14 
THE VOYAGE OF H.M.S. CHALLENGER. 
Yoruii or 
n» 
Rmtaix. 
• tin: di?t. nt |> riod, had determined the latitude of Massilia with such exactitude, 
tli t tw, ntv c< uturics afterwards Gassendi found it correct to within a few seconds. It 
is j.mbiihlf that the knowledge which Pytheas possessed in astronomy recommended 
him t.» hi> fellow-citizens as the chief of this expedition, the object of which was to 
n di~ >\ the sources of the riches brought from distant parts by the Phoenicians and 
( ni ii- Not only did Pytheas succeed in his mission, but his cruises yielded 
much new information concerning the ocean. A second expedition was sent to explore 
the o,.;ists of Africa under another scientific man, Euthymenes. The records of this 
v.v _ are almost wholly lost, but it was reported that Euthymenes reached a river 
when crocodiles and hippopotami were seen in great numbers . 1 
Pm he;.- sailed round Spain and France to Britain. He appears to have traced out 
.. cm -iderable part of the east coast of Britain and to have visited the German coast on 
the other side of the North Sea. He brought home accounts of the land, six days’ sail 
d Ib ii di . named Thule, a name which he first introduced into ancient geography. 
il ( -e d t .;t the sea beyond Thule became thick and sluggish, like neither land nor 
'(•a. but resembling the substance of the jelly-fish, called Pulmo marinus, which he had 
hini' !f eii ; in this description we have the first hint as to the conditions prevailing 
in \ retie Si .vs. J He is said to have recorded as a fact that the length of the day at 
Thule v e twenty-four hours at the summer solstice, from which he conceived it as lying 
mi 1 r t h» \r< tic circle, or parallel of 6 G^° N. The Phocsean explorer like wise brought 
In I. i e i *i >i n 1 1 ' of the amber coasts, but it does not appear that these accounts, or those 
* Thule, ri fed on personal observation, or justify us in following those authors 
v ho .-xt nd the journey of Pytheas to the coasts of Lapland and the Baltic . 3 
Of tin two works which Pytheas wrote, his first, a description of the ocean, has not 
b"nn jiii served ; it contained his observations on the north-western countries and on the 
n v a Tim 'ccond, which bears the title of Periodus or Periplus, contains his voyage 
in t ? i * ■ amber e. .asts of the Baltic, and has been partially preserved in Pliny, Strabo, and 
P 'lybiu-. Ancient writers do not appear to have been altogether just in their 
'mi ti -.t the L i mod Massilian. Many of his facts were regarded as being deficient in 
* i * • 1 1 - : i !u arne was said of the observations of Herodotus and Marco Polo, but at 
’ • 1 -at da\ he critic has vindicated these observers. There is no doubt that before 
t!w ? m.w of Pythea- the chart of the seas to the west of Europe was almost a blank, and 
>* -i 'ii to tin* time of Strabo it retained the form given it by Pytheas. He was the 
* * .MVi-stigator of the Atlantic, and by the extent of his observations, as well as by the 
- ‘ of kb researches, the voyages of Pytheas may be considered as true scientific 
* Athene mi, ii. 87. 
' * <ti- »t th ■■ a i*, in addition to jelly-fish, eometinies so encumbered l»y gelatinous masses of Diatoms 
Uu»t find it impnanihlc to work their ncU. 
(' • : j ■ ; I' Jii-li II: tun - , cli j>. ii.; lthyn, Celtic Britain, London, 1882 ; Markham, Getigr. Jour., vol. i. 
p. ’13, 1 03. 
