The Caspian Sea they had sailed through in several directions, and had almost marched round it; and whilst they conquered kingdoms between it and the sea, its water was sweet, it neither ebbed nor flowed, and yet they most ridiculously would have it to be part of the ocean. On the other hand, they obstinately persisted in believing that, from the east coast of Africa, about latitude 15° south, a neck of land ran east and north-east, and joined the peninsula of India, and by that means made this part of the ocean a lake. In vain ships of different nations sailed for ages to Sofala, and saw no such land; this only made them remove the neck of land further to the south; and though Eudoxus had sailed from the Red Sea around the Cape of Good Hope, which must have totally destroyed the possibility of the existence of that land supposed to join the two continents, rather than allow this, they neglected the information of this navigator, and treated it as a fable.

It was the constant opinion of the Greeks, that no river could rise in the torrid zone, as also, that the melting of snow was the cause of the overflowing of all rivers in the heat of summer, and so of the Nile among the rest; when, therefore, Alexander heard from his discoverers, that the Nile, about latitude 9°, ran straight to the east, and returned no more, he imagined the river’s course was eastward through the imaginary neck of land inclosing the imaginary lake, and joining the peninsula of India, and that the river, after it had crossed, continued north till it came within reach of the thawing of the snows of Mount Caucasus; and this was also the opinion of Ptolemy the geographer.

Ptolemy Philadelphus, the second of those princes who had succeeded to the throne of Alexander in Egypt, was the next who marched into Ethiopia with an army against the Shangalla. His object was not only to discover the source of the Nile, but also to procure a perpetual supply of elephants to enable him to cope with the kings of Syria. The success of this expedition we have related in the first volume, book ii. chap. v.

Ptolemy Evergetes, his successor, in the 27th year of his reign, being in peace with all his neighbours, undertook an expedition to Ethiopia. His design was certainly to discover the fountains of the Nile, in which he had probably succeeded had he not mistaken the river itself. He supposed the Siris, now the Tacazzé, was the Nile, and, ascending in the direction of its stream, he came to Axum, the capital of the province of Siré and of Ethiopia. But the story he tells about the snow which he found knee-deep on the mountains of Samen, makes me question whether he ever crossed the Siris, or was himself an ocular witness of what he says he observed there.

Cæsar, between the acquisition of a rich and powerful kingdom, and the enjoyment of the finest woman in the world, the queen of it, is said to have employed so interesting an interval in a calm inquiry after the source of this river, and, in so doing at such a time, surely has paid it a greater compliment than it ever yet received from any that attempted the discovery. On that night, which completed the destruction of the Egyptian monarchy, it is said this was the topic upon which he entertained the learned of Alexandria at supper; addressing himself to Achoreus, high priest of the Nile, he says,

——Nihil est, quod noscere malim,
Quam fluvii causas, per secula tanta latentis,
Ignotumque caput: spes sit mihi certa videndi
Niliacos fontes, bellum civile relinquam.
Lucan.

The poet here pays Cæsar a compliment upon his curiosity, or desire of knowledge, very much at the expence of his patriotism; for he makes him declare, in so many words, that he considered making war with his country as the greatest pleasure of his life, never to be abandoned, but for that superior gratification—the discovery of the fountains of the Nile.

Achoreus, proud of being referred to on such a subject by such a person, enters into a detail of information.

Quæ tibi noscendi Nilum, Romane, cupido est,
Hæc Phariis, Persisque fuit, Macedumque tyrannis:
Nullaque non ætas voluit conferre futuris
Notitiam: sed vincit adhuc natura latendi.
Lucan.

Nero, as we are told, sent two centurions in search of this river, and on their return they made their report in presence of Seneca, who does not seem to have greatly distinguished himself by his inquiries. They reported, that after having gone a very long way, they came to a king of Ethiopia, who furnished them with necessaries and assistance, and with his recommendations they arrived at some other kingdoms next to these, and then came to immense lakes, the end of which was unknown to the natives, nor did any one ever hope to find it: this was all the satisfaction Nero procured, and it is probable these centurions went not far, but were discouraged, and turned back with a trumped-up story invented to cover their want of spirit, for we know now that there are no such lakes between Egypt and the source of the Nile, but the lake Tzana, or Dembea, and while on the banks of this, they might have seen the country beyond, and on every side of it[126]; but I rather think no such attempt was made, unless they endeavoured to pass the country of the Shangalla about the end of June or July, when that province, as I have already said, is absolutely impassible, by the rapid vegetation of the trees, and the ground being all laid under water, which they might have mistaken for a series of lakes.