It May Be Added, That According To Strabo,
Posidonius Disbelieved The Whole History Of Scylax.
In the Geographi
Minores of Hudson, a voyage ascribed to Scylax is published; but great
doubts are justly entertained on the subject of its authenticity.
Dodwell
is decidedly against it. The Baron de Sainte Croix, in a dissertation read
before the Academy of Inscriptions, defends the work which bears the name
of Scylax as genuine. Dr. Vincent states one strong objection to its
authenticity: mention is made in it of Dardanus, Rhetium, and Illium, in
the Troad; whereas there is great doubt whether Rhetium was in existence in
the time of the real Scylax: besides, it is remarkable that nothing is said
respecting India in the treatise now extant. That the original and genuine
work described India is, however, undoubted, on the authority of Aristotle,
who mentions that there was such a person as Scylax, that he had been in
India, and that his account of that country was extant in his (Aristotle's)
time.
In fact, the work which we possess under the name of Scylax, is evidently a
collection of the itineraries of ancient navigators: it may have been drawn
up by the Scylax whom Darius employed, though, if that were the case, it is
very extraordinary he should not have included the journal of his own
voyage; or his name, as that of a celebrated geographer may have been put
to it; or there may have been another geographer of that name. The
collection is evidently imperfect; what is extant contains the coasts of
the Palus Maeotis, the Euxine, the Archipelago, the Adriatic, and all the
Mediterranean, with the west coast of Africa, as far as the isle of Cerne,
which he asserts to be the limit of the Carthaginian navigation and
commerce in that direction. The sea, according to him, is not navigable
further to the south than this island, on account of the thick weeds with
which it was covered. The mention of this impediment is adduced by
D'Anville to prove the reality of the Carthaginian voyages to the south: it
is not, indeed, true, that the sea is impassable on account of these weeds
to modern navigators, but it is easy to conceive that the timidity and
inexperience of the ancients, as well as the imperfect construction of
their vessels, would prevent them from proceeding further south, when they
met with such a singular obstacle. If a ship has not _much way_ through the
water, these weeds will impede her course. It has been very justly
remarked, that if the latitude where these weeds commence was accurately
determined, it would fix exactly the extent of the voyages of the
Carthaginians in this direction. The weed alluded to is probably the fucus
natans, or gulf-weed.
Hitherto the knowledge that the ancients possessed of the habitable world,
had not been collected by any writer, and is to be gathered entirely from
short, vague, and evidently imperfect narrations, scattered throughout a
great number of authors.
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