________________
October, 1884.]
PTOLEMY'S GEOG. BK. I, CH. 14.
321
the south-east about 6,300 stadia. $ 6. Andnese to Kattigara, but says that one Alexander if we deduct from this in like manner as before had written that the land thereafter faced the one-sixth, in order to find the distance parallel south, and that those sailing along this coast to the equator, we shall make the interval reached the city of Zaba in 20 days, and by between the meridians of these two places 5,250 continuing the voyage from Zaba southward, stadia, or 10 degrees.
but keeping more to the left, they arrived after $ 7. At this place the Gangetic Gulf begins, some days at Kattigara. $ 2. He then makes which he estimates to be in circuit 19,000 this distance very great by taking the expresstadia. The passage across it from Paloura sion "some days" to mean "many days," to Sada in a direct line from west to east assigning as his reason that the days occupied is 1,300 stadia. Here, then, we have but by the voyage were too many to be counted, -a one deduction to make, viz., one-third on ac- most absurd reason, it strikes me. $ 3. For count of the irregularity of the navigation, would even the number of days it takes to go leaving as the distance between the meridians round the whole world be past counting? And of Paloura and Sada 8,670 stadia, or 17} de- was there anything to prevent Alexander writing grees. S 8. The voyage is continued onward many" instead of "some," especially when from Sada to the City of Tamala, a dis- we find him saying that Dioskoros had reported tance of 3,500 stadia, in a south-eastward that the voyage from Rhapta to Cape direction. If a third be here again deducted on Prasu m took "many days." One might in account of irregularities, we find the length of fact with far more reason take some" to mean the continuous passage to be 2,330 stadia, but we "a few," for we have been wont to censure must further take into account the divergence this style (of expression)."0 4. So now lest we towards the south-east, and deduct one-sixth, so should appear to fallourselves into the same error, we find the distance between the meridians in that of adapting conjectures about distances question to be 1,940 stadia, or 3° 50' nearly. to some number already fixed on, let us compare $ 9. He next sets down the passage from the voyage from the Golden Khersonese to Tamala to the Golden Khersonese at 1,600 Kattigara, consisting of the 20 days to Zaba stadia, the direction being still towards the and the "some days" thence to Kattigara with south-east, so that after making the usual de the voyage from Aròmata to Cape Prasum, and ductions there remain as the distance between we find that the voyage from Arômata to the two meridians 900 stadia, or 1° 48'. The Rhapta took also 20 days as reported by eum of these particulars makes the distance Theophilos, and the voyage from Rhapta to from Cape Kory to the Golden Khersonese, Prasum "many more days" as reported by to be 34° 48'.
Dioskoros, so that we may set side by side the CAP. 14.
"some days" with the "many days" and like § 1. Marinos does not state the number of Marinos take them to be equivalent. 8.5. Since stadia in the passage from the Golden Kherso- then, we have shown both by reasoning and by
20 To account for the seeming caprice which led Marinos to take the expression some days as equivalent to ever 80 many days it has been supposed that he had adopted the theory that Kattigara, the farthest point eastward that had been reached by sea, was situated nearly under the same meridian as Sera, the furthest point in the same direction that had been reached by land. Unfortunately the expression used by Alexander some days did not square with this theory, and it was all the worse in consequence for that expression. "The result," says Mr. Bunbury (vol. II, p. 587), "derived by Marinos from these caloulations was to place Kattigara at a distance of not less than 100 degrees of longitude, or nearly 50,000 stadis, east of Cape Kory; and as he placed that promontory in 1251° of longitude east of the Fortunate Islands, he arrived at the conclusion that the total length of the inhabited world was, in round numbers, 225, equivalent, according to his calculation to 112,500 stadia. As he adopted the system of Poseidonios, which gave only 180,000 stadia for the circumference of the globe, he thus made the portion of it which he supposed to be known, to extend over nearly two-thirds of the whole circumference. This position of Cape
Kory, which was adopted by Ptolemy S8 & position well established, was already nearly 84o too far to the east; but it was by giving the enormous extension we have pointed out to the coast of Asia beyond that promon. tory, that he fell into this stupendous error, which though partly corrected by Ptolemy, was destined to exercise 80 great an influence upon the future progress of geogra. phy: Columbus by accepting, Ptolemy's estimate of the circumference of the globe greatly under-estimated the distance between the western shores of the Atlantic and the eastern shores of Asia, and hence was led to undertako his memorable enterprise with all the greater hope and courage.
With reference to the position of Cape Kôry as given by Ptolemy, Bunbury says (Vol. II, p. 537, note): "Cape Kory is placed by Ptolemy, who on this point apparently follows Marinos, in 125° E. Longitude. It is really situated 80° E. of Greenwich and 98o E. of Ferro; but as Ptolemy made a fundamental error in the position of his primary meridian of nearly 7° this must be added to the amount of his error in this instance. He himself states that Cape Kory was 120° E. of the mouth of the Bætis, the real difference of longitude being only 86°20'."
which gav he thus me to extend
