XXIV 
PROCEEDINGS OF THE 
which, they were struck. Before proceeding to describe the coinage 
of ancient Britain, it was thought desirable to notice some of the 
early accounts of this country as given by Boman and Greek 
historians. 
The intercourse between Britain and the more highly civilized 
nations of Southern Europe dates back to a remote period. So 
early as the middle of the fifth century b.c. Herodotus excuses 
himself for not being acquainted with the Cassiterides from which 
tin was brought to the Greeks, and it is thought that these islands 
ought to be identified with Britain. In the middle of the fourth 
century e.c. Aristotle makes mention of the Britannic Isles, Albion, 
and Ierne; and again, in the second century b.c. Polybius apologises 
for not writing about the Britannic Isles and the working of tin. 
It is not, however, until the latter half of the first century b.c. that 
we obtain from Diodorus Siculus and Strabo, both of whom wrote 
shortly after the invasion of Julius Csesar, some more detailed 
accounts of Britain, its customs and inhabitants. . After giving 
some particulars of these latter, the speaker more especially called 
attention to the history of the commerce in tin, as given by these 
authors. Diodorus relates how, after it had been converted into 
ingots and carried to the island of Ictis—-possibly St. Michael’s 
Mount—it was purchased by merchants, who transported it to 
Gaul, through which country the tin was carried on horses by a 
thirty days’ journey to the mouth of the Phone. Strabo states that 
the tin, and lead also, were bartered for earthenware, salt, and 
bronze vessels, and that the traffic was carried on principally by 
Phoenicians from Cadiz. He it is who relates the anecdote of the 
Phoenician captain who, being followed by a Poman ship in order 
to ascertain the route to Britain, deliberately ran his vessel on a 
shoal, and received from the State the value of his cargo, in return 
for not having divulged what was then a national secret. 
These relations have all the appearance of having been derived 
from some earlier sources, and are mainly important as showing the 
amount of intercourse there must have existed between the Continent 
and the extreme west of Britain. 
With regard to the actual condition of Britain at the time of the 
invasion of Julius, b.c. 55, we must look to the account of the 
invader himself, and the supplementary notices of other authors. 
At that time a very considerable incursion of the warlike Belgic 
tribes from the Continent had taken place, driving into the interior 
those who by the tradition of the period were the indigenous race. 
In these Belgic districts the names of the towns were often the 
same as those of the continental homes of the settlers. The 
inhabitants were numerous; the buildings like those of Gaul; there 
was an abundance of cattle ; and though some animals, such as 
hares, common fowls, and geese, were not eaten, they were kept for 
amusement. The principal products which are noticed are corn, 
cattle, gold, silver, and iron, skins, slaves, and dags, such as were 
used by the Gauls in war. Pent was the most civilized part, owing 
to its contiguity to the continent. 
