Note 27 — III. THULE, PART OF GREAT BRITAIN

The Crymogæa (Sive De Reb. Isl., Hamb. 1593) of this learned Icelander will be found analysed in Purchas, vol. iii., and Hakluyt, vol. i. His principal argument is very unsatisfactory: “If Iceland is taken to have been the classical Thule, it must have been inhabited in the days of Augustus, which is contrary to the chronicles of the island.” This author’s chief objection is thus stated by himself: “Si etenim Islandia idem esset cum Thule, rueret totum hujus narrationis fundamentum de Islandia A.C. 874 habitari primum cæpta;” an objection which will be considered elsewhere. Meanwhile I prefer the opinion of the equally learned Pentanus, who says of Iceland: “Non heri aut hodie quod dicitur fuit frequentata, sed habuit indigenas suos multa ante sæcula.”