ference to the island of Sumatra; and in ov αυον το μεν 8 καταπύθεται ομβρω, to the tropical rains, and to the equatorial line, extending itself, (as hinted by Unɛ ams,) above Java. The words εν συνήχησιν οδό, almost give the name of Sunda as λειος ιπποδραμος αμφις, imply that Sumatra may be sailed round, by a strait lying between it and the Malay promontory. The particular points of land which are successively made in sailing, seem to be minutely pointed out; as, among others, the coast of Cochin-China appears to be referred to by the word apua, a chariot; and in like manner the boats of the country (doas, or dows) seem to be alluded to, nominatim, by the word δοάσσεται ; and νυσσα (a limit or borne) seems to mark the island of Borneo, hinted at again (as well as the equatorial circle itself which crosses it) by the comparison to a round quoit (donos); and lastly, the equator is expressly named as a circle in xuxλS WOINTOLO. But though I have dipped into the Iliad for a moment, in order to conduct the reader by sea to India, China, and Tartary; the same thing might have been done by the help of the Odyssey itself, if the character of Ulysses, the great hero of that poem, were rightly understood, which therefore it is now time to explain. His Greek name Οδυσσεύς, as derived from oδoς, implies a traveller, which, if it needed any proof, is evidenced by what Teiresias says to Odurcɛus, of another traveller's meeting him, 11 Od. 126, Οπποτε κεν δη τοι συμβλημένος αλλος Οδίτης. But the name Oduorsus does not signify a traveller merely, but, ex vi termini, it means a traveller by sea (Osuccea); and, if that be so, what part of the world should we so naturally suppose him to represent as the British islands, (or perhaps some particular port as a part thereof) which have been, and, in the course and order of things, must have been in all ages, addicted to maritime pursuits: the truth is accordingly, that the whole poem of the Odyssey, which borrows its name from Odurosus, and which is admitted to be one of the oldest extant, is devoted to the celebration of the maritime exploits of Britons. For though we have hitherto seen these islands represented by Nestor, yet it is equally true that either wholly or in part they are represented by Ulysses also; (circumstances which are reconcileable to each other, by a supposition that Nestor, according to the account given of him above, more particularly represents the civil power of the country, and Ulysses the military (or rather the naval) power) in fact the former states his own identity with Ulysses, in the 125th line of the 3d Odyssey : Εν θ' ήτοι ειως μέν εγω και διος Οδυσσευς and in the following lines, from the 6 Od. 153, Ει δε τις εσσι βροτων τοι επι χθονι ναιετασσι Κείνος δ' αυ περι κηρι μακάρτατος εξοχον άλλων δ' αγάγηται Ου γαρ πω τοι τον ιδον Βροτον οφθαλμοισιν Ουτ' ανδρ' ετε γυναικα σεβας μ' έχει εισορόωντα, the words Βροτων, Βροτον, and ανδρα, also, have in fact a covert allusion to Britain; for as avię and ανθρωπος have the same import as Βροτος, the poet in using those words means frequently as well as by the word Beoros, to allude to Britain, and at the same time perhaps to the very numerous resemblances to the human face, which the outlines of the British isles exhibit; to discover which, a slight inspection of the map will suffice. But (to return to the subject of India) the reason for my citing the lines contained in the last quotation, was for the purpose of shewing, that, so long ago as the time of Homer, the connexion between Ulysses (England) and Nausicaa (India) was no less close than that of marriage. Nausicaa is told, upon the first arrival of Ulysses, 6 Od. 28, Σοι δε γαμος σχεδόν εςιν and there is an allusion to marriage in the wish which she expresses to Ulysses in S Od. 24 ; Αι γαρ εμοι τοιος δε ποσις κεκλημένος ει and the particular sort of marriage, as with a foreigner, is noticed in the following lines: 6 Od. 276,. Τις δ' οδε Ναυσικάα επεται καλος τε μέγας τε Ξεινος; που δε μιν ευρε ; ποσις νυ τοι έσσεται αυτή Η τινα το πλαγχθεντα κομίσσατο ως απο νηος Ηδ' αέκητι φιλων πατρος και μητρος εοντων It would even appear from the last part of the 5th Odyssey, beginning at the 444th line, and particularly from the last twenty-five lines of it, that the two places, which constitute our most important settlements in India at this day, the one on its western side at Bombay, the other on the Ganges or Hughly, were in the contemplation of |