§ 1. According to Orosius, our ancestors divided the whole world which is surrounded by the ocean, which we call garsecg[2], into three parts, and they named these divisions Asia, Europe, and Africa; though some authors only admit of two parts, Asia and Europe. Asia is bounded to the southward, northward, and eastward by the ocean, and thus divides all our part of this earth from that which is to the east. On the north, Europe and Asia are separated by the Tanais or Don; and in the south, after passing the Mediterranean[3] sea, Asia and Africa join to the westward of Alexandria[4].
[2] This word is always employed by Alfred to denote the ocean, while smaller portions are uniformly called sae in the singular, saes in the plural.--Barr
[3] Called Wenadel sea in the Anglo-Saxon original; probably because it had been crossed by the Vandals or Wends, in going from Spain to the conquest of Africa.--E.
[4] In the translation by Barrington, this sentence is quite unintelligible. "All to the northward is Asia, and to the southward Europe and Asia are separated by the Tanais; then south of this same river (along the Mediterranean, and west of Alexandria) Europe and Asia join."--E.
§ 2. Europe begins, as I have said before, at the Tanais, which has its source in the northern parts of the Riphean mountains[5], which are near the Sarmatic[6] ocean; and this river then runs directly south, on the west side of Alexander's temples, to the nation of the Russians[7], where it runs into the fen called Maeotis, and thence it issues eastwards with a great stream, near the town called Theodosia, into the Euxine. Then becoming narrow for a considerable track, it passes by Constantinople, and thence into the Wendel sea, or Mediterranean. The south-west end of Europe is in Ispania or Spain, where it is bounded by the ocean; but the Mediterranean almost closes at the islands called Gades, where stand the pillars of Hercules. To the westward of this same Mediterranean is Scotland[8].
[5] Riffing, in the Anglo-Saxon.--E.
[6] Sermondisc in the Anglo-Saxon, Sarmaticus in Orosius.--E.
[7] Rochouasco in Anglo-Saxon, Roxolani in Orosius.--E.
[8] Certainly here put for Ireland.--E.
§ 3. Asia and Africa are divided by Alexandria, a city of Egypt; and that country is bounded on the west by the river Nile, and then by Ethiopia to the south, which reaches quite to the southern ocean. The northern boundary of Africa is the Mediterranean sea all the way westwards, to where it is divided from the ocean by the pillars of Hercules; and the true western boundaries of Africa are the mountains called Atlas and the Fortunate Islands. Having thus shortly mentioned the three divisions of this earth, I shall now state how those are bounded by land and water.
§ 4. Opposite to the middle of the eastern part of Asia, the river Ganges empties itself into the sea, whilst the Indian ocean is to the southwards, in which is the port of Caligardamana. To the south-east of that port is the island of Deprobane[9]. To the north of the mouths of the Ganges, where mount Caucasus ends, is the port of Samera; and to the north of this port are the mouths of the river called Corogorre, in the ocean called Sericus. Now, these are the boundaries of India: Mount Caucasus is to the north, the river Indus to the west, the Red Sea[10] to the south, and the ocean to the east. In this land of India there are forty-four nations, besides the island of Taprobana or Ceylon, in which there are ten boroughs; and also many others which are situated on the banks of the Indus, and lie all to the westward of India. Betwixt this river Indus, and another to the west called Tigris, both of which empty themselves into the Red Sea[11], are the countries of Orocassia, Parthia, Asilia, Pasitha, and Media, though some writers call the whole of this land Media or Assyria[12]. The fields are much parched by the sun[13], and the roads are very hard and stony. The northern boundary of this land is Mount Caucasus, and the southern is the Red Sea. In this land there are two great rivers, the Hystaspes and Arbis, and twenty-two nations, though the whole has the general name of Parthia. To the westwards, Babilonia, Chaldea, and Mesopotamia are between the rivers Tigris and Euphrates. Within this country there are twenty-eight nations, the northern boundary being Mount Caucasus, and the Red Sea to the south. Along the Red Sea, and at its northern angle, are Arabia, Sabaea, and Eudomane, or Idumea. Beyond the river Euphrates, quite westward to the Mediterranean, and northward to Mount Taurus, even into Armenia, and southward to near Egypt, are many countries, namely Comagene, Phenicia, Damascena, Coelle, Moab, Ammon, Idumea, Judea, Palestine, and Sarracene, all of which are comprehended under the general name of Syria. To the north of Syria are the hills called Taurus, and to the north of these are Capadocia and Armenia, the former being to the westward of the latter; and to the westward of Capadocia is the country called the lesser Asia. To the north of Capadocia is the plain called Temisere, and betwixt Capadocia and lesser Asia are Cilicia and Isauria. Lesser Asia is entirely surrounded by salt water, except to the eastward; having the Euxine on the north, the Propontis and Hellespont on the west, and the Mediterranean on the south. In it is the high mountain of Olympus.
[9] Taprobana, Serendib, or Ceylon.--E.
[10] By the Red Sea must be here meant that which extends between the peninsula of India and Africa, called the Erithrean Sea in the Periplus of Nearchus.--E.
[11] The Persian gulf is here assumed as a part of the Red Sea.--E.
[12] He is here obviously enumerating the divisions of the latter Persian empire. Orocassia is certainly the Arachosia of the ancients; Asilia and Pasitha may be Assyria and proper Persia.--E.
[13] The Saxon word is beorhta or bright, which I have ventured to translate parched by the sun, as this signification agrees well with the context.--Barr.
§ 5. To the northward of hither Egypt is Palestine, to the eastwards the land of the Sarracens, to the west is Libia, and to the south the mountain called Climax. The head of the Nile is near the cliffs of the Red Sea, though some say it is in the western part of Africa, near Mount Atlas, whence it flows over a large track of land, till it sinks; after which, it proceeds in its course, till it becomes a great sea, or wide river[14]. The spot where the river takes its rise is called by some Nuchal, and by others Dara. Hence, for some distance from the wider part, before[l5] it rises from the sand, it runs westward to Ethiopia, where it is called Jon, till it reaches the eastern part, where it becomes a wide river[16], and then it sinks again into the earth; after which it appears again opposite to the cliffs of the Red Sea, as I mentioned before, and from this place it is called the Nile. Then running from thence westwards, it divides its stream round an island called Meroe[17]; then running to the northward, it empties itself into the Mediterranean. There, in the winter season, the current at its mouth is opposed by the north winds, so that the river is spread all over the land of Egypt;[l8] and by the rich earth which it deposits, it fertilizes the whole country. The farther Egypt lies along the southern part of the Red Sea, and to the east is the ocean. To the west is the hither Egypt, and in the two Egypts there are twenty-four nations.
[14] The true Niger, running from the westwards till it loses itself in the sands of Wangara, seems here alluded to; and the Bahr el Abiad, or Western Nile, is supposed to be its continuation, rising again out of the sand.--E.
[15] This ought certainly to be after, and seems to allude to the Bahr el Abiad.--E.
[16] Literally a great sea.--Barr.
[17] This is a mistake, as it only takes a wide turn to the west in Dongola, around what has been falsely called the Isle of Meroe. The cliffs of the Red Sea seem to imply the mountains of Nubia, and the wide sea may be the lake of Dembea.--E.
[18] A strange attempt to account for the regular overflow of the Nile.--E.
§ 6. Having before given an account of the north part of Asia, I shall now speak of its southern parts. I have before mentioned that Mount Caucasus is to the north of India, beginning eastwards on the ocean, and running due west, till it join the Armenian mountains, which the inhabitants call Parcoatrae, from which the Euphrates takes its rise; and from the Parcoatrian mountains mount Taurus runs due west, quite to Cilicia. To the north of these mountains, quite to the ocean which environs the north east end of the earth, where the river Bore empties itself into the ocean, and from thence westwards to the Caspian sea, which