As for Judge Gebal, he manifested such a keen appreciation of the charms of the scenery that we had to keep him tied up to prevent his running away; but the time for our departure necessarily arrived, and, after the repairs were all completed, we reluctantly bade farewell to the lovely archipelago, upon which I bestowed the name of the Fortunate Islands.
Once more at sea, I had no difficulty in determining my course. All my party were eager to visit the wonderful gold-countries, and Bichri persisted in saying that he should like to catch sight of the black men; Himilco just at first protested against going in a direction where wine would not be forthcoming, but his objection was soon overruled, and he was contented with our resolution to sail southward. What caused us much bewilderment as we advanced, was, that not only did the sun rise higher over our heads, but the Cabiri descended lower towards the horizon. Himilco complained that we were sailing out of reach of the protection of the gods; I pondered the matter, but kept my thoughts to myself.
After running some distance to the east, the coast resumed its southerly direction; and then it was that the sun, which day by day had gradually risen higher in the heavens, stood vertically over our heads, and then began to change its position, shining at last upon my left hand instead of upon my right. Evening after evening, too, brought into view constellations that were quite unknown to us; and so great was the amazement of all on board, that I resolved upon holding a general consultation of officers and pilots, and the more intelligent of the sailors, in order to discover a solution of the mystery.
Hamilcar gave it as his opinion that the gods must have been making some alterations in the face of the heavens; Hasdrubal suggested that perhaps we had passed the bounds of our own world and entered upon another; whilst Himilco avowed his suspicion that unless something of that kind had occurred, the world must be round, and we were on the other side of it. Absurd and outrageous as Himilco's conjecture appeared to every one else, I confess it chimed in to a certain degree with my own speculations, and set me reflecting that if it were so it must be the sun and the stars that were standing still, and the world that was moving round them. But, after all, Himilco was much more inclined to believe in a prodigy than to entertain any of these fanciful theories.
Pressed with inquiries as to what I intended to do, I announced my resolution of continuing my course to the south; if ultimately the coast should incline to the west (or what I presumed to be the west), I should return to the Fortunate Islands; but if, as I anticipated, it turned to the east, I should go on following it, under the expectation of getting to the north at last, and reaching Egypt by way of the Sea of Reeds. This scheme of circumnavigating the entire land of Libya commended itself entirely to the judgment of my pilots, but it quite baffled the comprehension of Hannibal and all the landsmen.
When I spoke to Hannibal about arriving at Egypt, he looked quite aghast, and exclaimed:
"Egypt! here are we sailing farther and farther away from the Straits of Gades; and yet you talk about getting this way to Egypt. Impossible!"
"Patience!" I said; "perhaps we may find you a short cut even yet!"
He shook his head dubiously; and even Hanno observed that the mysteries of navigation were very abstruse, and that the studies which he had pursued at Sidon did not enable him to solve these enigmas.