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On the authority of Etearchus, king of the Ammonians, he relates a journey into the interior of Africa, undertaken by five inhabitants of the country near the Gulf of Libya; and, in this journey, there is good reason to believe that the river Niger is accurately described, at least as far as regards the direction of its course.
But I have heard the following account from certain Cyrenaeans, who say that they went to the oracle of Ammon, and had a conversation with Etearchus, King of the Ammonians, and that, among other subjects, they happened to discourse about the Nile that nobody knew its sources; whereupon Etearchus said that certain Nasamonians once came to him this nation is Lybian, and inhabits the Syrtis, and the country for no great distance eastward of the Syrtis and that when these Nasamonians arrived, and were asked if they could give any further formation touching the deserts of Libya, they answered, that there were some daring youths amongst them, sons of powerful men; and that they, having reached man's estate, formed many other extravagant plans, and, moreover, chose five of their number by lot to explore the deserts of Libya, to see if they could make any further discovery than those who had penetrated the farthest.
Thus far I have set forth the account of Etearchus the Ammonian; to which may be added, as the Cyrenaeans assured me, "that he said the Nasamonians all returned safe to their own country, and that the men whom they came to were all necromancers."
Such, consequently have been the prevalent notions in all ages, even amongst the most intelligent foreigners, as well as the higher class of natives, from Herodotus, Etearchus, and Juba, to Ibn, Batuta, and Bello of Soccatoo. Vice President of the Geographical Society, that Leo Africanus actually reached Timbuctoo.
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