CLXVII. At this time Aryandes, taking compaffion on Pheretime, delivered to her command all the land and fea forces of Ægypt. To Amafis, 30 a Maraphian, he entrusted the conduct of the army;

161

and Badre, a Pafargadian by birth, had the di- oto
rection of the fleet. Before however they proceeded
on any expedition, a herald was dispatched to Barce,
demanding the name of the perfon who had affaf-
finated Arcefilaus. The Barceans replied, that
they were equally concerned, for he had repeatedly
injured them all, Having received this anfwer,
Aryandes permitted his forces to proceed with
Pheretime.

CLXVIII. This was the pretence with Aryandes for commencing hoftilities; but I am rather inclined to think that he had the fubjection of the Africans in view. The nations of Africa are many and various; few of them had ever fubmitted to Darius, and most of them held him in contempt, Beginning from Egypt, the Africans are to be enumerated in the order following.-The first are the Adyrmachidæ, whofe manners are in every refpect Egyptian; their drefs African. On each leg their wives wear a ring of brafs. They fuffer their hair to grow; if they catch any fleas upon their bodies, they first bite and then throw them away. They are the only people of Africa who do this.

16 Pafargadian.]-There was a city in Perfia 'called Pafargada, which doubtlefs gave its name to the nation of Pafar gades. The place is now, in the Arabian tongue, called Databegend.-T.

10

162

may

It is alfo peculiar to them to present their daughters
to the king just before their marriage who
›
enjoy the perfons of fuch as are agreeable to him.
The Adyrmachida occupy the
Ægypt and the port of Pleunos,

country between

CLXIX, Next to thefe are the Giligammæ, who dwell towards the weft as far as the island of Aphrodifias. In the midst of this region is the ifland of Platea, which the Cyreneans built. The harbour of Menelaus and Aziris, poffeffed alfo by the Cyreneans, is upon the continent. Silphium 163

3.294

begins

161 Before their marriage:]-A play of Beaumont and Fletcher is founded upon the idea of this obfcene and unnatural cusThe following note is by Mr. Theobald upon the "Cuftom of the Country." Beaumont and Fletch. 1778.

tom.

The custom on which a main part of the plot of this comedy is built, prevailed at one time, as Bayle tells us, in Italy, till it was put down by a prudent and truly pious cardinal. It is likewife generally imagined to have obtained in Scotland for a long time; and the received opinion hath hitherto been, that Eugenius, the third king of Scotland, who began his reign A. D. 535, ordained that the lord or mafter should have the first night's lodging with every woman married to his tenant or bondfman. This obfcene ordinance is fuppofed to have been abrogated by Malcolm the third, who began his reign A. D. 1061, about five years before the Norman Conqueft, having lafted in force fomewhat above five hundred years.-See Blount in his Law Dictionary, under the word Mercheta. Another commentator remarks, that Sir David Dalrymple denies the existence of this cuftom in Scotland.-Judge Blackstone is of opinion that this cuftom never prevailed in England, but that it certainly did in Scotland.

163 Silphium.-Either M. Larcher or myfelf must be grossly mistaken in the interpretation of this paffage. The plant

Silphium,"

begins where thefe terminate, and is continued from Platea to the mouth of the Syrtes 164. The man

ners

1

Silphium," fays his verfion, "begins in this place to be found, and is continued," &c. This in my opinion neither agrees with the context, nor is in itself at all probable. In various authors mention is made of the Silphii, and reference is made by them to this particular paffage of Herodotus.-T.

164 Syrtes.]The Great Syrtes must be here meant, which is in the neighbourhood of Barce, and nearer Ægypt than the Small Syrtes.-Larcher.

There were the Greater and the Leffer Syrtes, and both
deemed very
formidable to navigators. Their nature has never
been better described than in the following lines from Lucan,
which I give the reader in Rowe's version.

When nature's hand the first formation try'd,
When feas from lands she did at firft divide,
The Syrts, not quite of fea nor land bereft,
A mingled mafs uncertain ftill fhe left;
For nor the land with fea is quite o'erfpread,
Nor fink the waters deep their oozy bed,
Nor earth defends its shore, nor lifts aloft its head;
The scite with neither, and with each complies,
Doubtful and inacceffible it lies;

Or 'tis a fea with fhallows bank'd around,

Or 'tis a broken land with waters drown'd:
Here fhores advanc'd o'er Neptune's rule we find,
And there an inland ocean lags behind;
Thus nature's purpose, by herself destroy'd,
Is ufelefs to herself, and unemploy'd,
And part of her creation ftill is void.
Perhaps, when firft the world and time began,
Her fwelling tides and plenteous waters ran;
But long confining on the burning zone,
The finking feas have felt the neighbouring fun;
Still by degrees we fee how they decay,
And scarce refift the thirsty god of day.

}

}

Perhaps,

1.308

221

ners of these people nearly resemble those of their
neighbours.

CLXX. From the weft, and immediately next to the Giligammæ, are the Afbystæ, They are above Cyrene, but have no communication with the fea coafts, which are occupied by the Cyreneans : They are beyond all the Africans remarkable for their use of chariots drawn by four horses; and in moft respects they imitate the manners of the Cy

reneans.

3.202 CLXXI. On the western borders of this people dwell the Aufchife; their district commences above Barce, and is continued to the fea, near the Euefperides. The Cabales, an inconfiderable nation, inhabit towards the centre of the Aufchife, and extend themfelyes to the fea coaft near Tauchira, a town belonging to Barce. The Cabales have the fame customs as the people beyond Cy-5

rene.

CLXXII. The powerful nation of the Nafa mones border on the Aufchife towards the west, This people during the fummer feafon leave their cattle on the fea coaft, and go up the country to a place called Augila to gather dates. Upon this

Perhaps, in diftant ages 'twill be found,
When future funs have run the burning round,
Thefe Syrts fhall all be dry and folid ground:
Small are the depths their fcanty waves retain,
And earth grows daily on the yielding main,

}

fpot

fpot the palms are equally numerous, large, and fruitful: they alfo hunt for locufts 15, which having dried in the fun, they reduce them to a powder, and eat mixed with milk. Each perfon is allowed to have feveral wives, with whom they cohabit in the manner of the Massagetæ, first fixing a staff in the earth before their tent. When the Nafamones marry, the bride on the firft night permits every one of the guests to enjoy her perfon, each of whom makes her a prefent brought with him for the purpose. Their mode of divination and of taking an oath is this: they place their hands on the tombs 166 of thofe who have been moft eminent for their integrity and virtue, and swear by their names.

165 Locus.]-The circumftance of locufts being dried and kept for provifion, I have before mentioned: the following appofite paffage having fince occurred to me from Niebuhr, I think proper to infert it.

On vendit dans tous les marchés des fauterelles à vil prix: car elles etoient fi prodigieufement repandues dans la plaine près de Jerim, qu'on pouvoit les prendres à pleines mains. Nous vimes un paysan qui en avoit rempli un fac, et qui alloit les fecher pour fa provision d'hyver.

166 On the tombs.]-The following fingular remark from Niebuhr feems particularly applicable in this place.

}

" Il

Un marchand de la Mecque me fit fur fes faints une réflection, qui me furprit dans la bouche d'un Mahometan. faut toujours à la populace," me dit-il, «un objet vifible qu'elle puiffe honorer et craindre. C'eft ainfi qu'à la Mecque tous les fermens fe font au nom de Mahomet, au lieu qu'on devroit s'adreffer à Dieu. A Molcha je ne me fierois un homme qui affirmeroit une chofe en prenant Dieu à témoin; mais je pourrois compter plutôt fur la foi de celui qui jureroit par le nom de Schaedeli, dont la mosquée et le tombeau font fous fes yeux."

pas a

When

203 2/1. 2/2