Egyptians in the New World?

[Nathan Ross]

Why a pressing reason? Trade routes and/or exploration would be reason enough, about the same as travelling up the Nile I presume.

Sure - but the other expeditions mentioned by Pliny were purely exploratory, and consisted of a few men. Paulinus was in Mauretania as a legion legate, charged with putting down a rebellion. He may have advanced south of the Atlas to pursue the rebels, or establish a southern border, but I wouldn't say that a legate in command of a legion would have marched more than a thousand miles into the wilderness just to explore trade routes...

Actually I don't think Pliny describes Suetonius advancing all that far at all - just 'some way' south of the Atlas. Here's the original latin (Natural History V 14-15). Perhaps someone could divine from it what sort of distance Pliny is talking about?:

Suetonius Paulinus, quem consulem vidimus, primus Romanorum ducum transgressus quoque Atlantem aliquot milium spatio, prodidit de excelsitate quidem eius quae ceteri, imas radices densis altisque repletas silvis incognito genere arborum, proceritatem spectabilem esse enodi nitore, frondes cupressi similes praeterquam gravitate odoris, tenui eas obduci lanugine, quibus addita arte posse quales e bombyce vestes confici. verticem altis etiam aestate operiri nivibus. decumis se eo pervenisse castris et ultra ad fluvium, qui Ger vocatur, per solitudines nigri pulveris, eminentibus interdum velut exustis cautibus, loca inhabitabilia fervore, quamquam hiberno tempore, experto. qui proximos inhabitent saltus, refertos elephantorum ferarumque et serpentium omni genere, Canarios appellari, quippe victum eius animalis promiscuum iis esse et dividua ferarum viscera. iunctam Aethiopum gentem, quos Perorsos vocant, satis constat.

Does my point suggest that? I don't think so. I think that Carthage had trade routes to the south which provided them with elephants, although indeed I presume that they were found much further North than today. But in Marocco?

Ah, sorry, I thought that was what you were suggesting there. But anyway - I would think that either a) Pliny was exaggerating about Suetonius finding wild elephants on his travels, or b) such elephants were indeed found in southern Morocco at the time. Either option would be preferable to taking Suetonius and his legion all the way south to Senegal!