6 
AFRICA AND ITS EXPLORATION. 
but since the discoveries of Denham and Clapperton, 
Barth, and others, it has appeared more probable that 
the stream was the Yeou or river of Bornou. The 
distance from Gyrene thither is not so great ; and no¬ 
where but in the Tchad can we find those mighty lakes 
which make so prominent a figure in the narration. On 
the whole, it must appear truly wonderful that these 
efforts, made at so early an era, should have led to dis¬ 
coveries, respecting both the maritime outline and the 
interior of the continent, which Europeans could not 
regain for thousands of years, and one of which, at the 
present day, is still comparatively new to us. 
There is, however, still another story of early ex¬ 
ploration which may be taken as authentic, although it 
was unknown to Herodotus. The Egyptians were not 
the only people who in those remote times founded 
civilised states in North Africa. The Phoenicians, the 
great navigators and traders of early times, sent out 
