DISCOVERIES OF THE ANCIENTS. 17 
question. Mela has added some particulars, but 
of the most fabulous complexion, respecting the 
nations whom he saw along the coast. One was 
dumb ; another wholly without a tongue ; while a 
third had the mouth entirely closed, and received 
food through an orifice in the nose. No such 
marvels occur in the narrative of Strabo, which, we 
agree with a late learned writer * in thinking, may 
probably be regarded as authentic. It exhibits a 
man rash, enthusiastic, and somewhat empirical, 
yet possessed of that boldness, enterprise, and per- 
severance, which could alone promise success in 
such arduous undertakings. 
These are all the instances recorded, in which 
the complete circumnavigation of Africa was either 
performed or attempted. Other voyages, however, 
were undertaken, with a view to the exploration of 
a certain extent of its unknown coasts. The most 
ancient and most memorable is that of Hanno, 
sent out, at a very early period, by a state which 
surpassed, in commerce and power, all others on 
the African coast, t The Carthaginians fitted 
out this expedition, with a view partly to coloniza- 
tion, and partly to discovery. The armament con- 
sisted of sixty large vessels, on board of which 
* Malte Brun, Histoire de la Geographie, 162. 
f Geog. Grajc. Minores, Vol. I, 
VOL. I. S 
