Chapter II: Articles of Commerce Mentioned in the Periplus (1)

I. Animals:—

1. Παρθένοι εὐειδεῖς πρὸς παλλακίαν—Handsome girls for the haram, imported into Barugaza for the king (49).[3]

2. Δούλικα κρείσσονα—Tall slaves, procured at Opônê, imported into Egypt (14).

3. Σώματα θηλυκὰ—Female slaves, procured from Arabia and India, imported into the island of Dioskoridês (31).

4. Σώματα—Slaves imported from Omana and Apologos into Barugaza (36), and from Moundou and Malaô (8, 9).

5. Ἱπποι—Horses imported into Kanê for the king, and into Mouza for the despot (23, 24).

6. Ἡμὶοναι νωτηγοὶ—Sumpter mules imported into Mouza for the despot (24).

II. Animal Products:—

1. Βούτυρον—Butter, or the Indian preparation therefrom called _ghî_, a product of Ariakê (41); exported from Barugaza to the Barbarine markets beyond the Straits (14). The word, according to Pliny (xxviii. 9), is of Skythian origin, though apparently connected with Βους, τυρος. The reading is, however, suspected by Lassen, who would substitute Βοσμορον or Βοσπορον, _a kind of grain_.

2. Δέρματα Σηρικὰ—Chinese hides or furs. Exported from Barbarikon, a mart on the Indus (39). Vincent suspected the reading δερματα, but groundlessly, for Pliny mentions the Sêres sending their iron along with vestments and hides (_vestibus pellibusque_), and among the presents sent to Yudhishṭhira by the Śâka, Tushâra and Kaṅka skins are enumerated.—_Mahâbh._ ii. 50, quoted by Lassen.

3. Ἐλέφας—Ivory. Exported from Adouli (6), Aualitês (8), Ptolemaïs (3), Mossulon (10), and the ports of Azania (16, 17). Also from Barugaza (49), Mouziris and Nelkunda (56); a species of ivory called Βωσαρη is produced in Desarênê (62).

4. Ἔριον Σηρικὸν—Chinese cotton. Imported from the country of the Thînai through Baktria to Barugaza, and by the Ganges to Bengal, and thence to Dimurikê (64). By Εριον Vincent seems to understand silk in the raw state.

5. Κέρατα—Horns. Exported from Barugaza to the marts of Omana and Apologos (36). Müller suspects this reading, thinking it strange that such an article as _horns_ should be mentioned between _wooden beams_ and _logs_. He thinks, therefore, that Κέρατα is either used in some technical sense, or that the reading Κορμῶν or Κορμίων should be substituted—adding that Κορμοὺς ἐβένου, _planks of ebony_, are at all events mentioned by Athênaios (p. 201_a_) where he is quoting Kallixenos of Rhodes.

6. Κοράλλιον—Coral. (Sans. _pravâla_, Hindi _mûngâ_.) Imported into Kanê (28), Barbarikon on the Indus (39), Barugaza (49), and Naoura, Tundis, Mouziris, and Nelkunda (56).

7. Λάκκος χρωμάτινος—Coloured lac. Exported to Adouli from Ariakê (6). The Sanskṛit word is _lâkshâ_, which is probably a later form of _râkshâ_, connected, as Lassen thinks, with _râga_, from the root _raṅj_, to dye. The vulgar form is _lâkkha_. Gum-lac is a substance produced on the leaves and branches of certain trees by an insect, both as a covering for its egg and food for its young. It yields a fine red dye.[4] Salmasius thinks that by λάκκος χρωμάτινος must be understood not lac itself, but vestments dyed therewith.

8. Μαργαρίτης—Pearl. (Sans. _mukta_, Hindi, _motí_.) Exported in considerable quantity and of superior quality from Mouziris and Nelkunda (56). Cf. πινικον.

9. Νημα Σῆρικόν—Silk thread. From the country of the Thînai: imported into Barugaza and the marts of Dimurikê (64). Exported from Barugaza (49), and also from Barbarikon on the Indus (39).” It is called μέταξα by Procopius and all the later writers, as well as by the _Digest_, and was known without either name to Pliny”—Vincent.

10. Πινίκιος κόγχος—the Pearl-oyster. (Sans. _śukti_.) Fished for at the entrance to the Persian Gulf (35). Pearl πίνικον inferior to the Indian sort exported in great quantity from the marts of Apologos and Omana (36). A pearl fishery (Πινικοῦ κολύμβησις) in the neighbourhood of Kolkhoi, in the kingdom of Pandiôn, near the island of Epiodôros; the produce transported to Argalou, in the interior of the country, where muslin robes with pearl inwoven (μαργαρίτιδες σινδόνες) were fabricated (59). The reading of the MS. is σινδόνες, ἐβαργαρείτιδες λεγόμεναι, for which Salmasius proposed to read μαργαριτιδες. Müller suggests instead αἱ Ἀργαρίτιδες, as if the muslin bore the name of the place _Argarou_ or _Argulou_, where it was made.

Pearl is also obtained in Taprobanê (61); is imported into the emporium on the Ganges called Gangê (63).

11. Πορφύρα—Purple. Of a common as well as of a superior quality, imported from Egypt into Mouza (24) and Kanê (28), and from the marts of Apologos and Omana into Barugaza (36).

12. Ῥἱνόκερως—Rhinoceros (Sans. _khadgaḍ_)—the horn or the teeth, and probably the skin. Exported from Adouli (16), and the marts of Azania (7). Bruce found the hunting of the rhinoceros still a trade in Abyssinia.

13. Χελώνη—Tortoise (Sans. _kachchhapa_) or tortoise-shell. Exported from Adouli (6) and Aualitês (7); a small quantity of the genuine and land tortoise, and a white sort with a small shell, exported from Ptolemaïs (3); small shells (Χελωνάρια) exported from Mossulon (10); a superior sort in great quantity from Opônê (13); the mountain tortoise from the island of Menouthias (15); a kind next in quality to the Indian from the marts of Azania (16, 17); the genuine, land, white, and mountain sort with shells of extraordinary size from the island of Dioskoridês (30, 31); a good quantity from the island of Serapis (33); the best kind in all the Erythræan—that of the Golden Khersonêsos (63), sent to Mouziris and Nelkunda, whence it is exported along with that of the islands off the coast of Dimurikê (probably the Laccadive islands) (56); tortoise is also procured in Taprobanê (61).

III.—Plants and their products:—

1. Αλόη—the aloe (Sans. _agaru_). Exported from Kanê (28). The sort referred to is probably the bitter cathartic, not the aromatic sort supposed by some to be the sandalwood. It grows abundantly in Sokotra, and it was no doubt exported thence to Kanê. “It is remarkable,” says Vincent, “that when the author of the _Periplûs_ arrives at Sokotra he says nothing of the aloe, and mentions only Indian cinnabar as a gum or resin distilling from a tree: but the confounding of cinnabar with dragon’s-blood was a mistake of ancient date and a great absurdity” (II. p. 689).

2. Ἀρώματα—aromatics (ευωδια, θυμιαματα.) Exported from Aualitês (7), Mossulon (10). Among the spices of Tabai (12) are enumerated ἀσύβη καί ἄρωμα καί μάγλα, and similarly among the commodities of Opônê κασσία καὶ ἄρωμα καὶ μότω; and in these passages perhaps a particular kind of aromatic (cinnamon?) may by preëminence be called ἄρωμα. The occurrence, however, in two instances of such a familiar word as ἄρωμα between two outlandish words is suspicious, and this has led Müller to conjecture that the proper reading may be ἀρηβὼ, which Salmasius, citing Galen, notes to be a kind of cassia.

3. Ασύβη—Asuphê, a kind of cassia. Exported from Tabai (12). “This term,” says Vincent, “if not Oriental, is from the Greek ἀσύφηλος, signifying _cheap_ or _ordinary_; but we do not find ἀσύφη used in this manner by other authors: it may be an Alexandrian corruption of the language, or it may be the abbreviation of a merchant in his invoice.” (_Asafœtida_, Sans. _hingu_ or _bâhlika_, Mar. _hing_.)

4. Βδελλα, (common form Βδελλιον). Bdella, Bdellium, produced on the sea-coast of Gedrosia (37); exported from Barbarikon on the Indus (39); brought from the interior of India to Barugaza (48) for foreign export (49). Bdella is the gum of the _Balsamodendron Mukul_, a tree growing in Sind, Kâṭhiâvâḍ, and the Dîsâ district.[5] It is used both as an incense and as a cordial medicine. The bdellium of Scripture is a crystal, and has nothing in common with the bdellium of the _Periplûs_ but its transparency. Conf. Dioskorid. i. 80; Plin. xii. 9; Galen, _Therapeut. ad Glauc._ II. p. 106; Lassen, _Ind. Alt._ vol. I. p. 290; Vincent, vol. II. p. 690; Yule’s _Marco Polo_, vol. II. p. 387. The etymology of the word is uncertain. Lassen suspects it to be Indian.

5. Γίζειρ—Gizeir, a kind of cassia exported from Tabai (12). This sort is noticed and described by Dioskoridês.

6. Δόκος—Beams of wood. Exported from Barugaza to the marts of Omana and Apologos (36). (? Blackwood.)

7. Δούακα—Douaka, a kind of cassia. Exported from Malaô and Moundou (8, 9). It was probably that inferior species which in Dioskorid. i. 12, is called δακαρ or δακαρ or δαρκα.

8. Ἐβένιναι φάλαγγες—Logs of ebony (_Diospyros melanoxylon_.) Exported from Barugaza to the marts of Omana and Apologos (36).

9. Ελαιον—Oil (_tila_). Exported from Egypt to Adouli (6); ἔλαιον σησαμινον, oil of sêsamê, a product of Ariakê (41). Exported from Barugaza to the Barbarine markets (14), and to Moskha in Arabia (32).[6]

10. Ἰνδικόν μέλαν—Indigo. (Sans. _nîlî_, Guj. _gulî_.) Exported from Skythic Barbarikon (39). It appears pretty certain that the culture of the indigo plant and the preparation of the drug have been practised in India from a very remote epoch. It has been questioned, indeed, whether the Indicum mentioned by Pliny (xxxv. 6) was indigo, but, as it would seem, without any good reason. He states that it was brought from India, and that when diluted it produced an admirable mixture of blue and purple colours. _Vide_ McCulloch’s _Commer. Dict._ s. v. _Indigo_. Cf. Salmas, in _Exerc._ Plin. p. 181. The dye was introduced into Rome only a little before Pliny’s time.

11. Κάγκαμον—Kankamon. Exported from Malaô and Moundou (8, 10). According to Dioskoridês i. 23, it is the exudation of a wood, like myrrh, and used for fumigation. Cf. Plin. xii. 44. According to Scaliger it was gum-lac used as a dye. It is the “dekamalli” gum of the bazars.

12. Κάρπασος—Karpasus (Sans. _kârpâsa'_; Heb. karpas,) _Gossypium arboreum_, fine muslin—a product of Ariakê (41). “How this word found its way into Italy, and became the Latin _carbasus_, fine linen, is surprising, when it is not found in the Greek language. The Καρπασιον λινον of Pausanias (_in Atticis_), of which the wick was formed for the lamp of Pallas, is asbestos, so called from Karpasos, a city of Crete—Salmas. Plin. _Exercit._ p. 178. Conf. Q. Curtius viii. 9:—‘Carbaso Indi corpora usque ad pedes velant, corumque rex lecticâ margaritis circumpendentibus recumbit distinctis auro et purpurâ carbasis quâ indutus est.’” Vincent II. 699.

13. Κασσία or Κασία (Sans. _kuta_, Heb. _kiddah_ and _keziah_). Exported from Tabai (12); a coarse kind exported from Malaô and Moundou (8, 9); a vast quantity exported from Mossulon and Opônê (10, 13).

“This spice,” says Vincent, “is mentioned frequently in the _Periplûs_, and with various additions, intended to specify the different sorts, properties, or appearances of the commodity. It is a species of cinnamon, and manifestly the same as what we call cinnamon at this day; but different from that of the Greeks and Romans, which was not a bark, nor rolled up into pipes, like ours. Theirs was the tender shoot of the same plant, and of much higher value.” “If our cinnamon,” he adds, “is the ancient casia, our casia again is an inferior sort of cinnamon.” Pliny (xii. 19) states that the cassia is of a larger size than the cinnamon, and has a thin rind rather than a bark, and that its value consists in being hollowed out. Dioskoridês mentions cassia as a product of Arabia, but this is a mistake, Arabian cassia having been an import from India. Herodotos (iii.) had made the same mistake, saying that cassia grew in Arabia, but that cinnamon was brought thither by birds from the country where Bacchus was born (India). The cassia shrub is a sort of laurel. There are ten kinds of cassia specified in the _Periplûs_.[7] Cf. Lassen, _Ind. Alt._ I. 279, 283; Salmas. Plin. _Exercit._ p. 1304; Galen, _de Antidotis_, bk. i.

14. Κιννάβαρι Ἰνδικòν—Dragon’s-blood, _damu’l akhawein_ of the Arabs, a gum distilled from _Pterocarpus Draco_, a leguminous tree[8] in the island of Dioskoridês or Sokotra (30). Cinnabar, with which this was confounded, is the red sulphuret of mercury. Pliny (lib. xxix. c. 8) distinguishes it as ‘Indian cinnabar.’ Dragon’s-blood is one of the concrete balsams, the produce of _Calamus Draco_, a species of rattan palm of the Eastern Archipelago, [of _Pterocarpus Draco_, allied to the Indian Kino tree or _Pt. marsupium_ of South India, and of _Dracæna Draco_, a liliaceous tree of Madeira and the Canary Islands].

15. Κόστος (Sansk. _kushṭa_, Mar. _choka_, Guj. _kaṭha_ and _pushkara mûla_,)—Kostus. Exported from Barbarikon, a mart on the Indus (39), and from Barugaza, which procured it from Kâbul through Proklaïs, &c. This was considered the best of aromatic roots, as nard or spikenard was the best of aromatic plants. Pliny (xii. 25) describes this root as hot to the taste and of consummate fragrance, noting that it was found at the head of Patalênê, where the Indus bifurcates to form the Delta, and that it was of two sorts, black and white, black being of an inferior quality. Lassen states that two kinds are found in India—one in Multân, and the other in Kâbul and Kâśmîr. “The Costus of the ancients is still exported from Western India, as well as from Calcutta to China, under the name of _Putchok_, to be burnt as an incense in Chinese temples. Its identity has been ascertained in our own days by Drs. Royle and Falconer as the root of a plant which they called _Aucklandia Costus_.... Alexander Hamilton, at the beginning of last century, calls it _ligna dulcis_ (sic), and speaks of it as an export from Sind, as did the author of the _Periplûs_ 1600 years earlier.” Yule’s _Marco Polo_, vol. II. p. 388.

16. Κρόκος—Crocus, Saffron. (Sans. _kaśmîraja_, Guj. _kesir_, Pers. _zafrân_.) Exported from Egypt to Mouza (24) and to Kanê (28).

17. Κύπερος—Cyprus. Exported from Egypt to Mouza (24). It is an aromatic rush used in medicine (Pliny xxi. 18). Herodotos (iv. 71) describes it as an aromatic plant used by the Skythians for embalming. Κύπερος is probably Ionic for Κύπειρος—Κύπειρος ἰνδικὸς of Dioskoridês, and _Cypria herba indica_ of Pliny.—Perhaps Turmeric, _Curcuma longa_, or Galingal possibly.

18. Λέντια, (Lat. _lintea_)—Linen. Exported from Egypt to Adouli (6).

19. Λίβανος (Heb. _lebonah_, Arab. _luban_, Sans. _śrîvâsa_)—Frankincense. Peratic or Libyan frankincense exported from the Barbarine markets—Tabai (12), Mossulon (10), Malaô and Moundou, in small quantities (8, 9); produced in great abundance and of the best quality at Akannai (11); Arabian frankincense exported from Kanê (28). A magazine for frankincense on the Sakhalitic Gulf near Cape Suagros (30). Moskha, the port whence it was shipped for Kanê and India (32) and Indo-Skythia (39).

Regarding this important product Yule thus writes:—“The coast of Hadhramaut is the true and ancient Χώρα λιβανοφόρος or λιβανωτοφόρος, indicated or described under those names by Theophrastus, Ptolemy, Pliny, Pseudo-Arrian, and other classical writers, _i.e._ the country producing the fragrant gum-resin called by the Hebrews _Lebonah_, by the Arabs _Luban_ and _Kundur_, by the Greeks _Libanos_, by the Romans _Thus_, in mediæval Latin _Olibanum_ (probably the Arabic _al-luban_, but popularly interpreted as _oleum Libani_), and in English frankincense, _i.e_, I apprehend, ‘genuine incense’ or ‘incense proper.’[9] It is still produced in this region and exported from it, but the larger part of that which enters the markets of the world is exported from the roadsteads of the opposite Sumâlî coast. Frankincense when it first exudes is milky white; whence the name _white incense_ by which Polo speaks of it, and the Arabic name _luban_ apparently refers to milk. The elder Niebuhr, who travelled in Arabia, depreciated the Libanos of Arabia, representing it as greatly inferior to that brought from India, called Benzoin. He adds that the plant which produces it is not native, but originally from Abyssinia.”—_Marco Polo_, vol. II. p. 443, &c.

20. Λύκιον—Lycium. Exported from Barbarikon in Indo-Skythia (39), and from Barugaza (49). Lycium is a thorny plant, so called from being found in Lykia principally. Its juice was used for dying yellow, and a liquor drawn from it was used as a medicine (Celsus v. 26, 30, and vi. 7). It was held in great esteem by the ancients. Pliny (xxiv. 77) says that a superior kind of Lycium produced in India was made from a thorn called also _Pyxacanthus_ (box-thorn) _Chironia_. It is known in India as _Ruzot_, an extract of the _Berberis lycium_ and _B. aristata_, both grown on the Himâlayas. Conf. the λύκιον ἰνδικὸν of Dioskor. i. 133. (? Gamboge.)

21. Μάγλα—Magla—a kind of cassia mentioned only in the _Periplûs_. Exported from Tabai (12).

22. Μάκειρ—Macer. Exported from Malaô and Moundou (8, 9). According to Pliny, Dioskoridês, and others, it is an Indian bark—perhaps a kind of cassia. The bark is red and the root large. The bark was used as a medicine in dysenteries. Pliny xii. 8; Salmasius, 1302. (? The _Karachâlâ_ of the bâzârs, _Kutajatvak_).

23. Μάλαβαθρον (Sans. _tamâlapattra_, the leaf of the _Laurus Cassia_), Malabathrum, Betel. Obtained by the Thînai from the Sesatai and exported to India[10] (65); conveyed down the Ganges to Gangê near its mouth (63); conveyed from the interior of India to Mouziris and Nelkunda for export (56). That Malabathrum was not only a masticatory, but also an unguent or perfume, may be inferred from Horace (_Odes_, II. vii. 89):—

...“coronatus nitentes
Malabathro Syrio capillos”,

and from Pliny (xii. 59): “Dat et Malabathrum Syria, arborum folio convoluto, arido colore, ex quo exprimitur oleum ad unguenta: fertiliore ejusdem Egypto: laudatius tamen ex India venit.” From Ptolemy (VII. ii. 16) we learn that the best Malabathrum was produced in Kirrhadia—that is, Rangpur. Dioskoridês speaks of it as a masticatory, and was aware of the confusion caused by mistaking the nard for the betel.

21. Μέλι τὸ καλάμινον, τὸ λεγομενον σάκχαρ (Sans. _śarkarâ_, Prâkṛit _sâkara_, Arab. _sukkar_, Latin _saccharum_)—Honey from canes, called Sugar. Exported from Barugaza to the marts of Barbaria (14). The first Western writer who mentions this article was Theophrastos, who continued the labours of Aristotle in natural history. He called it a sort of honey extracted from reeds. Strabo states, on the authority of Nearkhos, that reeds in India yield honey without bees. Ælian (_Hist. Anim._) speaks of a kind of honey pressed from reeds which grow among the Prasii. Seneca (Epist. 84) speaks of sugar as a kind of honey found in India on the leaves of reeds, which had either been dropped on them from the sky as dew, or had exuded from the reeds themselves. This was a prevalent error in ancient times, _e.g._ Dioskoridês says that sugar is a sort of concreted honey found upon canes in India and Arabia Felix, and Pliny that it is collected from canes like a gum. He describes it as white and brittle between the teeth, of the size of a hazel-nut at most, and used in medicine only. So also Lucan, alluding to the Indians near the Ganges, says that they quaff sweet juices from tender reeds. Sugar, however, as is well known, must be extracted by art from the plant. It has been conjectured that the sugar described by Pliny and Dioskoridês was sugar candy obtained from China.

25. Μελίλωτον—Melilot, Honey-lotus. Exported from Egypt to Barugaza (49). Melilot is the Egyptian or Nymphæa Lotus, or Lily of the Nile, the stalk of which contained a sweet nutritive substance which was made into bread. So Vincent; but Melilot is a kind of clover, so called from the quantity of honey it contains. The nymphæa lotus, or what was called the Lily of the Nile, is not a true lotus, and contains no edible substance.

26. Μοκρότον. Exported from Moundou (9) and Mossulon (10). It is a sort of incense, mentioned only in the _Periplûs_.

27. Μότω—Motô—a sort of cassia exported from Tabai and Opônê (13).

28. Μύρον—Myrrh. (Sans. _bola_.) Exported from Egypt to Barugaza as a present for the king (49). It is a gum or resin issuing from a thorn found in Arabia Felix, Abyssinia, &c., _vide_ σμύρνη _inf._

29. Νάρδος (Sans. _nalada_, ‘kaskas,’ Heb. _nerd_) Nard, Spikenard.[11] Gangetic spikenard brought down the Ganges to Gangê, near its mouth (63), and forwarded thence to Mouziris and Nelkunda (56). Spikenard produced in the regions of the Upper Indus and in Indo-Skythia forwarded through Ozênê to Barugaza (48). Imported by the Egyptians from Barugaza and Barbarikon in Indo-Skythia (49, 39).

The _Nardos_ is a plant called (from its root being shaped like an ear of corn) νάρδου στάχυς, also ναρδόσταχυς, Latin _Spica nardi_, whence ‘spikenard.’ It belongs to the species _Valeriana_. “No Oriental aromatic,” says Vincent, “has caused greater disputes among the critics or writers on natural history, and it is only within these few years that we have arrived at the true knowledge of this curious odour by means of the inquiries of Sir W. Jones and Dr. Roxburgh. Pliny describes the nard with its _spica_, mentioning also that both the leaves and the _spica_ are of high value, and that the odour is the prime in all unguents; the price 100 denarii for a pound. But he afterwards visibly confounds it with the Malabathrum or Betel, as will appear from his usage of _Hadrosphærum_, _Mesosphærum_, and _Microsphærum_, terms peculiar to the Betel”—II. 743-4. See Sir W. Jones on the spikenard of the ancients in As. Res. vol. II. pp. 416 _et seq._, and Roxburgh’s additional remarks on the spikenard of the ancients, vol. IV. pp. 97 _et seq._, and botanical observations on the spikenard, pp. 433. See also Lassen, _Ind. Alt._ vol. I. pp. 288 _et seq._

30. Ναύπλιος—Nauplius. Exported in small quantity from the marts of Azania (17). The signification of the word is obscure, and the reading suspected. For ΝαΥΠλιος Müller suggests ΝαΡΓΙλιος, the Indian cocoanut, which the Arabians call _Nargil_ (Sansk. _nârikêla_ or _nâlikêra_, Guj. _nâliyêr_, Hindi _nâliyar_). It favours this suggestion that cocoanut oil is a product of Zangibar, and that in four different passages of Kosmas Indikopleustês nuts are called αργελλια, which is either a corrupt reading for ναργελλια, or Kosmas may not have known the name accurately enough.

31. Ὀθόνιον—Muslin. Sêric muslin sent from the Thînai to Barugaza and Dimurikê (64). Coarse cottons produced in great quantity in Ariakê, carried down from Ozênê to Barugaza (48); large supplies sent thither from Tagara also (51); Indian muslins exported from the markets of Dimurikê to Egypt (56). Muslins of every description, Seric and dyed of a mallow colour, exported from Barugaza to Egypt (49); Indian muslin taken to the island of Dioskoridês (31); wide Indian muslins called μοναχὴ, _monâkhê_, i. e. of the best and finest sort; and another sort called σαγματογήνη, _sagmatogênê_, i. e. coarse cotton unfit for spinning, and used for stuffing beds, cushions, &c., exported from Barugaza to the Barbarine markets (14), and to Arabia, whence it was exported to Adouli (6). The meanings given to _monâkhê_ and _sagmatogênê_ (for which other readings have been suggested) are conjectural. Vincent defends the meaning assigned to _sagmatogênê_ by a quotation from a passage in Strabo citing Nearkhos:—“Fine muslins are made of cotton, but the Makedonians use cotton for flocks, and stuffing of couches.”

32. Ὀῖνος—Wine. Laodikean and Italian wine exported in small quantity to Adouli (6); to Aualitês (7), Malaê (8), Mouza (24), Kanê (28), Barbarikon in Indo-Skythia (39); the same sorts, together with Arabian wine, to Barugaza (49); sent in small quantity to Mouziris and Nelkunda (56); the region inland from Oraia bears the vine (37), which is found also in the district of Mouza (24), whence wine is exported to the marts of Azania, not for sale, but to gain the good will of the natives (17). Wine is exported also from the marts of Apologos and Omana to Barugaza (36). By Arabian wine may perhaps be meant palm or toddy wine, a great article of commerce.

33. Ὄμφακος Διοσπολιτικῆς χυλός—the juice of the sour grape of Diospolis. Exported from Egypt to Aualitês (7). This, says Vincent, was the dipse of the Orientals, and still used as a relish all over the East. _Dipse_ is the rob of grapes in their unripe state, and a pleasant acid.—II. 751. This juice is called by Dioskoridês (iv. 7) in one word Ομφάκιον, and also (v. 12) Ὀῖνος Ὀμφακίτης. Cf. Plin. xii. 27.

34. Ὄρυζα (Sansk. _vrîhi_)—Rice. Produced in Oraia and Ariakê (37, 41), exported from Barugaza to the Barbarine markets (14), and to the island of Dioskoridês (31).

35. Πέπερι (Sansk. _pippalî_,) long pepper—Pepper. Kottonarik pepper exported in large quantities from Mouziris and Nelkunda (56); long pepper from Barugaza (49). _Kottonara_ was the name of the district, and _Kottonarikon_ the name of the pepper for which the district was famous. Dr. Buchanan identifies Kottonara with Kadattanâḍu, a district in the Calicut country celebrated for its pepper. Dr. Burnell, however, identifies it with Kolatta-Nâḍu, the district about Tellicherry, which, he says, is the pepper district.

36. Πυρὸς—Wheat. Exported in small quantity from Egypt to Kanê (28), some grown in the district around Mouza (24).

37. Σάκχαρι—Sugar: see under Μελι.

38. Σανδαράκη—Sandarakê (_chandrasa_ of the bazars); a resin from the _Thuja articulata_ or _Callitris quadrivalvis_, a small coniferous tree of North Africa; it is of a faint aromatic smell and is used as incense. Exported from Egypt to Barugaza (49); conveyed to Mouziris and Nelkunda (56).[12]

Sandarakê also is a red pigment—red sulphuret of arsenic, as orpiment is the yellow sulphuret. Cf. Plin. xxxv. 22, Hard. “Juba informs us that sandarace and ochre are found in an island of the Red Sea, Topazas, whence they are brought to us.”

39. Σαντάλινα and σασάμινα ξύλα—Logs of Sandal and Sasame (_santalum album_). Exported from Barugaza to the marts of Omana and Apologos (30). Σαντάλινα is a correction of the MS. reading σαγάλινα proposed by Salmasius. Kosmas Indikopleustes calls sandalwood τζαδάνα. For σασαμινα of the MS. Stuckius proposed σησάμινα—a futile, emendation, since sesame is known only as a leguminous plant from which an oil is expressed, and not as a tree. But possibly Red Saunders wood (_Pterocarpus Santalinus_) may be meant.

40. Σησάμινον ἔλαιον. See Ελαιον.

41. Σινδόνες διαφορώταται αἱ Γαγγητικᾶι. The finest Bengal muslins exported from the Ganges (63); other muslins in Taprobanê (61); Μαργαριτιδες (?), made at Argalou and thence exported (59); muslins of all sorts and mallow-tinted (μολοχιναι) sent from Ozênê to Barugaza (48), exported thence to Arabia for the supply of the market at Adouli (6).

42. Σῖτος—Corn. Exported from Egypt to Adouli (7), Malaô (8); a little to Mouza (24), and to Kanê (28), and to Muziris and Nelkunda for ships’ stores (56); exported from Dimurikê and Ariakê into the Barbarine markets (14), into Moskha (32) and the island of Dioskoridês (31); exported also from Mouza to the ports of Azania for presents (17).

43. Σμύρνη—Myrrh (vide μυρον). Exported from Malaô, Moundou, Mossulon (8, 9, 10); from Aualitês a small quantity of the best quality (7); a choice sort that trickles in drops, called _Abeirminaia_ ἐκλεκτὴ καὶ στακτὴ ἁβειρμιναία), exported from Mouza (24). For Ἁβειρμιναία of the MS. Müller suggests to read γαβειρμιναία, inclining to think that two kinds of myrrh are indicated, the names of which have been erroneously combined into one, viz. the Gabiræan and Minæan, which are mentioned by Dioskoridês, Hippokratês, and Galen. There is a _Wadi Gabir_ in Oman.

44. Στύραξ—Storax (Sans. _turuska_, _selarasa_ of the bazars),—one of the balsams. Exported from Egypt to Kanê (28), Barbarikon on the Indus (39), Barugaza (40). Storax is the produce of the tree _Liquidambar orientale_, which grows in the south of Europe and the Levant.[13] The purest kind is storax in grains. Another kind is called _styrax calamita_, from being brought in masses wrapped up in the leaves of a certain reed. Another kind, that sold in shops, is semi-fluid.

45. Φοῖνιξ—the Palm or Dates. Exported from the marts of Apologos and Omana to Barugaza (36, 37).

IV.—Metals and Metallic Articles:—

1. Ἀργυρᾶ σκεύη, ἀργυρώματα—Vessels of silver. Exported from Egypt to Mossulon (10), to Barbarikon on the Indus (39). Silver plate chased or polished (τορνευτα or τετορνευμενα) sent as presents to the despot of Mouza (24), to Kanê for the king (28). Costly (βαρυτιμα) plate to Barugaza for the king (49). Plate made according to the Egyptian fashion to Adouli for the king (6).

2. Ἀρσενικὸν—Arsenic (_somal_). Exported from Egypt to Mouziris and Nelkunda (56).

3. Δηνάριον—Denary. Exported in small quantity from Egypt to Adouli (6). Gold and silver denarii sent in small quantity to the marts of Barbaria (8, 13); exchanges with advantage for native money at Barugaza (49).

The _denary_ was a Roman coin equal to about 8½_d._, and a little inferior in value to the Greek drachma.

4. Κάλτις—Kaltis. A gold coin (νομισμα) current in the district of the Lower Ganges (63); Benfey thinks the word is connected with the Sanskrit _kalita_, i.e. _numeratum_.

5. Κασσίτερος (Sans. _baṅga_, _kathila_)—Tin. Exported from Egypt to Aualitês (7), Malaô (8), Kanê (28), Barugaza (49), Mouziris and Nelkunda (56). India produced this metal, but not in those parts to which the Egyptian trade carried it.

6. Μόλυβδος—Lead (Sansk. _nâga_, Guj. _sîsuṅ_). Exported from Egypt to Barugaza, Muziris, and Nelkunda (49, 56).

7. Ὀρείχαλκος—Orichalcum (Sans. _tripus_, Prak. _pîtala_)—Brass. Used for ornaments and cut into small pieces by way of coin. Exported from Egypt to Adouli (6).

The word means ‘mountain copper.’ Ramusio calls it white copper from which the gold and silver have not been well separated in extracting it from the ore. Gold, it may be remarked, does not occur as an export from any of the African marts, throughout the _Periplûs_.

8. Σίδηρος, σιδηρύ σκεύη—Iron, iron utensils. Exported from Egypt to Malaô, Moundou, Tabai, Opônê (8, 9, 12, 13). Iron spears, swords and adzes exported to Adouli (6). Indian iron and sword-blades (στομωμα) exported to Adouli from Arabia (Ariakê?). Spears (λόγχαι) manufactured at Mouza, hatchets (πελύκια), swords (μάχαιραι), awls (ὀπέτια) exported from Mouza to Azania (17).

On the Indian sword see Ktêsias, p. 80, 4. The Arabian poets celebrate swords made of Indian steel. Cf. Plin. xxxiv. 41:—“Ex omnibus autem generibus palma Serico ferro est.” This iron, as has already been stated, was sent to India along with skins and cloth. Cf. also Edrisi, vol. I. p. 65, ed. Joubert. Indian iron is mentioned in the Pandects as an article of commerce.

9. Στίμμι—Stibium (Sans. _sauvîrânjana_, Prâk. _surmâ_). Exported from Egypt to Barugaza (49), to Mouziris and Nelkunda (56).

Stibium is a sulphuret of antimony, a dark pigment, called _kohol_, much used in the East for dyeing the eyelids.

10. Χαλκὸς—Copper (Sans. _tâmra_) or Brass. Exported from Egypt to Kanê (28), to Barugaza (49), Mouziris and Nelkunda (56). Vessels made thereof (Χαλκουργήματα) sent to Mouza as presents to the despot (24). Drinking-vessels (ποτηρια) exported to the marts of Barbaria (8, 13). Big and round drinking-cups to Adouli (6). A few (μελίεφθα ὀλίγα) to Malaô (8); μελίεφθα χαλκᾶ for cooking with, and being cut into bracelets and anklets for women to Adouli (6).

Regarding μελίεφθα Vincent says: “No usage of the word occurs elsewhere; but metals were prepared with several materials to give them colour, or to make them tractable, or malleable. Thus χολόβαφα in Hesychius was brass prepared with ox’s gall to give it the colour of gold, and used, like our tinsel ornaments or foil, for stage dresses and decorations. Thus common brass was neither ductile nor malleable, but the Cyprian brass was both. And thus perhaps brass, μελίεφθα was formed with some preparation of honey.” Müller cannot accept this view. “It is evident,” he says, “that the reference is to ductile copper from which, as Pliny says, all impurity has been carefully removed by smelting, so that pots, bracelets, and articles of that sort could be fabricated from it. One might therefore think that the reading should be περίεφθα or πυρίεφθα, but in such a case the writer would have said περίεφθον χαλκόν. In vulgar speech μελίεφθα is used as a substantive noun, and I am therefore almost persuaded that, just as molten copper, ὁ χαλκὸς ὁ χυτὸς, _cuprum caldarium_, was called τρόχιος, from the likeness in shape of its round masses to hoops, so _laminæ_ of ductile copper (_plaques de cuivre_) might have been called μελίεφθα, because shaped like thin honey-cakes, πεμματα μελίεφθα.”

11. Χρυσὸς—Gold. Exported from the marts of Apologos and Omana to Barugaza (36). Gold plate—χρυσώματα—exported from Egypt to Mouza for the despot (24), and to Adouli for the king (6).

V. Stones:—

1. Λιθία διαφανὴς—Gems (carbuncles?) found in Taprobanê (63); exported in every variety from Mouziris and Nelkunda (56).

2. Αδάμας—Diamonds. (Sans. _vajra_, _pîraka_). Exported from Mouziris and Nelkunda (56).

3. Καλλεανὸς λίθος—Gold-stone, yellow crystal, chrysolith? Exported from Barbarikon in Indo-Skythia (39).

It is not a settled point what stone is meant. Lassen says that the Sanskrit word _kalyâṇa_ means _gold_, and would therefore identify it with the chrysolith or gold-stone. If this view be correct, the reading of the MS. need not be altered into καλλαῖνὸς, as Salmasius, whom the editors of the _Periplûs_ generally follow, enjoins. In support of the alteration Salmasius adduces Pliny, xxxvii. 56:—“Callais sapphirum imitatur, candidior et litoroso mari similis. Callainas vocant e turbido Callaino”, and other passages. Schwanbeck, however, maintaining the correctness of the MS. reading, says that the Sanskrit word _kalyâṇa_ generally signifies _money_, but in a more general sense _anything beautiful_, and might therefore have been applied to this gem. _Kalyâṇa_, he adds, would appear in Greek as καλλιανὸς or καλλεανὸς rather than καλλαῖνὸς. In like manner _kalyâṇî_ of the Indians appears in our author not as καλλάïνα, but, as it ought to be, καλλίενα.

4. Λύγδος—Alabaster. Exported from Mouza (24). Salmasius says that an imitation of this alabaster was formed of Parian marble, but that the best and original _lygdus_ was brought from Arabia, that is, Mouza, as noted in the _Periplûs_. Cf. Pliny (xxxvi. 8):—“Lygdinos in Tauro repertos ... antea ex Arabia tantum advehi solitos enndoris eximii.”

5. Ὀνυχινὴ λίθια—Onyx (_akika_—agate). Sent in vast quantities (πλειστη) from Ozênê and Paithana to Barugaza (48, 51), and thence exported to Egypt (49). Regarding the onyx mines of Gujarât _vide_ Ritter, vol. VI. p. 603.

6. Μουρρίνη, sup. λιθια—Fluor-spath. Sent from Ozênê to Barugaza, and exported to Egypt (49). Porcelain made at Diospolis (μουρῥίνη λιθία ἡ γενομένη ἐν Διοσπόλει) exported from Egypt to Adouli (6).

The reading of the MS. is μοῤῥίνης. By this is to be understood _vitrum murrhinum_, a sort of china or porcelain made in imitation of cups or vases of _murrha_, a precious fossil-stone resembling, if not identical with, _fluor-spath_, such as is found in Derbyshire. Vessels of this stone were exported from India, and also, as we learn from Pliny, from Karmania, to the Roman market, where they fetched extravagant prices.[14] The “cups baked in Parthian fires” (_pocula Parthis focis cocta_) mentioned by Propertius (IV. v. 26) must be referred to the former class. The whole subject is one which has much exercised the pens of the learned. “Six hundred writers,” says Müller, “emulously applying themselves to explain what had the best claim to be considered the _murrha_ of the ancients, have advanced the most conflicting opinions. Now it is pretty well settled that the murrhine vases were made of that stone which is called in German _flusspath_ (_spato-fluore_)”. He then refers to the following as the principal authorities on the subject:—Pliny—xxxiii. 7 _et seq._; xxxiii. _proœm._ Suetonius—_Oct._ c. 71; Seneca—_Epist._ 123; Martial—iv. 86; xiv. 43; _Digest_—xxxiii. 10, 3; xxxiv. 2. 19; Rozière—_Mémoire sur les Vases murrhins_, &c.; in _Description de l’Égypt_, vol. VI. pp. 277 _et seq._: Corsi—_Delle Pietre antiche_, p. 106; Thiersch—_Ueber die Vasa Murrhina der Alten, in Abhandl. d. Munchn. Akad._ 1835, vol. I. pp. 443-509; A learned Englishman in the _Classical Journal_ for 1810, p. 472; Witzsch in Pauly’s _Real Encycl._ vol. V. p. 253. See also Vincent, vol. II. pp. 723-7.

7. Ὀψιανὸς λίθος—the Opsian or Obsidian stone, found in the Bay of Hanfelah (5). Pliny says,—“The opsians or obsidians are also reckoned as a sort of glass bearing the likeness of the stone which Obsius (or Obsidius) found in Ethiopia, of a very black colour, sometimes even translucent, hazier than ordinary glass to look through, and when used for mirrors on the walls reflecting but shadows instead of distinct images.” (Bk. xxxvi. 37). The only Obsius mentioned in history is a M. Obsius who had been Prætor, a friend of Germanicus, referred to by Tacitus (_Ann._ IV. 68, 71). He had perhaps been for a time prefect of Egypt, and had coasted the shore of Ethiopia at the time when Germanicus traversed Egypt till he came to the confines of Ethiopia. Perhaps, however, the name of the substance is of Greek origin—ὀψιανὀς, from its reflecting power.

8. Σάπφειρος—the Sapphire. Exported from Barbarikon in Indo-Skythia (39). “The ancients distinguished two sorts of dark blue or purple, one of which was spotted with gold. Pliny says it is never pellucid, which seems to make it a different stone from what is now called sapphire.”—Vincent (vol. II. p. 757), who adds in a note, “Dr. Burgess has specimens of both sorts, the one with gold spots like lapis lazuli, and not transparent.”[15]

9. Ὑάκινθος—Hyacinth or Jacinth. Exported from Mouziris and Nelkunda (56). According to Salmasius this is the Ruby. In Solinus xxx. it would seem to be the Amethyst (Sansk. _pushkarâja_.)

10. Ὑαλος ἀργὴ—Glass of a coarse kind. Exported from Egypt to Barugaza (49), to Mouziris and Nelkunda (56). Vessels of glass (ὑαλα σκευη) exported from Egypt to Barbarikon in Indo-Skythia (39). Crystal of many sorts (λιθίας ὑαλῆς πλεῖστα γενη) exported from Egypt to Adouli, Aualitês, Mossulon (6, 7, 10); from Mouza to Azania (17).

11. Χρυσόλιθος—Chrysolite. Exported from Egypt to Barbarikon in Indo-Skythia (39), to Barugaza (43), to Mouziris and Nelkunda (56). Some take this to be the topaz (Hind. _pîrojâ_).

VI. Wearing Apparel:—

1. Ἱμάτια ἄγναφα—Cloths undressed. Manufactured in Egypt and thence exported to Adouli (6). These were disposed of to the tribes of Barbaria—the Troglodyte shepherds of Upper Egypt, Nubia and Ethiopia.

2. Ἱμάτια βαρβαρικὰ σύμμικτα γεγναμμένα—Cloths for the Barbarine markets, dressed and dyed of various colours. Exported to Malaô and Aualitês (8, 7).

3. Ἱματισμὸς Ἀραβικὸς—Cloth or coating for the Arabian markets. Exported from Egypt (24). Different kinds are enumerated:—Χειριδωτὸς, with sleeves reaching to the wrist; Ὁτε ἁπλοῦς καὶ ὁ κοινὸς, with single texture and of the common sort; σκοτουλάτος, wrought with figures, checkered; the word is a transliteration of the Latin _scutulatus_, from _scutum_, the checks being lozenge-shaped, like a shield: see Juvenal, Sat. ii. 79; διάχρυσος, shot with gold; πολυτελὴς, a kind of great price sent to the despot of Mouza; Κοινὸς καὶ ἁπλοῦς καὶ ὁ νόθος, cloth of a common sort, and cloth of simple texture, and cloth in imitation of a better commodity, sent to Kanê (28); Διάφορος ἁπλους, of superior quality and single texture, for the king (28); Ἁπλοῦς, _of single texture_, in great quantity, and νόθος, in inferior sort imitating a better, in small quantity, sent to Barbarikon in Indo-Skythia (39), ἁπλοῦς καὶ νόθος παντοῖος, and for the king ἁπλοῦς πολυτελης, sent to Barugaza (49); Ἱματισμὸς οὐ πολύς—cloth in small quantity sent to Muziris and Nelkunda (56); ἐντόπιος, of native manufacture, exported from the marts of Apologos and Omana to Barugaza (36).

4. Αβόλλαι—Riding or watch cloaks. Exported from Egypt to Mouza (34), to Kanê (28). This word is a transliteration of the Latin _Abolla_. It is supposed, however, to be derived from Greek: ἀμβολλη, i. e. ἀμφιβολὴ. It was a woollen cloak of close texture—often mentioned in the Roman writers: _e.g._ Juven. _Sat._ iii. 115 and iv. 70; Sueton. _Calig._ c. 35. Where the word occurs in sec. 6 the reading of the MS. is ἅβολοι, which Müller has corrected to ἀβόλλαι, though Salmasius had defended the original reading.

5. Δικρόσσια (Lat. _Mantilia utrinque fimbriata_)—Cloths with a double fringe. Exported from Egypt to Adouli (6). This word occurs only in the _Periplûs_. The simple Κροσσιον, however, is met with in Herodian, _Epim._ p. 72. An adjective δίκροσσος is found in Pollux vii. 72. “We cannot err much,” says Vincent, “in rendering the δικρόσσια of the _Periplûs_ either _cloth fringed_, with Salmasius, or _striped_, with Apollonius. Meursius says λεντία ἄκροσσα are _plain linens not striped_.”

6. Ζώναι πολύμιτοι πηχυαῖοι—Flowered or embroidered girdles, a cubit broad. Exported from Egypt to Barugaza (49). Σκιωταὶ—girdles (_kâcha_) shaded of different colours, exported to Mouza (24). This word occurs only in the _Periplûs_.

7. Καυνάκαὶ—Garments of frieze. Exported from Arabia to Adouli (6); a pure sort—ἁπλοι—exported to the same mart from Egypt (6). In the latter of these two passages the MS. reading is γαυνάκαὶ. Both forms are in use: conf. Latin _gaunace_—Varro, _de L. L._ 4, 35. It means also _a fur garment_ or _blanket_—_vestis stragula_.

8. Λώδικες—Quilts or coverlids. Exported in small quantity from Egypt to Mouza (24) and Kanê (28).

9. Περιζώματα—Sashes, girdles, or aprons. Exported from Barugaza to Adouli (6), and into Barbaria (14).

10. Πολύμιτα—Stuffs in which several threads were taken for the woof in order to weave flowers or other objects: Latin _polymita_ and _plumatica_. Exported from Egypt to Barbarikon in Indo-Skythia (39), to Mouziris and Nelkunda (56).

11. Σάγοι Ἀρσινοητικοὶ γεγναμμένοι καὶ βεβαμμένοι—Coarse cloaks made at Arsinoê, dressed and dyed. Exported from Egypt to Barbaria (8, 13).

12. Στολαὶ Ἀρσινοητικάι—Women’s robes made at Arsinoê. Exported from Egypt to Adouli (6).

13. Χιτῶνες—Tunics. Exported from Egypt to Malaô, Moundou, Mossulon (8, 9, 10).

VII. In addition to the above, works of art are mentioned.

Ἀνδριάντες—Images, sent as presents to Kharibaël (48). Cf. Strabo (p. 714), who among the articles sent to Arabia enumerates τορευμα, γραφην, πλασμα, pieces of sculpture, painting, statues.

Μουσικἀ—Instruments of music, for presents to the king of Ariakê (49).

ANONYMI [ARRIANI UT FERTUR] PERIPLUS MARIS ERYTHRÆI.

1. The first of the important roadsteads established on the Red Sea, and the first also of the great trading marts upon its coast, is the port of +Myos-hormos+ in Egypt. Beyond it at a distance of 1800 stadia is +Berenikê+, which is to your right if you approach it by sea. These roadsteads are both situate at the furthest end of Egypt, and are bays of the Red Sea.

_Commentary._

(1) +Myos Hormos.+—Its situation is determined by the cluster of islands now called +Jifâtîn+ [lat. 27° 12´ N., long. 33° 55´ E.] of which the three largest lie opposite an indenture of the coast of Egypt on the curve of which its harbour was situated [near Ras Abu Somer, a little north of Satâjah Island]. It was founded by Ptolemy Philadelphos B. C. 274, who selected it as the principal port of the Egyptian trade with India in preference to Arsinoê,[16] N. N. E. of Suez, on account of the difficulty and tediousness of the navigation down the Heroöpolite Gulf. The vessels bound for Africa and the south of Arabia left its harbour about the time of the autumnal equinox, when the North West wind which then prevailed carried them quickly down the Gulf. Those bound for the Malabar Coast or Ceylon left in July, and if they cleared the Red Sea before the 1st of September, they had the monsoon to assist their passage across the ocean. +Myos Hormos+ was distant from +Koptos+ [lat. 26° N.], the station on the Nile through which it communicated with Alexandria, a journey of seven or eight days along a road opened through the desert by Philadelphos. The name +Myos Hormos+ is of Greek origin, and may signify either the Harbour of the Mouse, or, more probably, of the Mussel, since the pearl mussel abounded in its neighbourhood. +Agatharkhidês+ calls it +Aphroditēs Hormos+, and Pliny +Veneris Portus+. [Veneris Portus however was probably at Sherm Sheikh, lat. 24° 36´ N. Off the coast is Wade Jemâl Island, lat. 24° 39´ N., long. 35° 8´ E., called Iambe by Pliny, and perhaps the Aphroditês Island of Ptolemy IV. v. 77.] Referring to this name Vincent says: “Here if the reader will advert to Aphroditê, the Greek title of Venus, as springing from the foam of the ocean, it will immediately appear that the Greeks were translating here, for the native term to this day is _Suffange-el-Bahri_, ‘sponge of the sea’; and the vulgar error of the sponge being the foam of the sea, will immediately account for Aphroditê.”

The rival of Myos-Hormos was +Berenikê+, a city built by Ptolemy Philadelphos, who so named it in honour of his mother, who was the daughter of Ptolemy Lagos and Antigonê. It was in the same parallel with Syênê and therefore not far from the Tropic [lat. 23° 55´ N.]. It stood nearly at the bottom of _Foul Bay_ (ἐν βάθει τοῦ Ἀκαθάρτου Κὀλπου), so called from the coast being foul with shoals and breakers, and not from the impurity of its water, as its Latin name, _Sinus Immundus_, would lead us to suppose. Its ruins are still perceptible even to the arrangement of the streets, and in the centre is a small Egyptian temple adorned with hieroglyphics and bas-reliefs of Greek workmanship. Opposite to the town is a very fine natural harbour, the entrance of which has been deep enough for small vessels, though the bar is now impassable at low water. Its prosperity under the Ptolemies and afterwards under the Romans was owing to its safe anchorage and its being, like Myos-Hormos, the terminus of a great road from Koptos along which the traffic of Alexandria with Ethiopia, Arabia, and India passed to and fro. Its distance from +Koptos+ was 258 Roman miles or 11 days’ journey. The distance between Myos-Hormos and Berenikê is given in the _Periplûs_ at 225 miles, but this is considerably above the mark. The difficulty of the navigation may probably have made the distance seem greater than it was in reality.

2. The country which adjoins them on the right below Berenîkê is +Barbaria+. Here the sea-board is peopled by the +Ikhthyophagoi+, who live in scattered huts built in the narrow gorges of the hills, and further inland are the +Berbers+, and beyond them the +Agriophagoi+ and +Moskhophagoi+, tribes under regular government by kings. Beyond these again, and still further inland towards the west [is situated the metropolis called Meroê].

(2) Adjoining +Berenikê+ was +Barbaria+ (ἡ Βαρβαρικὴ χώρα)—the land about Ras Abû Fatima [lat. 22° 26´ N.—Ptol. IV. vii. 28]. The reading of the MS. is ἡ Τισηβαρικὴ which Müller rejects because the name nowhere occurs in any work, and because if +Barbaria+ is not mentioned here, our author could not afterwards (Section 5) say ἡ ἄλλη Βαρβαρία. The +Agriophagoi+ who lived in the interior are mentioned by Pliny (vi. 35), who says that they lived principally on the flesh of panthers and lions. Vincent writes as if instead of Αγριοφάγων the reading should be Ακριδοφάγων locust-eaters, who are mentioned by Agatharkhidês in his _De Mari Erythraeo_, Section 58. Another inland tribe is mentioned in connection with them—the +Moskhophagoi+, who may be identified with the +Rizophagoi+ or +Spermatophagoi+ of the same writer, who were so named because they lived on roots of the tender suckers and buds of trees, called in Greek μόσχοι. This being a term applied also to the young of animals, Vincent was led to think that this tribe fed on the brinde or flesh cut out of the living animal as described by Bruce.

3. Below the +Moskhophagoi+, near the sea, lies a little trading town distant from Berenîkê about 4000 stadia, called +Ptolemaïs Thêrôn+, from which, in the days of the Ptolemies, the hunters employed by them used to go up into the interior to catch elephants. In this mart is procured the true (or marine) tortoise-shell, and the land kind also, which, however, is scarce, of a white colour, and smaller size. A little ivory is also sometimes obtainable, resembling that of +Adouli+. This place has no port, and is approachable only by boats.

(3) To the south of the Moskhophagoi lies +Ptolemaïs Thêrôn+, or, as it is called by Pliny, +Ptolemaïs Epitheras+. [On Er-rih island, lat. 18° 9´ N., long 38° 27´ E., are the ruins of an ancient town—probably Ptolemaïs Therôn—Müller however places Suche here.—Ptol. I. viii. 1.; IV. vii. 7; VIII. xvi. 10]. It was originally an Ethiopian village, but was extended and fortified by Ptolemy Philadelphos, who made it the depôt of the elephant trade, for which its situation on the skirts of the great Nubian forest, where these animals abounded, rendered it peculiarly suitable. The Egyptians before this had imported their elephants from Asia, but as the supply was precarious, and the cost of importation very great, Philadelphos made the most tempting offers to the Ethiopian elephant-hunters (Elephantophagoi) to induce them to abstain from eating the animal, or to reserve at least a portion of them for the royal stables. They rejected however all his solicitations, declaring that even for all Egypt they would not forego the luxury of their repast. The king resolved thereupon to procure his supplies by employing hunters of his own.

4. Leaving Ptolemaïs Thêrôn we are conducted, at the distance of about 3000 stadia, to +Adouli+, a regular and established port of trade situated on a deep bay the direction of which is due south. Facing this, at a distance seaward of about 200 stadia from the inmost recess of the bay, lies an island called +Oreinê+ (or ‘the mountainous’), which runs on either side parallel with the mainland. Ships, that come to trade with Adouli, now-a-days anchor here, to avoid being attacked from the shore; for in former times when they used to anchor at the very head of the bay, beside an island called +Diodôros+, which was so close to land that the sea was fordable, the neighbouring barbarians, taking advantage of this, would run across to attack the ships at their moorings. At the distance of 20 stadia from the sea, opposite +Oreinê+, is the village of Adouli, which is not of any great size, and inland from this a three days’ journey is a city, +Kolöê+, the first market where ivory can be procured. From Kolöê it takes a journey of five days to reach the metropolis of the people called the +Auxumitae+, whereto is brought, through the province called +Kyêneion+, all the ivory obtained on the other side of the Nile, before it is sent on to Adouli. The whole mass, I may say, of the elephants and rhinoceroses which are killed _to supply the trade_ frequent the uplands _of the interior_, though at rare times they are seen near the coast, even in the neighbourhood of Adouli. Besides the islands already mentioned, a cluster consisting of many small ones lies out in the sea to the right of this port. They bear the name of +Alalaiou+, and yield the tortoises with which the +Ikhthyophagoi+ supply the market.

(4) Beyond +Ptolemaïs Thêrôn+ occurs +Adoulê+, at a distance, according to the _Periplûs_, of 3000 stadia—a somewhat excessive estimate. The place is called also +Adoulei+ and more commonly Adoulis by ancient writers (Ptol. IV. vii. 8; VIII. xvi. 11). It is represented by the modern Thulla or Zula [pronounced Azule,—lat. 15° 12´-15° 15´ N., long. 39° 36´ E.].—To the West of this, according to Lord Valentia and Mr. Salt, there are to be found the remains of an ancient city. It was situated on the +Adoulikos Kolpos+ (Ptol. I. xv. 11.; IV. vii. 8), now called Annesley Bay, the best entrance into Abyssinia. It was erroneously placed by D’Anville at Dokhnau or Harkiko, close to Musawwâ [lat. 15° 35´ N.] There is much probability in the supposition that it was founded by a party of those Egyptians who, as we learn from Herodotos (II. 30), to the number of 240,000 fled from their country in the days of Psammêtikḥos (B. C. 671-617) and went to as great a distance beyond Meroë, the capital of Ethiopia, as Meroë is beyond Elephantinê. This is the account which Pliny (VI. 3-4) gives of its foundation, adding that it was the greatest emporium of the +Troglodytes+, and distant from +Ptolemaïs+ a five days’ voyage, which by the ordinary reckoning is 2,500 stadia. It was an emporium for rhinoceros’ hides, ivory and tortoise-shell. It had not only a large sea-borne traffic, but was also a caravan station for the traffic of the interior of Africa. Under the Romans it was the haven of +Auxumê+ (Ptol. IV. vii. 25,—written also Auxumis, Axumis), now Axum, the capital of the kingdom of Tigre in Abyssinia. +Auxumê+ was the chief centre of the trade with the interior of Africa in gold-dust, ivory, leather, hides and aromatics. It was rising to great prosperity and power about the time the _Periplûs_ was written, which is the earliest work extant in which it is mentioned. It was probably founded by the Egyptian exiles already referred to. Its remaining monuments are perfectly Egyptian and not pastoral, Troglodytik, Greek, or Arabian in their character. Its name at the same time retains traces of the term +Asmak+, by which, as we learn from Herodotos, those exiles were designated, and Heeren considers it to have been one of the numerous priest-colonies which were sent out from Meroë.