Strabo reports of Posidonius that he says that tin is not found upon the surface, as authors commonly relate, but that it is dug up; and that it is produced both in places among the Barbarians who dwell beyond the Lusitanians, and in the islands Cassiterides; and that from the Bretannic Isles it is carried to Massalia; and he adds, ‘The Cassiterides are ten in number, and lie near each other in the ocean, towards the north from the haven of the Artabri: one of them is desert, but the others are inhabited by men in black cloaks, clad in tunics reaching to the feet, and girt about the breast; walking with staves, and bearded like goats. They subsist by their cattle, leading for the most part a wandering life. And having metals of tin and lead, these and skins they barter with the merchants for earthenware and salt, and brazen vessels.’ He mentions that they were visited by Publius Crassus, apparently one of Caesar’s officers, ‘who perceived that the metals were dug out at a little depth, and that the men being at peace were already beginning, in consequence of their leisure, to busy themselves about the sea,’[[186]] The black cloaks and goats’ beards seem to be an exaggerated and distorted representation of the darkness of the complexion and the curled hair attributed to the Silures. Pomponius Mela and Pliny in the first century both allude to the Cassiterides, so called, say both, because they abound in tin, and so does Solinus in similar terms; but the latter also states that ‘a stormy channel separates the coast which the Damnonii occupy from the island Silura, whose inhabitants preserve the ancient manners, reject money, barter merchandise, value what they require by exchange rather than by price, worship the gods, and both men and women profess a knowledge of the future.’ His description resembles that of Diodorus, and he probably considered Cornwall as an island, and connects it by name with the Silures.[[187]]
In the following century we find that the name of Cassiterides has been dropped, and they are now called the Hesperides, while their inhabitants were believed to have been Iberians. Dionysius Periegeta says, in the end of this century—‘But near the sacred promontory, where they say is the end of Europe, the Hesperides Isles, whence tin proceeds, dwell the rich sons of the noble Iberians.’[[188]] In the fourth century, Rufus Festus Avienus calls these islands the Oestrymnides. He says that the northern promontory of Spain was called Oestrymnis, and adds, ‘Below the summit of this promontory the Oestrymnic bay spreads out before the inhabitants, in which the Oestrymnic Isles show themselves’—
Lying far off, and rich in metals
Of tin and lead. Great the strength of this nation,
Proud their mind, powerful their skill,
Trading the constant care of all.
The broad boisterous channel with boats and southerly wind,
They cut the gulf of the monster-filled ocean;
They know not to fit with pine
Their keels, nor with fir, as use is,