ther Gojam, nor any place that is not fo limited, Gan eveis-
be taken-for that iiland.
I w i l l not pretend to fay that any pofitiye propf fhould:
be founded upon the aftronomical obfervations o f the ancients,
unlefs there are circumftances that go hand in hand'
with, and.- corroborate them ;- but we fhould be at a very.'
great lofs indeed,.nptwithdapding all the diligence o f modern
travellers, were we to throw the celeftial obfervations-
o f the ancients entirely behind us. We have, from various ,
concurring circumftances, fixed our Meroe at Gerri; or between
that town and Wed Baal a Nagga, that is about lat..
16” i o' north ; and Ptolemy, from an obfervation o f the Soli
dice, fixes it at 16J 2//, fo that the error here, i f any, fee ms
to be o f no confequence, as the direction o f the city might,
extend to the northwards The obfervations mentioned by
Pliny are not fo accurate,. nor do they merit to be put in
competition, with thofe o f Ptolemy, for very obvious reafons 4-
yet {till, when ft r ia iy examined, they do not fail, inaccurate,-
as they are, to throw fome light upon this fubjefi. He fays,
the fun is vertical at Meroe twice a-year, once when he -
enters the iS“ o f Taurus, and ag^in when. he. is, in. the 14th;
degree o f : the Lion..
H e r e , are three impolfibilities,. which plainly ffiew that
this error is not that o f Eliny, but o f an ignorant tranfcri,
her ; for if-the zenith o f Meroe anfwered to the 18th degree-
o f Taurus, it is impoflible that the fame point Ihould an—
fwer to the 14th degree of:the Lion ;-and i f Syene -was.yooo
ftadia from the one, it is impoflible it could be no more
from the. other which was fouth of. it,., if. they were all'
three
tfiree under the fame meridian; let us then confefs, as,
we muft, that both, thefe obfervations are erroneous.
But let us fuppofe that the firft will make the latitude ofc
Meroe to be 17° 20', and the fecond 1-6° 40'; taking then a
medium-of thefe two bad obfervations, as is the pradtice in-
all fuch cafes, we ihall find the latitude o f Meroe to be 16*
30', only 4' difFerencefrom.rheoblervation o f Ptolemy.
Vosius among a multitude o f errors he has committed
relating to the Nile, denies that there are any iflands-
in that river. The reader w ill be long ago fatisfied from,
our hiftory, that this is without foundation, feeing that-
from the ifland* o f R-hoda, where Hands the Mikeas, to the.
iiland o f Curgos, which we have juft n ow mentioned* we-
have defcribed feveral. He would indeed infinuate, that
Meroe, or Atbara, is not an iiland, but a peninfula, though
it is well:known in hiftory-thefe words are conftantly uled
as fynonimous ; but,were it not fo, Meroe. fearcely frauds
in need o f this excufe. I f the reader w ill call his. eye upon
the map, he w ill fee two rivers, the Rahad and ■ Tocoor;
that almoft- meet in lat. 12* 40' north.. Aorofs-the ppninfula,
left by thefe -rivers, is a.fmall ftripe called Falaty, running in
a,contrary direction 1 from the general courfe- o f rivers in
this country,that is from eaft to weft, though part o f it in
dry weather, is hid in the fand,’ and this river makes Atba—
ra.a.complete iiland in-time o f rain. .
S t M O N ID E 80
* 'D e . iirig.. fium. cap. x v l p . ¡"j.