l, but the main incidents coincide.
Nennius, an English chronicler, who wrote in the seventh century, from
the oral testimony of trustworthy Irish Celts, gives corroborative
testimony. He writes thus: "If any one would be anxious to learn how
long Ireland was uninhabited and deserted, he shall hear it, as the most
learned of the Scots have related it to me.[48] When the children of
Israel came to the Red Sea, the Egyptians pursued them and were drowned,
as the Scripture records. In the time of Moses there was a Scythian
noble who had been banished from his kingdom, and dwelt in Egypt with a
large family. He was there when the Egyptians were drowned, but he did
not join in the persecution of the Lord's people. Those who survived
laid plans to banish him, lest he should assume the government, because
their brethren were drowned in the Red Sea; so he was expelled. He
wandered through Africa for forty-two years, and passed by the lake of
Salinae to the altars of the Philistines, and between Rusicada and the
mountains Azure, and he came by the river Mulon, and by sea to the
Pillars of Hercules, and through the Tuscan Sea, and he made for Spain,
and dwelt there many years, and he increased and multiplied, and his
people were multiplied."

Herodotus gives an account of the circumnavigation of Africa by the
Phoenicians, which may have some coincidence with this narrative. His
only reason for rejecting the tradition, which he relates at length, is
that he could not conceive how these navigators could have seen the sun
in a position contrary to that in which it is seen in Europe. The
expression of his doubt is a strong confirmation of the truth of his
narrative, which, however, is generally believed by modern writers.[49]

This navigation was performed about seven centuries before the Christian
era, and is, at least, a proof that the maritime power of the
Phoenicians was established at an early period, and that it was not
impossible for them to have extended their enterprises to Ireland. The
traditions of our people may also be confirmed from other sources.
Solinus writes thus: "In the gulf of Boatica there is an island, distant
some hundred paces from the mainland, which the Tyrians, who came from
the Red Sea, called Erythroea, and the Carthaginians, in their language,
denominate Gadir, i.e., the enclosure."

Spanish historians add their testimony, and claim the Phoenicians as
their principal colonizers. The _Hispania Illustra