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tary is situated in the interior of China, ev μɛyapoon whereas the lines 6 Od. 303,

αλλ' οποτ' αν σε δομοι κευθωσι και αυλή Ωκα μαλ' εκ μεγαροιο διελθεμεν οφρ' αν ικκαι Μητερ' εμην

imply, that when Ulysses is arrived at the territory of Aλoos, (China,) he must pass on from that territory, in order to arrive at that of Apr, which fixes her identity with Tartary; and that circumstance, as well as the vast extent of Tartary, is further evidenced by its being stated to surround the heart of China, 7 Od. 69,

Ως κεινη περι κήρι τετιμηται τε και εςιν.

The place at which Nausicaa first introduced Ulysses into China, I take to have been Canton, which in fact is the Chinese city of note which lies nearest to India (Navomaa), and its westward position, in respect to the rest of China, is marked by 6 Od. 321,

Δυσσετο τ' κελιος και τοι κλυτον αλσος ικοντο

and this is made more clear by the following lines, 6 Od, 291,

Δηομεν αγλαον αλσος Αθήνης αγχι κελευθε
Αιγείρων εκ δε κρήνη να ει αμφι δε λειμών,

which contain an exact description of the harbour of Canton; the αλσος αίγειρων alluding to the grove of masts of ships; and αγλαον and αγχι κελευθα to the circumstance of its being situated just under the tropic, or shining path of the sun; and the darkness which overspread Ulysses, from the time of his departure from thence to that of his arrival at the emperor's residence (Αλκινοον βασιληα) Pekin, on the confines (implied by yova) of Tartary, alludes to the very thick fogs γενασι) which prevail all along the coast of China: 7 Od. 140,

Πολλην περ' εχον ην οι περιχευεν Αθήνη

Οφρ' ικέτ' Αρήτην τε και Αλκινοον βασιληα Αμφι δ' αρ' αρητης βαλε γόνασι χειρα Οδυσσευς.

And, to dismiss what I have to say of Apr, as descriptive of Tartary, I add, that when, among the other presents given to Ulysses on his leaving China, АрTи prepares hers; the poet, under the figure of her present, gives a description of Tartary itself; the 20ɛTpoxoov which she prepares for that purpose, alluding not only to the many great rivers that traverse Tartary, but to the general shape of that vast country. I would likewise draw the reader's attention to the name of Tartary, introduced, with very little disguise in the words 'ap' Aptus, in the last of the lines last quoted; which, as well as its neighbouring country, China, is introduced also in a similar manner, where Tartary is mentioned again, in 8 Od. 439,

Τόφρα δ' αρ' Αρητη ξείνω

But though Ulysses is conducted to China and Tartary by Nausicaa (India), and the particular path is pointed out, as by a land-journey from India, namely, through the countries of Malay and Cochin-China, which lie between India and China Proper (for so do I understand the terms

ήμιονος και αμαξαν which Nausicaa prepares for her journey, the first term pointing to the Malay provinces, under the figure of mules, either from the resemblance in sound, or from the inhabitants being a sort of mixed race, of Chinese and Indians; and the second, auažav pointing to the name of Cochin-China, by a reference to a carriage or coach); yet is it to me perfectly clear, that there are express accounts in Homer of a voyage to those countries by sea, and that not by the Arabian Gulf only, but round the Cape of Good Hope. The first is noticed in treating of the Scæan Gates of the Iliad, and from what was observed there in regard to Thetis dipping her son Achilles in the Styx, it has appeared to have been well known in the time of Homer that the continent of Africa is surrounded by the sea, except at the isthmus by Egypt: and among the other interesting contents of the 23d Iliad, the account of the horse-race is in fact a poetical description of the passage round the Cape of Good Hope. It may be remembered to have been already observed, that πOS in Homer very

often means a ship; and accordingly, instead of a horse-race, this, in truth, ought to be considered as a sailing-race; which interpretation may of itself be sufficient to explain many of the Odes of Pindar; as what I have been saying of the Phæacians may serve to explain who his hero Phæax The whole was, a great conqueror in such races. account of the race, which extends through near 200 lines, beginning at the 290th, is well worthy of attention; as, among other things, it details all the particulars of the course which is at this day steered to China; and the advice given by Nestor to his son Antilochus (who it should not be forgotten, severally represent England and Ireland), intimates, that the best way to China is round the Cape of Good Hope. For, under the words, situate close together in the same sentence, viz. Tεgua and wexxovra as expressive of a cape; иɛρdɛa, as hinting at good; and the word 077, as marking the sound of hope; we have, all together, no indistinct allusion to the name itself of the Cape of Good Hope. Proceeding onward, we have in the words σημα δε τοι ερέω, a like re

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