TRIPOLY TO BENGAZI. 67 Mela places the Lotophagi still further to the eastward than Phny, for he tells us that they are said to inhabit the country between the Promontories of Borion and Phycus, which are both of them in the Cyrenaica * ; and this statement may be considered as an additional reason for moving the Cinyphus to the eastward of its actual position, if the observation of Ptolemy in question be attended to. It is certain, however, that the position of the Cinyphus, on the authorities of Strabo, Ptolemy, and Scylax, is to the westward of the Cephalas Promontorium ; Pliny places it in the country between the two Syrtes, and Mela to the westward of Leptis Magna f : there is therefore no sufficient authority for moving the river to the eastward of the Cephalas ; although it must be confessed that the position of the Lotophagi, in the neighbourhood of the river Cinyphus, is certainly very clear and decided.

We may observe, with regard to these eaters of the lotus, that they have been so very differently placed by different authorities, that it is scarcely possible to say in what part of the map they may, or may not, be laid down ; and this circumstance will serve to prove how widely the lotus-tree must have been spread, at various times, over the coast and country of Northern Africa.

* Ejus promontorium est Borion, ab eoque incipiens ora quam Lotophagi tenuisse dicuntur, usque ad Phycunta. — (Lib. i. c. 7.)

t Sed litore inter duas Syrtis ccl. M. P. Ibi civitas Oeensis, Cynips fluvius ac regio .... (Hist. Nat. Lib. v. c. 5.)

After mentioning the Lesser Syrtis, Mela observes — Ultra est Oea oppidum, et Cinyps fluvius per uberrima arva decidens : turn Leptis altera, et Syrtis nomine atque ingenio par priori .... — (De Situ Orbis, Lib. 1. c. 7.)