£8 DISCOVERIES OF THE ANCIENTS. 
coast changed its direction from south-west to 
south-east, which last it retained as far as Pra- 
sum ; and, as Marinus believed, much farther, 
till it joined the eastern coast of Asia. 
M. Gosselin has endeavoured to prove, that the 
ancient Rhapta was situated at the mouth of the 
Doara, and that Prasum was the modern Brava 
thus allowing only a very limited navigation along 
the eastern coast. But there seems room for pre- 
ferring Dr Vincent's exposition, from two circum- 
stances ; first, the succession of estuaries, describ- 
ed in the Periplus, which can be found nowhere 
till the point assigned by that author ; next, the 
change of direction in the coast, from south-west 
to south-east ; which nothing within M. Gosse- 
lin's limits seems at all likely to have suggested.! 
I should not be inclined, however, to extend 
Prasum beyond Cape Delgado ; after which the 
eastern direction of the coast would no longer 
exist. The total omission of the mention of gold, 
seems to forbid the idea of any approach towards 
Sofala. 
. \ ^ , 
* Geographie Ancienne, I. 188, &c. 
f Mr Salt remarks the mouth of the Doara, as the point 
where the direction of the coast changed from almost due 
^outh to south-i«e5f, which makes it very improbable that the 
navigators should here have supposed that they were changing 
from west to east. 
