HARMO'S VOYAGES. 



81 



through the night, are phenomena which have been observed 

 only in the negro territories. But this hypothesis is not 

 accepted by all geographers, one of whom gives to Hanno's 

 course an extent of three thousand miles, while another limits 

 it to less than seven hundred. 



While Hanno was thus exploring the western coast of Africa, 

 another Carthaginian, named Himilcon, was sent by his country- 

 men to the North of Europe. From a very vague description 

 of his voyage given in a Latin poem entitled Ova Maritima, it 

 is plain that he crossed the Bay of Biscay, and found, upon 

 islands, as is asserted, but probably upon the mainland, a race 

 of athletic people who went fearlessly to sea in barks made of 

 skins sewed together. They crossed, in the space of two days, 

 to a place called the Sacred Island, (Ireland,) which was not far 

 from another island, named Al-Bion, (England.) No further 

 details of this expedition have been preserved. 



Upon the establishment of the Persian sway over the eastern 

 coasts of the Mediterranean, towards the close of the fifth 

 century B.C., the exploration of Africa became the peculiar 

 province of the Persian monarchs. But this nation labored 

 under an unconquerable aversion for the sea, and the only mari- 

 time effort of theirs on record was entirely casual in its origin, 

 and futile in its results. It was as follows, as recorded by 

 Herodotus : 



Sataspes, a Persian nobleman, having committed a crime 

 punishable with death, was condemned by Xerxes to be cruci- 

 fied. One of his friends persuaded the monarch to commute 

 the sentence into a voyage around Africa, which, he said, was 

 much more severe, and might result advantageously to the 

 nation. Sataspes obtained a vessel and recruited a crew in 

 Egypt, and, sailing through the Pillars of Hercules, bent his 

 course southward. He is represented as having beat about for 

 many weeks, and probably reached the shores of the Great 

 Saharan Desert. The aspect of this formidable and tempest- 



