Pytheas turned back southwards from Thule,[1] and reached the mouth of the Rhine and the nation of the Ostiæans. He then steered north-east for 6000 stadia (150 geographical miles), along the broad gulf Mentonomon, probably the bay between North Holland and Jutland, and discovered the Amber Islands, or Electrides referred to by later Roman writers, among which Abalus, termed afterwards by the Greeks Baltia, is likely to be one of the islands off East Frisia or Schleswig. A large river which he termed the Tanais, probably the Elbe, opened on the shore. After about a year's absence the expedition returned to Massilia.
From this account it may be concluded that Pytheas steered as far into the North Sea as Norway. That he arrived in Jutland is rendered certain by the position assigned to the Amber Isles, and to the Guttones, whom he describes as living on the coast. The discredit which has been thrown upon his narrative by ancient and modern criticism seems to me,[2] as it does to Sir John Lubbock,[3] wholly undeserved. His discoveries are to be viewed not as standing alone, but as the inevitable result of the increased trade and commerce with the north. Himilco's voyage first indicated the position of Britain and Ireland, and to Pytheas is the merit due of opening out the British Channel and the North Sea to the ancients. Each of these explorations forms a link in the chain of geographical discovery by which the shores of northern Europe and Asia have been made known, and which has been so successfully terminated
