As, However, This Voyage Forms An Important Epoch In The History Of
Discovery, It May Be Proper To Endeavour To Ascertain What Country The
Thule Of Pytheas Really Was.
We have already observed, that the day's sail
of an ancient vessel was 500 stadia, or 50 miles; supposing
The largest
stadia of 666-2/3 equal to one degree of the equator, if the vessel sailed
during the night as well as day, the course run was, on an average, 1000
stadia, or 100 miles. Now, as the voyage from the extremity of Britain to
Thule was of course not a coasting voyage, and as the nights in that
latitude, at the season of the year when the voyage was made, were very
short, (Pytheas says the night was reduced to two or three hours) we must
suppose that he sailed night as well as day; and consequently, that in six
days he had sailed 600 miles, either directly north or to east or west of
the north, for his exact course cannot well be made out.
What country lies 600 miles to the north or the north-east of the extremity
of Britain? None exactly in this direction: if, however, we suppose that
Pytheas could not fix exactly the point of the compass which he steered, (a
supposition by no means improbable, considering the ignorance of the
ancients,) and that his course tended to the west of the north, 600 miles
would bring him nearly to Greenland. There were, however, other stadia
besides those by which we computed the day's sail of the ancients; and
though the stadia we have taken are more generally alluded to by the
ancients, yet it may be proper to ascertain what results will be produced
if the other stadia are supposed to have been used in this instance. The
stadia we have already founded our calculations upon will bring us to the
latitude of 69 deg. 27': the latitude of the southernmost point of Greenland is
very nearly 70 deg.. But the description given by Pytheas of the productions of
the country by no means coincides with Greenland. At the same time, other
parts of his description agree with this country; particularly when he
says, that there the sea, the earth, and the air, seem to be confounded in
one element. In the south of Greenland the longest day is two months which
does not coincide with Pytheas' account; though this, as we have already
pointed out, is contradictory with itself.
Let us now consider what will be the result if we suppose that a different
stadia were employed: the next in point of extent to that on which we have
already founded our conjectures, (there being 700 equal to one degree of
the equator) will bring him to the latitude of 66 deg. 8'; the latitude of the
northernmost part of Iceland is 66 deg. 30', coinciding with this result as
nearly as possible. The description of the climate agrees with Pytheas'
description; but not his account of the length of the day, nor of the
productions of the country. Of the third kind of stadia, 833-1/3 were equal
to one degree of the equator; calculating that 1000 of these were sailed
during a day and night's voyage, Pytheas would arrive in the latitude of
55 deg. 34', at the end of six days. This, however, is absolutely at variance
with the fact, that he took his departure from the northernmost point of
Britain, and would in fact bring him back from it to the entrance of the
Frith of Forth. It is supposed, however, that this is the real latitude;
but that the west coast of Jutland is the country at which he arrived. But
this obliges us to believe that his course from the northern extremity of
Britain, instead of being north or north-east, or indeed at all to the
north, was in fact south-west; a supposition which cannot be admitted,
unless we imagine that the ancients were totally ignorant of the course
which they steered. On the other hand, Pytheas' description of the
productions of Thule agrees with Jutland; the culture of millet in the
north, and of wheat in the south, and the abundance of honey: there is
also, about a degree to the north of the latitude of 55 deg. 34', a part of the
coast still denominated Thyland; and in the ancient language of
Scandinavia, Thiuland. The account of Pytheas, that near Thule, the sea,
air, and earth, seemed to be confounded in one element, is supposed by
Malte Brun to allude to the sandy downs of Jutland, whose hills shift with
the wind; the marshes, covered with a crust of sand, concealing from the
traveller the gulf beneath, and the fogs of a peculiarly dense nature which
frequently occur. We must confess, however, that the course having been
north, or north-east, or north-west, for this latitude of course may be
allowed in consideration of the ignorance or want of accuracy of the
ancients, never can have brought Pytheas to a country lying to the
south-west of the extremity of Britain.
We are not assisted in finding out the truth, if, instead of founding our
calculations and conjectures on the distance sailed in the six days, we
take for their basis the distance which Pytheas states Thule to be from the
equator. This distance, we have already mentioned, was 46,300 stadia;
which, according as the different kinds of stadia are calculated upon, will
give respectively the latitude of the south of Greenland, of the north of
Iceland, or of the west coast of Jutland; or, in other words, the limit of
Pytheas' voyage will be determined to be in the same latitude, whether we
ascertain it by the average length of the day and night's sail of the
vessels of the ancients, or by the distance from the equator which he
assigns to Thule. It may be proper to state, that there is a district on
the coast of Norway, between the latitudes of 60 deg.
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