Chapter XXIV: Book X: The Natural History of Birds (5)

[311] The whole of this passage seems very intricate, and it is difficult to make sense of it. His meaning, however, is probably this: that the coast of India, running from extreme north-east to south-east, relatively to Greece, the country of Eratosthenes, is exactly opposite to the coast of Gaul, running from extreme north-west to south-west—India thus lying due west of Gaul, without any intervening land. This, it will be remembered, was the notion of Columbus, when contemplating the possibility of a western passage to India.

[312] This appears also to be somewhat obscure. It is clear that if India lies to the west of Gaul, it cannot be Pliny’s meaning that it is refreshed by the _west_ wind blowing _to_ it _from_ Gaul. He may possibly mean that the west wind, which is so refreshing to the west of Europe, and Gaul in particular, first sweeps over India, and thus becomes productive of that salubrity which Posidonius seems to have discovered in India, but for which we look in vain at the present day. Amid, however, such multiplied chances of a corrupt text, it is impossible to assume any very definite position as to his probable meaning. The French translators offer no assistance in solving the difficulty, and Holland renders it, “This west wind which _from behind_ Gaul bloweth upon India, is very healthsome,” &c.

[313] As to the Etesian winds, see B. ii. c. 48.

[314] In the geographical work which Patrocles seems to have published, he is supposed to have given some account of the countries bordering on the Caspian Sea, and there is little doubt that, like other writers of that period, he regarded that sea as a gulf or inlet of the Septentrional Ocean, and probably maintained the possibility of sailing thither by sea from the Indian Ocean. This statement, however, seems to have been strangely misinterpreted by Pliny in his present assertion, that Patrocles had himself accomplished this circumnavigation.

[315] Sec B. v. c. 36.

[316] Or Bacchus.

[317] Or seventy-five miles.

[318] This is the statement of Arrian.

[319] Among the lost works of that philosopher.

[320] In c. 17 of the present Book.

[321] See c. 25 of the present Book.

[322] See c. 25 of the present Book.

[323] See c. 25 of the present Book.

[324] A town placed by Strabo on the confines of Bactriana, and by Ptolemy in the county of the Paropanisidæ.

[325] See c. 25 of the present Book.

[326] See c. 24 of the present Book.

[327] The present Attok, according to D’Anville.

[328] One of the principal rivers of that part of India known as the Punjaub. It rises in the north-western Himalayah mountains in Kashmere, and after flowing nearly south, falls into the Acesines or Chenab. Its present most usual name is the Jhelum.

[329] The most eastern, and most important of the five rivers which water the country of the Punjaub. Rising in the western Himalaya, it flows in two principal branches, in a course nearly south-west (under the names respectively of Vipasa and Satadru), which it retains till it falls into the Indus at Mittimkote. It is best known, however, by its modern name of Sutlej, probably a corrupt form of the Sanscrit Satadru.

[330] See c. 18 of the present Book. The altars there spoken of, as consecrated by Alexander the Great, appear to have been erected in Sogdiana, whereas those here mentioned were dedicated in the Indian territory.

[331] It does not appear that this river has been identified. In most of the editions it is called Hesidrus; but, as Sillig observes, there was a town of India, near the Indus, called Sydros, which probably received its name from this river.

[332] It has been suggested that this place is the modern Kanouge, on the Ganges.

[333] The modern Jumna. It must be borne in mind by the reader, that the numbers given in this Chapter vary considerably in the different MSS.

[334] See the next Chapter.

[335] The Sanscrit for “snowy” is “_himarat_.” The name of Emodus, combined with Imaüs, seems here to be a description of the knot of mountains formed by the intersections of the Himalaya, the Hindoo Koosh, and the Bolor range; the latter having been for many ages the boundary between the empires of China and Turkistan. It is pretty clear, that, like Ptolemy, Pliny imagined that the Imaüs ran from south to north; but it seems hardly necessary, in this instance at least, to give to the word “promontorium” the meaning attached to our word “promontory,” and to suppose that he implies that the range of the Imaüs runs down to the verge of the eastern ocean.

[336] A name evidently given to numerous tribes of India, from the circumstance that Alexander and his followers found it borne by the Brahmins or priestly caste of the Hindoos.

[337] Still called the Cane, a navigable river of India within the Ganges, falling into the Ganges, according to Arrian as well as Pliny, though in reality it falls into the Jumna.

[338] The Calingæ, who are further mentioned in the next Chapter, probably dwelt in the vicinity of the promontory of Calingon, upon which was the town of Dandaguda, mentioned in c. 23 of the present Book. This promontory and city are usually identified with those of Calinapatnam, about half-way between the rivers Mahanuddy and Godavery; and the territory of the Calingæ seems to correspond pretty nearly to the district of Circars, lying along the coast of Orissa.

[339] By the Malli, Parisot is of opinion that the people of Moultan are meant.

[340] So much so, indeed, that its sources were unknown to the learned world till the beginning of the present century, although the Chinese emperor Tang-Hi on one occasion sent a body of Llamas for the purpose of inquiring into the subject. It is now ascertained that the river Ganges is the result of the confluence of three separate streams, which bear the respective names of the Gannavi, the Bhagirathi, and the Alakananda. The second is of the most sacred character, and is the one to which the largest concourse of pilgrims resort. The ancients held various opinions as to the sources of the river.

[341] The Cainas and the Jomanes, mentioned in the last Chapter.

[342] The modern Gandaki or Gundûk is generally supposed to be represented by the Condochates.

[343] Represented as flowing into the Ganges at Palimbothra, the modern Patna. There has been considerable discussion among the learned as to what river is indicated by this name. It has, however, been considered most probable that it is the same as the Sonus of Pliny, the modern Soane, though both that author, as well as Arrian, speaks of two rivers, which they call respectively Erannoboas and Sonus. The name was probably derived from the Sanscrit Hyranyavahas, the poetical name of the Sonus.

[344] Supposed to be the same as the river Cosi or Coravaha.

[345] The wide diffusion of the Calingæ, and their close connection with the Gangaridæ, are shown by the fact that Pliny here calls them “Calingæ Gangarides,” and mentions the Modogalingæ on a large island in the Ganges, and the Maccocalingæ on the upper course of that river. See note [338], p. 42.

[346] Called Parthalis in most of the editions.

[347] Or _castes_, as we call them. These institutions prevail equally at the present day, and the divisions of the duties of the respective castes are pretty much as Pliny states them to be, except that the husbandmen and merchants form one class, called the Vaisya, the Brahmins being the ministers of religion, the Kshatriya forming the warlike class, the Sudra constituting the menial or servant class. Pliny here represents the rulers and councillors as forming a distinct class. Such, however, does not appear to be the fact; for we find that the sovereign is chosen from the Kshatriya or military class, while from the Brahmins are selected the royal councillors, judges, and magistrates of the country.

[348] He alludes to the Brahmins, who seem to have been called by the Greek writers “Gymnosophists,” or “naked wise men.” The Brahmin Calanus is a memorable example of this kind of self-immolation.

[349] It is extremely doubtful if, even in his own day, Pliny was correct in venturing upon so sweeping an assertion.

[350] The Sudra or menial caste.

[351] He is incorrect here; these duties devolve on the Vaisya class.

[352] Inhabited, probably, by a branch of the Calingæ previously mentioned.

[353] Ansart suggests that this may be the modern kingdom of Pegu. He thinks also that the preceding kingdom may be that now called Arracan.

[354] These may possibly be the Daradræ of Ptolemy, but it seems impossible to guess their locality.

[355] Probably the present Patna. D’Anville, however, identifies it with Allahabad, while Welford and Wahl are inclined to think it the same as Radjeurah, formerly called Balipoutra or Bengala. The Prasii are probably the race of people mentioned in the ancient Sanscrit books under the name of the “Pragi” or the Eastern Empire, while the Gangarides are mentioned in the same works under the name of “Gandaressa” or Kingdom of the Ganges.

[356] Hardouin is of opinion that these nations dwelt in the localities occupied by the districts of Gwalior and Agra.

[357] The Septentriones or “Seven Trions,” in the original. Parisot is of opinion that under this name of Mount Maleus he alludes to the Western Ghauts, and that the name still survives in the word Malabar. He also remarks that this statement of Pliny is not greatly exaggerated.

[358] Ansart says that this is the same as the modern town of Muttra or Matra upon the Jumna, and to the north of Agra.

[359] Or Clisobora, according to Hardouin. It does not appear to have been identified.

[360] In the Indian Peninsula, constituting more especially the presidency of Madras.

[361] It is clear that he looks upon the countries of the Indus as lying to the south of the Ganges.

[362] Or Hindoo Koosh. In this statement he is supported by Arrian, Strabo, Mela, and Quintus Curtius. It rises, however, a considerable distance on the north-east side of the Himalaya.

[363] The modern Jhelum.

[364] Some writers suppose that this must be the same as the Hydraotes, or modern Ravi, because the latter is not otherwise found mentioned in the list given by Pliny. The name, however, leaves but little doubt that Pliny had heard of the Acesines under its Indian name of Chandabragha, and out of it has made another river.

[365] The modern Sutlej.

[366] Probably in the vicinity of the modern Calingapatam; none of the other places seem to be identified.

[367] Ansart suggests that the Cesi may be the same race as the modern Sikhs.

[368] Perhaps the people of modern Ajmere.

[369] These peoples are supposed by Hardouin to have occupied the southern parts of the peninsula now known as Bisnagar, Calicut, and the Deccan, with the Malabar and Coromandel coasts.

[370] Hardouin suggests that this people dwelt on the present peninsula of Guzerat.

[371] None of these appear to have been identified; indeed, it appears to be next to impossible, owing to the corrupt state in which they have come down to us.

[372] Built on the Hydaspes by Alexander after his victory over Porus, B.C. 326, at the spot where he had crossed the river before the battle, and in memory of his celebrated charger Bucephalus, who had expired during the battle from fatigue and old age, or from wounds. The exact site of this place is not known, but the probabilities appear in favour of Jhelum, at which place is the usual passage of the river, or else of Jellapoor, about sixteen miles lower down.

[373] Probably the same that is mentioned in c. 21 of the present Book.

[374] Parisot supposes that these were the inhabitants of the district which now bears the name of Pekheli.

[375] Gedrosia comprehended probably the same district as is now known by the name of Mekran, or, according to some, the whole of modern Beloochistan.

[376] The people of the city and district of Arachotus, the capital of Arachosia. M. Court has identified some ruins on the Argasan river, near Kandahar, on the road to Shikarpur, with those of Arachotus; but Professor Wilson considers them to be too much to the south-east. Colonel Rawlinson thinks they are those to be seen at a place called Ulan Robat. He states that the most ancient name of the city, Cophen, (mentioned by Pliny in c. 25 of the present Book), has given rise to the territorial designation. See p. 57.

[377] The people of Aria, consisting of the eastern part of Khorassan, and the western and north-western part of Afghanistan. This was one of the most important of the eastern provinces or satrapies of the Persian empire.

[378] This was the collective name of several peoples dwelling on the southern slopes of the Hindoo Koosh, and of the country which they inhabited, which was not known by any other name. It corresponded to the eastern part of modern Afghanistan and the portion of the Punjaub lying to the west of the Indus.

[379] It is supposed that the Cophes is represented by the modern river of Kabul.

[380] The place here alluded to was in the district of Goryæa, at the north-western corner of the Punjaub, near the confluence of the rivers Cophen and Choaspes, being probably the same place as Nagara or Dionysopolis, the modern Nagar or Naggar.

[381] The word μήρος, in Greek, signifying a “thigh.”

[382] Supposed by some to have been Lower Scinde, and the vicinity of Kurrachee, with its capital Potala.

[383] Ansart suggests that these may be the Laccadives. Their name means the “gold” and “silver” islands.

[384] Probably an island near the mouths of the Indus.

[385] Probably the same as the Bibacta of Arrian. The present name of it is Chilney Isle.

[386] Although Poinsinet will not admit its identity, it is now universally agreed among the learned that the island of Taprobana is the modern Ceylon. As Gosselin observes, in the accounts said to have been given of Ceylon by the ambassadors to Claudius, great allowance must be made for the wrong interpretation which, owing to their ignorance of the language, the Romans must have given to much of their narrative.

[387] From ἀντὶ, “opposite,” and χθών, “the earth.” Its people being supposed to be the _antipodes_ of those of Europe.

[388] “The ancient race.” As Ansart observes, the island contains a mountain, the name of which is “Adam’s” Peak.

[389] Ælian makes the villages to be 750 in number.

[390] A general term probably, as already stated, for the great peninsula of India, below the Ganges.

[391] This expression has been relied upon by those who do not admit that Ceylon is identical with the ancient Taprobana. But it is not improbable that the passage here referred to is from Cape Comorin to Ceylon, and not from Cape Ramanan Cor, the nearest part of the continent. In such case, the distance would be sixty-five or sixty-six leagues, and we can easily conceive that Greek vessels, sailing from nine to ten leagues per day, might occupy seven days in making the passage from Cape Comorin, past Ramanan Cor, to the coasts of Ceylon.

[392] The amphora, as a measure, contained eight congii, or forty-eight sextarii.

[393] Or “Septentrio;” “the Seven Trions,” which was more especially employed by the nations of Europe for the purposes of navigation.

[394] Parisot suggests that the word “Radijah,” or “Rajah,” denoting the rank which he held, may have been here taken by Pliny for his name.

[395] Ptolemy says that the ancient name of the island was Simundi, or Palæsimundi, but speaks of no such city as the one here mentioned, nor indeed of any other of the localities described by Pliny.

[396] It is difficult to say whether by this name is meant the modern Cape Comorin, or that known as Ramanan Cor, which is in reality the nearest point to the coast of Ceylon. Perhaps the latter is meant; in which case it is not improbable that the Island of the Sun will be represented by the islet called Rameserum in the maps, or else the one adjoining called Manaar. It must not be confounded with the Island of the Sun, mentioned in c. 26. See p. 60.

[397] It is not improbable that he alludes to coral reefs.

[398] This assertion Gosselin would either reject as a fabulous falsehood, or as having originated in some misconception on the part of the Romans; for, as he remarks, it is quite impossible that the Pleiades should be a constellation unknown at that time to the people of Ceylon; but, on the other hand, it would be equally true that the Greater Bear was concealed from them.

[399] This was also a fable, or else originated in misapprehension of their language on the part of the Romans.

[400] Gosselin remarks that their story may have been that for about seven months in the year the shadows fell to the north, and during the remaining five to the south, which would not have been inconsistent with the truth.

[401] This also is classed by Gosselin under the head either of fabulous stories or misapprehensions.

[402] “Seras—ab ipsis aspici.” It is difficult to say whether this does not mean that they were in sight of the coast of the Seræ. Under any circumstances, the Seræ here spoken of must not be taken for the Seres or supposed Chinese. Gosselin remarks that under this name the people of a district called Sera are probably referred to, and that in fact such is the name of a city and a whole province at the present day, situate on the opposite coast, beyond the mountains which terminate the plains of the Carnatic. It is equally impossible that under the name of “Emodi” Pliny can allude to the Himalaya chain, distant more than 2000 miles. The mountains, on the verge of the plains of the Carnatic, are not improbably those here referred to, and it is not impossible that they may be discerned from the shores of Ceylon. Gosselin is of opinion that the name of the ancient Seræ may still be traced in that of Seringapatam, and of the city of Seringham, situate on the river Godavery.

[403] Relative to the Seræ, or inhabitants of the opposite shores.

[404] Or “Bacchus.” This means that he wears a long robe with a train; much like the dress, in fact, which was worn on the stage by tragic actors.

[405] “Festa venatione absumi, gratissimam eam tigribus elephantisque constare.” Holland gives this sentence quite a different meaning, fancying that it bears reference to the mode in which the guilty king comes to his end, which, indeed, otherwise does not appear to be stated. “But to doe him to death in the end, they appoint a solemne day of hunting, right pleasant and agreable unto tigres and elephants, before which beasts they expose their king, and so he is presently by them devoured.” It is difficult to say, however, where he finds all this.

[406] It is much more probable that they used the shells for the purpose of making roofs for their habitations.

[407] Mentioned already, towards the conclusion of c. 23 of the present Book. See p. 51.

[408] This place was included in the district of the Paropanisus or Hindoo Koosh. It is doubtful whether Pliny is correct in saying that it was destroyed by Cyrus, as we have no reason for supposing that he ever advanced so far to the north-east. It is supposed by some that Capisene represents the valley of the Kabul river, and Capisa the town on the Indus, now known as Peshawar. Lassen, in his researches, has found in the Chinese annals a kingdom called Kiapiche, in the valley of Ghurbend, to the east of Bamian. It is not improbable that Capisa and Kiapiche were different forms of the same name.

[409] See the Notes in p. 50.

[410] The principal river of Drangiana, which rises in the lower range of the Paropanisus or Hindoo Koosh, and enters Lake Zarah. Its present name is Ilmend or Helmend. Burnouf has supposed it to be the same as the Arachotus; but Professor Wilson is of opinion that the Arachotus was one of the tributaries of the Erymanthus or Erymandrus, and probably the modern Arkand-Ab.

[411] Parisot takes the meaning of this word to be “valley,” and is of opinion that it is the modern Chabul; not to be confounded, however, with the country of Cabul, to the east of which it is situate.

[412] Now called Birusen, according to Parisot, and not the city of Cabul, as supposed by Hardouin.

[413] Or the “four-cornered city.”

[414] This place has not been identified. It has been suggested that it is the same as the modern city of Candahar; but that was really Alexandria of the Paropanisadæ, quite a different place.

[415] Inhabiting the district now called Arassen, according to Parisot.

[416] Inhabiting the modern Danra, according to Parisot.

[417] Inhabitants of the modern Parasan, according to Parisot.

[418] The modern Candahar is generally supposed to occupy its site.

[419] Pliny is thought to have here confounded the extensive district of Ariana with the smaller province of Aria, which only formed a portion of it. Ariana comprehended nearly the whole of what had been previously ancient Persia.

[420] The river known in modern times as the Ilincut, according to Parisot.

[421] This is supposed by Forbiger to be the modern Arghasan, one of the tributaries of the Helmend. Parisot says that it was the same as the modern Sat.

[422] Supposed to be the same as the “Aria civitas,” or “city of Aria” of other authors, which, however, is most probably represented by Alexandria, the modern Herat, situate on the small stream now called the Heri-Rud. At all events, Artacoana (proved by M. Court to be a word of Persian origin—Arde Koun) was, if not the same place, at a very small distance from it. M. Barbie de Bocage is of opinion that it occupied the site of Fushing, a town on the Heri river, one stage from Herat; and by M. Court it is thought to have been at Obeh, near the same place.

[423] Now called the Heri-Rud, which runs to the west of Herat.

[424] It is said that, judging from a traditional verse still current among the people of Herat, that town is believed to unite the claims of the ancient capital built by Alexander the Great, or indeed, more properly, repaired by him, as he was but a short time in Aria. The distance also from the Caspian Gates to Alexandria favours its identification with the modern Herat.

[425] This place does not appear to have been identified.

[426] Ansart suggests that the river Pharnacotis is the same as the modern Ferrichround, and the Ophradus probably the Kouchround.

[427] Ansart suggests that the modern name is Zarang. Parisot says that it is Corcharistan.

[428] The inhabitants of Drangiana, a district at the eastern end of the modern kingdom of Persia, and comprehending part of the present Sejestan or Seistan.

[429] They gave its name to the modern Eudras, according to Parisot.

[430] It is doubtful whether these are the same as the Gedrosi, mentioned by Pliny in c. 23, 24. Parisot censures Hardouin for confounding them, and says that these inhabited the modern Bassar. In Dr. Smith’s _Dictionary_, they are looked upon as the same people.

[431] Parisot says that this is the desert region now known as Eremaier, to the east of Mount Maugracot.

[432] As Parisot remarks, our author is now approaching the sea-shore; these places, however, do not appear to have been identified.

[433] Not the same as the river Cophen or Cophes mentioned in c. 24, the modern Kabul. Hardouin takes it to be the same as the Arbis or Arabius of Ptolemy, the modern Hilmend or Ilmend.

[434] Parisot seems to think that the modern names of these rivers are the Sal, the Ghir, and the Ilmentel, which, according to him, flow into the Ilmend.

[435] Situate, according to Ptolemy, in the eastern parts of Media.

[436] For this measurement see c. 21.

[437] Meaning the “Fish-eating Mountaineers.” According to Parisot they occupied the site of the modern Dulcidan, and Goadel, which are bounded by mountains, whence the name.

[438] Not only the Oritæ, but all those mentioned in the following Chapter. For further particulars as to the Ichthyophagi, see B. vii. c. 2.

[439] See the Notes at the end of this Book.

[440] By descending the Indus, and going up the Persian Gulf.

[441] Near the mouth of the Indus, Hardouin says.

[442] One of Alexander’s most distinguished officers, and a native of Pella. He commanded the division of cavalry and light-armed troops which accompanied the fleet of Alexander down the Indus, along the right bank of the river. The Alexandria here mentioned does not appear to have been identified. It is not to be confounded with Alexandria in Arachosia, nor yet with a place of the same name in Carmania, the modern Kerman.

[443] A river Tomerus is spoken of by Arrian as lying between the Indus and the river Arabis or Arbis.

[444] They seem to have dwelt along the shores of the modern Mukran, south of Beloochistan, and probably part of Kerman.

[445] Called Nosala by Arrian. Ansart suggests that it is the island now known by the name of Sengadip. It lay probably off the promontory or headland of the Sun, on the eastern coast of Arabia.

[446] Mela suggests the reason, but gives to the island a different locality—“over against the mouth of the Indus.” He says that the air of the island is of such a nature as to take away life instantaneously, and appears to imply that the heat is the cause.

[447] Possibly that now known as the Rud Shur.

[448] Properly the “Seven Trions.”

[449] The Persian kings, descendants of Achæmenes. He was said to have been reared by an eagle.

[450] Called the Promontory of Harmozon by Strabo, Hardouin says that the modern name is Cape Jash, but recent writers suggest that it is represented by the modern Cape Bombaruk, nearly opposite Cape Mussendom.

[451] Perhaps the modern Kishon, at the entrance of the Persian Gulf; or that may be one of the four islands next mentioned.

[452] The story of Pontoppidan’s Kraken or Korven, the serpent of the Norwegian Seas, is as old as Pliny, we find, and _he_ derived his information from older works.

[453] Forbiger has suggested that this may be the same as the modern Djayrah.

[454] Mentioned again in c. 29 of the present Book. Its modern name is Pasa or Fasa-Kuri, according to Parisot.

[455] Supposed to be the stream called by D’Anville and Thevenot the Boschavir, the river of Abushir or Busheer.

[456] A river of ancient Susiana, the present name of which is Karun. Pliny states, in c. 31 of the present Book, that the Eulæus flowed round the citadel of Susa; he mistakes it, however, for the Coprates, or, more strictly speaking, for a small stream now called the Shapúr river, the ancient name of which has not been preserved. He is also in error, most probably, in making the river Eulæus flow through Messabatene, it being most likely the present Mah-Sabaden, in Laristan, which is drained by the Kerkbah, the ancient Choaspes, and not by the Eulæus.

[457] Called, for the sake of distinction, Charax Spasinu, originally founded by Alexander the Great. It was afterwards destroyed by a flood, and rebuilt by Antiochus Epiphanes, under the name of Antiochia. It is mentioned in c. 31.

[458] The Shushan of Scripture, now called Shu. It was the winter residence of the kings of Persia, and stood in the district Cersia of the province Susiana, on the eastern bank of the river Choaspes. The site of Susa is now marked by extensive mounds.

[459] The island of Patala or Patale, previously mentioned in c. 23.

[460] Most probably the Cape Ras-el-Bad, the most easterly peninsula of Arabia.

[461] 35,000,000 francs, according to Ansart, which would amount to £1,400,000 of our money.

[462] Pliny is the only writer that mentions this place among the towns of Lower Egypt. Some suppose it to have been Nicopolis, or the City of Victory, founded by Augustus B.C. 29, partly to commemorate the reduction of Egypt to a Roman province, and partly to punish the Alexandrians for their adhesion to the cause of Antony and Cleopatra. Mannert, however, looks upon it as having been merely that suburb of Alexandria which Strabo (B. xvii.) calls Eleusis.

[463] From the Greek ὕδρευμα, a “watering-place.”

[464] From Coptos, the modern Kouft or Keft. Ptolemy Philadelphus, when he constructed the port of Berenice, erected several caravansaries or watering-places between the new city and Coptos. Coptos was greatly enriched by the commerce between Lybia and Egypt on the one hand, and Arabia and India on the other.

[465] Belzoni found traces of several of the stations here mentioned. The site of Berenice, as ascertained by Moresby and Carless, 1830-3, was nearly at the bottom of the inlet known as the Sinus Immundus, or Foul Bay. Its ruins still exist.

[466] Now called Gehla, a harbour and emporium at the south-western point of Arabia Felix.

[467] An emporium or promontory on the southern coast of Arabia, in the country of the Adramitæ, and, as Arrian says, the chief port of the incense-bearing country. It has been identified by D’Anville with Cava Canim Bay, near a mountain called Hissan Ghorab, at the base of which there are ruins to be seen.

[468] Probably the modern Mosch, north of Mokha, near the southern extremity of Arabia Felix.

[469] Its ruins are now known as Dhafar. It was one of the chief cities of Arabia, standing near the southern coast of Arabia Felix, opposite the modern Cape Guardafui.

[470] Or Favonius, the west wind, previously mentioned in the present Chapter.

[471] The modern Mangalore, according to Du Bocage.

[472] Or canoes.

[473] The Cottiara of Ptolemy, who makes it the chief city of the Æi, a tribe who occupied the lower part of the peninsula of Hindostan. It has been supposed to be represented by the modern Calicut or Travancore. Cochin, however, appears to be the most likely.

[474] Marcus observes that we may conclude that either Pliny or the author from whom he transcribed, wrote this between the years of the Christian era 48 and 51; for that the coincidence of the 6th of the month Mechir with the Ides of January, could not have taken place in any other year than those on which the first day of Thoth or the beginning of the year fell on the 11th of August, which happened in the years 48, 49, 50, and 51 of the Christian era.

[475] An extensive province of Asia, along the northern shores of the Persian Gulf, supposed to have comprehended the coast-line of the modern Laristan, Kirman, and Moghostan.

[476] Ptolemy mentions an inland town of Carmania of the same name.

[477] Supposed to be that known now as the Ibrahim Rud, which falls into the Persian Gulf.

[478] These sites are unknown.

[479] Forms two bays or gulfs in succession.

[480] He gives this name to the whole expanse of sea that lies between Arabia and Africa on the west, and India on the east, including the Red Sea and the Persian Gulf.

[481] Or Erythrus. In all probability entirely a mythical personage. The sea having been called in Greek ἐρυθραῖα, or “red”—the legend most probably thence took its rise. No very satisfactory reason has yet been given for its being so called. The Hebrew name of it signifies the “Sedgy Sea.”

[482] From Azania in Æthiopia, mentioned again in c. 34 of the present Book.

[483] The maps appear to make it considerably more.

[484] The only feature of resemblance appears to be its comparative narrowness at the neck.

[485] Or “turtle-eaters.”

[486] Different probably from the Cophis mentioned in c. 25, which was also called Arabius or Arbis, and probably represented by the modern Purali.

[487] Of Harmozon, probably the modern Bombareek.

[488] Their district is supposed to denote the vicinity of the modern Ormuz, an island off this coast, which is now known as Moghostan.

[489] Taking their name probably from the river Arbis, previously mentioned.

[490] The “Port of the Macedonians.”

[491] Now the Tab, falling into the Persian Gulf.

[492] A district of Susiana, extending from the river Eulæus on the west, to the Oratis on the east, deriving its name perhaps from the Elymæi, or Elymi, a warlike people found in the mountains of Greater Media. In the Old Testament this country is called Elam.

[493] Ptolemy says that this last bore the name of “Alexander’s Island.”

[494] Persis was more properly a portion only or province of the ancient kingdom of Persia. It gave name to the extensive Medo-Persian kingdom under Cyrus, the founder of the Persian empire, B.C. 559.

[495] The Parthi originally inhabited the country south-east of the Caspian, now Khorassan. Under Arsaces and his descendants, Persis and the other provinces of ancient Persia became absorbed in the great Parthian empire. Parthia, with the Chorasmii, Sogdii, and Arii, formed the sixteenth satrapy under the Persian empire. See c. 16 of this Book.

[496] The provinces of Parthia have been already mentioned in detail in the preceding Chapters, except Susiana and Elymais, which are mentioned in c. 31.

[497] The original Parthia, the modern Khorassan.

[498] The so-called Caucasian chain. See c. 16 of the present Book.

[499] Or “Wandering Parthians,” lying far to the east.

[500] In c. 17 of the present Book.

[501] Not to be confounded with the place in Atropatene, mentioned in c. 21 of the present Book.

[502] It has been supposed that the modern Damgham corresponds with this place, but that is too near the Portæ Caspiæ. It is considered most probable that the remains of Hecatompylos ought to be sought in the neighbourhood of a place now known as Jah Jirm. It is mentioned in c. 17 and 21 of the present Book.

[503] Media occupied the extreme west of the great table-land of the modern Iran. It corresponded very nearly to the modern province of Irak-Ajemi.

[504] The Upper and the Lower, as already mentioned.

[505] Hardouin suggests that this should be Syrtibolos. His reasons for so thinking will be found alluded to in a note to c. 31. See p. 80, Note [593].

[506] Or the “Great Ladder.” The Baron de Bode states, in his _Travels in Luristan and Arabistan_, that he discovered the remains of a gigantic causeway, in which he had no difficulty in recognizing one of the most ancient and most mysterious monuments of the East. This causeway, which at the present day bears the name of Jaddehi-Atabeg, or the “road of the Atabegs,” was looked upon by several historians as one of the wonders of the world, who gave it the name of the Climax Megale or “Great Ladder.” At the time even of Alexander the Great the name of its constructor was unknown.

[507] Which was rebuilt after it was burnt by Alexander, and in the middle ages had the name of Istakhar; it is now called Takhti Jemsheed, the throne of Jemsheed, or Chil-Minar, the Forty Pillars. Its foundation is sometimes ascribed to Cyrus the Great, but more generally to his son, Cambyses. The ruins of this place are very extensive.

[508] Its site is unknown; but Dupinet translates it the “city of Lor.”

[509] The older of the two capitals of Persia, Persepolis being the later one. It was said to have been founded by Cyrus the Great, on the spot where he gained his victory over Astyages. Its exact site is doubtful, but most modern geographers identify it with Murghab, to the north-east of Persepolis, where there are the remains of a great sepulchral monument of the ancient Persians, probably the tomb of Cyrus. Others place it at Farsa or at Dorab-Gherd, both to the south-east of Persepolis, the direction mentioned by Strabo, but not in other respects answering his description so well as Murghab.

[510] It is most probable that he does not allude here to the Ecbatana, mentioned in c. 17 of this Book.

[511] There were several mountainous districts called Parætacene in the Persian empire, that being the Greek form of a Persian word signifying “mountainous.”

[512] In B. v. c. 21. He returns to the description of Susiana, Elymaïs, and Characene in c. 31 of the present Book.

[513] The great seat of empire of the Babylonio-Chaldæan kingdom. It either occupied the site, it is supposed, or stood in the immediate vicinity of the tower of Babel. In the reign of Labynedus, Nabonnetus, or Belshazzar, it was taken by Cyrus. In the reign of Augustus, a small part only of Babylon was still inhabited, the remainder of the space within the walls being under cultivation. The ruins of Babylon are found to commence a little south of the village of Mohawill, eight miles north of Hillah.

[514] Nineveh. See c. 16 of the present Book.

[515] On the left bank of the Euphrates, opposite to the ford of Zeugma; a fortress of considerable importance.

[516] Its site is unknown. Dupinet confounds it with the place of this name mentioned in the last Chapter, calling them by the name of Lor.

[517] Pliny is wrong in placing Artemita in Mesopotamia. It was a city of Babylonia, in the district of Apolloniatis. The modern Sherbán is supposed to occupy its site.

[518] Burnouf, having found the name of these people, as he supposes, in a cuneiform inscription, written “Ayura,” would have them to be called Aroei. The Orei are also mentioned in B. v. c. 20.

[519] This Antioch does not appear to have been identified.

[520] The mountains of the Gordyæi are mentioned in c. 12.

[521] This, as previously mentioned in a Note to c. 16, was the scene of the last great battle between Alexander and Darius, and known as the battle of Arbela. It has been suggested that it may perhaps be represented by a place now called Karnelis. See p. 27.

[522] According to Ansart, now called the Lesser Zab, and by the inhabitants the Altun-su, meaning the “Golden river.”

[523] According to Parisot, the modern name is Calicala.

[524] Strabo speaks of the Aborras, or modern Khabur, as flowing in the vicinity of Anthemusia, the district probably in which the town of Anthermis was situate. According to Isidorus of Charax, it lay between Edessa and the Euphrates. Its site does not appear to have been any further identified. It is called Anthemusia in B. v. c. 21.

[525] In B. v. c. 21.

[526] In B. v. c. 21.

[527] In B. v. c. 21.

[528] This canal, leading from the Euphrates to the Tigris, is by some thought, according to Hardouin, to have been the river Chobar, mentioned in Ezekiel, c. i. v. 3.

[529] For Arar-Melik, meaning the “River King,” according to Parisot.

[530] As to the identity of this, see a Note at the beginning of this Chapter.

[531] Meaning Jupiter Uranius, or “Heavenly Jupiter,” according to Parisot, who observes that Eusebius interprets _baal_, or _bel_, “heaven.” According to one account, he was the father of king Ninus and son of Nimrod. The Greeks in later times attached to his name many of their legendary fables.

[532] The city of Seleucia ad Tigrin, long the capital of Western Asia, until it was eclipsed by Ctesiphon. Its site has been a matter of considerable discussion, but the most probable opinion is, that it stood on the western bank of the Tigris, to the north of its junction with the royal canal (probably the river Chobar above mentioned), opposite to the mouth of the river Delas or Silla (now Diala), and to the spot where Ctesiphon was afterwards built by the Parthians. It stood a little to the south of the modern city of Baghdad; thus commanding the navigation of the Tigris and Euphrates, and the whole plain formed by those two rivers.

[533] Ammianus, like Pliny, has ascribed its foundation to the Parthians under Varanes, or Vardanes, of whom, however, nothing is known. It stood in the south of Assyria, on the eastern or left bank of the Tigris. Strabo speaks of it as being the winter residence of the Parthian kings, who lived there at that season, owing to the mildness of the climate. In modern times the site of this place has been identified with that called by the Arabs Al Madain, or the “two cities.”

[534] Or Vologeses. This was the name of five kings of Parthia, of the race of the Arsacidæ, Arsaces XXIII., XXVII., XXVIII., XXIX., XXX. It was the first of these monarchs who founded the place here mentioned by Pliny.

[535] Or the “City of Vologesus;” _certa_ being the Armenian for “city.”

[536] Nothing appears to be known of this place; but Hardouin thinks that it is the same with one called Maarsares by Ptolemy, and situate on the same river Narraga.

[537] Parisot says that this river is the one set down in the maps as falling into the Tigris below its junction with the Euphrates, and near the mouths of the two rivers. He says that near the banks of it is marked the town of Nabrahan, the Narraga of Pliny.

[538] There is great doubt as to the correct spelling of these names.

[539] Against the attacks of robbers dwelling on the opposite side; the Attali, for instance.

[540] Or “dwellers in tents,” Bedouins, as we call them.

[541] B. v. c. 20 and 21.

[542] Towards Mahamedieh.

[543] Near Antioch and the Orontes: now Seleukeh, or Kepse, near Suadeiah.

[544] See B. v. c. 13.

[545] The Mediterranean and the Red Sea; the latter including the modern Red Sea and the Persian Gulf.

[546] Forbiger is of opinion that this is the same as the Didigua or Didugua of Ptolemy. It was situate below Alpamea. D’Anville takes it to be the modern Corna.

[547] The modern Turcomania.

[548] Now known as the Plain of Chelat, according to Parisot, extending between Chelat, a city situate on a great lake and the river Rosso, falling into the Caspian Sea.

[549] Called Diglith by Josephus. Hardouin states that in his time the name given to the river by the natives was Daghela. This name is also supposed to be another form of the Hiddekel of Scripture. See Genesis ii. 14.

[550] According to Bochart, this was a corruption of the Eastern name Deghel, from which were derived the forms Deger, Teger, and ultimately Tigris.

[551] Ritter has identified this with the modern lake Nazuk, in Armenia, about thirteen miles in length and five in breadth. The water at the present day is said to be sweet and wholesome.

[552] Seneca, however, in his _Quæst. Nat._ B. vi., represents the Tigris here as gradually drying up and becoming gradually smaller, till it disappears.

[553] This spot is considered by Parisot to be the modern city of Betlis.

[554] A spot where liquid bitumen or naphtha was found.

[555] Or probably Arzarene, a province of the south of Armenia, situate on the left bank of the Tigris. It derived its name from the lake Arsene, or the town Arzen, situate on this lake. It is comprehended in the modern Pashalik of Dyár Bekr.

[556] Now called the Myrád-chaï. See B. v. c. 24. Ritter considers it to be the southern arm of the Euphrates.

[557] Or Aroei, as Littré suggests. See Note to c. 30 in p. 71.

[558] See c. 17 of the present Book.

[559] The site of this place seems to be unknown. It has been remarked that it is difficult to explain the meaning of this passage of Pliny, or to determine the probable site of Apamea.

[560] Hardouin remarks that this is the right arm of the Tigris, by Stephanus Byzantinus called Delas, and by Eustathius Sylax, which last he prefers.

[561] According to Ammianus, one of the names of Seleucia on the Tigris was Coche.

[562] A river of Susiana, which, after passing Susa, flowed into the Tigris, below its junction with the Euphrates. The indistinctness of the ancient accounts has caused it to be confused with the Eulæus, which flows nearly parallel with it into the Tigris. It is pretty clear that they were not identical. Pliny here states that they were different rivers, but makes the mistake below, of saying that Susa was situate upon the Eulæus, instead of the Choaspes. These errors may be accounted for, it has been suggested, by the fact that there are two considerable rivers which unite at Bund-i-Kir, a little above Ahwaz, and form the ancient Pasitigris or modern Karun. It is supposed that the Karun represents the ancient Eulæus, and the Kerkhah the Choaspes.

[563] In c. 26 of the present Book. The custom of the Persian kings drinking only of the waters of the Eulæus and Choaspes, is mentioned in B. xxxi. c. 21.

[564] Or the country “by the river.”

[565] Pliny is the only writer who makes mention of this place. Parisot is of opinion that it is represented by the modern Digil-Ab, on the Tigris, and suggests that Digilath may be the correct reading.

[566] Mentioned in the last Chapter.

[567] Now called the Mountains of Luristan.

[568] The name of the district of Chalonitis is supposed to be still preserved in that of the river of Holwan. Pliny is thought, however, to have been mistaken in placing the district on the river Tigris, as it lay to the east of it, and close to the mountains.

[569] From Arbela, in Assyria, which bordered on it.

[570] A great and populous city of Babylonia, near the Tigris, but not on it, and eight parasangs within the Median wall. The site is that probably now called Eski Baghdad, and marked by a ruin called the Tower of Nimrod. Parisot cautions against confounding it with a place of a similar name, mentioned by Pliny in B. xii. c. 17, a mistake into which, he says, Hardouin has fallen.

[571] Now called Felongia, according to Parisot. Hardouin considers it the same as the Sambana of Diodorus Siculus, which Parisot looks upon as the same as Ambar, to the north of Felongia.

[572] Of this Antiochia nothing appears to be known. By some it has been supposed to be the same with Apollonia, the chief town of the district of Apolloniatis, to the south of the district of Arbela.

[573] Also called the Physcus, the modern Ordoneh, an eastern tributary of the Tigris in Lower Assyria. The town of Opis stood at its junction with the Tigris.

[574] D’Anville supposes that this Apamea was at the point where the Dijeil, now dry, branched off from the Tigris, which bifurcation he places near Samurrah. Lynch, however, has shown that the Dijeil branched off near Jibbarah, a little north of 34° North lat., and thinks that the Dijeil once swept the end of the Median wall, and flowed between it and Jebbarah. Possibly this is the Apamea mentioned by Pliny in c. 27.

[575] The son of Seleucus Nicator.

[576] More to the south, and nearer the sea.

[577] Previously mentioned in c. 26.

[578] A part of Mount Zagrus, previously mentioned, according to Hardouin.

[579] Its site appears to be unknown. According to Stephanus, it was a city of Persia. Forbiger conjectures that it is the same place as Badaca, mentioned by Diodorus Siculus, B. xix. c. 19; but that was probably nearer to Susa.

[580] The buryer excepted, perhaps.

[581] In c. 28 of the present Book.

[582] As mentioned in c. 26 of the present Book.

[583] A warlike tribe on the borders of Susiana and the Greater Media. In character they are thought to have resembled the Bakhtiara tribes, who now roam over the mountains which they formerly inhabited. It has been suggested that their name may possibly be connected with the modern Khuzistan.

[584] Supposed to be the same as the modern Kirmánshah mountains.

[585] As mentioned in a previous Note, (67 in p. 77), Pliny mistakes the Eulæus for the Choaspes. In c. 26 he says that Susa is on the river Tigris.

[586] Pliny says this in B. xxxi. c. 21 of both the Eulæus and the Choaspes.

[587] Most probably the Hedyphon of Strabo, supposed to be the same as that now called the Djerrabi.

[588] Parisot thinks that this is the modern Jessed, in the vicinity of the desert of Bealbanet.

[589] Previously mentioned in c. 28.

[590] The modern Tab.

[591] Now called Camata, according to Parisot.

[592] The modern Saurac, according to Parisot. The more general reading is “Sosirate.”

[593] Our author has nowhere made any such statement as this, for which reason Hardouin thinks that he here refers to the maritime region mentioned in c. 29 of the present Book (p. 69), the name of which Sillig reads as Ciribo. Hardouin would read it as Syrtibolos, and would give it the meaning of the “muddy district of the Syrtes.” It is more likely, however, that Pliny has made a slip, and refers to something which, by inadvertence, he has omitted to mention.

[594] Charax Spasinu, or Pasinu, previously mentioned in c. 26 (see p. 62). The name Charax applied to a town, seems to have meant a fortified place.

[595] Called “Eudæmon” by Pliny.

[596] The Great, the father of Antiochus Epiphanes.

[597] Though this passage is probably corrupt, the reading employed by Sillig is inadmissible, as it makes nothing but nonsense. “Et jam Vipsanda porticus habet;” “and even now, Vipsanda has its porticos.”

[598] Dionysius of Charax. No particulars of him are known beyond those mentioned by Pliny.

[599] Caius, the son of Marcus Agrippa and Julia, the daughter of Augustus. He was the adopted son of Augustus.

[600] See B. iii. c. 1, p. 151, in vol. 1.

[601] In B. v. c. 21 and 22.

[602] Who called himself the King of kings, and was finally conquered by Pompey.

[603] The Mediterranean.

[604] See B. v. c. 12.

[605] Salmasius thinks that this should be written “Nombei;” but Hardouin remarks that the Nombæi were not of Arabian but Jewish extraction, and far distant from Mount Libanus.

[606] The only resemblance between them is, that each is a peninsula; that of Arabia being of far greater extent than Italy. It will be remarked that here, contrary to his ordinary practice, Pliny makes a distinction between the Red Sea and the Persian Sea or Gulf.

[607] “In eandem etiam cœli partem nulla differentia spectat.” A glance at the map will at once show the fallacy of this assertion.

[608] In B. v. c. 12 and 21.

[609] In c. 30 of the present Book.

[610] Mentioned in B. v. c. 21, if, indeed, that is the same Petra.

[611] Omana or Omanum was their chief place, a port on the north-east coast of Arabia Felix, a little above the promontory of Syagros, now Ras el Had, on a large gulf of the same name. The name is still preserved in the modern name Oman.

[612] In Sitacene, mentioned in the preceding Chapter.

[613] Or rather, as Hardouin says, the shore opposite to Charax, and on the western bank of the river.

[614] Called Core Boobian, a narrow salt-water channel, laid down for the first time in the East India Company’s chart, and separating a large low island, off the mouth of the old bed of the Euphrates, from the mainland.

[615] The great headland on the coast of Arabia, at the entrance of the bay of Doat-al-Kusma from the south, opposite to Pheleche Island.

[616] This is the line of coast extending from the great headland last mentioned to the river Khadema, the ancient Achenus.

[617] So called from the city of Arabia Felix, built on its shores. Strabo says of this city, “The city of Gerra lies in a deep gulf, where Chaldæan exiles from Babylon inhabit a salt country, having houses built of salt, the walls of which, when they are wasted by the heat of the sun, are repaired by copious applications of sea-water.” D’Anville first identified this place with the modern El Khatiff. Niebuhr finds its site on the modern Koneit of the Arabs, called “Gran” by the Persians; but Foster is of opinion that he discovered its ruins in the East India Company’s Chart, situate where all the ancient authorities had placed it, at the end of the deep and narrow bay at the mouth of which are situated the islands of Bahrein. The gulf mentioned by Pliny is identified by Foster with that of Bahrein.

[618] The modern island of Bahrein, according to Brotier, still famous for its pearl-fishery.

[619] Now Samaki, according to Ansart. Its ancient name was Aradus.

[620] Hardouin takes this to be that which by the Arabians is called by the name of Falg.

[621] On the Arabian side of the Persian Gulf.

[622] Considered by modern geographers to be identical in situation with the Black Mountains and the Cape of Asabi, and still marked by a town and district named Sabee, close to Cape Mussendom.

[623] In the modern district still called Oman.

[624] On the opposite coast.