κυμβάλων τε καὶ τυμπάνων πάταγον, καὶ κραυγήν μυ ρίαν. φόβος ον ἔλαβεν ἡμᾶς, καὶ οἱ μάντεις ἐκέλευον ἐκλείπειν τὴν νῆσον. ταχὺ δ' ἐκπλεύσαντες, παρημειβόμεθα χώραν διάπυρον Θυμιαμάτων μεστοὶ δ ̓ ἀπ' αὐτῆς πυρώδεις μύακες, ἐνέβαλλον εἰς τὴν θάλατταν. ἡ γῆ δ ̓ ὑπὸ θέρμης, άβατος ἦν. ταχὺ οὖν κακεῖθεν φοβηθέντες ἀπεπλεύσαμεν τέτταρας δ ̓ ἡμέρας φερόμενοι, νυκτὸς τὴν γῆν ἀφεωρῶμεν, φλογὸς μεστήν. ἐν μέσῳ δ ̓ ἦν ἠλιβατόν τι πῦρ, τῶν ἄλλων μεῖζον, ἁπτόμενον ὡς ἐδόκει τῶν ἄστρων· οὗτος δ ̓ ἡμέρας, ὄρος ἐφαίνετο μέγιστον, Θεῶν ἔχημα καλούμενον. τριταῖοι δ' ἐκεῖθεν, πυρώδεις ῥύακας παραπλεύσαντες, ἀφικόμεθα εἰς κόλπον, Νότου Κέρας λεγόμεναν. ἐν δὲ τῷ μυχῷ, νήσος ἦν, ἑοικυία τῇ πρώτῃ, λίμνην ἔχουσα· καὶ ἐν ταύτῃ, νῆσος ἦν ἑτέρα, μεστὴ ἀνθρώπων ἀγρίων. πολὺ δὲ πλείους ἦσαν γυναῖκες, δασεῖαι τοῖς σώμασιν' ἂς οἱ ἑρμηνέες ἐκάλουν Γορίλλας· διώκοντες δὲ, ἄνδρας μὲν, συλλαβεῖν οὐκ ἠδυνήθημεν' ἀλλὰ πάντες μὲν ἐξέφυγον, κρημνοβάται ὄντες, καὶ τοῖς μετρίοις † αμυνόμενοι.

Qy. the earth.

were then afraid, and our diviners ordered us to abandon the island. Sailing quickly away thence, we passed a country burning with fires and perfumes; and streams of fire supplied from it fell into the sea. The country* was impassable on account of the heat. We sailed quickly thence, being much terrified ; and passing on for four days, we discovered at night a country full of fire. In the middle was a lofty fire, larger than the rest, which seemed to touch the stars. When day came we discovered it to be a large hill called the Chariot of the Gods. On the third day after our departure thence, having sailed by those streams of fire we arrived at a bay called the Southern Horn ; at the bottom of which lay an island like the former, having a lake, and in this lake another island, full of savage people, the greater part of whom were women, whose bodies were hairy, and whom our interpreters called Gorillæ. Though we pursued the men we could not seize any of them ; but all fed from us, escaping over the precipices, and defending themselves with stones. Three women were however taken; but they at tacked their conductors with their teeth and hands, and could not be prevailed upon to accompany us. Having killed them, we flayed them,

† πίτροις Gesn.

γυναῖκας δὲ τρεῖς, αἳ δάκνουσαί τε καὶ σπαράττουσαι τοὺς ἄγοντας οὐκ ἤθελον ἕπεσθαι. ἀποκτείναντες μέντοι αὐτὰς, ἐξεδείραμεν, καὶ τὰς δορὰς ἐκομίσαμεν εἰς Καρχηδόνα. οὐ γὰρ ἔτι ἐπλεύσαμεν προσωτέρω, τῶν σίτων ἡμᾶς ἐπιλιπόντων.

and brought their skins with us to Carthage. We did not sail further on, our provisions failing us.

SED qui mortales initio Africam habuerint, quique posteà accesserint, aut quo modo inter se permixti sint, quamquàm ab eâ famâ, quæ plerosque obtinet, diversum est; tamen, ut ex libris Punicis, qui regis Hiempsalis dicebantur, interpretatum nobis est: utìque rem sese habere, cultores ejus terræ putant, quam paucissimis dicam. Cæterùm fides ejus rei penes auctores erit.

Africam initio habuêre Gætuli, et Libyes, asperi, incultique, quîs cibus erat caro et ferina, atque humi pabulum, uti pecoribus.

BUT what race of men first had possession of Africa, and who afterwards arrived, and in what manner they have become blended with each other; though the following differs from the report which is commonly current, yet I will give it as it was interpreted to me from the Punic books, which are called the books of King Hiempsal, and will explain in as few words as possible the opinion of the inhabitants of the land itself relative to the matter in question. But its authenticity must rest upon the credit of its authors.

The aboriginal possessors of Africa were the Gætulians and Libyans, a rough unpolished race, whose food was flesh and venison, and the pasturage of the ground like cattle. They

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Hi neque moribus, neque lege, aut imperio cujusquam regebantur; vagi, palantes, quas nox coëgerat, sedes habebant.

Sed postquam in Hispaniâ Hercules, sicut Afri putant, interiît, exercitus ejus compositus ex gentibus variis, amisso duce, ac passim multis sibi quisque imperium petentibus, brevì dilabitur. Ex eo numero Medi, Persæ, et Armenii, navibus in Africam transvecti, proxi

mos nostro mari locos occupavêre. Sed Persæ intrà Oceanum magis: hique alveos navium inversos pro tuguriis habuêre: quia neque materia in agris, neque ab Hispanis emundi, aut mutandi copia erat. Mare mag num, et ignara lingua commercia prohibebant. Hi paulatìm, per connubia, Gætulos secum miscuêre; et quia sæpè tentantes agros, alia, deinde alia loca petiverant, semet ipsi Numidas appellavêre. Cæterùm adhuc ædificia Numidarum agrestium,

were neither restrained by morals, nor law, nor any man's government; wanderers and houseless, taking up their abode wherever they might chance to be, when night came upon them.

But when Hercules perished in Spain, according to the opinion of the Africans, his army, composed of various nations, upon the loss of its leader, and from the factious attempts of many to assume the command was quickly dispersed. From its ranks the Medes, Persians, and Armenians, having passed over by shipping into Africa, occupied the parts bordering upon our sea. The Persians settled towards the Atlantic Ocean; and formed cottages of the inverted hulls of their vessels; for they could neither obtain the requisite materials in the fields, nor had the means of buying them or trafficing for them with the Spaniards: inasmuch as the magnitude of the sea, and ignorance of each others language, prevented all intercourse between them. Within a short time, by marriages, they blended themselves with the Gætulians, and because they frequently changed their situations, and passed from one place to another, they assumed the name of Numidians. And to this day the buildings of the wild Numidians, which they call Mapalia, are of an oblong form, with roofs in

a

quæ mapalia illi vocant, oblonga, incurvis lateribus tecta, quasi navium carinæ sunt.

Medis autem, et Armeniis accessêre Libyes. Nam hi propiùs mare Africum agitabant: (Gætuli sub sole magis, haud procul ab ardoribus :) hique maturè oppida habuêre. Nam, freto divisi ab Hispaniâ, mutare res inter se instituerant. Nomen eorum paulatim Libyes corrupêre, barbarâ linguâ Mauros pro Medis appellantes. Sed res Persarum brevi adolevit; ac posteà Numidæ nomine, propter multitudinem, à parentibus digressi, possedêre ea loca, quæ proxima Carthaginem Numidia appellatur. Deinde, utrique alteris freti, finitimos armis, aut metu sub imperium suum coëgêre; nomen gloriamque sibi addidêre: magis hi, qui ad nostrum mare processerant, quia Libyes, quàm Gætuli, minùs bellicosi: denique Africæ pars inferior pleraque ab Numi

curvated in the sides like the holds of ships.

The country occupied by the Medes and Armenians bordered upon that of the Libyans, for they occupied the parts nearer to the African sea, whilst the Gætulians were more towards the sun, not far from the torrid zone and they quickly built cities; for, separated from Spain only by the straits, they established a mutual commerce. Their name was presently corrupted by the Libyans, who in their barbarous language called them Mauri (Moors) instead of Medes. The affairs of the Persians in a short time became prosperous, and a colony under the name of Numidians left their original settlements on account of their numbers, and took possession of that part of the country which is next to Carthage and now called Numidia. Moreover, by mutual assistance, they subjected their neighbours to their dominion either by the force or terror of their arms, acquiring great renown and glory; those more particularly which border upon our seas, inasmuch as the Libyans are less warlike than the Gætulians, till at length chief of the lower part of Africa was possessed by the Numidians, and all the con