Читать книгу Legendary Islands of the Atlantic: A Study of Medieval Geography онлайн

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It may be that Phoenician exploration in Atlantic waters was well developed before 1100 B.C., when the Phoenicians are alleged to have founded Cadiz on the ocean front of southern Spain; but its development at any rate could not have been greatly retarded after that. The new city promptly grew into one of the notable marts of the world, able during a long period to fit out her own fleets and extend her commerce anywhere. It is greatly to be regretted that we have no record of her discoveries. Carthage, a younger but still ancient Tyrian colony, farther from the scene of western action, was not less enterprising and in time quite eclipsed her; but at last she fell utterly, as did Tyre itself, whereas Cadiz, though no longer eminent, continues to exist. However, in her prime Carthage ranged the seas pretty widely; according to Diodorus Siculus, she was much at home in Madeira,6 and her coins have been found off the shore of distant Corvo of the Azores. But it cannot be said that any of the Phoenician cities, older or newer, has left any traces of exploration among Atlantic islands other than these or added any mythical islands to maps or legends, unless through successors translating into another language. The crowning achievement of the Phoenicians, so far as we know, was the circumnavigation of Africa by mariners in the service of Pharaoh Necho some 700 years before Christ. This would naturally have brought them en route into contact with the Canary and Cape Verde Islands, and they would be likely to pass on to the Egyptians and Greeks a report of the attributes of those islands partly embodied in names that might adhere.