Page:The geography of Strabo (1854) Volume 1.djvu/211

 CHAP. v. 33. INTRODUCTION. 197 33. After Asia comes Libya, which adjoins Egypt and Ethiopia. The coast next us, from Alexandria almost to the Pillars, is in a straight line, with the exception of the Syrtes, the sinuosities of some moderately sized bays, and the projec- tion of the promontories by which they are formed. The side next the ocean from Ethiopia up to a certain point is almost parallel to the former ; but after this the southern portions become narrowed into a sharp peak, extending a little beyond the Pillars of Hercules, and giving to the country something the figure of .a trapezium. Its appearance, both by the ac- counts of other writers, and also the description given to our- selves by Cnasus Piso, who was governor of this province, is that of a panther's skin, being dotted over with habitations surrounded by parched and desert land : these habitations the Egyptians call Auases. 1 This continent offers besides several other peculiarities, which may be said to divide it into three distinct portions. Most of the coast next us is very fertile, more especially about the Cyrenaic and the parts about Carthage, as far as Maurusia and. the Pillars of Hercules. 2 Next the ocean it is likewise tolerably fitted for the habitation of man ; but not so the centre of the country, which produces silphium ; 3 this for the most part is barren, rugged, arid sandy; and the same is the case with regard to the whole of Asia lying under the same right line which traverses Ethiopia, the Troglodytic, 4 Arabia, and the part of Gedrosia occupied by the Ichthyophagi. 5 The people inhabiting Libya are for the most part unknown to us, as it has rarely been entered, either by armies or adventurers. But few of its inhabitants from the farther parts come amongst us, and their accounts are both incomplete and not to be relied on. The sum of what they say is as follows. Those which are most southern are called Ethiopians. 6 North of these the principal nations are 1 Or Oases, according to the common spelling. 2 That is to say, from Tunis to Gibraltar. The Maurusians, called by the Latins Mauritanians, occupied the present Algiers and Fez. 3 Probably asa-foetida. * The Troglodytic extended along the western coast of the Arabian Gulf. 5 The Ichthyophagi of Gedrosia inhabited the barren coasts of Mekran. 6 The term of Ethiopians was a generic name given by the Greeks and Romans to the most southern inhabitants of Africa they at any time hap- pened to be acquainted with ; consequently the position of this country frequently shifted.