CHAP. 75. (73.)—WHEN AND WHERE THERE ARE NO
SHADOWS.
It is likewise said, that in the town of Syene, which is
5000 stadia south of Alexandria[1], there is no shadow at noon,
on the day of the solstice; and that a well, which was sunk
for the purpose of the experiment, is illuminated by the sun
in every part. Hence it appears that the sun, in this place,
is vertical, and Onesicritus informs us that this is the case,
about the same time, in India, at the river Hypasis[2]. It is
well known, that at Berenice, a city of the Troglodytæ, and
4820 stadia beyond that city, in the same country, at the
town of Ptolemais, which was built on the Red Sea, when
the elephant was first hunted, this same thing takes place
for forty-five days before the solstice and for an equal length
of time after it, and that during these ninety days the shadows
are turned towards the south[3]. Again, at Meroë, an island
in the Nile and the metropolis of the Æthiopians, which is
5000 stadia[4] from Syene, there are no shadows at two periods
of the year, viz. when the sun is in the 18th degree of Taurus
and in the 14th of Leo[5]. The Oretes, a people of India, have
a mountain named Maleus[6], near which the shadows in sum-
mer fall towards the south and in winter towards the north.
The seven stars of the Great Bear are visible there for fifteen
nights only. In India also, in the celebrated sea-port Patale[7], the
sun rises to the right hand and the shadows fall
towards the south. While Alexander was staving there it
was observed, that the seven northern stars were seen only
during the early part of the night[8]. Onesicritus, one of his
generals, informs us in his work, that in those places in India
where there are no shadows, the seven stars are not visible[9];
these places, he says, are called "Ascia[10]," and the people there
do not reckon the time by hours[11].
1. This would be about 625 miles. Strabo, ii. 114, and Lucan, ii. 587,
give the same distance, which is probably nearly correct. Syene is,
however, a little to the north of the tropic.
2. This remark is not correct, as no part of this river is between the
tropics. For an account of Onesicritus see Lemaire, i. 203, 204.
3. "In meridiem umbras jaci." M. Ajasson translates this passage, "les
ombres tombent pendant quatre-vingt-dix jours sur le point central du
méridien." ii. 165. But I conceive that Holland's version is more correct, "for 90 days' space all the shadows are cast into the south." i. 36.
The remarks of M. Alexandre are to the same effect; ".....ut bis solem
in zenitho haberet (Ptolemais), Malii mensis et Augusti initio; interea
vero, solem e septemtrione haberet." Lemaire, i. 393.
4. About 625 miles.
5. These days correspond to the 8th of May and the 4th of August
respectively.
6. There is considerable uncertainty respecting the identity of this mountain; our author refers to it in a subsequent part of his work, where it is
said to be in the country of the Monedes and Suari; vi. 22. See the note
of Alexandre in Lemaire, i. 394.
7. Our author, in a subsequent part of his work, vi. 23, describes the
island of Patale as situated near the mouth of the Indus; he again refers
to it, xii. 25. His account of the position of the sun does not, however,
apply to this place.
8. If we may suppose this to have been actually the case, we might
calculate the time of the year when Alexander visited this place and the
length of his stay.
9. We may presume, that our author means to say no more than that,
in those places, they are occasionally invisible; literally the observation
would not apply to any part of India.
10. a)/skia, shadowless.
11. If this really were the case, it could have no relation to the
astronomical position of the country.