tiMm

THE LANDING-PLACE OF JULIUS C^SAR INBRITAIN.

BY THE KEV. E. CABDWELL, D.D., PRINCIPAL Olf ST. ALBAN

HALL, OXFORD.

THE landing-place of Julius Ceesar on the coast of Bri-tain has lately become a subject of considerable interest,owing to some nautical observations recently made onthe currents of the British Channel. From these obser-vations it appears to follow, that Csesar, when he quittedhis anchorage off Dover, and sailed with the wind andtide in his favour, was not carried up the Channel, ashitherto has been the faith of archaeologists, hut west-ward, toward the coast of Sussex. An honour which hadpreviously been given unanimously to the coast at Deal,has thus become without an owner, and has been thrownamong the southern Cinque-ports as an object for theircompetition, The Astronomer Uoyal pleads for Peven-sey, Mr. Hussey speaks on behalf of the neighbourhoodof Rye, Mr. Lewiu is in favour of Romney Marsh, andthe archaeological societies of Kent and Sussex may na-turally desire to secure the important fact for their respec-tive territories. It is like the excitement created whenthe 'Great Eastern' quitted her moorings in the Thames,and the southern harbours were contending for the re-ception of the interesting and profitable stranger.

VOL. m. B

Archaeologia Cantiana Vol. 3 1860

2 ON OZESAR'S LAOT>ING-PLACE IN BRITAIN.

Caesar's two expeditions to Britain are recorded in thenarrative of Dio, and are noticed by Strabo, Plutarch,and other writers with different degrees of authority at-taching to them. But the Commentaries of Csesar him-self furnish us with the best information on the sub-ject. Authentic, exact, minute, they are a portraitureof his own character; and though they do not in all casessatisfy the wants of archaeologists, still, whenever theyspeak, they exclude all other evidence. It is only whenCsesar is silent that Dio can be heard, and even then hemust be received as a witness, not of what occurred inCassar's time, but of the facts and the opinions of hisown day.

In the early autumn of the year 55 B.C., when Pompeyand Crassus were consuls, Csesar returned from Germanyinto Gaul, and removed the bridge which he had con-structed over the Rhine in the neighbourhood of Co-blenz. He then determined to visit Britain, not withthe view of subduing the Britons at that advanced periodof the year, but in order to obtain an accurate accountof the number and habits of the people, and of the bestmeans of access to the island. Doubtless he had a viewto future conquests; but he was also desirous of collect-ing all sorts of information to gratify the philosophersand general society at Rome. Britain and its unexploredpeculiarities were at this time much discussed among theRomans. They had heard of the perils of the Ocean, ofthe pearls obtained upon its coasts, of the long-continuednights of winter; and even Cicero, in a letter written tohis brother Quintus in the following year, speaks of thedelight which had been given to him by communicationsfrom Britain (Epist. ii. 16).

Csesar in the first instance had recourse to the traders,the only persons who had any intercourse with the is-landers, and they were totally unable to answer the manyquestions which he put to them, or to inform him of

ON CJSSAH'S LANDING-PLACE IN BRITAIN. 3

any harbour fit for the reception of a Eoman fleet. Thatthey were altogether wanting in matters of ethnologyand statistics, on which Csesar appears to have closelyquestioned them, is not surprising; and that they toldhim of no capacious harboiirs was owing to the fact thatno such places were to be found within the limits oftheir experience. But they told him, we may be assured,of the long, bold barrier of cliffs extending from theSouth Foreland to near Dungeness, of the low openshore at Deal, the haven at Dover, and possibly of oneor two declivities in the line of cliff where an invadermight effect a landing.

Not satisfied with this information, and probably anx-ious as to the nature and extent of this formidablebarrier, Csesar despatched Volusenus in a war-vessel, anofficer of great discernment as well as gallantry, to re-connoitre as far as he was able, and to return to himwithout loss of time.

Meanwhile Caesar marched into the country of theMorini, the country extending from the river Sommeeastward to the borders of Belgium. He marched intothis country " quod inde erat brevissimus in Britanniamtrajectus" (Bell. Gall. iv. 21), and made therefore forthat part of the coast, which offered him the shortestpassage. His guides had probably described to him, andhe himself saw on his arrival, a curved line of shore ex-tended for about six miles between two headlands, andpresenting probably a somewhat deeper bay and moreprominent extremities than we find at present. It is theline of shore stretching from Cape Grisnez on the westto Cape Blancnez on the east, which may be seen dis-tinctly on any clear day from the high ground nearFolkestone, and is the only part of the French coastparallel to the coast of Britain.

We know from Csesar himself that he sailed from the" Portus Itius" (BeU. Gall. v. 2); we also know from

B 2

4 ON OZESAKS LANDING-PLACE IN BRITAIN.

other, although later, authority, that the western head-land bore the same name of Itius. We may thereforeassume that the fleet was then assembling on the neigh-bouring shore ; and a place now called "Wissant, to theeast of Cape Grisnez, appears to be the most suitableplace for the purpose.

Volusenus had returned from his mission, and as hehad not been able to land, the information that hebrought was confined to what he had learned, and con-firmed by his own observation, of the nature of the cliffsand the reefs and soundings in front of them. On thesepoints his information would be both ample and exact,including probably an outline of the whole barrier fora space of nearly twenty miles, from the open shore ofDeal at the one extremity to the marshes near Eomneyat the other. And this information was so importantthat Caesar kept the knowledge of it to himself until hewas lying at anchor oif the island, and his generals andother officers were waiting for their final instructions.Those instructions were founded on the report of Volu-senus.

Imagine then the future Emperor standing on thewestern headland, with Volusenus at his side, and scan-ning, as the sun descended on the western downs ofBritain, the impregnable ramparts which Nature hadplaced before him. From the haven at Dover, and thetwo cliffs beside it, one of which now bears the name ofShakespeare and was then glittering in the evening sun-shine, his eye travelled over a bright wall of perpendi-cular rock apparently without an aperture, till it camenear the ravine where now stands the town of Folke-stone, and the cliffs, though still trending onwards tothe west, became less distinctly visible, owing to the dif-ference in their structure.

Having conferred with the chiefs of the Morini, andobtained hostages as a security against any attack upon

ON C2ESAR'S LANDING-PLACE IN BRITAIN. 5

his camp during his absence, Caesar made arrangementsfor his voyage. Besides his war-vessels, he had collectedeighty transports to convey the two legions, consistingprobably of about eight thousand men, whom he ap-pointed to accompany him. Eighteen other transportswere detained at a haven eight miles further, north(" portus ulterior, superior," Bell. Gall. iv. 23 and 28),being prevented by contrary winds from joining him.So that the wind was blowing steadily and strongly fromthe south-west, and the eighteen transports were detainedon the coast near Calais. These vessels did not leavethe harbour till the fourth day after Caesar's arrival inBritain; and we may thence infer (and this is a pointof importance) that the wind continued blowing fromthe same quarter. That they were detained by somesuch difficulty is evident from the fact that Csesar hadordered all his cavalry, consisting probably of abouteight hundred men, to go thither and to put to sea assoon as possible.

About midnight, then, between the 26th and 27th ofAugust, in the year 55 B.C., Ceesar put off from the coastof France. The moon was then high, and cast its palelight upon a band of intrepid warriors starting with greatdisadvantage upon a perilous and unwonted enterprise.Caesar had sufficient reason for fixing upon that time forhis departure. He had a passage of twenty miles beforehim, an adverse current to contend with, was committedto a service strange and untrusted by him, but he knewthat he should sight the British coast at sunrise, and hewished to have the whole day at his disposal in order toeffect his landing.

Csesar reached the opposite coast at ten in the mom-ing. How could he have been so long a time on so shorta passage ? Doubtless when he put off from France heremained some time in the offing, until his transportswere afloat and the whole squadron was in motion.

6 ON CJESAR'S LANDING-PLACE IN BEITAIN.

Doubtless he checked the ardour of his own rowers thatthe heavy luggers which followed him might not be leftin the distance. And yet observe the slowness of theirmovements; for the transports had not all reached theground where Caesar anchored until five hours after hisarrival.

Csesar probably did not expect to see what he actuallyfound. " Ibi in omnibus collibus expositas hostium co-pias armatas conspexit. Cujus loci hsec erat natura,atque ita montibus angustis mare continebatur, uti exlocis superioribus in littus telum adigi posset" (Bell.Gall. iv. 23). From the report of Volusenus, and fromhis own observation, he well knew the nature of theground, but he does not appear to have expected theopposition that he met with.

Here then were a haven and lofty hills on either sideof it, and cliffs overhanging the whole of the shore insuch a manner, that were the troops to land, they wouldbe exposed to the missiles of the enemy, and the enemywould be out of reach. The part of the coast whichappears to correspond most accurately with this descrip-tion is the immediate neighbourhood of Dover.

This was no place for landing, and Csesar called hisofficers together and communicated to them for the firsttime the information he had received from Volusenus.It was now three o'clock. He wished to establish him-self on shore before nightfall. His words are, " Ven-tum et gestum uno tempore nactus secundum, dato signoet sublatis anchoris circiter millia passuum vn ab eo locoprogressus, aperto ac piano littore naves constituit" (Bell.Gall. iv. 23). The wind and tide had at that time takenthe same direction. The wind, as has been already in-timated, was still blowing up the Channel. Can we as-certain with equal precision in what direction the tidewas running 1 This question requires some short ex-planation as to the nature of tides.

ON OZESAR'S LANDING-PLACE IN BRITAIN. 7

The place being the same, it is always high-water atthe same time of day at new moon and at full moon.If you have looked at the tidal tables for any monthat Folkestone, you will have observed that the times ofdeparture complete two cycles in every month, or speak-ing more correctly, in every lunation. And the same lawwhich exists at present existed at all periods of pasthistory. If you know what was the time of high-waterat Folkestone at any full moon during the present year,you, know the time of high-water at the same place when-ever the moon was full a hundred or a thousand years ago.

It is also a fact that each successive tide is later bytwenty-five minutes than the one which had precededit. We can easily determine the time of high-water atFolkestone at any full moon in the year 55 B.C., but itis also easy to determine the time of high-water on anygiven day before or after the same full moon by makingthe allowance of twenty-five minutes for each of thetides which had intervened. If, for instance, it is highwater at Folkestone at 10.30 a.m. on the day of fullmoon, it is high-water at the same place fifty minutesearlier on the preceding day, the. difference of two tidesbeing deducted.

Caesar says, " Post diem quartum quam est in Britan-niam ventum . . . eadem nocte accidit ut esset lunaplena " (Bell. Gall. iv. 28 and 29). Knowing then fromcalculation that that full moon occurred in the nightbetween the 30th and 31st of August, and from Csesar'swords that he came to the coast of Britain three and ahalf days or seven tides previously, we have the meansof ascertaining what was the state of the tide at threeo'clock p.m. on the 27th of August, when he left hisanchorage off Dover.

Dr. Halley says, " On that day it was high-water abouteight in the morning, and consequently low water abouttwo. Therefore by three the tide of flood was well made

8 ON CESAR'S LANDING-PLACE IN BRITAIN.

up, and it is plain that Cassar went with it; and the floodsetting in to the northward shows that the open plainshore where he landed was to the northward of thecliffs " (Phil. Trans, vol. iii. p. 440). In opposition tothis statement it is alleged that this is the normal con-dition of tides, and that no allowance is made for the pe-culiar circumstances of the Channel; that great painshave been taken by authority to ascertain the actualturning of the tide in these parts; and that the instruc-tion from the Admiralty is that the stream off Dover setswestward at four hours after high-water and runs west-ward for the next seven hours, and then turns eastward,and runs so for the next four hours. Taking this as abasis for his calculations, the Astronomer Eoyal sent apaper to the Society of Antiquaries in the year 1852, inwhich he overruled the opinion of Dr. Halley, and showedthat, according to the official tide-tables, Ceesar musthave been carried westward towards the coast of Sussex.Finding, however, much difficulty in the suppositionthat Csesar took the shortest passage, he makes him sailfrom the mouth of the'Somme and land on the shore atPevensey. In so doing, he is frequently compelled toexplain, instead of interpreting, the narrative of Caesar,and appears to me to deviate so far from that primaryauthority, that notwithstanding the great weight attach-ing to his name, I will examine in preference the solu-tion of Mr. Lewin.

Proceeding on the same basis, and convinced thatCeesar was carried westward, Mr. Lewin makes him sailfrom Boulogne and land a little to the west of Hythe,in Romney Marsh. His dissertation recently publishedis very ably argued, and shows much of the skill andpertinacity of a consummate advocate.

His statement is as follows: " To ascertain the currentor direction of the tide at Dover, we find first the timeof high-water there, and four hours after that the stream

ON OZESAR'S LANDING-PLACE IN BRITAIN. 9

begins to run west and will so continue for seven hours,when it will again turn east and run so for the next fivehours. We have now to apply this principle to the year55 B.C. The full moon was on the 31st of August, atthree a.m. I turn to the tide-tables published by au-thority for the month of August of the present year(1859), and I find that the moon will be at the full onthe 13th of August. As regards the moon, therefore,the 31st of August, 55 B.C., and 13th of August, 1859,are corresponding days. To find then the time of highwater at Dover on the 27th of August, 55 B.C., whenCsesar arrived (being the fourth day before the 31st ofAugust, when was the full), we have only to look for thetime of high-water at Dover on the 9th of August, 1859,being the fourth day before the 13th, when will be thefull. High-water at Dover on the 9th of August, 1859,will according to the tables be at 7.31 a.m. It was there-fore high-water at 7.31 a.m., at Dover, on the 27th ofAugust, 55 B.C. But at four hours after high-water thetide runs west, and so continues for seven hours: there-fore at 11.31 a.m. on the 27th of August, 55 B.C., thestream began to run west, and held on in the same di-rection until 6.31 p.m. At three o'clock, therefore, onthat day, the current was flowing westward at its maxi-mum velocity, and, consequently, as Caesar sailed atthree o'clock on the 27th of August, 55 B.C., in the samedirection as the tide, he must have steered westwardtowards Romney Marsh, and could not possibly havemade for Deal" (p. 37).

This is Mr. Lewin's argument; and it must be ac-knowledged that if the basis on which he proceeds mustnecessarily be adopted, that is to say, if the stream offDover sets westward at four hours after high-water andruns westward for the next seven hours, there is no alter-native, we must go westward also, and look for somelanding-place on the southern shore of Kent or Sussex

10 ON O2ESAE'S LANDING-PLACE IN BRITAIN.

which, may correspond with the other conditions of Cas-sar's narrative.

A basis resting on such authority as the directions,issued from the Admiralty is primd facie beyond thereach of cavil or objection; it is only when the problemis worked out and found to terminate in incongruitiesand contradictions, that the inquirer feels his confidenceshaken and considers himself at liberty to examine forhimself.

"We will pursue this method in the present instance,and as Mr. Lewin's solution is the best explanationhitherto given on the basis adopted by him, we will con-sider whether the supposition that Csesar went westwardfrom his anchorage off Dover, and landed at last in Kom-ney Marsh, is consistent with the other conditions of hisnarrative. Whilst this part of. the argument is in pro-gress we assume of course that the direction of the tideis a point in abeyance.

First, then, I have already stated that the wind duringthe whole of the 27th of August was probably blowingup the Channel. That it was so for some, time previouslyis evident from the fact that the eighteen transportswere detained by the wind in a harbour eight miles fur-ther north than Caesar's starting-place, and the onlywords connected with this matter on the day of depar-ture are, "nactus idoneam ad navigandum tempestatem,"which merely say that the wind had "moderated. It istrue that three days afterwards the wind blew furiouslyfrom the. north-east, and drove the eighteen transports,when they were on the point of joining Csesar, to a con-siderable distance down the Channel: but there is noevidence of any change during the interval, and the ex-pression, " ventum et sestum uno tempore nactus secun-dum," which, according to Mr. Lewin, implies, by themeaning of the word " nactus," that the wind had under-gone a change when Caesar left his anchorage, may, for

ON CESAR'S LAOT5ING-PLACB IN B1HTAIF. 11

anything that we know at present, denote a change inthe tide and not in the wind. In another part of hisargument (p. 58) Mr. Lewin says, " The day after thetransport of the infantry the wind had shifted from thesouth-west to the north-east ;" and if he means that theshifting took place on the 28th of August, although Isee no intimation of it, I am not required to gainsay it,being only concerned with the direction of the wind onthe afternoon of the 27th. If then the wind was stillblowing up the Channel when Csesar quitted his anchor-age off Dover, we have already an incongruity in thesupposition that he was carried westward by tide andwind together.

Secondly, proceeding then on the supposition that hewent westward, how soon did he find a landing-place ?Let me quote the eloquent description of another con-queror conducting his fleet along the coast of Britain,and looking for a haven where he might land his war-riors. " His fleet spread to within a league of Dover onthe north and Calais on the south. The troops appearedunder arms on the decks. The flourish of trumpets, theclash of cymbals, and the rolling of drums were distinctlyheard at once on the English and French shores. Aninnumerable company of gazers blackened the whitebeach of Kent. Another mighty multitude covered thecoast of Picardy. A French writer who accompaniedthe Prince to England, described the spectacle manyyears later, as the most magnificent and affecting thatwas ever seen by human eyes. At sunset the armamentwas off Beachy Head."

These are the words in which Macaulay describes theexpedition of the Prince of Orange. Very different insome of its outward manifestations, but equally impor-tant in its consequences, and equally exciting to thefierce multitudes which gazed upon it from their preci-pices, was the expedition of Csesar.

12 ON OZESAJR'S LANDING-PLACE IN BRITAIN.

Caesar landed, as he says, at the distance of sevenmiles from the place where he lay at anchor. At thatdistance going westward you stand beneath the churchat Folkestone; and neither there nor as you pass onwardto Sandgate, with reefs on the one side and a lofty ridgeof rock and clay on the other, do you see any groundmore favourable for a landing than the shore beneaththe cliffs at Dover. In short, the nearest point at whichMr. Lewin is contented to place the landing is in Kom-ney Marsh, at the distance, not of seven, but of nearlyfourteen Roman miles from the place of anchorage.

Thirdly, Csesar drew to land, "aperto ac piano lit-tore " (iv. 23), or, as elsewhere described, "in littore mol-li atque aperto" (v. 9), that is, on a gently sloping coast,free from rocks and overhanging hills. The shore of thepresent Komney Marsh, and a considerable part of theMarsh itself, are evidently of recent formation. The de-posits from the river by land, and shingle from the sea,appear to have employed themselves in past ages in con-verting a shallow bay into what is now a drained andcultivated level, but was in mediseval times a tracklessswamp. Beyond Hythe the low ground together withthe promontory beyond it is still advancing into the sea,and the line of shore turns towards the south, leaving theridge of hill, which accompanied us from Folkestone, tocontinue in its westward direction and to run inland.Here, doubtless, in the days of the Romans, was a con-siderable creek, the northern shore of which was boundedand overlooked by the same ridge of which we have beenspeaking, and the other sides would probably be swamp.That the ridge was the boundary on the north may beinferred from the fact that on this same ridge, at the dis-tance of about three miles from the present shore, standsthe village of Lympne, the ancient portus Lemanis, oneof the three principal harbours on this coast resortedto by the Eomans in later times, and recorded in the

ON CAESAR'S LANDING-PLACE IN BRITAIN. 13

Itineraries of Antoninus. Would such a creek, eitheron its northern rocky margin or elsewhere, afford such alanding-place as Caesar describes in the words, " apertoac piano littore" 1 Mr. Hussey says of it, " At Hythe,or rather at Lympne, a reasonably good harbour pro-bably existed; but the ground abutting upon it does notin any degree possess, or appear to have possessed, therequisite peculiarities; and a movement from hencewould have brought the Eoman fleet to the shore ofRomney Marsh, where it is impossible to suppose thatCassar would have disembarked. Neither is it crediblethat he could in the first instance have steered to Rom-ney or any other spot within the limits of the Marsh."(Archseol. Cant. vol. i. p. 101.) I assent to these obser-vations of Mr. Hussey.

Fourthly, in his second expedition Csesar departedfrom the same harbour, and landed on the same shore,as in the former instance. He put off at sunset, " leniAfrico provectus " (v. 8), and if he sailed in the directionof the wind, he went up the Channel. He was carriedonward by the wind until midnight, when, the winddropping, he allowed himself to float with the tide. Thetide carried him so far out of his course, that at daylighthe found himself leaving England in the distance on hisleft hand. Is this consistent with the intention of sail-ing from France to Romney Marsh, a place nearly duewest, and for which he must make across the stream in-stead of floating along with it I

Proceeding then on the basis of the tide-tables, andendeavouring to solve the problem in accordance withit, we have encountered four contrarieties arising out ofthe cardinal conditions of Caesar's narrative, which com-pel us to retrace our steps and consider whether the"basis itself can possibly be erroneous. But can we fora moment suppose that the result of an official investi-gation, ascertained with so much exactness, and put forth

14 .ON CJESAR'S LANDING-PLACE IN BRITAIN.

•with so much authority, can be otherwise than authenticfact, known -universally in the neighbourhood, and expe-rienced every day by sea-going men 1. I, am well acquainted with Folkestone and its har-•bour; and there are there shrewd and sensible men whosebusiness lies upon the water, and is constantly impededor promoted by its currents. To men of this descriptionI put several questions, and received from them delibe-rate answers. I give the two following, merely observingthat the questions were given and .the answers returnedin writing:—

How soon after high-water does the stream begin torun down Channel ? Answer: In two hours.

• How long afterwards does it continue to run downChannel I Answer: Five hours.

This information differs materially from the notices ofthe tide-tables. It gives two hours less for the turningof the stream after high-water, and again two hours lessfor the continuance of the stream down Channel after-wards.

We will take as our basis for the moment the infor-mation obtained from Folkestone, and see what effectit would have upon the solution of the problem. Therecan be no difference of opinion as to the time of high-water. On the 27th of August, 55 B.c.,itwas 7.31 a.m.In two hours, that is at 9.31, the stream began to rundown Channel. It continued so to run for five hourslonger, that is, until 2.31 p.m. It was then slack-waterfor about a quarter of an hour, and at 3 o'clock p.m.the stream had turned, and was running up the Channel.

But in the course of the inquiries made at Folkestone,I met with certain distinctions which appeared to be of•great importance in the determination of this question.I found that there was a difference, and in some casesa great difference, between the times of the stream in-shore and in mid-channel. I had reason to believe that

ON OZESAli'S LANDING-PLACE IN BRITAIN. 15

though the tide in mid-channel turned four hours afterthe Folkestone high-water, the tide in-shore turned twohours and a half after that time. Is it not possible thatthe basis obtained from the tide-tables expresses theTule which prevails in the open Channel, and that Caesarhaving anchored off Dover, and probably within a shortdistance from the land, was governed by the exceptionaltide which prevailed in-shore ?

It is evident that the rule which holds generally inthe Channel is the one which it was the express business•of the tide-tables to record. But it is indispensable forthe purposes of an inquiry connected with Caesar's de-parture from his anchorage, that the circumstances ofthe in-shore tides should be known and taken into ac-count. Captain Beechey, who made the survey of theChannel, under the direction of the Admiralty, was ap-plied to on this point by the Astronomer Royal, andgave him the following answer:—" At full and change ofthe moon the stream makes to the westward, off Dover,at the distance of a mile and a half from the shore,about three hours ten minutes; and there does not ap-pear to be much difference in this part of the Channel,between the turn of the stream in-shore, and in thecentre " (Archeeol. vol. xxxiv. p. 239). In this answerthe latter portion, which bears upon our present point,cannot, I think, be considered as conclusive, althoughthe Astronomer Eoyal was induced by it to disregardthe amount of the in-shore difference. The languageemployed by Captain Beechey appears to state that hewas not aware of any note-worthy difference, rather thanthat he had ascertained that no such difference existed.Knowing then that an important difference of the kindwas acknowledged to exist at Folkestone, I could notaccept Captain Beeehey's evidence as conclusive againstthe existence of a corresponding difference at Dover.

How then was this problem to be solved I There is

16 ON GZESAR'S LANDING-PLACE IN BRITAIN.

one person above all others at Dover, on whose judg-ment reliance would be placed in a disputed question ofthis nature. Accustomed to cross the Channel in com-mand of an important service, he has a personal know-ledge of its currents, and much responsibility attachingto that knowledge; connected by long experience withthe harbour and the offing at Dover, he is locally ac-quainted with the times and directions of the stream in-shore. His authority is more valuable than that of thetide-tables, because it embraces the exception as wellas the rule, and can be brought to bear upon the ques-tion not merely as a general principle, but as a directanswer to an individual case.

I have had the good fortune to obtain the informationI desired from this authority. I learn that the tides atDover are very complicated ; that the stream begins torun down Channel at half-ebb, that is, about three hoursafter high-water, and that it continues to run downChannel until half-flood; that the stream begins in-shore about an hour sooner than in mid-channel, withspring-tides, and with neap-tides is often two hours ear-lier in changing. From this statement it follows thatfrom the nine hours intervening between the time ofhigh-water and the return of the flood up the Channelwe must deduct, under common circumstances, one hourand a half to satisfy the in-shore difference. The inter-val remaining is seven hours and a half, the exact intervalwhich passed between high-water and the three o'clockwhen Csesar started. May not the state of the tide havebeen one of the reasons which made him remain so longand no longer at his anchorage ?

But the matter was brought to a crisis by the follow-ing question:—

" Many years ago some transports lay off Dover, say,half a mile from the shore; on that day it was high-water at 7.31 a.m., the transports lay off till three o'clock

ON CJESAR'S LANDING-PLACE IN BRITAIN. 17

p.m., and then sailed with the tide; which way wouldthey go, up the Channel, or down the Channel 1

The answer was as follows:—" On the day in question the transports, if started with

the tide in their favour at 3 p.m., with a 7.31 a.m. tide,must have gone up Channel on the first of the flood, andproceeded to the eastward."

Confining myself then to the narrative of Cassar, thebest possible testimony, and the only valuable testimonythat we have, and assuming what few persons are dis-posed to deny, that the place of anchorage was off Do-ver, I am justified in maintaining that the law of themid-channel, as expressed in the tide-tables, is not appli-cable to the case, and that the evidence preponderatesin favour of the coast of Deal as the landing-place ofJulius Csesar.

The following passages from Caesar's Com. de Bello Gallico,together with the passages quoted in the text, are the authorityfor the preceding narrative. (Book iv. c. 20.)—

" Exigua parte sestatis reliqua, Caesar, etsi in his locis, quodomnis G-allia ad septentriones vergit, maturaa sunt hiemes, tamenin Britanniam proficisci contendit, quod omnibus fere Grallicisbellis hostibus nostris rude subministrata auxilia intelligebat;et si tempus anni ad bellum gerenduna deficeret, tamen magnosibi usui fore arbitrabatur, si modo insulam adisset, et genus ho-minum perspexisset, loca portus aditus cognovisset; quse omniafere G-allis erant incognita. . . . Itaque vocatis ad se undiquemercatoribusj neque quanta esset insulse magnitudo neque qusoaut quantaa nationes incolerent, neque quern usum belli haberent,aut quibus institutis uterentur,, neque qui essent ad majorumnaviton multitudinem idonei portus; reperire poterat. Ad heeccognoscenda^ priusquam periculum faceret, idoneum esse arbi-tratus, C. Volusenum cum navi longa prasmittit. Huic mandat

VOL. III. C

18 ON C-ZESAll'S LANDING-PLACE IN BRITAIN.

uti, exploratis omnibus rebus, ad se quam primum revertatur.Ipse cum omnibus copiis in Morinos proficiscitur, quod inde eratbrevissimus in Britanniam trajectus. Hue naves undique . . .jubet convenire. . . . Volusenus perspectis regionibus quantumei facultas dari potuifc, qui navi egredi ac se barbaris committerenon auderet^ quiato die ad Caesarem revertitur, quseque ibi per-spexissetj renunciat."

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