252

188.230-25 0.

197

MÉL POMENE.

country towards the fea is Hylæa, contiguous to which are fome Scythian hufbandmen, who call themselves Olbiopolite, but who, by the Greeks living near the Hypanis, are called Boryfthenites 20 The country poffeffed by thefe Scythians towards 252 the eaft is the space of a three days journey, as far 154 as the river Panticapes; to the north, their lands ex

tend to the amount of an eleven days voyage along
the Boryfthenes. The fpace beyond this is a vaft
inhofpitable defert; and remoter ftill are the Andro-
phagi, or men-eaters, a separate nation, and by no
means Scythian. As we pafs farther from these,
the country is altogether defert, not containing, to
our knowledge, any inhabitants,

XIX. To the east of these Scythians, who are husbandmen, and beyond the river Panticapes, are

252

12

the Scythian Nomades or shepherds, who are totallyirli
unacquainted with agriculture: except Hylæa, all
this country is naked of trees. Thefe Nomades
inhabit a diftrict to the extent of a fourteen
days journey towards the eaft, as far as the river
Gerrhus,

XX. Beyond the Gerrhus is fituate what is term-
ed the royal province of Scythia, poffeffed by the
more numerous part and the nobleft of the Scy-
thians, who confider all the reft of their countrymen

Boryfthenites.]-These people are called by Propertius the
Borysthenidæ :

Gloria ad hybernos lata Boryfthenidas. T.

as their flaves. From the fouth they extend to
Tauris, and from the east as far as the trench
which was funk by the defcendants of the blinded
flaves, and again as far as the port of the Palus
Mootis, called Chemni, and indeed many of them
are fpread as far as the Tanais. Beyond thefe, to
the north, live the Melanchlani, another nation
who are not Scythians. Beyond the Melanchlani
the lands are low and marshy, and as we believe
entirely uninhabited.

* Do14231.

141 XXI Beyond the Tanais the region of Scythia terminates, and the first nation we meet with are the Sauromatæ, who, commencing at the remote parts of the Palus Mootis, inhabit a fpace to the north, equal to a fifteen days journey; the country is totally deftitute of trees, both wild and cultivated. Beyond thefe are the Budini, who are husbandmen, and in whofe country trees are found in abundance.

27%

great

-268.301

XXII. To the north beyond the Budini, is an 3 immenfe defert of an eight days journey; paffing which to the east are the Thyfageta, a fingular 28 but populous nation, who fupport themselves by hunting. Contiguous to these, in the fame region, are a people called lyrcæ "7; they alfo live by the chace, which

27

27 Tyrce.It is in vain that Meffieurs Falconnet and Mallet are defirous of reading here Tupno, the Turks, the fame as it occurs in Pomponius Mela; it would be better, with Pintianus,

to

MELP OMENE.

199

which they thus purfue:-Having afcended the tops of the trees, which every where abound, they watch for their prey. Each man has a horse, inftructed to lie clofe to the ground, that it may not be feen; they have each alfo a dog. As foon as the man from the tree discovers his game, he wounds it with an arrow, then mounting his horfe he purfues it, followed by his dog. Advancing from this people 231-233 ftill nearer to the east, we again meet with Scythi

ans, who having feceded from the Royal Scythians, established themselves here.

Rega

7

XXIII. As far as these Scythians the whole country is flat, and the foil excellent; beyond them it becomes barren and ftony. After travelling over a confiderable space, a people are found living at the foot of fome lofty mountains, who, both male and female, are faid to be bald from their birth, having large chins, and noftrils like the ape fpecies. They have a language of their own, but their dress is Scythian; they live chiefly upon the produce of a tree which is called the ponticus, it is as large as a fig, and has a kernel not unlike a bean: when it is ripe they press it through a cloth, it produces a thick black liquor which they call afchy, this e they drink, mixing it with milk; the groffer parts which remain they form into balls and eat. They have but few cattle, from the want of

rage.

proper pastuEach man dwells under his tree; this

to correct the text of the geographer by that of Herodotus. Pliny also joins this people with the Thyffagetæ.-Larcher.

during the winter they cover with a thick white cloth, which in the fummer is removed; they live unmolested by any one, being confidered as facred, and having amongst them no offenfive weapon. Their neighbours apply to them for decifion in matters of private controverfy; and whoever feeks an asylum amongst them is fecure from injury. They are called the Argippai 2.

28

XXIV. As far as these people who are bald, the knowledge of the country and intermediate nations is clear and fatisfactory; it may he obtained from the Scythians, who have frequent communication with them, from the Greeks of the port on the Boryfthenes, and from many other places of trade on the Euxine. As thefe nations have feven different languages, the Scythians who communicate with them have occafion for as many interpreters.

XXV. Beyond thefe Argippæi, no certain intelligence is to be had, a chain of lofty and inac-" ceffible mountains precluding all discovery. The people who are bald affert, what I can by no means believe, that thefe mountains are inhabited

28 Argippai.]-Thefe people are faid to have derived their name from the white horfes with which their country abounded. The Tartars of the present day are said to hold white horses in great eflimation; how much they were esteemed in ancient times, appears from various paffages of different writers, who believed that they excelled in fwiftnefs all horfes of a different colour.

Qui candore nives anteirent, curfibus auras.

T.

.by

by men, who in their lower parts resemble a goat; and that beyond these are a race who fleep away fix months of the year: neither does this seem at all more probable. To the east of the Argippæi it is beyond all doubt that the country is poffeffed by the Iffedones; but beyond them to the north neither the Iffedones nor the Argippæi know any thing more than I have already related.

XXVI. The Iffedones have thefe among other customs:-As often as any one lofes his father, his relations severally provide fome cattle; these they kill, and having cut them in pieces, they difmember alfo the body of the deceased, and, mixing the whole together, feast upon it; the head alone is preferved, from this they carefully remove the hair, and cleanfing it thoroughly fet it in gold 29; it is afterwards esteemed facred, and produced in their folemn annual facrifices. Every man obferves the above rites in honour of his father, as the Greeks do theirs in memory of the dead 30, In other refpects

29 Set it in gold.]-We learn from Livy, that the Boii, a people of Gaul, did exactly the fame with respect to the fculls of their enemies. Purgato inde capite ut mos iis eft, calvam auro cælavere: idque facrum vas iis erat, quo folemnibus libarent-See Livy, chap. xxiv. book 23.

30 In memory of the dead.]-The Greeks had anniversary days in remembrance of departed friends. These were indifferently' termed Neμoia, as being folemnized on the feftival of Nemefis, Ngata, and reveola. This latter word seems to intimate that these were feasts instituted to commemorate the birth-days; but these, it appears, were obferved by furviving relations and friends upon

the