Meroe, on this account, became an object of the greatest interest
and importance to all the succeeding ancient geographers and astronomers,
and they have taken the utmost labour and care to ascertain its latitude
accurately. Strabo informs us, that Eratosthenes constructed a map of the
world; but he does not give such particulars as will enable us to trace the
extent of his geographical knowledge. At the extremity of the world to the
east, bounded by the ocean, Thina was placed in the map of Eratosthenes, in
the parallel of Rhodes; a parallel which passes through the empire of
China, within the Great Wall. Eratosthenes, according to Strabo, (to whom
we are indebted for nearly all we know respecting this philosopher,)
asserts that Thina had been, previously to the construction of his map,
incorrectly placed in the more ancient maps. His information respecting
Meroe or Abyssinia, is most probably derived from Dalion, Aristocreon, and
Bion, who had been sent by Ptolemy Philadelphus and his successors into
that country, or from Timosthenes, who sailed down the coast of Africa as
low as Cerne. His information on the subject of India (which, however, as
far as regards oriental commerce, is very confused) must have been derived
from the Macedonians. There is little doubt that the library of Alexandria
afforded him access to all the knowledge which then existed respecting the
various countries of the globe; but the turn of his mind led him rather to
astronomical than geographical studies; or rather, perhaps, he directed his
labours and his talents to the discovery of the figure and circumference of
the earth, thinking, that till this was effected, the delineation of the
habitable world, and the relative position of different countries, must be
very inaccurate as well as incomplete.
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