Page:The geography of Strabo (1854) Volume 1.djvu/130

 STRABO. BOOK ii. e than 4000 stadia. 1 This being added to the ? stadia north of lerne 3 above-mentioned, will give us the whole amount of uninhabitable land from lerne north- ward 7800 stadia, and even omitting the 4000 stadia alto- gether, those parts of Bactriana next the Caucasus will still be 3800 stadia farther north than lerne, and 8800 farther north than Keltica, 4 and [the mouth] of the Dnieper. 18. Hipparchus narrates that at the Dnieper and [the north of] Keltica, during the whole of the summer nights there is one continued twilight from sun-set to sun-rise, but at the winter solstice the sun never rises more than njjie cujriis above the horizon. 5 He adds that this phenomenon is yet more re- markable in regions 6300 6 stadia north of Marseilles, (these regions he supposes to be peopled by~Kelts, but I believe are inhabited by Britons, and 2$00 stadia north of Keltica,) where the sun at the winter solstice 7 rises only six cubits above the horizon. That at 9100 8 stadia north of Marseilles it only rises four cubits, and not so much as three in the countries beyond, and which I consider much farther north than le^rne. 9 How- ever, Hipparchus, on the authority of Pytheas, peaces them south of Britain, and says that the longest day there consists only of 19 hours ; 10 while in countries where the sun rises but four cubits above the horizon, and which are situated 9100 11 1 These 4000 stadia do not accord with the distances elsewhere pro- pounded by Strabo. Possibly he had before him various charts con- structed on different hypotheses, and made his computations not always from the same. 2 Viz. 3800. 3 Ireland. 4 France. 5 The astronomical cubit of the ancients equalled 2 degrees. It there- fore follows that in the regions alluded to by Hipparchus, the sun at the winter solstice rose no higher than 18 degrees above the horizon. This would give a latitude of a little above 48 degrees. We afterwards find that Hipparchus placed the mouth of the Dnieper, and that part of France here alluded to. under 48 29' 19", and we know that at this latitude, which is only 20' 56" different from that of Paris, there is no real night during the longest days of the summer. 6 Read 7700. 7 Lit., during the winter days, but the winter solstice is evidently intended. ' 8 Read about 10,500. This correction is borne out by the astronomical indications added by Hipparchus. 9 Strabo supposed the latitude of Ireland to be 52 25' 42". Countries north of this he considered to be altogether uninhabitable on account of their inclemency. 10 Equinoctial hours. " Read 10,500, as above.