HERODOTUS— STRABO, 
407 
object of curiosity and inquiry. It was with refe- 
rence to it only that the western waters were 
brought into view. We have ah'eady seen the 
opinion of Herodotus, that the great river, seen 
by the Nasamonians, roUing from west to east 
through the country of the Ethiopians, was the 
remote head of the Nile. He endeavours to sup- 
port this opinion by a very ill-founded analogy 
with the Danube, alleging that, in the same man- 
ner as that river divides Europe, the Nile ought 
to divide Africa. Upon the whole, there seems 
nothing to add to what was observed on this sub- 
ject in the preceding chapter. 
Strabo did not enter deep into this speculation. 
The belief that the early course of the Nile was 
directed through the uninhabitable torrid zone, 
appeared to place it altogether beyond the reach 
of mortal discovery. He merely mentions, with- 
out any discussion, as an opinion entertained by 
some, that the Nile rose at a spot not far removed 
from the extremity of Mauritania. This idea is 
touched upon at much greater length by Pliny 
and Mela. Pliny had obtained notions, extensive 
probably, though confused, relative to this part 
of the world, from the conversation of Roman 
generals who had penetrated into the desert, and 
from the works or traditionary information of 
Juba, king of Mauritania, a prince eminent for 
