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Web Scraping with Python

Scrape data from any website with the power of Python

Richard Lawson

BIRMINGHAM - MUMBAI
Web Scraping with Python

Copyright © 2015 Packt Publishing

All rights reserved. No part of this book may be reproduced, stored in a retrieval
system, or transmitted in any form or by any means, without the prior written
permission of the publisher, except in the case of brief quotations embedded in
critical articles or reviews.

Every effort has been made in the preparation of this book to ensure the accuracy
of the information presented. However, the information contained in this book is
sold without warranty, either express or implied. Neither the author, nor Packt
Publishing, and its dealers and distributors will be held liable for any damages
caused or alleged to be caused directly or indirectly by this book.

Packt Publishing has endeavored to provide trademark information about all of the
companies and products mentioned in this book by the appropriate use of capitals.
However, Packt Publishing cannot guarantee the accuracy of this information.

First published: October 2015

Production reference: 1231015

Published by Packt Publishing Ltd.

Livery Place
35 Livery Street
Birmingham B3 2PB, UK.

ISBN 978-1-78216-436-4

www.packtpub.com
 Credits

Author Project Coordinator

Richard Lawson Milton Dsouza

Reviewers Proofreader
Martin Burch Safis Editing
Christopher Davis
William Sankey Indexer
Mariammal Chettiar
Ayush Tiwari

Production Coordinator
Acquisition Editor
Nilesh R. Mohite
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Cover Work
Content Development Editor
Nilesh R. Mohite
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Technical Editors
Novina Kewalramani
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Copy Editor
Sonia Cheema
 About the Author

Richard Lawson is from Australia and studied Computer Science at the University
of Melbourne. Since graduating, he built a business specializing at web scraping
while traveling the world, working remotely from over 50 countries. He is a
fluent Esperanto speaker, conversational at Mandarin and Korean, and active in
contributing to and translating open source software. He is currently undertaking
postgraduate studies at Oxford University and in his spare time enjoys developing
autonomous drones.

I would like to thank Professor Timothy Baldwin for introducing me

to this exciting field and Tharavy Douc for hosting me in Paris while
I wrote this book.
 About the Reviewers

Martin Burch is a data journalist based in New York City, where he makes
interactive graphics for The Wall Street Journal. He holds a master of arts in
journalism from the City University of New York's Graduate School of Journalism,
and has a baccalaureate from New Mexico State University, where he studied
journalism and information systems.

I would like to thank my wife, Lisa, who encouraged me to assist

with this book; my uncle, Michael, who has always patiently
answered my programming questions; and my father, Richard, who
inspired my love of journalism and writing.

William Sankey is a data professional and hobbyist developer who lives in

College Park, Maryland. He graduated in 2012 from Johns Hopkins University
with a master's degree in public policy and specializes in quantitative analysis. He
is currently a health services researcher at L&M Policy Research, LLC, working on
projects for the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services (CMS). The scope of
these projects range from evaluating Accountable Care Organizations to monitoring
the Inpatient Psychiatric Facility Prospective Payment System.

I would like to thank my devoted wife, Julia, and rambunctious

puppy, Ruby, for all their love and support.
Ayush Tiwari is a Python developer and undergraduate at IIT Roorkee. He has
been working at Information Management Group, IIT Roorkee, since 2013, and has
been actively working in the web development field. Reviewing this book has been a
great experience for him. He did his part not only as a reviewer, but also as an avid
learner of web scraping. He recommends this book to all Python enthusiasts so that
they can enjoy the benefits of scraping.

He is enthusiastic about Python web scraping and has worked on projects such as live
sports feeds, as well as a generalized Python e-commerce web scraper (at Miranj).

He has also been handling a placement portal with the help of a Django app to assist
the placement process at IIT Roorkee.

Besides backend development, he loves to work on computational Python/data

analysis using Python libraries, such as NumPy, SciPy, and is currently working
in the CFD research field. You can visit his projects on GitHub. His username
is tiwariayush.

He loves trekking through Himalayan valleys and participates in several treks

every year, adding this to his list of interests, besides playing the guitar. Among his
accomplishments, he is a part of the internationally acclaimed Super 30 group and
has also been a rank holder in it. When he was in high school, he also qualified for
the International Mathematical Olympiad.

I have been provided a lot of help by my family members (my sister, Aditi, my
parents, and Anand sir), my friends at VI and IMG, and my professors. I would like
to thank all of them for the support they have given me.

Last but not least, kudos to the respected author and the Packt Publishing team
for publishing these fantastic tech books. I commend all the hard work involved in
producing their books.
 www.PacktPub.com

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 Table of Contents
Preface v
Chapter 1: Introduction to Web Scraping 1
When is web scraping useful? 1
Is web scraping legal? 2
Background research 2
Checking robots.txt 3
Examining the Sitemap 4
Estimating the size of a website 4
Identifying the technology used by a website 6
Finding the owner of a website 6
Crawling your first website 7
Downloading a web page 8
Retrying downloads 8
Setting a user agent 10
Sitemap crawler 11
ID iteration crawler 11
Link crawler 14
Advanced features 16
Summary 20
Chapter 2: Scraping the Data 21
Analyzing a web page 22
Three approaches to scrape a web page 24
Regular expressions 24
Beautiful Soup 26
Lxml 27
CSS selectors 28

[i]
Table of Contents

Comparing performance 29
Scraping results 30
Overview 32
Adding a scrape callback to the link crawler 32
Summary 34
Chapter 3: Caching Downloads 35
Adding cache support to the link crawler 35
Disk cache 37
Implementation 39
Testing the cache 40
Saving disk space 41
Expiring stale data 41
Drawbacks 43
Database cache 44
What is NoSQL? 44
Installing MongoDB 44
Overview of MongoDB 45
MongoDB cache implementation 46
Compression 47
Testing the cache 48
Summary 48
Chapter 4: Concurrent Downloading 49
One million web pages 49
Parsing the Alexa list 50
Sequential crawler 51
Threaded crawler 52
How threads and processes work 52
Implementation 53
Cross-process crawler 55
Performance 58
Summary 59
Chapter 5: Dynamic Content 61
An example dynamic web page 62
Reverse engineering a dynamic web page 64
Edge cases 67
Rendering a dynamic web page 69
PyQt or PySide 69
Executing JavaScript 70

[ ii ]
 Table of Contents

Website interaction with WebKit 72

Waiting for results 73
The Render class 74
Selenium 76
Summary 78
Chapter 6: Interacting with Forms 79
The Login form 80
Loading cookies from the web browser 83
Extending the login script to update content 87
Automating forms with the Mechanize module 90
Summary 91
Chapter 7: Solving CAPTCHA 93
Registering an account 94
Loading the CAPTCHA image 95
Optical Character Recognition 96
Further improvements 100
Solving complex CAPTCHAs 100
Using a CAPTCHA solving service 101
Getting started with 9kw 102
9kw CAPTCHA API 103
Integrating with registration 108
Summary 109
Chapter 8: Scrapy 111
Installation 111
Starting a project 112
Defining a model 113
Creating a spider 114
Tuning settings 115
Testing the spider 116
Scraping with the shell command 117
Checking results 118
Interrupting and resuming a crawl 121
Visual scraping with Portia 122
Installation 122
Annotation 124
Tuning a spider 127
Checking results 129
Automated scraping with Scrapely 130
Summary 131

[ iii ]
Table of Contents

Chapter 9: Overview 133

Google search engine 133
Facebook 137
The website 138
The API 139
Gap 140
BMW 142
Summary 146
Index 147

[ iv ]
 Preface
The Internet contains the most useful set of data ever assembled, which is largely
publicly accessible for free. However, this data is not easily reusable. It is embedded
within the structure and style of websites and needs to be extracted to be useful.
This process of extracting data from web pages is known as web scraping and is
becoming increasingly useful as ever more information is available online.

What this book covers

Chapter 1, Introduction to Web Scraping, introduces web scraping and explains ways to
crawl a website.

Chapter 2, Scraping the Data, shows you how to extract data from web pages.

Chapter 3, Caching Downloads, teaches you how to avoid redownloading by

caching results.

Chapter 4, Concurrent Downloading, helps you to scrape data faster by downloading

in parallel.

Chapter 5, Dynamic Content, shows you how to extract data from dynamic websites.

Chapter 6, Interacting with Forms, shows you how to work with forms to access the
data you are after.

Chapter 7, Solving CAPTCHA, elaborates how to access data that is protected by

CAPTCHA images.

[v]
Preface

Chapter 8, Scrapy, teaches you how to use the popular high-level Scrapy framework.

Chapter 9, Overview, is an overview of web scraping techniques that have been covered.

What you need for this book

All the code used in this book has been tested with Python 2.7, and is available for
download at http://bitbucket.org/wswp/code. Ideally, in a future version of
this book, the examples will be ported to Python 3. However, for now, many of
the libraries required (such as Scrapy/Twisted, Mechanize, and Ghost) are only
available for Python 2. To help illustrate the crawling examples, we created a sample
website at http://example.webscraping.com. This website limits how fast you
can download content, so if you prefer to host this yourself the source code and
installation instructions are available at http://bitbucket.org/wswp/places.

We decided to build a custom website for many of the examples used in this book
instead of scraping live websites, so that we have full control over the environment.
This provides us stability—live websites are updated more often than books, and by
the time you try a scraping example, it may no longer work. Also, a custom website
allows us to craft examples that illustrate specific skills and avoid distractions. Finally,
a live website might not appreciate us using them to learn about web scraping and try
to block our scrapers. Using our own custom website avoids these risks; however, the
skills learnt in these examples can certainly still be applied to live websites.

Who this book is for

This book requires prior programming experience and would not be suitable for
absolute beginners. When practical we will implement our own version of web
scraping techniques so that you understand how they work before introducing the
popular existing module. These examples will assume competence with Python and
installing modules with pip. If you need a brush up, there is an excellent free online
book by Mark Pilgrim available at http://www.diveintopython.net. This is the
resource I originally used to learn Python.

The examples also assume knowledge of how web pages are constructed with HTML
and updated with JavaScript. Prior knowledge of HTTP, CSS, AJAX, WebKit, and
MongoDB would also be useful, but not required, and will be introduced as and
when each technology is needed. Detailed references for many of these topics are
available at http://www.w3schools.com.

[ vi ]
 Preface

Conventions
In this book, you will find a number of styles of text that distinguish between
different kinds of information. Here are some examples of these styles, and an
explanation of their meaning.

Code words in text are shown as follows: "Most websites define a robots.txt file to
let robots know any restrictions about crawling their website."

A block of code is set as follows:

<?xml version="1.0" encoding="UTF-8"?>
<urlset xmlns="http://www.sitemaps.org/schemas/sitemap/0.9">
<url><loc>http://example.webscraping.com/view/Afghanistan-1
</loc></url>
<url><loc>http://example.webscraping.com/view/Aland-Islands-2
</loc></url>
<url><loc>http://example.webscraping.com/view/Albania-3</loc>
</url>
...
</urlset>

When we wish to draw your attention to a particular part of a code block, the
relevant lines or items are set in bold:
def link_crawler(..., scrape_callback=None):
…
links = []
if scrape_callback:
links.extend(scrape_callback(url, html) or [])
...

Any command-line input or output is written as follows:

$ python performance.py
Regular expressions: 5.50 seconds
BeautifulSoup: 42.84 seconds
Lxml: 7.06 seconds

[ vii ]
Preface

New terms and important words are shown in bold. Words that you see on the
screen, in menus or dialog boxes for example, appear in the text like this: " When
regular users open this web page in their browser, they will enter their e-mail and
password, and click on the Log In button to submit the details to the server."

Warnings or important notes appear in a box like this.

Tips and tricks appear like this.

Reader feedback
Feedback from our readers is always welcome. Let us know what you think about
this book—what you liked or may have disliked. Reader feedback is important for us
to develop titles that you really get the most out of.

To send us general feedback, simply send an e-mail to feedback@packtpub.com,

and mention the book title through the subject of your message.

If there is a topic that you have expertise in and you are interested in either writing
or contributing to a book, see our author guide on www.packtpub.com/authors.

Customer support
Now that you are the proud owner of a Packt book, we have a number of things to
help you to get the most from your purchase.

Errata
Although we have taken every care to ensure the accuracy of our content, mistakes
do happen. If you find a mistake in one of our books—maybe a mistake in the text or
the code—we would be grateful if you would report this to us. By doing so, you can
save other readers from frustration and help us improve subsequent versions of this
book. If you find any errata, please report them by visiting http://www.packtpub.
com/support, selecting your book, clicking on the errata submission form link, and
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will be accepted and the errata will be uploaded to our website, or added to any list
of existing errata, under the Errata section of that title.

[ viii ]
 Preface

Piracy
Piracy of copyright material on the Internet is an ongoing problem across all media.
At Packt, we take the protection of our copyright and licenses very seriously. If you
come across any illegal copies of our works, in any form, on the Internet, please
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Please contact us at copyright@packtpub.com with a link to the suspected

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We appreciate your help in protecting our authors, and our ability to bring you
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Questions
You can contact us at questions@packtpub.com if you are having a problem with
any aspect of the book, and we will do our best to address it.

[ ix ]
Random documents with unrelated
content Scribd suggests to you:
will be regarded as a line more nearly parallel and equal to the side
forming the length of that figure than the diagonal of any of the
smaller parallelograms: and the more your lesser parallelograms
should be multiplied, the more will this become evident. Certainly, it
is in great figures that the obliquity of the diagonal and its difference
from the side forming the length are the less perceptible, so that you
would have but little scruple in taking the diagonal as the length of
the figure. But if you draw the diagonal more inclined, so that it falls
beyond both sides, or at least beyond one of the sides, then will this
no longer be the case; and this is the sense in which we have
observed, that when you attempted to draw even in a very general
way the extents of the figures, you ought to adopt some rule. But
Eratosthenes takes a line from the Caspian Gates along the
mountains, running as it were in the same parallel as far as the
Pillars, and then a second line, starting directly from the mountains
to touch Thapsacus; and again a third line from Thapsacus to the
frontiers of Egypt, occupying so great a breadth. If then in
proceeding you give the length of the two last lines [taken together]
as the measure of the length of the district, you will appear to
measure the length of one of your parallelograms by its diagonal.
And if, farther, this diagonal should consist of a broken line, as that
would be which stretches from the Caspian Gates to the
embouchure of the Nile, passing by Thapsacus, your error will
appear much greater. This is the sum of what may be alleged
against Eratosthenes.
38. In another respect also we have to complain of Hipparchus,
because, as he had given a category of the statements of
Eratosthenes, he ought to have corrected his mistakes, in the same
way that we have done; but whenever he has any thing particular to
remark, he tells us to follow the ancient charts, which, to say the
least, need correction infinitely more than the map of Eratosthenes.
The argument which follows is equally objectionable, being founded
on the consequences of a proposition which, as we have shown, is
inadmissible, namely, that Babylon was not more than 1000 stadia
east of Thapsacus; when it was quite clear, from Eratosthenes’ own
words, that Babylon was above 2400 stadia east of that place; since
from Thapsacus to the passage of the Euphrates where it was
crossed by Alexander, the shortest route is 2400 stadia, and the
Tigris and Euphrates, having encompassed Mesopotamia, flow
towards the east, and afterwards take a southerly direction and
approach nearer to each other and to Babylon at the same time:
nothing appears absurd in this statement of Eratosthenes.
39. The next objection of Hipparchus is likewise false. He attempts
to prove that Eratosthenes, in his statement that the route from
Thapsacus to the Caspian Gates is 10,000 stadia, gives this as the
distance taken in a straight line; such not being the case, as in that
instance the distance would be much shorter. His mode of reasoning
is after this fashion. He says, “According to Eratosthenes, the mouth
of the Nile at Canopus,600 and the Cyaneæ,601 are under the same
meridian, which is distant from that of Thapsacus 6300 stadia. Now
from the Cyaneæ to Mount Caspius, which is situated close to the
defile602 leading from Colchis to the Caspian Sea, there are 6600
stadia,603 so that, with the exception of about 300 stadia, the
distance from the meridian of the Cyaneæ to that of Thapsacus, or
to that of Mount Caspius, is the same: and both Thapsacus and
Mount Caspius are, so to speak, under the same meridian.604 It
follows from this that the Caspian Gates are about equi-distant
between Thapsacus and Mount Caspius, but that the distance
between them and Thapsacus is much less than the 10,000 stadia
mentioned by Eratosthenes. Consequently, as the distance in a right
line is much less than 10,000 stadia, this route, which he considered
to be in a straight course from the Caspian Gates to Thapsacus,
must have been a circumbendibus.”
To this we reply, that Eratosthenes, as is usual in Geography, speaks
of right lines, meridians, and parallels to the equator, with
considerable latitude, whereas Hipparchus criticizes him with
geometrical nicety, as if every line had been measured with rule and
compass. Hipparchus at the same time himself frequently deciding
as to right lines and parallels, not by actual measurement, but mere
conjecture. Such is the first error of this writer. A second is, that he
never lays down the distances as Eratosthenes has given them, nor
yet reasons on the data furnished by that writer, but from mere
assumptions of his own coinage. Thus, where Eratosthenes states
that the distance from the mouth of the [Thracian Bosphorus] to the
Phasis is 8000 stadia, from thence to Dioscurias 600 stadia,605 and
from Dioscurias to Caspius five days’ journey, (which Hipparchus
estimates at 1000 stadia,) the sum of these, as stated by
Eratosthenes, would amount to 9600 stadia. This Hipparchus
abridges in the following manner. From the Cyaneæ to the Phasis
are 5600 stadia, and from the Phasis to the Caspius 1000 more.606
Therefore it is no statement of Eratosthenes that the Caspius and
Thapsacus are under the same meridian, but of Hipparchus himself.
However, supposing Eratosthenes says so, does it follow that the
distance from the Caspius to the Caspian Gates, and that from
Thapsacus to the same point, are equal.607
40. In the second book of his Commentaries, Hipparchus, having
again mooted the question concerning the mountains of the Taurus,
of which we have spoken sufficiently, proceeds with the northern
parts of the habitable earth. He then notices the statement of
Eratosthenes concerning the countries situated west of the
Euxine,608 namely, that the three [principal] headlands [of this
continent], the first the Peloponnesian, the second the Italian, the
third the Ligurian, run from north [to south], enclosing the Adriatic
and Tyrrhenian Gulfs.609 After this general exposition, Hipparchus
proceeds to criticise each point in detail, but rather on geometrical
than geographical grounds; on these subjects, however, the number
of Eratosthenes’ errors is so overwhelming, as also of Timosthenes
the author of the Treatise on the Ports, (whom Eratosthenes prefers
above every other writer, though he often decides even against him,)
that it does not seem to be worth my time to review their faulty
productions, nor even what Hipparchus has to say about them; since
he neither enumerates all their blunders, nor yet sets them right, but
only points out how they falsify and contradict each other. Still any
one might certainly object to the saying of Eratosthenes, that Europe
has but three headlands, and considering as one that which
terminates by the Peloponnesus, notwithstanding it is broken up into
so many divisions. In fact, Sunium610 is as much a promontory as
Laconia, and not very much less south than Malea,611 forming a
considerable bay,612 and the Thracian Chersonesus613 and Sunium614
form the Gulf of Melas,615 and likewise those of Macedonia.616
Added to this, it is manifest that the majority of the distances are
falsely stated, thus arguing an ignorance of geography scarcely
credible, and so far from requiring geometrical demonstration that it
stands out prominent on the very face of the statements. For
example, the distance from Epidamnus617 to the Thermaic Gulf618 is
above 2000 stadia; Eratosthenes gives it at 900. So too he states the
distance from Alexandria to Carthage at 13,000619 stadia; it is not
more than 9000, that is, if, as he himself tells us, Caria and Rhodes
are under the same meridian as Alexandria,620 and the Strait of
Messina under the same as Carthage,621 for every one is agreed that
the voyage from Caria to the Strait of Sicily does not exceed 9000
stadia.
It is doubtless permissible in very great distances to consider as
under one and the same meridian places which are not more east
and west of each other than Carthage is west of the Strait;622 but an
error of 3000 stadia is too much; and when he places Rome under
the same meridian as Carthage, notwithstanding its being so far
west of that city, it is but the crowning proof of his extreme
ignorance both of these places, and likewise of the other countries
farther west as far as the Pillars of Hercules.
41. Since Hipparchus does not furnish a Geography of his own, but
merely reviews what is said in that of Eratosthenes, he ought to
have gone farther, and corrected the whole of that writer’s mistakes.
As for ourselves, it is only in those particulars where Eratosthenes is
correct (and we acknowledge that he frequently errs) that we have
thought it our duty to quote his own words, in order to reinstate
them in their position, and to defend him when he could be
acquitted of the charges of Hipparchus; never failing to break a
lance with the latter writer whenever his objections seemed to be
the result of a mere propensity to find fault. But when Eratosthenes
is grossly mistaken, and the animadversions of Hipparchus are just,
we have thought it sufficient in our Geography to set him
(Eratosthenes) right by merely stating facts as they are. As the
mistakes were so continual and numerous, it was better not to
mention them except in a sparse and general manner. This principle
in the details we shall strive to carry out. In the present instance we
shall only remark, that Timosthenes, Eratosthenes, and those who
preceded them, were but ill acquainted with Iberia and Keltica,623
and a thousand times less with Germany, Britain, and the land of the
Getæ and Bastarnæ.624 Their want of knowledge is also great in
regard to Italy, the Adriatic, the Euxine, and the countries north of
these. Possibly this last remark may be regarded as captious, since
Eratosthenes states, that as to distant countries, he has merely
given the admeasurements as he finds them supplied by others,
without vouching for their accuracy, although he sometimes adds
whether the route indicated is more or less in a right line. We should
not therefore subject to a too rigorous examination distances as to
which no one is agreed, after the manner Hipparchus does, both in
regard to the places already mentioned, and also to those of which
Eratosthenes has given the distance from Hyrcania to Bactria and
the countries beyond, and those from Colchis to the Sea of Hyrcania.
These are points where we should not scrutinize him so narrowly as
[when he describes] places situated in the heart of our continent,625
or others equally well known; and even these should be regarded
from a geographical rather than a geometrical point of view.
Hipparchus, at the end of the second book of his Commentaries on
the Geography of Eratosthenes, having found fault with certain
statements relative to Ethiopia, tells us at the commencement of the
third, that his strictures, though to a certain point geographical, will
be mathematical for the most part. As for myself, I cannot find any
geography there. To me it seems entirely mathematical; but
Eratosthenes himself set the example; for he frequently runs into
scientific speculations, having little to do with the subject in hand,
and which result in vague and inexact conclusions. Thus he is a
mathematician in geography, and in mathematics a geographer; and
so lies open to the attacks of both parties. In this third book, both
he and Timosthenes get such severe justice, that there seems
nothing left for us to do; Hipparchus is quite enough.

CHAPTER II.

1. We will now proceed to examine the statements made by

Posidonius in his Treatise on the Ocean. This Treatise contains much
geographical information, sometimes given in a manner conformable
to the subject, at others too mathematical. It will not, therefore, be
amiss to look into some of his statements, both now and afterwards,
as opportunity occurs, taking care to confine ourselves within
bounds. He deals simply with geography, when he tells us that the
earth is spheroidal and the universe too, and admits the necessary
consequences of this hypothesis, one of which is, that the earth
contains five zones.
2. Posidonius informs us that Parmenides was the first to make this
division of the earth into five zones, but that he almost doubled the
size of the torrid zone, which is situated between the tropics, by
bringing it beyond these into the temperate zones.626 But according
to Aristotle the torrid zone is contained between the tropics, the
temperate zones occupying the whole space between the tropics and
the arctic circles.627 Both of these divisions Posidonius justly
condemns, for the torrid zone is properly the space rendered
uninhabitable by the heat. Whereas more than half of the space
between the tropics is inhabited, as we may judge by the Ethiopians
who dwell above Egypt. The equator divides the whole of this space
into two equal parts. Now from Syene, which is the limit of the
summer tropic, to Meroe, there are 5000 stadia, and thence to the
parallel of the Cinnamon region, where the torrid zone commences,
3000 stadia. The whole of this distance has been measured, and it
may be gone over either by sea or land; the remaining portion to the
equator is, if we adopt the measure of the earth supplied by
Eratosthenes, 8800 stadia. Therefore, as 16,800 is to 8800, so is the
space comprised between the tropics to the breadth of the torrid
zone.
If of the more recent measurements we prefer those which diminish
the size of the earth, such as that adopted by Posidonius, which is
about 180,000 stadia,628 the torrid zone will still only occupy half, or
rather more than half, of the space comprised between the tropics;
but never an equal space. [Respecting the system of Aristotle,
Posidonius farther says,] “Since it is not every latitude which has
Arctic Circles,629 and even those which do possess them have not
the same, how can any one determine by them the bounds of the
temperate zones, which are immutable?” Nothing however is proved
[against Aristotle] from the fact that there are not Arctic Circles for
every latitude, since they exist for all the inhabitants of the
temperate zone, on whose account alone the zone receives its name
of temperate. But the objection that the Arctic Circles do not remain
the same for every latitude, but shift their places, is excellent.630
3. Posidonius, who himself divides the earth into zones, tells us that
“five is the number best suited for the explanation of the celestial
appearances, two of these are periscii,631 which reach from the
poles to the point where the tropics serve for Arctic Circles; two
more are heteroscii,632 which extend from the former to the
inhabitants of the tropics, and one between the tropics, which is
called amphiscius,633 but for matters relative to the earth, it is
convenient to suppose two other narrow zones placed under the
tropics, and divided by them into two halves, over which [every
year] for the space of a fortnight, the sun is vertical.”634 These zones
are remarkable for being extremely arid and sandy, producing no
vegetation with the exception of silphium,635 and a parched grain
somewhat resembling wheat. This is caused by there being no
mountains to attract the clouds and produce rain, nor any rivers
flowing636 through the country. The consequence is that the various
species637 are born with woolly hair, crumpled horns, protruding lips,
and wide nostrils; their extremities being as it were gnarled. Within
these zones also dwell the Ichthyophagi.638 He further remarks, that
these peculiarities are quite sufficient to distinguish the zones in
question: those which are farther south having a more salubrious
atmosphere, and being more fruitful and better supplied with water.

CHAPTER III.

1. Polybius supposes six zones: two situated between the poles and
the arctic circles; two between the arctic circles and the tropics; and
two between the tropics which are divided by the equator. However,
it appears to me that the division into five zones accords best both
with the order of external nature and geography. With external
nature, as respects the celestial phenomena, and the temperature of
the atmosphere. With respect to the celestial phenomena, as the
Periscii and Amphiscii are thereby divided in the best possible
manner, and it also forms an excellent line of separation in regard to
those who behold the stars from an opposite point of view.639 With
respect to the temperature of the atmosphere, inasmuch as looked
at in connexion with the sun, there are three main divisions, which
influence in a remarkable degree both plants, animals, and every
other animated thing, existing either in the air, or exposed to it,
namely, excess of heat, want of heat, and a moderate supply of
heat. In the division into [five] zones, each of these is correctly
distinguished. The two frigid zones indicate the want of heat, being
alike in the temperature of their atmosphere; the temperate zones
possess a moderate heat, and the remaining, or torrid zone, is
remarkable for its excess of heat.
The propriety of this division in regard to geography is equally
apparent; the object of this science being to determine the limits of
that one of the temperate zones which we inhabit. To the east and
west, it is true, the boundaries are formed by the sea, but to the
north and south they are indicated by the atmosphere; which in the
middle is of a grateful temperature both to animals and plants, but
on either side is rendered intemperate either through excess or
defect of heat. To manifest this threefold difference, the division of
the globe into five zones becomes necessary. In fact, the division of
the globe, by means of the equator, into two hemispheres, the one
northern, wherein we dwell, and the other southern, points to this
threefold division, for the regions next the equator and torrid zone
are uninhabitable on account of the heat, those next the poles on
account of the cold, but those in the middle are mild, and fitted for
the habitation of man.
Posidonius, in placing two zones under the tropics, pays no regard to
the reasons which influenced the division into five zones, nor is his
division equally appropriate. It is no more than if he were to form his
division into zones merely according to the [countries inhabited] by
different nations, calling one the Ethiopian, another the Scythian and
Keltic,640 and a third the Intermediate zone.
2. Polybius, indeed, is wrong in bounding certain of his zones by the
arctic circles,641 namely, the two which lie under them, and the two
between these and the tropics. The impropriety of using shifting
points to mark the limits of those which are fixed has been remarked
before; and we have likewise objected to the plan of making the
tropics the boundary of the torrid zone. However, in dividing the
torrid zone into two parts [Polybius] seems to have been influenced
by no inconsiderable reason, the same which led us to regard the
whole earth as properly divided by the equator into two
hemispheres, north and south. We at once see that by means of this
division the torrid zone is divided into two parts, thus establishing a
kind of uniformity; each hemisphere consisting of three entire zones,
respectively similar to each other. Thus this partition642 will admit of
a division into six zones, but the other does not allow of it at all.
Supposing you cut the earth into two portions by a line drawn
through the poles, you can find no sufficient cause for dividing the
eastern and western hemispheres into six zones; on the other hand,
five would be preferable. For since both the portions of the torrid
zone, divided by the equator, are similar and contiguous to each
other, it would seem out of place and superfluous to separate them;
whereas the temperate and frigid zones respectively resemble each
other, although lying apart. Wherefore, supposing the whole earth to
consist of these two hemispheres, it is sufficient to divide them into
five zones. If there be a temperate region under the equator, as
Eratosthenes asserts, and is admitted by Polybius, (who adds, that it
is the most elevated part of the earth,643 and consequently subject
to the drenching rains occasioned by the monsoons bringing up from
the north innumerable clouds, which discharge themselves on the
highest lands,) it would be better to suppose this a third narrow
temperate zone, than to extend the two temperate zones within the
circles of the tropics. This supposition is supported by the
statements of Posidonius, that the course of the sun, whether in the
ecliptic, or from east to west, appears most rapid in the region [of
which we are speaking], because the rotations of that luminary are
performed with a speed increased in proportion to the greater size of
the circle.644
3. Posidonius blames Polybius for asserting that the region of the
earth, situated under the equator, is the highest, since a spherical
body being equal all round, no part can be described as high; and as
to mountainous districts, there are none under the equator, it is on
the contrary a flat country, about the same level as the sea; as for
the rains which swell the Nile, they descend from the mountains of
Ethiopia. Although advancing this, he afterwards seems to adopt the
other opinion, for he says that he fancies there may be mountains
under the equator, around which the clouds assembling from both of
the temperate zones, produce violent rains. Here is one manifest
contradiction; again, in stating that the land under the equator is
mountainous, another contradiction appears. For they say that the
ocean is confluent, how then can they place mountains in the midst
of it? unless they mean to say that there are islands. However,
whether such be the fact does not lie within the province of
geography to determine, the inquiry would better be left to him who
makes the ocean in particular his study.
4. Posidonius, in speaking of those who have sailed round Africa,
tells us that Herodotus was of opinion that some of those sent out
by Darius actually performed this enterprise;645 and that Heraclides
of Pontus, in a certain dialogue, introduces one of the Magi
presenting himself to Gelon,646 and declaring that he had performed
this voyage; but he remarks that this wants proof. He also narrates
how a certain Eudoxus of Cyzicus,647 sent with sacrifices and
oblations to the Corean games,648 travelled into Egypt in the reign of
Euergetes II.;649 and being a learned man, and much interested in
the peculiarities of different countries, he made interest with the
king and his ministers on the subject, but especially for exploring the
Nile. It chanced that a certain Indian was brought to the king by the
[coast]-guard of the Arabian Gulf. They reported that they had found
him in a ship, alone, and half dead: but that they neither knew who
he was, nor where he came from, as he spoke a language they
could not understand. He was placed in the hands of preceptors
appointed to teach him the Greek language. On acquiring which, he
related how he had started from the coasts of India, but lost his
course, and reached Egypt alone, all his companions having perished
with hunger; but that if he were restored to his country he would
point out to those sent with him by the king, the route by sea to
India. Eudoxus was of the number thus sent. He set sail with a good
supply of presents, and brought back with him in exchange
aromatics and precious stones, some of which the Indians collect
from amongst the pebbles of the rivers, others they dig out of the
earth, where they have been formed by the moisture, as crystals are
formed with us.650
[He fancied that he had made his fortune], however, he was greatly
deceived, for Euergetes took possession of the whole treasure. On
the death of that prince, his widow, Cleopatra,651 assumed the reins
of government, and Eudoxus was again despatched with a richer
cargo than before. On his journey back, he was carried by the winds
above Ethiopia, and being thrown on certain [unknown] regions, he
conciliated the inhabitants by presents of grain, wine, and cakes of
pressed figs, articles which they were without; receiving in exchange
a supply of water, and guides for the journey. He also wrote down
several words of their language, and having found the end of a
prow, with a horse carved on it, which he was told formed part of
the wreck of a vessel coming from the west, he took it with him, and
proceeded on his homeward course. He arrived safely in Egypt,
where no longer Cleopatra, but her son,652 ruled; but he was again
stripped of every thing on the accusation of having appropriated to
his own uses a large portion of the merchandise sent out.
However, he carried the prow into the market-place, and exhibited it
to the pilots, who recognised it as being come from Gades.653 The
merchants [of that place] employing large vessels, but the lesser
traders small ships, which they style horses, from the figures of that
animal borne on the prow, and in which they go out fishing around
Maurusia,654 as far as the Lixus.655 Some of the pilots professed to
recognise the prow as that of a vessel which had sailed beyond the
river Lixus, but had not returned.656
From this Eudoxus drew the conclusion, that it was possible to
circumnavigate Libya; he therefore returned home, and having
collected together the whole of his substance, set out on his travels.
First he visited Dicæarchia,657 and then Marseilles, and afterwards
traversed the whole coast as far as Gades. Declaring his enterprise
everywhere as he journeyed, he gathered money sufficient to equip
a great ship, and two boats, resembling those used by pirates. On
board these he placed singing girls, physicians, and artisans of
various kinds, and launching into open sea, was carried towards
India by steady westerly winds.658 However, they who accompanied
him becoming wearied with the voyage, steered their course towards
land, but much against his will, as he dreaded the force of the ebb
and flow. What he feared actually occurred. The ship grounded, but
gently, so that it did not break up at once, but fell to pieces
gradually, the goods and much of the timber of the ship being saved.
With these he built a third vessel, closely resembling a ship of fifty
oars, and continuing his voyage, came amongst a people who spoke
the same language as that some words of which he had on a former
occasion committed to writing. He further discovered, that they were
men of the same stock as those other Ethiopians, and also
resembled those of the kingdom of Bogus.659 However, he
abandoned his [intended] voyage to India, and returned home. On
his voyage back he observed an uninhabited island, well watered
and wooded, and carefully noted its position. Having reached
Maurusia in safety, he disposed of his vessels, and travelled by land
to the court of Bogus. He recommended that sovereign to undertake
an expedition thither.
This, however, was prevented on account of the fear of the [king’s]
advisers, lest the district should chance to expose them to treachery,
by making known a route by which foreigners might come to attack
them. Eudoxus, however, became aware, that although it was given
out that he was himself to be sent on this proposed expedition, the
real intent was to abandon him on some desert island. He therefore
fled to the Roman territory, and passed thence into Iberia. Again, he
equipped two vessels, one round and the other long, furnished with
fifty oars, the latter framed for voyaging in the high seas, the other
for coasting along the shores. He placed on board agricultural
implements, seed, and builders, and hastened on the same voyage,
determined, if it should prove too long, to winter on the island he
had before observed, sow his seed, and having reaped the harvest,
complete the expedition he had intended from the beginning.
5. “Thus far,” says Posidonius, “I have followed the history of
Eudoxus. What happened afterwards is probably known to the
people of Gades and Iberia;” “but,” says he, “all these things only
demonstrate more clearly the fact, that the inhabited earth is
entirely surrounded by the ocean.”
“By no continent fettered in,
But boundless in its flow, and free from soil.”

Posidonius is certainly a most strange writer; he considers that the

voyage of the Magus,660 related by Heraclides, wants sufficient
evidence, and also the account given by Herodotus of those sent out
[to explore] by Darius. But this Bergæan661 nonsense, either the
coinage of his own brain, or of some other story-teller, in whom he
trusts, he pretends to be worthy of our belief. But in the first place,
what is there credible in this tale of the Indian missing his way? The
Arabian Gulf, which resembles a river, is narrow, and in length is
from 5000 to 10,000 stadia up to its mouth, where it is narrowest of
all. It is not likely that the Indians in their voyage out would have
entered this Gulf by mistake. The extreme narrowness of the mouth
must have warned them of their error. And if they entered it
voluntarily, then there was no excuse for introducing the pretext of
mistake and uncertain winds. And how did they suffer all of
themselves but one to perish through hunger? And how was it that
this surviver was able to manage the ship, which could not have
been a small one either, fitted as it was for traversing such vast
seas? What must have been his aptitude in learning the language of
the country, and thus being able to persuade the king of his
competence, as leader of the expedition? And how came it that
Euergetes was in want of such guides, so many being already
acquainted with this sea? How was it that he who was sent by the
inhabitants of Cyzicus to carry libations and sacrifices, should forsake
his city and sail for India? How was it that so great an affair was
intrusted to him? And how came it that on his return, after being
deprived of every thing contrary to expectation, and disgraced, a yet
larger cargo of goods was intrusted to him? And when he had again
returned into Ethiopia, what cause induced him to write down the
words, or to inquire whence came the portion of the prow of the
boat? For to learn that it was a ship of some sailing from the west,
would have been no information to him, as he himself would have to
sail from the west on his voyage back. When, on his return to
Alexandria, he was detected in having appropriated to himself much
of the merchandise, how came it that he was not punished, but
allowed to go about interrogating the pilots, and exhibiting his bit of
prow? And that one of these fellows actually recognised the relic, is
it not delicious! Eudoxus too believed it, this is still richer; and
inspired by the hope, hastens home, and then starts on a voyage
beyond the Pillars of Hercules! But he could never have left
Alexandria without a passport, still less after having stolen the royal
property. To set sail on the sly was impossible, as the port and every
other exit was kept by a numerous guard, which still exists, as we
very well know who have lived in Alexandria for a long time,
although it is not so strict since the Romans have had possession,
but under the kings the guards were infinitely more alert. But
allowing that he reached Gades, that he there constructed ships,
and sailed thence with quite a royal fleet, when his vessel was
shattered, by what means was he able to construct a third boat in a
desert land? And when, being again on his voyage, he found that
the Ethiopians of the West spoke the same language as those of the
East, how came it that he, so proud of his travelling propensities,
forgot the completion of his voyage, when he must have had so
good an expectation that there was but little now left unexplored,
but relinquishing these prospects, set his mind on the expedition
being undertaken by Bogus? How did he become acquainted with
the snare spread for him by that king? And what advantage would
have accrued to Bogus by making away with the man, rather than
by dismissing him? When Eudoxus learned the plot against himself,
what means had he to escape to safer quarters? It is true that not
one of these situations was actually impossible, but still they were
difficult circumstances, such as one rarely escapes from by any
prosperous fortune. How ever, he always came off with good luck,
notwithstanding he was never out of danger. Besides this, how did it
happen, that having escaped from Bogus, he was not afraid to sail
round Africa a second time, with all the requisites for taking up his
abode on the island? All this too closely resembles the falsehoods of
Pytheas, Euhemerus, and Antiphanes. They however may be
pardoned; for their only aim was that of the juggler. But who can
forgive a demonstrator and philosopher, and one too striving to be at
the head of their order? it is really too bad!
6. However, he is right in attributing to earthquakes and other
similar causes, which we also have enumerated, the risings, slips,
and changes which at various periods come over the earth. He did
well, too, in citing the opinion of Plato, “that the tradition concerning
the Island of Atlantis might be received as something more than a
mere fiction, it having been related by Solon on the authority of the
Egyptian priests, that this island, almost as large as a continent, was
formerly in existence, although now it had disappeared.” Posidonius
thinks it better to quote this than to say, “He who brought it into
existence can also cause it to disappear, as the poet did the wall of
the Achivi.”662 He (Posidonius) is also of opinion that the emigration
of the Cimbrians and other kindred races from their native territory,
was gradual, and occasioned by the inundation of the sea, and by no
means a sudden movement.663 He supposes that the length of the
inhabited earth is about 70,000 stadia, being the half of the whole
circle on which it is taken; so that, says he, starting from the west,
one might, aided by a continual east wind, reach India in so many
thousand stadia.
7. Next he undertakes to find fault with those who gave to the
continents their present division, instead of marking them out by
lines drawn parallel to the equator, by which means the different
animals, plants, and temperatures would have been distinguished,
according as they approached the frigid or the torrid zones; so that
each continent would have formed a kind of zone. Afterwards,
however, he overturns and gives up altogether this view, bestowing
every commendation on the existing system, and thus making his
argument altogether worthless and of no avail. In fact, the various
arrangements [of a country] are not the result of premeditation, any
more than the diversities of nations or languages; they all depend on
circumstances and chance. Arts, forms of government, and modes of
life, arising from certain [internal] springs, flourish under whatever
climate they may be situated; climate, however, has its influence,
and therefore while some peculiarities are due to the nature of the
country, others are the result of institutions and education. It is not
owing to the nature of the country, but rather to their education,
that the Athenians cultivate eloquence, while the Lacedæmonians do
not; nor yet the Thebans, who are nearer still. Neither are the
Babylonians and Egyptians philosophers by nature, but by reason of
their institutions and education. In like manner the excellence of
horses, oxen, and other animals, results not alone from the places
where they dwell, but also from their breeding. Posidonius
confounds all these distinctions.
In praising the division of the continents as it now stands, he
advances as an argument the difference between the Indians and
the Ethiopians of Libya, the former being more robust, and less dried
by the heat of the climate. It is on this account that Homer, who
includes them all under the title of Ethiopians, describes them as
being separated into two divisions,
“These eastward situate, those toward the west.”664

[Crates], to support his hypothesis, supposes another inhabited

earth, of which Homer certainly knew nothing; and says that the
passage ought to be read thus, “towards the descending sun,” viz.
when having passed the meridian, it begins to decline.
8. First, then, the Ethiopians next Egypt are actually separated into
two divisions; one part being in Asia, the other in Libya, otherwise
there is no distinction between them. But it was not on this account
that Homer divided the Ethiopians, nor yet because he was
acquainted with the physical superiority of the Indians, (for it is not
probable that Homer had the slightest idea of the Indians, since,
according to the assertion of Eudoxus, Euergetes was both ignorant
of India, and of the voyage thither,) but his division rather resulted
from the cause we formerly mentioned. We have shown that as for
the alteration of Crates, it makes no difference whether it be read so
or not. Posidonius, however, says that it does make a difference, and
would be better altered into “towards the descending [sun].” But in
what can this be said to differ from “towards the west,” since the
whole section of the hemisphere west of the meridian is styled “the
west,” not only the mere semicircle of the horizon. This is manifested
by the following expression of Aratus,
“Where the extremities of the west and east blend together.”665

However, if the reading of Posidonius be preferable to that of Crates,

any one may likewise claim for it a superiority over that of
Aristarchus. So much for Posidonius. There are, however, many
particulars relating to Geography, which we shall bring under
discussion; others relating to Physics, which must be examined
elsewhere, or altogether disregarded; for he is much too fond of
imitating Aristotle’s propensity for diving into causes, a subject which
we [Stoics] scrupulously avoid, simply because of the extreme
darkness in which all causes are enveloped.

CHAPTER IV.

1. Polybius, in his Chorography of Europe, tells us that it is not his

intention to examine the writings of the ancient geographers, but
the statements of those who have criticised them, such as
Dicæarchus, Eratosthenes, (who was the last of those who [in his
time] had laboured on geography,) and Pytheas, by whom many
have been deceived. It is this last writer who states that he travelled
all over Britain on foot, and that the island is above 40,000 stadia in
circumference. It is likewise he who describes Thule and other
neighbouring places, where, according to him, neither earth, water,
nor air exist, separately, but a sort of concretion of all these,
resembling marine sponge, in which the earth, the sea, and all
things were suspended, thus forming, as it were, a link to unite the
whole together. It can neither be travelled over nor sailed through.
As for the substance, he affirms that he has beheld it with his own
eyes; the rest, he reports on the authority of others. So much for the
statements of Pytheas, who tells us, besides, that after he had
returned thence, he traversed the whole coasts of Europe from
Gades to the Don.
2. Polybius asks, “How is it possible that a private individual, and one
too in narrow circumstances, could ever have performed such vast
expeditions by sea and land? And how could Eratosthenes, who
hesitates whether he may rely on his statements in general, place
such entire confidence in what that writer narrates concerning
Britain, Gades, and Iberia?” says he, “it would have been better had
Eratosthenes trusted to the Messenian666 rather than to this writer.
The former merely pretends to have sailed into one [unknown]
country, viz. Panchæa, but the latter, that he has visited the whole of
the north of Europe as far as the ends of the earth; which
statement, even had it been made by Mercury, we should not have
believed. Nevertheless Eratosthenes, who terms Euhemerus a
Bergæan, gives credit to Pytheas, although even Dicæarchus would
not believe him.”
This argument, “although even Dicæarchus would not believe him,”
is ridiculous, just as if Eratosthenes ought to take for his standard a
writer whom Polybius is himself for ever complaining of.667
The ignorance of Eratosthenes respecting the western and northern
portions of Europe, we have before remarked. But both he and
Dicæarchus must be pardoned for this, as neither of them were
personally familiar with those localities. But how can one excuse
Polybius and Posidonius? especially Polybius, who treats as mere
hearsay what Eratosthenes and Dicæarchus report concerning the
distances of various places; and many other matters, about which,
though he blames them, he is not himself free from error.
Dicæarchus states that there are 10,000 stadia from the
Peloponnesus to the Pillars, and something above this number from
the Peloponnesus to the recess of the Adriatic.668 He supposes 3000
stadia between the Peloponnesus and the Strait of Sicily; thus there
would remain 7000 between the Strait of Sicily and the Pillars.669
“I will not inquire,” says Polybius, “whether the statement concerning
the 3000 stadia is correct or not, but 7000 stadia is not the correct
measure [from the Strait of Messina to the Pillars of Hercules],
whether taken along the sea-shore, or right across the sea. The
coast closely resembles an obtuse angle, one side reaching to the
Strait of Sicily, the other to the Pillars, the vertex being Narbonne.
Now let a triangle be constructed, having for its base a right line
drawn through the sea, and its sides forming the aforementioned
angle. The side reaching from the Strait of Sicily to Narbonne is
above 11,200 stadia, while the other is below 8000. Now the
greatest distance from Europe to Libya, across the Tyrrhenian
Sea,670 is not above 3000 stadia, and across the Sea of Sardinia671 it
is less still. But supposing that it too is 3000 stadia, add to this 2000
stadia, the depth of the bay at Narbonne, as a perpendicular from
the vertex to the base of the obtuse-angled triangle. It will, then, be
clear even to the geometrical powers of a child, that the entire coast
from the Strait of Sicily to the Pillars, does not exceed by more than
500 stadia the right line drawn across the sea; adding to these the
3000 stadia from the Peloponnesus to the Strait of Sicily, the whole
taken together will give a straight line672 above double the length
assigned by Dicæarchus; and, according to his system, you must
add in addition to these the stadia at the recess of the Adriatic.”
3. True, dear Polybius, (one might say,) this error [of Dicæarchus] is
manifested by the proof which you yourself have given when you
inform us that from the Peloponnesus to Leucas673 there are 700
stadia; from thence to Corcyra674 the same number; and the same
number again from Corcyra to the Ceraunian Mountains;675 and from
the Ceraunian Mountains to Iapygia,676 following the coast of Illyria
on the right, 6150 stadia.677 But the statement of Dicæarchus, that
the distance from the Strait of Sicily to the Pillars is 7000 stadia, and
also your view of the matter, are both of them equally incorrect. For
almost every one is agreed that the distance measured straight
across the sea is 12,000 stadia, and this coincides with the received
calculation of the length of the inhabited earth, which is estimated at
above 70,000 stadia; the western portion of this from the Gulf of
Issus678 to the extreme western point of Iberia is little less than
30,000 stadia, and is thus calculated: from the Gulf of Issus to
Rhodes 5000 stadia; from thence to Cape Salmonium,679 which
forms the eastern extremity of Crete, 1000; the length of Crete to
Criu-metopon680 above 2000; thence to Cape Pachynus681 in Sicily
4500, and from Pachynus to the Strait of Sicily above 1000 stadia;
the run from the Strait to the Pillars 12,000; and lastly, from the
Pillars to the extremity of the said promontory682 of Iberia, about
3000 stadia.683

In addition to this, the perpendicular684 is not correct, supposing it

true that Narbonne lies under almost the same parallel as Marseilles,
and that this latter place is under the same parallel as Byzantium;
which is the opinion of Hipparchus. Now the line drawn across the
sea lies under the same parallel as the Strait [of the Pillars] and
Rhodes; and the distance from Rhodes to Byzantium, which both lie
under the same meridian, is estimated at about 5000 stadia; to
which the above-mentioned perpendicular ought to be equal. But
since they say that from the recess of the Galatic Gulf, the greatest
distance across the sea from Europe to Libya is 5000 stadia, it seems
to me that either there is some error in this statement, or that at
this point Libya must incline very much to the north, and so come
under the same parallel as the Pillars. Polybius is likewise mistaken
in telling us that this said perpendicular terminates close to Sardinia;
for instead of being close to Sardinia, it is far west thereof, having
almost the whole of the sea of Liguria685 between it and that island.
Besides this he makes the length of the sea-coast too great; but this
[error] is not so considerable [as the two preceding].
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