Note 30 — Chapter II

In assuming the Oestrymnides, or Cassiterides, to be the same as the Hesperides, Dr. Skene again shows that the locality referred to is the Iberian coast. For the writers of the second and sixth century whom he quotes state that the Hesperides are inhabited by Iberians, and are situated "near the sacred promontory where they say is the end of Europe." Now, in Ptolemy's map, above referred to, "the sacred promontory" (Sacrum Promōtoriū) is Cape St. Vincent; which would place the Hesperides at even a greater distance from England than the Oestrymnic Isles. The islands called Londobries and Deorum Insulæ on Ptolemy's map may be those referred to. Neither they nor the Oestrymnic Isles exist at the present day; but in questions of ancient history the fact ought never to be overlooked that the surface of the earth is constantly undergoing changes,—at one place the sea encroaching upon the land, at another retiring from it.