De Bello Gallico 5.13

5.13.1Īnsula nātūrā triquetra, cuius ūnum latus est contrā Galliam.

The island is triangular in shape, and one side of it faces Gaul.

Note. nātūrā triquetra: 'triangular by nature', an ablative of respect. Caesar's geography is roughly right: Britain does have a long southern side facing Gaul.

5.13.1Huius lateris alter angulus, quī est ad Cantium, quō ferē omnēs ex Galliā nāvēs appelluntur, ad orientem sōlem, īnferior ad merīdiem spectat.

Of this side, one corner, which is by Kent, where almost all ships from Gaul put in, faces the east; the lower one faces south.

Note. Cantium is Kent. quō … appelluntur: 'where ships put in'; appellō, -ere (with short e in the present stem) means 'bring to land'.

5.13.1Hoc pertinet circiter mīllia passuum quīngenta.

This side stretches about five hundred miles.

5.13.2Alterum vergit ad Hispāniam atque occidentem sōlem;

The second side faces Spain and the west;

5.13.2quā ex parte est Hibernia, dīmidiō minor, ut aestimātur, quam Britannia, sed parī spatiō trānsmissus atque ex Galliā est in Britanniam.

in that direction lies Ireland, smaller by half, as people reckon, than Britain, but the crossing is as long as that from Gaul to Britain.

Note. dīmidiō minor: 'smaller by half', an ablative of degree of difference. parī spatiō trānsmissus: 'a crossing of equal length'.

5.13.3In hōc mediō cursū est īnsula, quae appellātur Mona: complūrēs praetereā minōrēs subiectae īnsulae exīstimantur, dē quibus īnsulīs nōnnūllī scrīpsērunt diēs continuōs trīgintā sub brūmā esse noctem.

Halfway across lies an island called Mona; many smaller islands are also thought to lie close by, and some have written that in these islands it is night for thirty days in a row around midwinter.

5.13.4Nōs nihil dē eō percontātiōnibus reperiēbāmus, nisi certīs ex aquā mēnsūrīs breviōrēs esse quam in continentī noctēs vidēbāmus.

We found out nothing about this by asking, except that by exact measurements with a water clock we saw that the nights were shorter than on the mainland.

Note. certīs ex aquā mēnsūrīs: measurements made with a water clock (a vessel that empties at a steady rate).

5.13.5Huius est longitūdō lateris, ut fert illōrum opīniō, septingentōrum mīlium.

The length of this side, according to their belief, is seven hundred miles.

5.13.6Tertium est contrā septentriōnēs;

The third side faces north;

5.13.6cui partī nūlla est obiecta terra, sed eius angulus lateris maximē ad Germāniam spectat.

no land lies opposite this part, but one corner of that side faces mostly towards Germany.

5.13.6Hoc mīlia passuum octingenta in longitūdinem esse exīstimātur.

This side is thought to be eight hundred miles long.

5.13.7Ita omnis īnsula est in circuitū vīciēs centum mīlium passuum.

So the whole island is two thousand miles around.

Note. vīciēs centum mīlium passuum: 'of twenty times a hundred thousand paces', that is, 2,000 miles.