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Article A VIEW OF THE PROGRESS OF NAVIGATION. ← Page 5 of 6 →
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A View Of The Progress Of Navigation.
Kamika to the North . Euthymenes advanced to the southward tff the line , and published , on his return , a relation , of the curiosities , and of the singular manners and customs of the nations he had met wj . th in the course of his discoveries . Pytheas sailed alonr ^ the coast of Portugal , Spain , Gaul , and Britain , to the most northern extremity ; and Horn thence continuing his course , arrived in six days at Thulewherein the summer soisrkethe sun did not set
, , , for twenty-four hours . This some snppi / se to have been Iceland , others the Shetland islands . The first , however , is the most probable opinisn ; for though at the Shetland islands ( in 60 degrees of latitude ) tlie refraction of ihe attoo-phere is so luminous , as to enable-a person to read , write , or transact any other business by day-lig ht for that space of time- , yet it is only in tlie
arctic circle , or in 66 anri a h ; : ii' deg . that the sun , during the summer solstice , does not set , ( as Pytheas asserts ) for twentyfour hours . Pytheas penetrated also to the very farthermost part of the Baltic , and explored , with great accuracy , those regions whence the Phoenicians fetched their amber , a commodity from which they
derived great wealth , and which passed to other nations throiio-fi their hands alone . From the fragments of Pytheas , preserved in the latter geographers ,, we are convinced that he had explored with great accuracy the shores of the -Baltic , and that he had even made iiimself acquainted with the neig hbouring nations and rivers adjacent . *
Judging of others by their own propensity to fable , the Greeks regarded as mere fiction the relations of Pytheas ancl Euth ymenes . They had formerly treated in the same manner the discoveries of Hanno and Hamilca . But time and philosophic investigation have < fone justice to those celebrated Massilian navigators , and confirmed the veracity of their relations .
- But the Greeks even in the most flourishing state of their affairs , were never equal to the Phoenicians , either in the extensiveness of their commerce , the number atid opulence of their colonies and settlements , or in their skill of Navigation . The Phoenicians conducted their course with much subtility of observation b y the Little Bear , while the Great Bear was the inaccurate ; guide of Navigation to the- nncurious Greeks . There existed in the manners aud
prejudices of the Grecian people an insuperable obstacle to the progress of commerce and naval improvement . After the Phoenicians and Greeks , the Romans became sovereigns of the sea , yet not at once , but after a hard struggle- with the Carthagenians , then in the height of their power . These people having , by their naval force , made themselves masters of the greatest part of Spain , the coast of Africa , and many ports in the Mediterranean , were intent upon the conquest of Sicil y , when the
Note: This text has been automatically extracted via Optical Character Recognition (OCR) software.
A View Of The Progress Of Navigation.
Kamika to the North . Euthymenes advanced to the southward tff the line , and published , on his return , a relation , of the curiosities , and of the singular manners and customs of the nations he had met wj . th in the course of his discoveries . Pytheas sailed alonr ^ the coast of Portugal , Spain , Gaul , and Britain , to the most northern extremity ; and Horn thence continuing his course , arrived in six days at Thulewherein the summer soisrkethe sun did not set
, , , for twenty-four hours . This some snppi / se to have been Iceland , others the Shetland islands . The first , however , is the most probable opinisn ; for though at the Shetland islands ( in 60 degrees of latitude ) tlie refraction of ihe attoo-phere is so luminous , as to enable-a person to read , write , or transact any other business by day-lig ht for that space of time- , yet it is only in tlie
arctic circle , or in 66 anri a h ; : ii' deg . that the sun , during the summer solstice , does not set , ( as Pytheas asserts ) for twentyfour hours . Pytheas penetrated also to the very farthermost part of the Baltic , and explored , with great accuracy , those regions whence the Phoenicians fetched their amber , a commodity from which they
derived great wealth , and which passed to other nations throiio-fi their hands alone . From the fragments of Pytheas , preserved in the latter geographers ,, we are convinced that he had explored with great accuracy the shores of the -Baltic , and that he had even made iiimself acquainted with the neig hbouring nations and rivers adjacent . *
Judging of others by their own propensity to fable , the Greeks regarded as mere fiction the relations of Pytheas ancl Euth ymenes . They had formerly treated in the same manner the discoveries of Hanno and Hamilca . But time and philosophic investigation have < fone justice to those celebrated Massilian navigators , and confirmed the veracity of their relations .
- But the Greeks even in the most flourishing state of their affairs , were never equal to the Phoenicians , either in the extensiveness of their commerce , the number atid opulence of their colonies and settlements , or in their skill of Navigation . The Phoenicians conducted their course with much subtility of observation b y the Little Bear , while the Great Bear was the inaccurate ; guide of Navigation to the- nncurious Greeks . There existed in the manners aud
prejudices of the Grecian people an insuperable obstacle to the progress of commerce and naval improvement . After the Phoenicians and Greeks , the Romans became sovereigns of the sea , yet not at once , but after a hard struggle- with the Carthagenians , then in the height of their power . These people having , by their naval force , made themselves masters of the greatest part of Spain , the coast of Africa , and many ports in the Mediterranean , were intent upon the conquest of Sicil y , when the