Its Greatest Breadth As Much As Such A Vessel Can Navigate In
Eight Days.
It may be added, as a curious proof and illustration of the
decline of geographical knowledge, or, at least,
Of the want of confidence
placed in the authority of Herodotus by subsequent ancient geographers,
that Strabo, Pomponius Mela, and Pliny, represent the Caspian Sea as a bay,
communicating with the great Northern Ocean; and that even Arrian, who, in
respect to care and accuracy, bears no slight resemblance to Herodotus, and
for some time resided as governor of Cappadocia, asserts that there was a
communication between the Caspian Sea and the Eastern Ocean.
But to return from this digression to the geographical knowledge of
Herodotus, as derived from his own travels, he visited Babylon and Susa,
and while there, or perhaps in excursions from those places, made himself
well acquainted with the Persian empire. The whole of Egypt was most
diligently and thoroughly explored by him, as well as the Grecian colonies
planted at Cyrene, in Lybia. He traced the course of the river Ister, from
its mouth nearly as far as its source. The extent of his travels in Greece
is not accurately known; but his description of the Straits of Thermopylae
is evidently the result of his own observation. All these countries,
together with a portion of the south of Italy, were visited by him. The
information which his history conveys respecting other parts of the world
was derived from others: in most cases, it would seem, from personal
enquiries and conversation with them, so that he had an opportunity of
rendering the information thus acquired much more complete, as well as
satisfactory, than it would have been if it had been derived from their
journals.
Herodotus trusted principally or entirely to the information he received,
with respect to the interior of Africa and the north of Europe, and Asia to
the east of Persia. While he was in Egypt he seems to have been
particularly inquisitive and interested respecting the caravans which
travelled into the interior of Africa; and regarding their equipment,
route, destination, and object, he has collected a deal of curious and
instructive information. On the authority of Etearchus, king of the
Ammonians, he relates a journey into the interior of Africa, undertaken by
five inhabitants of the country near the Gulf of Libya; and, in this
journey, there is good reason to believe that the river Niger is accurately
described, at least as far as regards the direction of its course.
It is evident from the introduction to his third book that the Greek
merchants of his time were eminently distinguished for their courage,
industry, and abilities; that in pursuit of commercial advantages they
visited very remote and barbarous countries in the north-eastern parts of
Europe, and the adjacent parts of Asia; and that the Scythians permitted
the Greek merchants of the Euxine to penetrate farther to the east and
north "than we can trace their progress by the light of modern
information." To them Herodotus was much indebted for the geographical
knowledge which he displays of those parts of the world; and it is by no
means improbable that the spirit of commercial enterprize which invited the
Greek merchants on the Euxine to penetrate among the barbarous nations of
the north-east, also led them far to the east and south-east; and that from
them, as well as from his personal enquiries, while at Babylon and Susa,
Herodotus derived much of the information with which he has favoured us
respecting the country on the Indus, and the borders of Cashmere and
Arabia.
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