XV.] ASCENTS FOR THE PANORAMA. 323 nothing in contradiction to the traditional view, but that this was, in all probability, rather to save themselves from being laughed at for the fruitlessness of their enterprise, than because it was possible to see from one point seas and mountains and rivers so far distant from one another1. As the district from which they originally started was about the head-waters of the Axius, and it took them seven days to reach the base of Haemus, we may conclude that the point intended was towards the middle of the range. Strabo contradicts the statement about the two seas being visible, attributing it to Polybius, who was probably the original authority8; but such fancies are not easily extinguished, and the same idea reappears at a later time in Mela3. We have already noticed the similar belief with regard to Argaeus, and here the mistake probably arose from a misconception as to the width of the eastern part of Asia Minor, which was regarded as an isthmus both by Herodotus and Strabo, and by the former of these writers was estimated as only five days' distance across for a vigorous walker*. A glance at the map will show that the space of country and the intervening mountain chains render this impossible, and the testimony of modern travellers who have made the ascent is to the same effect8. Two passages remain to be mentioned, in which the habit of ascending mountains seems to be indirectly referred to. One of these, which is found in Diodorus, is a description of a pheno- menon which was said to be visible in the summer time from the summit of the Trojan Ida. 'A fto^MtxdT strange and peculiar occurrence,' the historian 1 Livy, 40. 21, 22 ; Tertio deaium die ad verticem perventum. Nihil vul- gatae opinioni degressi inde detraxerunt, magis, credo, ne vanitas itineris ludi- brio esset, quam quod diversa inter se maria montesque et amnes ex uno loco conspici potuermt. 2 Strabo, 7. 5. I : rb Afytoy ...... , Atp> oC I)OT4pas xaQoptiffBai T&S flaXdrras, oti/c AkyOij X£y«c. 8 Mela, a, 2. 17; e quis Haeiuos in tanttim altitudinis abit, ut Euxinum et Hadrian ex summo vertice ostendat. 4 Herod. I. 72; £