 



He had an exaggerated idea of the height of the Hindoo 

 Koosh or Paropamisus Mountains, which he called the 

 Parnasos, for he says that the apparently boundless ocean 

 could be seen from them. Certain large rivers, he says, flow 

 from them, e.g., the Bactrus, Choaspes, Indus, and Araxes, 

 by which he seems to mean the Oxus. The largest of these, 

 he says, is the Indus. He gives no indication that he had 

 any knowledge of the Ganges. He knew that the Tanais, 

 now called the Don, flows into the Sea of Azov, but his 

 knowledge of that river was very imperfect, for he believed 

 that it was connected with the Araxes. 



His description of the regions of the Caucasus is pictur- 

 esque and interesting. He speaks of the massiveness and 

 great height of the mountains, the many races living among 

 them, and the large lakes of the Caucasus regions. His 

 ideas about the height of the Caucasus Mountains were 

 greatly exaggerated, for he says that their summits could be 

 seen illuminated by the sun for a third part of the night, 

 both before sunrise and after sunset. 



Passing to the west of his ancient World, he states 

 incorrectly that the Danube rises in the Pyrenees, and he 

 also says that the Tartessus, beyond the Pillars of Hercules, 

 rises in the Pyrenees. This river cannot be identified 

 satisfactorily, but it is probable that the Guadalquiver is 

 meant, or it may be the Guadiana or the Tagus, not one of 

 which, however, rises in the Pyrenees. 



In the north, he says, many rivers flow from the 

 Arcynian Mountains, which are the most massive and 

 highest mountains in that region. He seems to have been 

 the first to mention those mountains, which are usually 

 considered to be the Harz and the Erzgebirge, but Aristotle's 

 Arcynian Mountains probably included the Alps also. He 

 speaks also of the so-called Ehipsean Mountains, of vast 

 size, and situated beyond the farthest parts of Scythia, 

 Aristotle's description of the Ehipsean Mountains would 

 apply fairly well to the Ural Mountains, but J. Barthelemy 

 Saint-Hilaire says that they were perhaps the Carpathians. 



In the south of his ancient World, he mentions several 

 large African rivers, the ^gon, Nyses, and Chremetes, 



