XIII.] THE 'PERIPLUS MARTS ERYTHRAEI/ 275

neighbouring lands for which they were the entnp6fs—i\<xy,
tortoiseshell, cinnamon, and a variety of gums. After this we
obtain our earliest information respecting the coast to the south-
ward of that promontory, which is here rightly spoken of as the
easternmost point of Africa. In particular, the peninsula, on the
further side of which lay Opone — a considerable emporium, to
which articles of commerce were brought even from India1 — can
be easily recognised in Ras Hafoun, a rocky headland, ninety
miles south of Cape Guardafui, which is joined to the continent by
a spit of sand. Beyond this point, perhaps, the writer himself had
not advanced, for his narrative becomes less circumstantial; but
the account which he gives must have been derived from other
traders, since the spots which he names can in the main be
identified. Almost the furthest of these which had been reached
at that time was a low-lying island, rich in trees, called Menuthias2;
and, according to the distances which are given,
this must correspond either to Zanzibar, or to the
more northerly island of Pemba. The facts thus revealed give
evidence of a great advance in the conception of the shape of
Africa from what had previously existed, for whereas the coast of
that continent was believed by Strabo and his predecessors to
trend towards the west immediately after passing the Cinnamon
country, it had now been proved to follow a southerly course at
least as far as the equator. The writer, however, so far conforms
to the traditional view, that he remarks (curiously enough) that
beyond Menuthias, the ocean, 'which was unexplored,' makes a
westward bend, and ultimately joins the sea on the other side of
Africa8.

Returning now to its original starting-point, the Periplus pro-
ceeds to trace in a similar manner the coasts of
Arabia and India. Here, as before, we can only coast1*0
draw attention to the most marked points which

1 Periplus Maris Erythraei, §§ 13, 14, in Miiller, Geogr. Gr.Mneres, vol I.
p. 267; *Aff6 Si TdjSai JICT& trraSiovs Terpoucofftovs s-a/xMrAe&ram

ffvrfj6(as Kal d-B-6 TOP &•« rfaw, -rijs 'Aptcunp /col "Bapvydfar, eh rd a&r& ra TO£
v4pcu> &fjw6pta 7eViy rpoxupouvra, civb TWF TOJW, ffiros *al o/wfu, JC.T.X.
* Ibid. § 15, » § 18.