He applies the name of Thule to a country situated to the
north-east of Britain; if his usual error in longitude is rectified, the
position he assigns Thule would correspond with that of Norway. Such seem
to have been the limits of his Europe, unless, perhaps, he had some vague
idea of the south of Sweden.
He begins his geographical tables with the British isles; and here is one
of his greatest errors. According to him, the north part of Britain
stretches to the east, instead of to the north: the Mull of Galloway is the
most northern promontory, and the land from it bends due east. The Western
Islands run east and west, along the north shore of Ireland, the west being
the true north point in them. He is, however, on the whole, pretty accurate
in his location of the tribes which at that period inhabited Scotland.
Strabo had placed Ireland to the north of Britain, but in its true
latitude. Ptolemy's map, which is the first geographical document of that
island, represents it to the west of Britain, but five degrees further to
the north than it actually is. He delineates its general shape, rivers, and
promontories with tolerable accuracy, and some of his towns may be traced
in their present appellations, as Dublin in Eblana. It has already been
noticed that he was probably acquainted with the south of Sweden, and his
four Scandinavian islands are evidently Zealand, Funen, Laland, and
Falster.
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