opposite to the west coast of europe is the island called britannia, so celebrated in the records of greece[25] and of our own country. it is situate to the north-west, and, with a large tract of intervening sea, lies opposite to germany, gaul, and spain, by far the greater part of europe. its former name was albion.[26] this island is distant from the coast of the nation of the morini,[27] at the spot where the passage 30 across is the shortest, fifty miles. pytheas and isidorus say that its circumference is 4875 miles. it is barely thirty years since any extensive knowledge of it was gained by the successes of the roman arms, and even as yet they have not penetrated beyond the vicinity of the caledonian[28] forest. agrippa believes its length to be 800 miles, and its breadth 300; he also thinks that the breadth of hibernia is the same, but that its length is less by 200 miles. this last island is situated beyond britannia, the passage across being the shortest from the territory of the silures,[29] a distance of thirty miles. of the remaining islands none is said to have a greater circumference than one hundred and twenty-five miles. among these there are the orcades,[30] forty in number, and situated within a short distance of each other, the seven islands called acmod?.[31] the most remote of all that we find mentioned is thule,[32] in which, there is no night at the summer solstice, when the sun is passing through the sign of cancer, while on the other hand at the winter solstice there is no day. some writers are of opinion that this state of things lasts for six whole months together.