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In the division of the earth, most writers consider Africa as a third part; a few admit only two divisions, Asia and Europe,XVII. Only two divisions Asia and Europe] Thus Varro, de L. L. iv. 13, ed. Bip. "As all nature is divided into heaven and earth, so the heaven is divided into regions, and the earth into Asia and Europe." See Broukh. ad Tibull., iv. 1, 176. and include Africa in Europe. It is bounded, on the west, by the strait connecting our sea with the ocean;The strait connecting our sea with the ocean] Fretum nostri maris et oceani. That is, the Fretum Gaditanum, or Strait of Gibraltar. By our sea, he means the Mediterranean. See Pomp. Mela, i. 1. on the east, by a vast sloping tract, which the natives call the Catabathmos."A vast sloping tract—Catabathmos] Declivem latitudinem, quem locum Catabathmon incolœ appellant. Catabathmus—vallis repente convexa, Plin. H. N. v. 5. Catabathmus, vallis devexa in Ægptum, Pomp. Mela, i. 8. I have translated declivem latitudinem in conformity with these passages. Catabathmus, a Greek word, means a descent. There were two, the mayor and minor; Sallust speaks of the major. The sea is boisterous, and deficient in harbors; the soil is fertile in corn, and good for pasturage, but unproductive of trees. There is a scarcity of water both from rain and from land-springs. The natives are healthy, swift of foot, and able to endure fatigue. Most of them die by the gradual decay of age,Most of them die by the gradual decay of age] Plerosque senectus dissolvit "A happy expression; since the effect of old age on the bodily frame is not to break it in pieces suddenly, but to dissolve it, as it were, gradually and imperceptibly."Bernouf. except such as perish by the sword or beasts of prey; for disease finds but few victims. Animals of a venomous nature they have in great numbers.