on the increase of the moon, and the ebb on its decrease. By means of a
gnomon he observed, at the summer solstice at Marseilles, that the length
of the shadow was to the height of the gnomon as 120 to 41-1/5; or, in
other words, that the obliquity of the ecliptic was 23:50. He relates, that
in the country which he reached in his voyage to the north, the sun, at the
time of the summer solstice, touched the northern part of the horizon: he
pointed out three stars near the pole, with which the north star formed a
square; and within this square, he fixed the true place of the pole.
According to Strabo, he considered the island of Thule as the most western
part of the then known world, and reckoned his longitude from thence.

With respect to the extent and discoveries of his voyage to the north,
there is great difference of opinion. The veracity of Pytheas is utterly
denied by Strabo and Polybius, and is strongly suspected by Dr. Vincent: on
the other hand, it has found able supporters in D'Anville, Huet, Gessner,
Murray of Goettingen, Gosselin, and Malte Brun; and in our opinion, though
it may not be easy to ascertain what was really the country which be
reached in his voyage, and though some of the particulars he mentions may
be fabulous, or irreconcileable with one another, yet it seems carrying
scepticism too far to reject, on these accounts, his voyage as altogether a
fiction.

The account is, that Pytheas departed from Marseilles, coasted Spain,
France, and the east or north-east side of Britain, as far as its northern
extremity. Taking his departure from this, he continued his voyage, as he
says, to the north, or perhaps to the north-east; and after six days'
navigation, he arrived at a land called Thule, which he states to be 46,300
stadia from the equator. So far there is nothing improbable or
inconsistent; but when he adds, that being there at the summer solstice, he
saw the sun touching the northern point of the horizon, and at the same