The Commerce and Navigation of the Erythraean Sea - Being a Translation of the Periplus Maris Erythraei and - Arrian's Account of the Voyage of Nearkhos

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Title: The Commerce and Navigation of the Erythraean Sea - Being a Translation of the Periplus Maris Erythraei and - Arrian's Account of the Voyage of Nearkhos
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THE

COMMERCE AND NAVIGATION

OF THE

ERYTHRÆAN SEA;

BEING A TRANSLATION

OF THE

PERIPLUS MARIS ERYTHRÆI,

BY AN ANONYMOUS WRITER,

AND OF

ARRIAN’S ACCOUNT OF THE VOYAGE OF NEARKHOS,

FROM THE MOUTH OF THE INDUS TO THE HEAD OF THE
PERSIAN GULF.

WITH INTRODUCTIONS, COMMENTARY, NOTES,
AND INDEX.

J. W. MCCRINDLE, M.A. EDIN.,
PRINCIPAL OF THE GOVERNMENT COLLEGE, PATNA;
MEMBER OF THE COUNCIL OF THE UNIVERSITY OF EDINBURGH;
FELLOW OF THE CALCUTTA UNIVERSITY.

(_Reprinted, with additions, from the Indian Antiquary._)

Calcutta:
THACKER, SPINK & Co.

Bombay:
ED. SOC. PRESS.

London:
TRÜBNER & Co.

1879.

BOMBAY:
PRINTED AT THE EDUCATION SOCIETY’S PRESS, BYCULLA.

PREFACE.

In the Preface to my former work, “Ancient India as described by
Megasthenês and Arrian,” I informed the reader that it was my intention
to publish from time to time translations of the Greek and Latin works
which relate to ancient India, until the series should be exhausted,
and the present volume is the second instalment towards the fulfilment
of that undertaking. It contains a translation of the _Periplûs_
(_i. e. Circumnavigation_) _of the Erythræan Sea_, together with a
translation of the second part of the _Indika_ of Arrian describing
the celebrated voyage made by Nearkhos from the mouth of the Indus
to the head of the Persian Gulf. Arrian’s narrative, copied from the
Journal of the voyage written by Nearkhos himself, forms an admirable
supplement to the Periplûs, as it contains a minute description of a
part of the Erythræan Coast which is merely glanced at by the author of
that work. The translations have been prepared from the most approved
texts. The notes, in a few instances only, bear upon points of textual
criticism, their main object being to present in a concise form for
popular reading the most recent results of learned enquiry directed
to verify, correct, or otherwise illustrate the contents of the
narratives.

The warm and unanimous approbation bestowed upon the first volume of
this series, both by the Press in this country and at home, has given
me great encouragement to proceed with the undertaking, and a third
volume is now in preparation, to contain the _Indika_ of Ktêsias and
the account of India given by Strabo in the 15th Book of his Geography.

_Patna College, June 1879._

ANONYMI [ARRIANI UT FERTUR]

PERIPLUS MARIS ERYTHRÆI.

TRANSLATED FROM THE TEXT

As given in the _Geographi Græci Minores_, edited by
C. Muller: Paris, 1855.

WITH INTRODUCTION AND COMMENTARY.

PERIPLUS OF THE ERYTHRÆAN SEA.

INTRODUCTION.[1]

The _Periplûs of the Erythræan Sea_ is the title prefixed to a work
which contains the best account of the commerce carried on from the Red
Sea and the coast of Africa to the East Indies during the time that
Egypt was a province of the Roman empire. The +Erythræan Sea+
was an appellation given in those days to the whole expanse of ocean
reaching from the coast of Africa to the utmost boundary of ancient
knowledge on the East—an appellation in all appearance deduced from the
entrance into it by the Straits of the Red Sea, styled +Erythra+
by the Greeks, and not excluding the Gulf of Persia.

The author was a Greek merchant, who in the first century of the
Christian era had, it would appear, settled at +Berenîkê+, a great
seaport situated in the southern extremity of Egypt, whence he made
commercial voyages which carried him to the seaports of Eastern Africa
as far as +Azania+, and to those of Arabia as far as +Kanê+,
whence, by taking advantage of the south-west monsoon, he crossed over
to the ports lying on the western shores of India. Having made careful
observations and inquiries regarding the navigation and commerce of
these countries, he committed to writing, for the benefit of other
merchants, the knowledge which he had thus acquired. Much cannot be
said in praise of the style in which he writes. It is marked by a rude
simplicity, which shows that he was not a man of literary culture, but
in fact a mere man of business, who in composing restricts himself
to a narrow round of set phrases, and is indifferent alike to grace,
freedom, or variety of expression. It shows further that he was a
Greek settled in Egypt, and that he must have belonged to an isolated
community of his countrymen, whose speech had become corrupt by much
intercourse with foreigners. It presents a very striking contrast to
the rhetorical diction which +Agatharkhidês+, a great master of
all the tricks of speech, employs in his description of the Erythræan.
For all shortcomings, however, in the style of the work, there is
ample compensation in the fulness, variety, accuracy, and utility of
the information which it conveys. Such indeed is its superiority on
these points that it must be reckoned as a most precious treasure:
for to it we are indebted far more than to any other work for most of
our knowledge of the remote shores of Eastern Africa, and the marts
of India, and the condition of ancient commerce in these parts of the
world.

The name of the author is unknown. In the Heidelberg MS., which alone
has preserved the little work, and contains it after the _Periplûs_ of
Arrian, the title given is Αρῥιανου περιπλους της' Ερυθρας θαλασσης.
Trusting to the correctness of this title, Stuckius attributed the
work to +Arrian+ of Nikomedia, and Fabricius to another Arrian
who belonged to Alexandria. No one, however, who knows how ancient
books are usually treated can fail to see what the real fact here is,
viz. that since not only the _Periplûs Maris Erythræi_, but also the
_Anonymi Periplûs Ponti Euxini_ (whereof the latter part occurs in
the Heidelberg MS. before Arrian’s _Ponti Periplûs_) are attributed
to Arrian, and the different Arrians are not distinguished by any
indications afforded by the titles, there can be no doubt that the
well-known name of the Nikomedian writer was transferred to the books
placed in juxtaposition to his proper works, by the arbitrary judgment
of the librarians. In fact it very often happens that short works
written by different authors are all referred to one and the same
author, especially if they treat of the same subject and are published
conjointly in the same volume. But in the case of the work before us,
any one would have all the more readily ascribed it to Arrian who
had heard by report anything of the _Paraplûs_ of the Erythræan Sea
described in that author’s _Indika_. On this point there is the utmost
unanimity of opinion among writers.

That the author, whatever may have been his name, lived in Egypt, is
manifest. Thus he says in § 29: “Several of the trees _with us_ in
Egypt weep gum,” and he joins the names of the Egyptian months with the
Roman, as may be seen by referring to §§ 6, 39, 49, and 56. The place
in which he was settled was probably Berenîkê, since it was from that
port he embarked on his voyages to Africa and Arabia, and since he
speaks of the one coast as on the right from Berenîkê, and the other
on the left. The whole tenor of the work proclaims that he must have
been a merchant. That the entire work is not a mere compilation from
the narratives or journals of other merchants and navigators, but
that the author had himself visited some of the seats of trade which
he describes, is in itself probable, and is indicated in § 20, where,
contrary to the custom of the ancient writers, he speaks in his own
person:—“In sailing south, therefore, _we_ stand off from the shore and
keep _our_ course down the middle of the gulf.” Compare with this what
is said in § 48: προς την εμποριαν την ἑμετεραν.

As regards the age to which the writer belonged: it is first of all
evident that he wrote after the times of Augustus, since in § 23
mention is made of the Roman Emperors. That he was older, however,
than +Ptolemy+ the Geographer, is proved by his geography, which
knows nothing of India beyond the Ganges except the traditional
account current from the days of Eratosthenês to those of Pliny, while
it is evident that Ptolemy possessed much more accurate information
regarding these parts. It confirms this view that while our author
calls the island of Ceylon +Palaisimoundou+, Ptolemy calls it by
the name subsequently given to it—+Salikê+. Again, from § 19,
it is evident that he wrote before the kingdom of the Nubathæans was
abolished by the Romans. Moreover Pliny (VI. xxvi. 101), in proceeding
to describe the navigation to the marts of India by the direct route
across the ocean with the wind called Hippalos, writes to this
effect:—“And for a long time this was the mode of navigation, until a
merchant discovered a compendious route whereby India was brought so
near that to trade thither became very lucrative. For, every year a
fleet is despatched, carrying on board companies of archers, since the
Indian seas are much infested by pirates. Nor will a description of
the whole voyage from Egypt tire the reader, since now for the first
time correct information regarding it has been made public.” Compare
with this the statement of the _Periplûs_ in § 57, and it will be
apparent that while this route to India had only just come into use
in the time of Pliny, it had been for some time in use in the days of
our author. Now, as +Pliny+ died in 79 A.D., and had
completed his work two years previously, it may be inferred that he had
written the 6th book of his _Natural History_ before our author wrote
his work. A still more definite indication of his date is furnished
in § 5, where +Zoskalês+ is mentioned as reigning in his times
over the Auxumitae. Now in a list of the early kings of Abyssinia the
name of +Za-Hakale+ occurs, who must have reigned from 77 to 89
A.D. This +Za-Hakale+ is doubtless the +Zoskalês+
of the _Periplûs_, and was the contemporary of the emperors Vespasian,
Titus, and Domitian. We conclude, therefore, that the _Periplûs_
was written a little after the death of Pliny, between the years
A.D. 80-89.

Opinions on this point, however, have varied considerably. Salmasius
thought that Pliny and our author wrote at the same time, though
their accounts of the same things are often contradictory. In
support of this view he adduces the statement of the _Periplûs_
(§ 54), “+Muziris+, a place in India, is in the kingdom of
Kêprobotres,” when compared with the statement of Pliny (VI. xxvi.
104), “+Cœlobothras+ was reigning there when I committed
this to writing;” and argues that since +Kêprobotres+ and
+Cœlobothras+ are but different forms of the same name, the
two authors must have been contemporary. The inference is, however,
unwarrantable, since the name in question, like that of +Pandiôn+,
was a common appellation of the kings who ruled over that part of India.

Dodwell, again, was of opinion that the _Periplûs_ was written after
the year A.D. 161, when Marcus Aurelius and Lucius Verus were
joint emperors. He bases, in the first place, his defence of this
view on the statement in § 26: “Not long before our own times the
Emperor (Καῖσαρ) destroyed the place,” viz. +Eudaimón-Arabia+, now
Aden. This emperor he supposes must have been Trajan, who, according
to Eutropius (VIII. 3), reduced Arabia to the form of a province.
Eutropius, however, meant by Arabia only that small part of it which
adjoins Syria. This Dodwell not only denies, but also asserts that
the conquest of Trajan embraced the whole of the Peninsula—a sweeping
inference, which he bases on a single passage in the _Periplûs_ (§
16) where the south part of Arabia is called ἡ πρώτη Αραβία, “the
First Arabia.” From this expression he gathers that Trajan, after
his conquest of the country, had divided it into several provinces,
designated according to the order in which they were constituted. The
language of the _Periplûs_, however, forbids us to suppose that there
is here any reference to a Roman province. What the passage states is
that +Azania+ (in Africa) was by ancient right subject to the
kingdom τῆς πρώτης γινομένης (λεγομένης according to Dodwell) Ἀραβίας,
and was ruled by the despot of +Mapharitis+.

Dodwell next defends the date he has fixed on by the passage in § 23,
where it is said that +Kharibaël+ sought by frequent gifts and
embassies to gain the friendship of the emperors (τῶν αὐτοκρατόρων). He
thinks that the time is here indicated when M. Aurelius and L. Verus
were reigning conjointly, A.D. 161-181. There is no need,
however, to put this construction on the words, which may without any
impropriety be taken to mean ‘_the emperors for the time being_,’ viz.
Vespasian, Titus, and Domitian.

Vincent adopted the opinion of Salmasius regarding the date of the
work, but thinks that the Kaîsar mentioned in § 26 was Claudius. “The
Romans,” he says, “from the time they first entered Arabia under Ælius
Gallus, had always maintained a footing on the coast of the Red Sea.
They had a garrison at +Leukê Kômê+, in Nabathaea, where they
collected the customs; and it is apparent that they extended their
power down the gulf and to the ports of the ocean in the reign of
Claudius, as the freedman of +Annius Plocamus+ was in the act of
collecting the tributes there when he was carried out to sea and over
to +Taprobanê+. If we add to this the discovery of Hippalus in
the same reign, we find a better reason for the destruction of Aden at
this time than at any other.” The assertion in this extract that the
garrison and custom-house at +Leukê Kômê+ belonged to the Romans
is not warranted by the language of the _Periplûs_, which in fact shows
that they belonged to +Malikhos+ the king of the Nabathæans.
Again, it is a mere conjecture that the voyage which the freedman of
Plocamus (who, according to Pliny, farmed the revenues of the Red Sea)
was making along the coast of Arabia, when he was carried away by the
monsoon to Taprobanê, was a voyage undertaken to collect the revenues
due to the Roman treasury. With regard to the word Καῖσαρ, which has
occasioned so much perplexity, it is most probably a corrupt reading in
a text notorious for its corruptness. The proper reading may perhaps be
ΕΛΙΣΑΡ. At any rate, had one of the emperors in reality destroyed Aden,
it is unlikely that their historians would have failed to mention such
an important fact.

Schwanbeck, although he saw the weakness of the arguments with which
Salmasius and Vincent endeavoured to establish their position,
nevertheless thought that our author lived in the age of Pliny and
wrote a little before him, because those particulars regarding the
Indian navigation which Pliny says became known in his age agree, on
the whole, so well with the statement in the _Periplûs_ that they must
have been extracted therefrom. No doubt there are, he allows, some
discrepancies; but those, he thinks, may be ascribed to the haste or
negligence of the copyist. A careful examination, however, of parallel
passages in Pliny and the _Periplûs_ show this assertion to be
untenable. Vincent himself speaks with caution on this point:—“There
is,” he says, “no absolute proof that either copied from the other. But
those who are acquainted with Pliny’s methods of abbreviation would
much rather conclude, if one must be a copyist, that his title to this
office is the clearest.”

From these preliminary points we pass on to consider the contents
of the work, and these may be conveniently reviewed under the three
heads Geography, Navigation, Commerce. In the commentary, which is to
accompany the translation, the Geography will be examined in detail.
Meanwhile we shall enumerate the voyages which are distinguishable in
the _Periplûs_,[2] and the articles of commerce which it specifies.

I. VOYAGES MENTIONED IN THE PERIPLUS.

I. A voyage from _Berenîkê_, in the south of Egypt, down the western
coast of the Red Sea through the Straits, along the coast of Africa,
round Cape Guardafui, and then southward along the eastern coast of
Africa as far as Rhapta, a place about six degrees south of the equator.

II. We are informed of two distinct courses confined to the Red Sea:
one from Myos Hormos, in the south of Egypt, across the northern end of
the sea to Leukê Kômê, on the opposite coast of Arabia, near the mouth
of the Elanitic Gulf, whence it was continued to Mouza, an Arabian
port lying not far westward from the Straits; the other from Berenîkê
directly down the gulf to this same port

III. There is described next to this a voyage from the mouth of the
Straits along the southern coast of Arabia round the promontory now
called Ras-el-Had, whence it was continued along the eastern coast of
Arabia as far as Apologos (now Oboleh), an important emporium at the
head of the Persian Gulf, near the mouth of the river Euphrates.

IV. Then follows a passage from the Straits to India by three different
routes: the first by adhering to the coasts of Arabia, Karmania,
Gedrosia, and Indo-Skythia, which terminated at +Barugaza+
(Bharoch), a great emporium on the river +Nammadios+ (the
Narmadâ), at a distance of thirty miles from its mouth; the second from
+Kanê+, a port to the west of +Suagros+, a great projection
on the south coast of Arabia, now Cape Fartaque; and the third from
Cape Guardafui, on the African side—both across the ocean by the
monsoon to +Mouziris+ and +Nelkunda+, great commercial cities
on the coast of Malabar.

V. After this we must allow a similar voyage performed by the Indians
to Arabia, or by the Arabians to India, previous to the performance of
it by the Greeks, because the Greeks as late as the reign of Philomêtôr
met this commerce in Sabæa.

VI. We obtain an incidental knowledge of a voyage conducted from ports
on the east coast of Africa over to India by the monsoon long before
Hippalos introduced the knowledge of that wind to the Roman world.
This voyage was connected, no doubt, with the commerce of Arabia,
since the Arabians were the great traffickers of antiquity, and held
in subjection part of the sea-board of Eastern Africa. The Indian
commodities imported into Africa were rice, ghee, oil of sesamum,
sugar, cotton, muslins, and sashes. These commodities, the _Periplûs_
informs us, were brought sometimes in vessels destined expressly for
the coast of Africa, while at others they were only part of the cargo,
out of vessels which were proceeding to another port. Thus we have two
methods of conducting this commerce perfectly direct; and another by
touching on this coast with a final destination to Arabia. This is the
reason that the Greeks found cinnamon and the produce of India on this
coast, when they first ventured to pass the Straits in order to seek a
cheaper market than Sabæa.

II. ARTICLES OF COMMERCE MENTIONED IN THE PERIPLUS.

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.

At Adouli was a celebrated monument, a throne of white marble
with a slab of basanite stone behind it, both covered with Greek
characters, which in the sixth century of our era were copied by
+Kosmas Indikopleustês+. The passage in Kosmos relating to this
begins thus: “+Adulê+ is a city of Ethiopia and the port of
communication with +Axiômis+, and the whole nation of which
that city is the capital. In this port we carry on our trade from
Alexandria and the Elanitik Gulf. The town itself is about a mile
from the shore, and as you enter it on the Western side which leads
from +Axiômis+, there is still remaining a chair or throne which
appertained to one of the Ptolemys who had subjected this country to
his authority.” The first portion of the inscription records that
Ptolemy Euergetês (247-222 B.C.) received from the Troglodyte
Arabs and Ethiopians certain elephants which his father, the second
king of the Makedonian dynasty, and himself had taken in hunting in
the region of ADULÊ and trained to war in their own kingdom.
The second portion of the inscription commemorates the conquests of an
anonymous Ethiopian king in Arabia and Ethiopia as far as the frontier
of Egypt. +Adouli+, it is known for certain, received its name
from a tribe so designated which formed a part of the +Danakil+
shepherds who are still found in the neighbourhood of Annesley Bay,
in the island of Diset [lat. 15° 28´, long. 30° 45´, the Diodôros
perhaps of the _Periplûs_] opposite which is the town or station of
Masawâ (anc. Saba) [lat. 15° 37´ N., long. 39° 28´ E.], and also
in the archipelago of +Dhalak+, called in the _Periplûs_, the
islands of +Alalaiou+. The merchants of Egypt, we learn from the
work, first traded at Masawwâ but afterwards removed to Oreinê for
security. This is an islet in the south of the Bay of Masawwâ, lying
20 miles from the coast; it is a rock as its name imports, and is of
considerable elevation.

+Aduli+ being the best entrance into Abyssinia, came prominently
into notice during the late Abyssinian war. Beke thus speaks of it,
“In our recent visit to Abyssinia I saw quite enough to confirm the
opinion I have so long entertained, that when the ancient Greeks
founded Adule or Adulis at the mouth of the river Hadâs, now only a
river bed except during the rains, though a short way above there is
rain all the year round, they knew that they possessed one of the keys
of Abyssinia.”

5. Below Adouli, about 800 stadia, occurs another very deep bay,
at the entrance of which on the right are vast accumulations of
sand, wherein is found deeply embedded the Opsian stone, which is
not obtainable anywhere else. The king of all this country, from
the +Moskhophagoi+ to the other end of +Barbaria+, is
+Zôskalês+, a man at once of penurious habits and of a grasping
disposition, but otherwise honourable in his dealings and instructed in
the Greek language.

(5) At a distance of about 100 miles beyond +Adouli+ the coast
is indented by another bay now known as +Hanfelah+ bay [near
Râs Hanfelah in lat. 14° 44´, long. 40° 49´ E.] about 100 miles from
Annesley Bay and opposite an island called Daramsas or Hanfelah. It
has wells of good water and a small lake of fresh water after the
rains; the coast is inhabited by the Dummoeta, a tribe of the Danakil.
This is the locality where, and where only, the Opsian or Obsidian
stone was to be found. Pliny calls it an unknown bay, because traders
making for the ports of Arabia passed it by without deviating from
their course to enter it. He was aware, as well as our author, that
it contained the Opsian stone, of which he gives an account, already
produced in the introduction.

6. These articles which these places import are the following:—

Ἱμάτια βαρβαρικα, ἄγναφα τὰ ἐν Ἀιγύπτω γινόμενα—Cloth undressed, of
Egyptian manufacture, for the Barbarian market.

Στολὰι Ἀρσινοητικὰι—Robes manufactured at Arsinoê.

Ἀβόλλαι νόθοι χρωμάτιναι—Cloaks, made of a poor cloth imitating a
better quality, and dyed.

Λέντια—Linens.

Δικρόσσια—Striped cloths and fringed. Mantles with a double fringe.

Λιθίας ὑαλῆς πλείονα γένη καὶ ἄλλης μορρίνης, τῆς γινομένης έν
Διοσπόλει—Many sorts of glass or crystal, and of that other transparent
stone called Myrrhina, made at Diospolis.

Ὀρείχαλκος—Yellow copper, for ornaments and cut into pieces to pass for
money.

Μελίεφθα χαλκᾶ—Copper fused with honey: for culinary vessels and
cutting into bracelets and anklets worn by certain classes of women.

Σίδηρος—Iron. Consumed in making spearheads for hunting the elephant
and other animals and in making weapons of war.

Πελύκια—Hatchets.

Σκέπαρνα—Adzes.

Μάχαιραι—Swords.

Ποτήρια χαλκᾶ στρογγύλα μεγάλα—Drinking vessels of brass, large and
round.

Δηνάριον ὀλίγον—A small quantity of denarii: for the use of merchants
resident in the country.

Οἶνος Λαοδικηνὸς καὶ Ἰταλικὸς οῦ πολῦς—Wine, Laodikean, _i.e._ Syrian,
from Laodike, (now Latakia) and Italian, but not much.

Ἔλαιον οὐ πολύ—Oil, but not much.

Ἀργυρώματα καὶ χρυσώματα τοπικῷ ῥυθμῷ κατεσκευασμέναι—Gold and silver
plate made according to the fashion of the country for the king.

Ἀβόλλαι—Cloaks for riding or for the camp.

Καυνάκαὶ ἁπλοῖ—Dresses simply made of skins with the hair or fur on.
These two articles of dress are not of much value.

These articles are imported from the interior parts of Ariakê:—

Σίδηρος Ἰνδικὸς—Indian iron.

Στόμωμα—Sharp blades.

Ὀθόνιον Ἰνδικὸν τὸ πλατύτερον, ἡ λεγομένη μοναχὴ.—Monakhê,[17] Indian
cotton cloth of great width.

Σαγματογῆναι—Cotton for stuffing.

Περιζώματα—Sashes or girdles.

Καυνάκαὶ—Dresses of skin with the hair or fur on.

Μολόχινα—Webs of cloth mallow-tinted.

Σινδόνες ὀλίγαι—Fine muslins in small quantity.

Λάκκος χρωμάτινος—Gum-lac: yielding Lake.

The articles locally produced for export are ivory, tortoise-shell, and
rhinoceros. Most of the goods which supply the market arrive any time
from January to September—that is, from Tybi to Thôth. The best season,
however, for ships from Egypt to put in here is about the month of
September.

7. From this bay the Arabian Gulf trends eastward, and at
+Aualitês+ is contracted to its narrowest. At a distance of
about 4000 stadia (_from Adouli_), if you still sail along the same
coast, you reach other marts of +Barbaria+, called the marts
beyond (_the Straits_), which occur in successive order, and which,
though harbourless, afford at certain seasons of the year good
and safe anchorage. The first district you come to is that called
+Aualitês+, where the passage across the strait to the opposite
point of Arabia is shortest. Here is a small port of trade, called,
like the district, +Aualitês+, which can be approached only by
little boats and rafts. The imports of this place are—

Ὑαλὴ λίθια σύμμικτος—Flint glass of various sorts.

Χυλός] Διοσπολιτικῆς ὄμφακος—Juice of the sour grape of Diospolis.

Ἰμάτια βαρβαρικὰ σύμμικτα γεγναμμένα—Cloths of different kinds worn in
Barbaria dressed by the fuller.

Σῖτος—Corn.

Οἶνος—Wine.

Κασσιτερος ὀλίγος—A little tin.

The exports, which are sometimes conveyed on rafts across the straits
by the +Berbers+ themselves to +Okêlis+ and +Mouza+ on
the opposite coast, are—

Ἀρώματα—Odoriferous gums.

Ἐλέφας ὀλίγος—Ivory in small quantity.

Χελώνη—Tortoise-shell.

Σμύρνα ἐλαχίστη διαφέρουσα δὲ τῆς ἄλλης—Myrrh in very small quantity,
but of the finest sort.

Μάκειρ—Macer.

The barbarians forming the population of the place are _rude and_
lawless men.

(6, 7) From this bay the coast of the gulf, according to our author,
has a more easterly direction to the Straits, the distance to which
from Adouli is stated at 4,000 stadia, an estimate much too liberal.
In all this extent of coast the _Periplûs_ mentions only the bay of
the Opsian-stones and conducts us at once from thence to Aualités at
the straits. Strabo however, and Juba, and Pliny, and Ptolemy mention
several places in this tract, such as +Arsinoë+, +Berenîkê+,
+Epideirês+, the Grove of Eumenês, the Chase of Puthangelos, the
Territory of the Elephantophagoi, &c. The straits are called by Ptolemy
+Deirê+ or +Dêrê+ (_i. e._ the neck), a word which from its
resemblance in sound to the Latin _Dirae_ has sometimes been explained
to mean “the terrible.” (I. xv. 11; IV. vii. 9; VIII. xvi. 12). “The
_Periplûs_,” Vincent remarks, “makes no mention of Deirê, but observes
that the point of contraction is close to +Abalitês+ or the
Abalitik mart; it is from this mart that the coast of Africa falling
down first to the South and curving afterwards towards the East is
styled the Bay of +Aualitês+ by Ptolemy, (IV. vii. 10, 20, 27, 30,
39,) but in the _Periplûs_ this name is confined to a bay immediately
beyond the straits which D’Anville has likewise inserted in his map,
but which I did not fully understand till I obtained Captain Cook’s
chart and found it perfectly consistent with the _Periplûs_.” It is the
gulf of Tejureh or Zeyla.

The tract of country extending from the Straits to Cape Arômata
(now Guardafui) is called at the present day +Adel+. It is
described by Strabo (XVI. iv. 14), who copies his account of it from
Artemidoros. He mentions no emporium, nor any of the names which occur
in the _Periplûs_ except the haven of Daphnous. [Bandar Mariyah, lat.
11° 46´ N., long. 50° 38´ E.] He supplies however many particulars
regarding the region which are left unnoticed by our author as having
no reference to commerce—particulars, however, which prove that
these parts which were resorted to in the times of the Ptolemies for
elephant-hunting were much better known to the ancients than they
were till quite recently known to ourselves. Ptolemy gives nearly the
same series of names (IV. vii. 9, 10) as the _Periplûs_, but with some
discrepancies in the matter of their distances which he does not so
accurately state. His list is: +Dêre+, a city; +Abalitês+
or Aualitês, a mart; +Malaô+, a mart; +Moundou+ or
+Mondou+, a mart; Mondou, an island; Mosulon, a cape and a mart;
+Kobê+, a mart; +Elephas+, a mountain; +Akkanai+ or
Akannai, a mart; +Arômata+, a cape and a mart.

The mart of +Abalitês+ is represented by the modern +Zeyla+
[lat. 11° 22´ N., long. 43° 29´ E., 79 miles from the straits.] On
the N. shore of the gulf are Abalit and Tejureh. Abalit is 43 miles
from the straits, and Tejureh 27 miles from Abalit. This is the
+Zouileh+ of Ebn Haukal and the +Zalegh+ of Idrisi. According
to the _Periplûs_ it was near the straits, but Ptolemy has fixed it
more correctly at the distance from them of 50 or 60 miles.

8. Beyond Aualitês there is another mart, superior to it, called
+Malaô+, at a distance by sea of 800 stadia. The anchorage is
an open road, sheltered, however, by a cape protruding eastward. The
people are of a more peaceable disposition than their neighbours. The
imports are such as have been already specified, with the addition of—

Πλείονες χιτῶνες—Tunics in great quantity.

Σάγοι Ἀρσινοητικοι γεγναμμένοι καὶ βεβαμμένοι—Coarse cloaks (or
blankets) manufactured at Arsinoê, prepared by the fuller and dyed.

Μελίεφθα ὀλίγα—A few utensils made of copper fused with honey.

Σίδερος—Iron.

Δηνάριον οὐ πολὺ χρυσοῦντε καὶ ἀργυροῦν—Specie,—gold and silver, but
not much.

The exports from this locality are—

Σμύρνα—Myrrh.

Λίβανος ὁ περατικος ὀλίγὸς—Frankincense _which we call peratic_, _i.e._
from beyond the straits, a little only.

Κασσία σκληροτέρα—Cinnamon of a hard grain.

Δούακα—Douaka (_an inferior kind of cinnamon_).

Κάγκαμον—The gum (_for fumigation_) _kangkamon_. ‘Dekamalli,’ gum.

Μάκειρ—The spice _macer_, which is carried to Arabia.

Σώματα σπανίως—Slaves, a few.

(8) +Malaô+ as a mart was much superior to Abalitês, from which
our author estimates its distance to be 800 stadia, though it is in
reality greater. From the description he gives of its situation it
must be identified with Berbereh [lat. 10° 25´ N., long. 45° 1´ E.]
now the most considerable mart on this part of the coast. Vincent
erroneously places it between Zeyla and the straits.

9. Distant from +Malaô+ two days’ sail is the trading port of
+Moundou+, where ships find a safer anchorage by mooring at an
island which lies very close to shore. The exports and imports are
similar to those of the preceding marts, with the addition of the
fragrant gum called _Mokrotou_, a peculiar product of the place. The
native traders here are uncivilized in their manners.

(9) The next mart after Malaô is +Moundou+, which, as we learn
from Ptolemy, was also the name of an adjacent island—that which is
now called Meyet or Burnt-island [lat. 11° 12´ N., long. 47° 17´ E.,
10 miles east of Bandar Jedid].

10. After +Moundou+, if you sail eastward as before for two or
three days, there comes next +Mosullon+, where it is difficult to
anchor. It imports the same sorts of commodities as have been already
mentioned, and also utensils of silver and others of iron but not so
many, and glass-ware. It exports a vast amount of cinnamon (whence
it is a port requiring ships of heavy burden) and other fragrant and
aromatic products, besides tortoise-shell, but in no great quantity,
and the incense called _mokrotou_ inferior to that of Moundou, and
frankincense brought from parts further distant, and ivory and myrrh
though in small quantity.

(10) At a distance beyond it of two or three days’ sail occurs
+Mosulon+, which is the name both of a mart and of a promontory.
It is mentioned by Pliny (VI. 34), who says: “Further on is the bay
of +Abalitês+, the island of +Diodôrus+ and other islands
which are desert. On the mainland, which has also deserts, occur a
town +Gaza+ [Bandar Gazim, long. 49° 13´ E.], the promontory and
port of +Mosylon+, whence cinnamon is exported. Sesostris led
his army to this point and no further. Some writers place one town
of Ethiopia beyond it, Baricaza, which lies on the coast. According
to Juba the Atlantic Sea begins at the promontory of Mossylon.” Juba
evidently confounded this promontory with Cape Arômata, and Ptolemy,
perhaps in consequence, makes its projection more considerable than
it is. D’Anville and Gosselin thought +Mossulon+ was situated
near the promontory Mete, where is a river, called the Soal, which
they supposed preserved traces of the name of Mossulon. This
position however cannot be reconciled with the distances given in
the _Periplûs_, which would lead us to look for it where Guesele is
placed in the latest description given of this coast. Vincent on very
inadequate grounds would identify it with Barbara or Berbera. [Müller
places it at Bandar Barthe and Ras Antarah, long. 49° 35´ E.]

11. After leaving +Mosullon+, and sailing past a place called
+Neiloptolemaios+, and past +Tapatêgê+ and the Little
Laurel-grove, you are conducted in two days to Capo +Elephant+.
Here is a stream called +Elephant+ River, and the Great
Laurel-grove called +Akannai+, where, and where only, is produced
the _peratic_ frankincense. The supply is most abundant, and it is of
the very finest quality.

(11) After Mosulon occurs Cape Elephant, at some distance
beyond +Neiloptolemaios+, +Tapatêgê+, and the Little
Laurel-grove. At the Cape is a river and the Great Laurel-grove
called +Akannai+. Strabo in his account of this coast mentions a
Neilospotamia which however can hardly be referred to this particular
locality which pertains to the region through which the Khori or San
Pedro flows, of which Idrisi (I. 45) thus writes: “At two journeys’
distance from Markah in the desert is a river which is subject to
risings like the Nile and on the banks of which they sow dhorra.”
Regarding Cape Elephant Vincent says, “it is formed by a mountain
conspicuous in the Portuguese charts under the name of Mount Felix
or Felles from the native term Jibel Fîl, literally, Mount Elephant.
The cape [Ras Filik, 800 ft. high, lat. 11° 57´ N., long. 50° 37´ E.]
is formed by the land jutting up to the North from the direction of
the coast which is nearly East and West, and from its northernmost
point the land falls off again South-East to Râs 'Asir—Cape Guardafui,
the Arômata of the ancients. We learn from Captain Saris, an English
navigator, that there is a river at Jibel Fîl. In the year 1611 he
stood into a bay or harbour there which he represents as having a safe
entrance for three ships abreast: he adds also that several sorts of
gums very sweet in burning were still purchased by the Indian ships
from Cambay which touched here for that purpose in their passage to
Mocha.” The passage in the _Periplûs_ where these places are mentioned
is very corrupt. Vincent, who regards the greater +Daphnôn+
(Laurel-grove) as a river called +Akannai+, says, “Neither place
or distance is assigned to any of these names, but we may well allot
the rivers Daphnôn and Elephant to the synonymous town and cape; and
these may be represented by the modern Mete and Santa Pedro.” [Müller
places Elephas at Ras el Fîl, long. 50° 37´ E., and Akannai at Ulûlah
Bandar, long. 50° 56´ E., but they may be represented by Ras Ahileh,
where a river enters through a lagoon in 11° 46´, and Bonah, a town
with wells of good water in lat. 11° 58´ N., long. 50° 51´ E.]

12. After this, the coast now inclining to the south, succeeds the mart
of +Arômata+, and a bluff headland running out eastward which
forms the termination of the Barbarine coast. The roadstead is an open
one, and at certain seasons dangerous, as the place lies exposed to the
north wind. A coming storm gives warning of its approach by a peculiar
prognostic, for the sea turns turbid at the bottom and changes its
colour. When this occurs, all hasten for refuge to the great promontory
called +Tabai+, which affords a secure shelter. The imports into
this mart are such as have been already mentioned; while its products
are cinnamon, gizeir (_a finer sort of cinnamon_), asuphê (_an ordinary
sort_), fragrant gums, magla, motô (_an inferior cinnamon_), and
frankincense.

(12) We come now to the great projection Cape Arômata, which is
a continuation of Mount Elephant. It is called in Arabic +Jerd
Hafûn+ or Ras Asir; in Idrisi, +Carfouna+, whence the name by
which it is generally known. [The South point 11° 40´ is Râs Shenarif
or Jerd Hafûn; the N. point 11° 51´ is Râs 'Asir.] It formed the limit
of the knowledge of this coast in the time of Strabo, by whom it is
called +Notou Keras+ or South Horn. It is described as a very
high bluff point and as perpendicular as if it were scarped. [Jerd
Hafûn is 2500 feet high.] The current comes round it out of the gulf
with such violence that it is not to be stemmed without a brisk wind,
and during the South-West Monsoon, the moment you are past the Cape to
the North there is a stark calm with insufferable heat. The current
below Jerd Hafûn is noticed by the _Periplûs_ as setting to the South,
and is there perhaps equally subject to the change of the monsoon.
With this account of the coast from the straits to the great Cape may
be compared that which has been given by Strabo, XVI. iv. 14:

“From +Deirê+ the next country is that which bears
aromatic plants. The first produces myrrh and belongs to the
+Ichthyophagi+ and +Creophagi+. It bears also the
persea, peach or Egyptian almond, and the Egyptian fig. Beyond is
+Licha+, a hunting ground for elephants. There are also in many
places standing pools of rainwater. When these are dried up, the
elephants with their trunks and tusks dig holes and find water. On
this coast there are two very large lakes extending as far as the
promontory Pytholaus. One of them contains salt water and is called
a sea; the other fresh water and is the haunt of hippopotami and
crocodiles. On the margin grows the papyrus. The ibis is seen in
the neighbourhood of this place. Next is the country which produces
frankincense; it has a promontory and a temple with a grove of
poplars. In the inland parts is a tract along the banks of a river
bearing the name of +Isis+, and another that of +Nilus+,
both of which produce myrrh and frankincense. Also a lagoon filled
with water from the mountains. Next the watch-post of the Lion and the
port of +Pythangelus+. The next tract bears the false cassia.
There are many tracts in succession on the sides of rivers on which
frankincense grows, and rivers extending to the cinnamon country.
The river which bounds this tract produces rushes (φλους) in great
abundance. Then follows another river and the port of +Daphnus+,
and a valley called +Apollo+’s which bears besides frankincense,
myrrh and cinnamon. The latter is more abundant in places far in
the interior. Next is the mountain +Elephas+, a mountain
projecting into the sea and a creek; then follows the large harbour
of +Psygmus+, a watering place called that of +Kunocephali+
and the last promontory of this coast +Notu-ceras+ (or the
Southern Horn). After doubling this cape towards the south we have
no more descriptions of harbours or places because nothing is known
of the sea-coast beyond this point.” [Bohn’s _Transl._] According to
Gosselin, the Southern Horn corresponds with the Southern Cape of
Bandel-caus, where commences the desert coast of Ajan, the ancient
+Azania+.

According to the _Periplûs_ Cape +Arômata+ marked the termination
of +Barbaria+ and the beginning of +Azania+. Ptolemy however
distinguishes them differently, defining the former as the interior
and the latter as the sea-board of the region to which these names
were applied.

The description of the Eastern Coast of Africa which now follows is
carried, as has been already noticed, as far as +Rhapta+, a place
about 6 degrees South of the Equator, but which Vincent places much
farther South, identifying it with Kilwa.

The places named on this line of coast are: a promontory called
+Tabai+, a Khersonesos; +Opônê+, a mart; the Little
and the Great +Apokopa+; the Little and the Great Coast;
the +Dromoi+ or courses of +Azania+ (first that of
+Serapiôn+, then that of +Nikôn+); a number of rivers;
a succession of anchorages, seven in number; the +Paralaoi+
islands; a strait or canal; the island of +Menouthias+; and
then +Rhapta+, beyond which, as the author conceived, the ocean
curved round Africa until it met and amalgamated with the Hesperian or
Western Ocean.

13. If, on sailing from +Tabai+, you follow the coast of the
peninsula _formed by the promontory_, you are carried by the force of a
strong current to another mart 400 stadia distant, called +Opônê+,
which imports the commodities already mentioned, but produces most
abundantly cinnamon, spice, _motô_, slaves of a very superior sort,
chiefly for the Egyptian market, and tortoise-shell of small size but
in large quantity and of the finest quality known.

(13) Tabai, to which the inhabitants of the Great Cape fled for
refuge on the approach of a storm, cannot, as Vincent and others have
supposed, be Cape Orfui, for it lay at too great a distance for the
purpose. The projection is meant which the Arabs call Banna. [Or,
Tabai may be identified with Râs Shenarif, lat. 11° 40´ N.] Tabai,
Müller suggests, may be a corruption for Tabannai.

“From the foreign term Banna,” he says, “certain Greeks in the manner
of their countrymen invented +Panos+ or +Panôn+ or Panô or
Panôna Kômê. Thus in Ptolemy (I. 17 and IV. 7) after Arômata follows
+Panôn Kômê+, which Mannert has identified with Benna. [Khor
Banneh is a salt lake, with a village, inside Râs Ali Beshgêl, lat.
11° 9´ N., long. 51° 9´ E.] Stephen of Byzantium may be compared,
who speaks of +Panos+ as a village on the Red Sea which is also
called +Panôn+.” The conjecture, therefore, of Letronnius that
+Panôn Kômê+ derived its name from the large apes found there,
called +Pânes+, falls to the ground. +Opônê+ was situated on
the Southern shores of what the _Periplûs_ calls a Khersonese, which
can only be the projection now called +Ras Hafûn+ or Cape D’Orfui
(lat. 10° 25´ N.). Ptolemy (I. 17) gives the distance of +Opônê+
from +Panôn Kômê+ at a 6 days’ journey, from which according
to the _Periplûs_ it was only 400 stadia distant. That the text of
Ptolemy is here corrupt cannot be doubted, for in his tables the
distance between the two places is not far from that which is given
in the _Periplûs_. Probably, as Müller conjectures, he wrote ὁδόν
ἡμέρας (a day’s journey) which was converted into ὁδόν ἡμερ. ϛ´ (a
six-days’ journey).

14. Ships set sail from Egypt for all these ports beyond the straits
about the month of July—that is, Epiphi. The same markets are
also regularly supplied with the products of places far beyond
them—+Ariakê+ and +Barugaza+. These products are—

Σῖτος—Corn.

Ὀρυζα[18]—Rice.

Βούτυρον—Butter, i. e. _ghî_.

Ἔλαιον σησάμινον—Oil of sesamum.

Ὀθόνιον ἥ τε μοναχὴ καὶ ἡ σαγματογήνη—Fine cotton called _Monakhê_, and
a coarse kind for stuffing called _Sagmatogene_.

Περιζώματα—Sashes or girdles.

Μέλι τὸ καλάμινον τὸ λεγόμενον σάκχαρι.—The honey of a reed, called
_sugar_.

Some traders undertake voyages for this commerce expressly, while
others, as they sail along the coast _we are describing_, exchange
their cargoes for such others as they can procure. There is no king who
reigns paramount over all this region, but each separate seat of trade
is ruled by an independent despot of its own.

(14) At this harbour is introduced the mention of the voyage which was
annually made between the coast of India and Africa in days previous
to the appearance of the Greeks on the Indian Ocean, which has already
been referred to.

15. After +Opônê+, the coast now trending more to the south, you
come first to what are called the little and the great +Apokopa+
(or Bluffs) of +Azania+, where there are no harbours, but only
roads in which ships can conveniently anchor. The navigation of this
coast, the direction of which is now to the south-west, occupies six
days. Then follow the Little Coast and the Great Coast, occupying other
six days, when in due order succeed the +Dromoi+ (or Courses) of
+Azania+, the one going by the name of +Sarapiôn+, and the
other by that of +Nikôn+. Proceeding thence, you pass the mouths
of numerous rivers, and a succession of other roadsteads lying apart
one from another a day’s distance either by sea or by land. There are
seven of them altogether, and they reach on to the +Puralaoi+
islands and the _narrow strait_ called the Canal, beyond which, where
the coast changes its direction from south-west slightly more to
south, you are conducted by a voyage of two days and two nights to
+Menouthias+, an island stretching towards sunset, and distant
from the mainland about 300 stadia. It is low-lying and woody, has
rivers, and a vast variety of birds, and yields the mountain tortoise,
but it has no wild beasts at all, except only crocodiles, which,
however, are quite harmless. The boats are here made of planks sewn
together attached to a keel formed of a single log of wood, and these
are used for fishing and for catching turtle. This is also caught
in another mode, peculiar to the island, by lowering wicker-baskets
instead of nets, and fixing them against the mouths of the cavernous
rocks which lie out in the sea confronting the beach.

(15) After leaving +Opônê+ the coast first runs due south, then
bends to the south-west, and here begins the coast which is called the
Little and the Great +Apokopa+ or Bluffs of +Azania+, the
voyage along which occupies six days. This rocky coast, as we learn
from recent explorations, begins at +Râs Mabber+ [about lat. 9°
25´ N.], which is between 70 and 80 miles distant from Ras Hafûn and
extends only to +Râs-ul-Kheil+ [about lat. 7° 45´ N.], which is
distant from Râs Mabber about 140 miles or a voyage of three or four
days only. The length of this rocky coast (called +Hazine+ by the
Arabs) is therefore much exaggerated in the _Periplûs_. From this
error we may infer that our author, who was a very careful observer,
had not personally visited this coast. Ptolemy, in opposition to
Marînos as well as the _Periplûs_, recognizes but one +Apokopa+,
which he speaks of as a bay. Müller concludes an elaborate note
regarding the +Apokopa+ by the following quotation from the work
of Owen, who made the exploration already referred to, “It is strange
that the descriptive term +Hazine+ should have produced the names
+Ajan+, +Azan+ and +Azania+ in many maps and charts, as
the country never had any other appellation than +Barra Somâli+
or the land of the +Somâli+, a people who have never yet been
collected under one government, and whose limits of subjection are
only within bow-shot of individual chiefs. The coast of Africa from
the Red Sea to the river Juba is inhabited by the tribe called
+Somâli+. They are a mild people of pastoral habits and confined
entirely to the coast; the whole of the interior being occupied by an
untameable tribe of savages called +Galla+.”

The coast which follows the +Apokopa+, called the Little and
the Great +Aigialos+ or Coast, is so desolate that, as Vincent
remarks, not a name occurs on it, neither is there an anchorage
noticed, nor the least trace of commerce to be found. Yet it is of
great extent—a six days’ voyage according to the _Periplûs_, but,
according to Ptolemy, who is here more correct, a voyage of eight
days, for, as we have seen, the _Periplûs_ has unduly extended the
+Apokopa+ to the South.

Next follow the +Dromoi+ or Courses of +Azania+, the first
called that of +Serapiôn+ and the other that of +Nikôn+.
Ptolemy interposes a bay between the Great Coast and the port of
+Serapiôn+, on which he states there was an emporium called
+Essina+—a day’s sail distant from that port. Essina, it would
therefore appear, must have been somewhere near where +Makdashû+
[Magadoxo, lat. 2° 3´ N.] was built by the Arabs somewhere in the
eighth century A.D. The station called that of +Nikôn+
in the _Periplûs_ appears in Ptolemy as the mart of +Tonikê+.
These names are not, as some have supposed, of Greek origin, but
distortions of the native appellations of the places into names
familiar to Greek ears. That the Greeks had founded any settlements
here is altogether improbable. At the time when the _Periplûs_ was
written all the trade of these parts was in the hands of the Arabs
of +Mouza+. The port of +Serapiôn+ may be placed at a
promontory which occurs in 1° 40´ of N. lat. From this, +Tonikê+,
according to the tables of Ptolemy, was distant 45´, and its position
must therefore have agreed with that of +Torre+ or Torra of our
modern maps.

Next occurs a succession of rivers and roadsteads, seven in number,
which being passed we are conducted to the +Puralaän+ Islands,
and what is called a canal or channel (διώρυξ). These islands are
not mentioned elsewhere. They can readily be identified with the two
called +Manda+ and +Lamou+, which are situate at the mouths
of large rivers, and are separated from the mainland and from each
other by a narrow channel. Vincent would assign a Greek origin to the
name of these islands. “With a very slight alteration,” he says, “of
the reading, the Puralian Islands (Πῦρ ἁλιον, _marine fire_,) are the
islands of the Fiery Ocean, and nothing seems more consonant to reason
than for a Greek to apply the name of the Fiery Ocean to a spot which
was the centre of the Torrid Zone and subject to the perpendicular
rays of an equinoctial sun.” [The Juba islands run along the coast
from Juba to about Lat. 1° 50´ S., and Manda bay and island is in Lat.
2° 12´ S.]

Beyond these islands occurs, after a voyage of two days and two
nights, the island of +Menouthias+ or +Menouthesias+, which
it has been found difficult to identify with any certainty. “It is,”
says Vincent, “the _Eitenediommenouthesias_ of the _Periplûs_, a term
egregiously strange and corrupted, but out of which the commentators
unanimously collect Menoothias, whatever may be the fate of the
remaining syllables. That this Menoothias,” he continues, “must have
been one of the Zangibar islands is indubitable; for the distance
from the coast of all three, Pemba, Zangibar, and Momfia, affords
a character which is indelible; a character applicable to no other
island from Guardafui to Madagascar.” He then identifies it with the
island of Zangibar, lat. 6° 5´ S., in preference to Pemba, 5° 6´ S.,
which lay too far out of the course, and in preference to Momfia, 7°
50´ S. (though more doubtfully), because of its being by no means
conspicuous, whereas Zangibar was so prominent and obvious above
the other two, that it might well attract the particular attention
of navigators, and its distance from the mainland is at the same
time so nearly in accordance with that given in the _Periplûs_ as to
counterbalance all other objections. A writer in Smith’s _Classical
Geography_, who seems to have overlooked the indications of the
distances both of Ptolemy and the _Periplûs_, assigns it a position
much further to the north than is reconcilable with these distances.
He places it about a degree south from the mouth of the River Juba or
Govind, just where an opening in the coral-reefs is now found. “The
coasting voyage,” he says, “steering S. W., reached the island on
the east side—a proof that it was close to the main.... It is true
the navigator says it was 300 stadia from the mainland; but as there
is no reason to suppose that he surveyed the island, this distance
must be taken to signify the estimated width of the northern inlet
separating the island from the main, and this estimate is probably
much exaggerated. The mode of fishing with baskets is still practised
in the Juba islands and along this coast. The formation of the coast
of E. Africa in these latitudes—where the hills or downs upon the
coast are all formed of a coral conglomerate comprising fragments of
madrepore, shell and sand, renders it likely that the island which was
close to the main 16 or 17 centuries ago, should now be united to it.
Granting this theory of gradual transformation of the coast-line, the
+Menouthias+ of the _Periplûs_ may be supposed to have stood in
what is now the rich garden-land of +Shamba+, where the rivers
carrying down mud to mingle with the marine deposit of coral drift
covered the choked-up estuary with a rich soil.”

The island is said in the _Periplûs_ to extend towards the West, but
this does not hold good either in the case of Zangibar or any other
island in this part of the coast. Indeed there is no one of them in
which at the present day all the characteristics of +Menouthias+
are found combined. +Momfia+, for instance, which resembles it
somewhat in name, and which, as modern travellers tell us, is almost
entirely occupied with birds and covered with their dung, does not
possess any streams of water. These are found in Zangibar. The author
may perhaps have confusedly blended together the accounts he had
received from his Arab informants.

16. At the distance of a two days’ sail from this island lies the last
of the marts of +Azania+, called +Rhapta+, a name which it
derives from the sewn boats just mentioned. Ivory is procured here in
the greatest abundance, and also turtle. The indigenous inhabitants
are men of huge stature, who live _apart from each other_, every man
ruling like a lord his own domain. The whole territory is governed by
the despot of +Mopharitis+, because the sovereignty over it, by
some right of old standing, is vested in the kingdom of what is called
the First Arabia. The merchants of +Mouza+ farm its revenues from
the king, and employ in trading with it a great many ships of heavy
burden, on board of which they have Arabian commanders and factors who
are intimately acquainted with the natives and have contracted marriage
with them, and know their language and the navigation of the coast.

(16) We arrive next and finally at +Rhapta+, the last emporium
on the coast known to the author. Ptolemy mentions not only a city
of this name, but also a river and a promontory. The name is Greek
(from ῥάπτειν, _to sew_), and was applied to the place because the
vessels there in use were raised from bottoms consisting of single
trunks of trees by the addition of planks which were sewn together
with the fibres of the cocoa. “It is a singular fact,” as Vincent
remarks, “that this peculiarity should be one of the first objects
which attracted the attention of the Portuguese upon their reaching
this coast. They saw them first at Mozambique, where they were called
_Almeidas_, but the principal notice of them in most of their writers
is generally stated at Kilwa, the very spot which we have supposed to
receive its name from vessels of the same construction.” Vincent has
been led from this coincidence to identify Rhapta with Kilwa [lat. 8°
50´ S.]. Müller however would place it not so far south, but somewhere
in the Bay of Zangibar. The promontory of +Rhaptum+, he judges
from the indications of the _Periplûs_ to be the projection which
closes the bay in which lies the island of Zangibar, and which is
now known as +Moinanokalû+ or Point Pouna, lat. 7° S. The parts
beyond this were unknown, and the southern coast of Africa, it was
accordingly thought by the ancient geographers, began here. Another
cape however is mentioned by Ptolemy remoter than Rhaptum and called
+Prasum+ (that is the Green Cape) which may perhaps be Cape
Delgado, which is noted for its luxuriant vegetation. The same author
calls the people of +Rhapta+, the +Rhapsioi Aithiopes+.
They are described in the _Periplûs_ as men of lofty stature, and
this is still a characteristic of the Africans of this coast. The
+Rhapsii+ were, in the days of our author, subject to the people
of +Mouza+ in Arabia just as their descendants are at the
present day subject to the Sultan of Maskat. Their commerce moreover
still maintains its ancient characteristics. It is the African who
still builds and mans the ships while the Arab is the navigator and
supercargo. The ivory is still of inferior quality, and the turtle is
still captured at certain parts of the coast.

17. The articles imported into these marts are principally javelins
manufactured at Mouza, hatchets, knives, awls, and crown glass of
various sorts, to which must be added corn and wine in no small
quantity landed at particular ports, not for sale, but to entertain
and thereby conciliate the barbarians. The articles which these places
export are ivory, in great abundance but of inferior quality to that
obtained at Adouli, rhinoceros, and tortoise-shell of fine quality,
second only to the Indian, and a little _nauplius_.

18. These marts, we may say, are about the last on the coast of
+Azania+—the coast, that is, which is on your right as you sail
_south_ from +Berenîkê+. For beyond these parts an ocean, hitherto
unexplored, curves round towards sunset, and, stretching along the
southern extremities of Ethiopia, Libya, and Africa, amalgamates with
the Western Sea.

19. To the left, again, of +Berenikê+, if you sail eastward from
+Myos-Hormos+ across the adjacent gulf for two days, or perhaps
three, you arrive at a place having a port and a fortress which is
called +Leukê Kômê+, and forming the point of communication with
Petra, the residence of +Malikhas+, the king of the Nabatæans.
It ranks as an emporium of trade, since small vessels come to it
laden with merchandize from Arabia; and hence an officer is deputed
to collect the duties which are levied on imports at the rate of
twenty-five per cent. of their value, and also a centurion who commands
the garrison by which the place is protected.

(18, 19) Our author having thus described the African coast as
far southward as it was known on its Eastern side, reverts to
+Berenikê+ and enters at once on a narrative of the second
voyage—that which was made thence across the Northern head of the
gulf and along the coast of Arabia to the emporium of +Mouza+
near the Straits. The course is first northward, and the parts about
+Berenikê+ as you bear away lie therefore now on your left hand.
Having touched at +Myos Hormos+ the course on leaving it is shaped
eastward across the gulf by the promontory +Pharan+, and +Leukê
Kômê+[19] is reached after three or four days’ sailing. This was
a port in the kingdom of the Nabathæans (the Nebaioth of Scripture),
situated perhaps near the mouth of the Elanitic Gulf or eastern arm of
the Red Sea, now called the Gulf of Akabah. Much difference of opinion
has prevailed as to its exact position, since the encroachment of the
land upon the sea has much altered the line of coast here. Mannert
identified it with the modern +Yenbo+ [lat. 24° 5´ N., long. 38°
3´ E., the port of Medina], Gosselin with +Mowilah+ [lat. 27° 38´
N., long. 35° 28´ E.,] Vincent with +Eynounah+ [lat. 28° 3´ N.,
long. 35° 13´ E.—the +Onne+ of Ptolemy], Reichhard with +Istabel
Antai+, and Rüppel with +Wejh+ [lat. 26° 13´ N., long. 36° 27´
E]. Müller prefers the opinion held by Bochart, D’Anville, Quatremêre,
Noel des Vergers, and Ritter, who agree in placing it at the port
called +Hauara+ [lat. 24° 59´ N., long. 37° 16´ E.] mentioned
by Idrisi (I. p. 332), who describes it as a village inhabited
by merchants carrying on a considerable trade in earthen vases
manufactured at a clay-pit in their neighbourhood. Near it lies the
island of +Hassani+ [lat. 24° 59´ N., long. 37° 3´ E.], which, as
Wellsted reports, is conspicuous from its _white_ appearance. +Leukê
Kômê+ is mentioned by various ancient authors, as for instance
Strabo, who, in a passage wherein he recounts the misfortunes which
befel the expedition which Aelius led into Nabathaea, speaks of the
place as a large mart to which and from which the camel traders travel
with ease and in safety from +Petra+ and back to +Petra+
with so large a body of men and camels as to differ in no respect from
an army.

The merchandize thus conveyed from +Leukê Kômê+ to +Petra+
was passed on to +Rhinokoloura+ in Palestine near Egypt, and
thence to other nations, but in his own time the greater part was
transported by the Nile to +Alexandria+. It was brought down from
India and Arabia to +Myos Hormos+, whence it was first conveyed on
camels to +Koptos+ and thence by the Nile to +Alexandria+.
The Nabathaean king, at the time when our author visited +Leukê
Kômê+, was, as he tells us, +Malikhas+, a name which means
‘king.’ Two Petraean sovereigns so called are mentioned by Josêphos,
of whom the latter was contemporary with Herod. The Malikhas of the
_Periplûs_ is however not mentioned in any other work. The Nabathaean
kingdom was subverted in the time of Trajan, A.D. 105, us we learn from
Dio Cassius (cap. lxviii. 14), and from Eutropius (viii. 2, 9), and
from Ammianus Marcellinus (xiv. 8).

20. Beyond this mart, and quite contiguous to it, is the realm of
Arabia, which stretches to a great distance along the coast of the Red
Sea. It is inhabited by various tribes, some speaking the same language
with a certain degree of uniformity, and others a language totally
different. Here also, _as on the opposite continent_, the sea-board is
occupied by +Ikhthyophagoi+, who live in dispersed huts; while
the men of the interior live either in villages, or where pasture
can be found, and are an evil race of men, speaking two different
languages. If a vessel is driven from her course upon this shore she
is plundered, and if wrecked the crew on escaping to land are reduced
to slavery. For this reason they are treated as enemies and captured
by the chiefs and kings of Arabia. They are called +Kanraîtai+.
Altogether, therefore, the navigation of this part of the Arabian coast
is very dangerous: for, _apart from the barbarity of its people_, it
has neither harbours nor good roadsteads, and it is foul with breakers,
and girdled with rocks which render it inaccessible. For this reason
when sailing south we stand off from a shore in every way so dreadful,
and keep our course down the middle of the gulf, straining our utmost
to reach _the more civilized part_ of Arabia, which begins at Burnt
Island. From this onward the people are under a regular government,
and, as their country is pastoral, they keep herds of cattle and camels.

(20) At no great distance from +Leukê Kômê+ the Nabathaean realm
terminates and Arabia begins. The coast is here described as most
dismal, and as in every way dangerous to navigation. The inhabitants
at the same time are barbarians, destitute of all humanity, who
scruple not to attack and plunder wrecked ships and to make slaves of
their crews if they escaped to land. The mariner therefore, shunned
these inhospitable shores, and standing well out to sea, sailed down
the middle of the gulf. The tribe here spoken of was that perhaps
which is represented by the +Hutemi+ of the present day, and the
coast belonged to the part of Arabia now called +Hejid+.

A more civilized region begins at an island called Burnt island, which
answers to the modern Zebâyir [about lat. 15° 5´ N., long. 42° 12´
E.], an island which was till recently volcanic.

21. Beyond this tract, and on the shore of a bay which occurs at the
termination of the left (or east) side of the gulf, is +Mouza+,
an established and notable mart of trade, at a distance south from
Berenikê of not more than 12,000 stadia. The whole place is full of
Arabian shipmasters and common sailors, and is absorbed in the pursuits
of commerce, for with ships of its own fitting out, it trades with
the marts beyond the Straits on the opposite coast, and also with
+Barugaza+.

(21) Beyond this is the great emporium called +Mouza+, [lat. 13°
43´ N., long. 43° 5´ 14´´ E.] situated in a bay near the termination
of the Gulf, and at a distance from +Berenikê+ of 12,000
stadia. Here the population consists almost entirely of merchants
and mariners, and the place is in the highest degree commercial. The
commodities of the country are rich and numerous (though this is
denied by Pliny), and there is a great traffic in Indian articles
brought from +Barugaza+ (Bharoch). This port, once the most
celebrated and most frequented in Yemen, is now the village Musa about
twenty-five miles north from Mokhâ, which has replaced it as a port,
the foundation of which dates back no more than 400 years ago. “Twenty
miles inland from Mokhâ,” says Vincent, “Niebuhr discovered a Musa
still existing, which he with great probability supposes to be the
ancient mart now carried inland to this distance by the recession of
the coast.” [He must have confounded it with +Jebel Musa+, due
east of Mokhâ, at the commencement of the mountain country.] It is a
mere village badly built. Its water is good, and is said to be drunk
by the wealthier inhabitants of Mokhâ. Bochart identified +Mouza+
with the +Mesha+ mentioned by Moses.

22. Above this a three days’ journey off lies the city of +Sauê+,
in the district called +Mopharitis+. It is the residence of
+Kholaibos+, the despot of that country.

(22) The _Periplûs_ notices two cities that lay inland from
+Mouza+—the 1st +Sauê+, the +Savê+ of Pliny (VI.
xxvi., 104), and also of Ptolemy (VI. vii., p. 411), who places
it at a distance of 500 stadia S. E. of Mouza. The position and
distance direct us to the city of +Taaes+, which lies near a
mountain called Saber. +Sauê+ belonged to a district called
+Mapharitis+ or +Mophareitês+, a name which appears to
survive in the modern +Mharras+, which designates a mountain
lying N. E. from +Taaes+. It was ruled by +Kholaibos+
(Arabicé—Khaleb), whom our author calls a tyrant, and who was
therefore probably a Sheikh who had revolted from his lawful chief,
and established himself as an independent ruler.

23. A journey of nine days more conducts us to +Saphar+, the
metropolis of +Kharibaêl+, the rightful sovereign of two
contiguous tribes, the +Homerites+ and the +Sabaïtai+, and,
by means of frequent embassies and presents, the friend of the Emperors.

(23) The other city was +Saphar+, the metropolis of the
+Homerîtai+, _i.e._ the +Himaryi+—the Arabs of Yemen, whose
power was widely extended, not only in Yemen but in distant countries
both to the East and West. Saphar is called +Sapphar+ by Ptolemy
(VI. vii.), who places it in 14° N. lat. Philostorgios calls it
+Tapharon+, and Stephen of Byzantium +Tarphara+. It is now
+Dhafar+ or Dsoffar or Zaphar. In Edrisi (I. p. 148) it appears
as +Dhofar+, and he thus writes of it:—“It is the capital of
the district Jahsseb. It was formerly one of the greatest and most
famous of cities. The kings of Yemen made it their residence, and
there was to be seen the palace of Zeidan. These structures are now in
ruins, and the population has been much decreased, nevertheless the
inhabitants have preserved some remnants of their ancient riches.”
The ruins of the city and palace still exist in the neighbourhood of
+Jerim+, which Niebuhr places in 14° 30´ N. lat. The distance
from +Sauê+ to +Saphar+ in the _Periplûs_ is a nine
days’ journey. Niebuhr accomplished it however in six. Perhaps,
as Müller suggests, the nine days’ journey is from +Mouza+
to +Saphar+. The sovereign of Saphar is called by our author
+Kharibaêl+, a name which is not found among the Himyaritic
kings known from other sources. In Ptolemy the region is called
+Elisarôn+, from a king bearing that name.

24. The mart of +Mouza+ has no harbour, but its sea is smooth,
and the anchorage good, owing to the sandy nature of the bottom. The
commodities which it imports are—

Πορφύρα, διάφορος καὶ χυδαία—Purple cloth, fine and ordinary.

Ἱματισμίς Ἀραβικὸς χειριδωτὸς, ὅτε ἁπλοῦς καὶ ὁ κοινὸς καὶ σκοτουλάτος
καὶ διάχρυσος—Garments made up in the Arabian fashion, some plain and
common, and others wrought in needlework and inwoven with gold.

Κρόκος—Saffron.

Κύπερος—The aromatic rush Kyperos. (Turmeric?)

Ὀθόνιον—Muslins.

Ἀβόλλαι—Cloaks.

Λώδικες οὐ πολλαὶ, ἁπλοῖ τε καὶ ἐντόπιοι—Quilts, in small quantity,
some plain, others adapted to the fashion of the country.

Ζῶναι σκιωταὶ—Sashes of various shades of colour.

Μύρον μέτριον—Perfumes, a moderate quantity.

Χρῆμα ἱκανὸν—Specie as much as is required.

Οἶνος—Wine.

Σῖτος οὐ πολύς—Corn, but not much.

The country produces a little wheat and a great abundance of wine. Both
the king and the despot above mentioned receive presents consisting of
horses, pack-saddle mules, gold plate, silver plate embossed, robes of
great value, and utensils of brass. +Mouza+ exports its own local
products—myrrh of the finest quality that has oozed in drops from the
trees, both the Gabiræan and Minœan kinds; white marble (or alabaster),
in addition to commodities brought from the other side of the Gulf,
all such as were enumerated at +Adouli+. The most favourable
season for making a voyage to Mouza is the month of September,—that is
Thôth,—but there is nothing to prevent it being made earlier.

(24) Adjacent to the Homeritai, and subject to them when the
_Periplûs_ was written, were the Sabæans, so famous in antiquity for
their wealth, luxury and magnificence. Their country, the +Sheba+
of Scripture, was noted as the land of frankincense. Their power
at one time extended far and wide, but in the days of our author
they were subject to the Homerites ruled over by Kharibaêl, who was
assiduous in courting the friendship of Rome.

25. If on proceeding from +Mouza+ you sail by the coast for about
a distance of 300 stadia, there occurs, where the Arabian mainland
and the opposite coast of +Barbaria+ at +Aualitês+ now
approach each other, a channel of no great length which contracts the
sea and encloses it within narrow bounds. This is 60 stadia wide, and
in crossing it you come midway upon the island of +Diodôros+,
to which it is owing that the passage of the straits is in its
neighbourhood exposed to violent winds which blow down from the
adjacent mountains. There is situate upon the shore of the straits an
Arabian village subject to the same ruler (as Mouza), +Okêlis+ by
name, which is not so much a mart of commerce as a place for anchorage
and supplying water, and where those who are bound for the interior
first land and halt to refresh themselves.

(25) At a distance of 300 stadia beyond +Mouza+ we reach the
straits where the shores of Arabia and Africa advance so near to
each other that the passage between them has only, according to the
_Periplûs_, a width of 60 stadia, or 7½ miles. In the midst of the
passage lies the island of +Diodôros+ (now Perim), which is about
4½ miles long by 2 broad, and rises 230 feet above the level of the
sea. The straits, according to Moresby, are 14½ geographical miles
wide at the entrance between Bab-el-Mandab Cape (near which is Perim)
and the opposite point or volcanic peak called +Jibel Sijan+. The
larger of the two entrances is 11 miles wide, and the other only 1½.
Strabo, Agathêmeros, and Pliny all agree with the _Periplûs_ in giving
60 stadia as the breadth of the straits. The first passage of those
dreaded straits was regarded as a great achievement, and was naturally
ascribed to Sesostris as the voyage though the straits of Kalpê was
ascribed to Heraklês.

Situated on the shores of the straits was a place called
+Okêlis+. This was not a mart of commerce, but merely a bay with
good anchorage and well supplied with water. It is identical with
the modern Ghalla or Cella, which has a bay immediately within the
straits. Strabo following Artemidoros notes here a promontory called
+Akila+. Pliny (VI. xxxii. 157) mentions an emporium of the same
name “ex quo in Indiam navigatur.” In xxvi., 104 of the same Book
he says: “Indos petentibus utilissimum est ab +Oceli+ egredi.”
Ptolemy mentions a +Pseudokêlis+, which he places at the distance
of half a degree from the emporium of +Okêlis+.

26. Beyond +Okêlis+, the sea again widening out towards the east,
and gradually expanding into the open main, there lies, at about the
distance of 1,200 stadia, +Eudaimôn Arabia+, a maritime village
subject to that kingdom of which Kharibaêl is sovereign—a place with
good anchorage, and supplied with sweeter and better water than that
of Okêlis, and standing at the entrance of a bay where the land begins
to retire inwards. It was called Eudaimôn (‘rich and prosperous’),
because in bygone days, when the merchants from India did not proceed
to Egypt, and those from Egypt did not venture to cross over to the
marts further east, but both came only as far as this city, it formed
the common centre of their commerce, as Alexandria receives the wares
which pass to and fro between Egypt and the ports of the Mediterranean.
Now, however, it lies in ruins, the Emperor having destroyed it not
long before our own times.

(26) At a distance beyond +Okêlis+ of 1,200 stadia is the
port of +Eudaimôn Arabia+, which beyond doubt corresponds to
+'Âden+, [lat. 12° 45´ N., long. 45° 21´ E.] now so well-known
as the great packet station between Suez and India. The opinion
held by some that Aden is the Eden mentioned by the Prophet Ezekiel
(xxvii. 23) is opposed by Ritter and Winer. It is not mentioned by
Pliny, though it has been erroneously held that the +Attanae+,
which he mentions in the following passage, was Aden. “Homnae et
Attanae (v. 1. Athanae) quæ nunc oppida maxima celebrari a Persico
mari negotiatores dicunt.” (vi. 32.) Ptolemy, who calls it simply
+Arabia+, speaks of it as an emporium, and places after it at the
distance of a degree and a half +Melan Horos+, or Black Hill,
17 miles from the coast, which is in long. 46° 59´ E. The place,
as the _Periplûs_ informs us, received the name of +Eudaimôn+
from the great prosperity and wealth which it derived from being
the great entrepôt of the trade between India and Egypt. It was in
decay when that work was written, but even in the time of Ptolemy
had begun to show symptoms of returning prosperity, and in the time
of Constantine it was known as the ‘Roman Emporium,’ and had almost
regained its former consequence, as is gathered from a passage in
the works of the ecclesiastical historian Philostorgios. It is thus
spoken of by Edrisi (I. p. 51): “+'Âden+ is a small town, but
renowned for its seaport whence ships depart that are destined for
Sind, India, and China.” In the middle ages it became again the centre
of the trade between India and the Red Sea, and thus regained that
wonderful prosperity which in the outset had given it its name. In
this flourishing condition it was found by Marco Polo, whose account
of its wealth, power and influence is, as Vincent remarks, almost as
magnificent as that which Agatharkhidês attributed to the Sabæans in
the time of the Ptolemies, when the trade was carried on in the same
manner. Agatharkhidês does not however mention the place by name, but
it was probably the city which he describes without naming it as lying
on the White Sea without the straits, whence, he says, the Sabæans
sent out colonies or factories into India, and where the fleets from
Persis, Karmania and the Indus arrived. The name of +Aden+ is
supposed to be a corruption from +Eudaimôn+.

27. To +Eudaimôn Arabia+ at once succeeds a great length of coast
and a bay extending 2,000 stadia or more, inhabited by nomadic tribes
and Ikhthyophagoi settled in villages. On doubling a cape which
projects from it you come to another trading seaport, +Kanê+,
which is subject to +Eleazos+, king of the incense country.
Two barren islands lie opposite to it, 120 stadia off—one called
+Orneôn+, and the other +Troullas+. At some distance inland
from +Kanê+ is +Sabbatha+, the principal city of the
district, where the king resides. At +Kanê+ is collected all the
incense that is produced in the country, this being conveyed to it
partly on camels, and partly _by sea_ on floats supported on inflated
skins, a local invention, and also in boats. +Kanê+ carries on
trade with ports across the ocean—+Barugaza+, +Skythia+, and
+Omana+, and the adjacent coast of +Persis+.

(27) The coast beyond Aden is possessed partly by wandering tribes,
and partly by tribes settled in villages which subsist on fish.
Here occurs a bay—that now called Ghubhet-al-Kamar, which extends
upwards of 2,000 stadia, and ends in a promontory—that now called
Râs-al-Asîdah or Bâ-l-hâf [lat. 13° 58´ N., long 48° 9´ S.—a cape
with a hill near the fishing village of Gillah]. Beyond this lies
another great mart called +Kanê+. It is mentioned by Pliny, and
also by Ptolemy, who assigns it a position in agreement with the
indications given in the _Periplûs_. It has been identified with
the port now called Hisn Ghorâb [lat. 14° 0´ N. long. 48° 19´ E.].
Not far from this is an island called Halanî, which answers to the
+Troullas+ of our author. Further south is another island, which
is called by the natives of the adjacent coast +Sikkah+, but
by sailors Jibûs. This is covered with the dung of birds which in
countless multitudes have always frequented it, and may be therefore
identified with the +Orneôn+ of the _Periplûs_. +Kanê+ was
subject to Eleazos, the king of the Frankincense Country, who resided
at +Sabbatha+, or as it is called by Pliny (VI. xxxii. 155)
+Sabota+, the capital of the Atramitae or Adramitae, a tribe
of Sabæans from whom the division of Arabia now known as Hadhramaut
takes its name. The position of this city cannot be determined with
certainty. Wellsted, who proceeded into the interior from the coast
near Hisn Ghorab through Wadi Meifah, came after a day’s journey and a
half to a place called Nakb-el-Hajar, situated in a highly cultivated
district, where he found ruins of an ancient city of the Himyarites
crowning an eminence that rose gently with a double summit from the
fertile plain. The city appeared to have been built in the most solid
style of architecture, and to have been protected by a very lofty
wall formed of square blocks of black marble, while the inscriptions
plainly betokened that it was an old seat of the Himyarites. A
close similarity could be traced between its ruins and those of
+Kanê+, to which there was an easy communication by the valley
of +Meifah+. This place, however, can hardly be regarded as
+Sabbatha+ without setting aside the distances given by Ptolemy,
and Wellsted moreover learned from the natives that other ruins of a
city of not less size were to be met with near a village called Esan,
which could be reached by a three days’ journey.—(See Haines, _Mem. of
the S. Coast of Arab._)

28. From Egypt it imports, like Mouza, corn and a little wheat, cloths
for the Arabian market, both of the common sort and the plain, and
large quantities of a sort that is adulterated; also copper, tin,
coral, styrax, and all the other articles enumerated at Mouza. Besides
these there are brought also, principally for the king, wrought silver
plate, and specie as well as horses and carved images, and plain
cloth of a superior quality. Its exports are its indigenous products,
frankincense and aloes, and such commodities as it shares in common
with other marts on the same coast. Ships sail for this port at the
same season of the year as those bound for Mouza, but earlier.

(28) With regard to the staple product of this region—frankincense,
the _Periplûs_ informs us that it was brought for exportation to
+Kanê+. It was however in the first place, if we may credit
Pliny, conveyed to the Metropolis. He says (xv. 32) that when gathered
it was carried into +Sabota+ on camels which could enter the city
only by one particular gate, and that to take it by any other route
was a crime punished by death. The priests, he adds, take a tithe for
a deity named +Sabis+, and that until this impost is paid, the
article cannot be sold.

Some writers would identify +Sabbatha+ with +Mariabo+
(Marab), but on insufficient grounds. It has also been conjectured
that the name may be a lengthened form of +Saba+ (Sheba), a
common appellation for cities in Arabia Felix. [Müller places Sabbatha
at Sawa, lat. 16° 13´ N., long. 48° 9´ E.]

29. As you proceed from +Kanê+ the land retires more and more,
and there succeeds another very deep and far-stretching gulf,
+Sakhalitês+ by name, and also the frankincense country, which is
mountainous and difficult of access, having a dense air loaded with
vapours [and] the frankincense exhaled from the trees. These trees,
which are not of any great size or height, yield their incense in the
form of a concretion on the bark, just as several of our trees in Egypt
exude gum. The incense is collected by the hand of the king’s slaves,
and malefactors condemned to this service as a punishment. The country
is unhealthy in the extreme:—pestilential even to those who sail along
the coast, and mortal to the poor wretches who gather the incense, who
also suffer from lack of food, which readily cuts them off.

(29) The next place mentioned by our author after +Kanê+ is a
Bay called +Sakhalîtes+, which terminates at +Suagros+,
a promontory which looks eastward, and is the greatest cape in the
whole world. There was much difference of opinion among the ancient
geographers regarding the position of this Bay, and consequently
regarding that of Cape +Suagros+.

30. Now at this gulf is a promontory, the greatest in the world,
looking towards the east, and called +Suagros+, at which is a
fortress which protects the country, and a harbour, and a magazine
to which the frankincense which is collected is brought. Out in
the open sea, facing this promontory, and lying between it and the
promontory of +Arômata+, which projects from the opposite coast,
though nearer to +Suagros+, is the island going by the name of
+Dioskoridês+, which is of great extent, but desert and very
moist, having rivers and crocodiles and a great many vipers, and
lizards of enormous size, of which the flesh serves for food, while the
grease is melted down and used as a substitute for oil. This island
does not, however, produce either the grape or corn. The population,
which is but scanty, inhabits the north side of the island—that part
of it which looks towards the mainland (_of Arabia_). It consists
of an intermixture of foreigners, Arabs, Indians, and even Greeks,
who resort hither for the purposes of commerce. The island produces
the tortoise,—the genuine, the land, and the white sort: the latter
very abundant, and distinguished for the largeness of its shell;
also the mountain sort which is of extraordinary size and has a very
thick shell, whereof the underpart cannot be used, being too hard to
cut, while the serviceable part is made into moneyboxes, tablets,
escritoires, and ornamental articles of that description. It yields
also the vegetable dye (κιννάβαρι) called Indicum (or Dragon’s-blood),
which is gathered as it distils from trees.

(30) Some would identify the latter with Ras-el-Had, and others on
account of the similarity of the name with Cape +Saugra+ or
+Saukirah+ [lat. 18° 8´ N., long. 56° 35´ E.], where Ptolemy
places a city +Suagros+ at a distance of 6 degrees from
+Kanê+, But +Suagros+ is undoubtedly Ras Fartak [lat. 15°
39´ N., long 52° 15´ E.], which is at a distance of 4 degrees from
+Hisn Ghorab+, or +Kanê+, and which, rising to the height of
2,500 feet on a coast which is all low-lying, is a very conspicuous
object, said to be discernible from a distance of 60 miles out at
sea. Eighteen miles west from this promontory is a village called
Saghar, a name which might probably have suggested to the Greeks that
of +Suagros+. Consistent with this identification is the passage
of Pliny (VI. 32) where he speaks of the island +Dioscoridis+
(Sokotra) as distant from +Suagros+, which he calls the utmost
projection of the coast, 2,240 stadia or 280 miles, which is only
about 30 miles in excess of the real distance, 2,000 stadia.

With regard to the position of the Bay of Sakhalitês, Ptolemy,
followed by Marcianus, places it to the East of Suagros. Marinos on
the other hand, like the _Periplûs_, places it to the west of it.
Muller agrees with Fresnel in regarding +Sakhlê+, mentioned by
Ptolemy (VI. vii. 41) as 1½ degree East of Makalleh [lat. 14° 31´ N.,
long 49° 7´ W.] as the same with Shehr—which is now the name of all
that mountainous region extending from the seaport of Makalleh to the
bay in which lie the islands of Kurya Murya. He therefore takes this
to be in the Regio Sakhalîtês, and rejects the opinion of Ptolemy as
inconsistent with this determination. With regard to Shehr or Shehar
[lat. 14° 38´ N., long. 49° 22´ E.] Yule (_M. Polo_, II. vol. p. 440,
note) says: “Shihr or Shehr still exists on the Arabian Coast as a
town and district about 330 miles east of Aden.” The name Shehr in
some of the oriental geographies includes the whole Coast up to Oman.
The hills of the Shehr and Dhafâr districts were the great source of
produce of the Arabian frankincense.

The island of +Dioskoridês+ (now Sokotra) is placed by
the _Periplûs_ nearer to Cape +Suagros+ than to Cape
+Arômata+—although its distance from the former is nearly double
the distance from the latter. The name, though in appearance a Greek
one, is in reality of Sanskrit origin; from _Dvîpa Sukhâdâra_, i.e.
_insula fortunata_, ‘Island abode of Bliss.’ The accuracy of the
statements made regarding it in the _Periplûs_ is fully confirmed by
the accounts given of it by subsequent writers. Kosmas, who wrote in
the 6th century, says that the inhabitants spoke Greek, and that he
met with people from it who were on their way to Ethiopia, and that
they spoke Greek. “The ecclesiastical historian Nikephoros Kallistos,”
says Yule, “seems to allude to the people of Sokotra when he says
that among the nations visited by the Missionary Theophilus in the
time of Constantius, were ‘the Assyrians on the verge of the outer
Ocean, towards the East ... whom Alexander the Great, after driving
them from Syria, sent thither to settle, and to this day they keep
their mother tongue, though all of the blackest, through the power of
the sun’s rays.’ The Arab voyagers of the 9th century say that the
island was colonized with Greeks by Alexander the Great, in order to
promote the culture of the Sokotrine aloes; when the other Greeks
adopted Christianity these did likewise, and they had continued to
retain their profession of it. The colonizing by Alexander is probably
a fable, but invented to account for facts.” (_Marco Polo_ II. 401.)
The aloe, it may be noted, is not mentioned in the _Periplûs_ as one
of the products of the island. The islanders, though at one time
Christians, are now Muhammadans, and subject as of yore to Arabia. The
people of the interior are still of distinct race with curly hair,
Indian complexion, and regular features. The coast people are mongrels
of Arab and mixed descent. Probably in old times civilization and
Greek may have been confined to the littoral foreigners. Marco Polo
notes that so far back as the 10th century it was one of the stations
frequented by the Indian corsairs called +Bawârij+, belonging to
Kachh and Gujarat.

31. The island is subject to the king of the frankincense country, in
the same way as +Azania+ is subject to Kharibaël and the despot
of +Mopharitis+. It used to be visited by some (_merchants_) from
Mouza, and others on the homeward voyage from Limurikê and Barugaza
would occasionally touch at it, importing rice, corn, Indian cotton
and female-slaves, who, being rare, always commanded a ready market.
In exchange for these commodities they would receive as fresh cargo
great quantities of tortoise-shell. The revenues of the island are at
the present day farmed out by its sovereigns, who, however, maintain a
garrison in it for the protection of their interests.

32. Immediately after +Suagros+ follows a gulf deeply indenting
the mainland of +Omana+, and having a width of 600 stadia. Beyond
it are high mountains, rocky and precipitous, and inhabited by men who
live in caves. The range extends onward for 500 stadia, and beyond
where it terminates lies an important harbour called +Moskha+, the
appointed port to which the _Sakhalitik_ frankincense is forwarded. It
is regularly frequented by a number of ships from Kanê; and such ships
as come from Limurikê and Barugaza too late in the season put into
harbour here for the winter, where they dispose of their muslins, corn,
and oil to the king’s officers, receiving in exchange frankincense,
which lies in piles throughout the whole of +Sakhalitis+ without
a guard to protect it, as if the locality were indebted to some divine
power for its security. Indeed, it is impossible to procure a cargo,
either publicly or by connivance, without the king’s permission. Should
one take furtively on board were it but a single grain, his vessel can
by no possibility escape from harbour.

(32) Returning to the mainland the narrative conducts us next to
+Moskha+, a seaport trading with +Kanê+, and a wintering
place for vessels arriving late in the season from Malabar and the
Gulf of Khambât. The distance of this place from Suagros is set down
at upwards of 1,100 stadia, 600 of which represent the breadth of a
bay which begins at the Cape, and is called +Omana Al-Kamar+.
The occurrence of the two names Omana and Moskha in such close
connexion led D’Anville to suppose that +Moskha+ is identical
with +Maskat+, the capital of +Oman+, the country lying
at the south-east extremity of Arabia, and hence that Ras-el-Ḥad,
beyond which Maskat lies, must be Cape Suagros. This supposition is,
however, untenable, since the identification of Moskha with the modern
+Ausera+ is complete. For, in the first place, the Bay of Seger,
which begins at Cape Fartak, is of exactly the same measurement
across to Cape Thurbot Ali as the Bay of +Omana+, and again the
distance from Cape Thurbot Ali [lat. 16° 38´ N., long. 53° 3´ E.]
to Ras-al-Sair, the +Ausara+ of Ptolemy, corresponds almost as
exactly to the distance assigned by our author from the same Cape to
+Moskha+. Moreover Pliny (XII. 35) notices that one particular
kind of incense bore the name of _Ausaritis_, and, as the _Periplûs_
states that +Moskha+ was the great emporium of the incense trade,
the identification is satisfactory.

There was another Moskha on this coast which was also a port. It lay
to the west of Suagros, and has been identified with +Koshîn+
[lat. 15° 21´ N. long. 51° 39´ E.]. Our author, though correct in his
description of the coast, may perhaps have erred in his nomenclature;
and this is the more likely to have happened as it scarcely admits
of doubt that he had no personal knowledge of South Arabia beyond
+Kanê+ and Cape +Suagros+. Besides no other author speaks
of an Omana so far to westward as the position assigned to the Bay of
that name. The tract immediately beyond +Moskha+ or Ausera is
low and fertile, and is called +Dofar+ or +Zhafâr+, after
a famous city now destroyed, but whose ruins are still to be traced
between Al-hâfâh and Addahariz. “This Dhafâr,” says Yule (_Marco Polo_
II. p. 442 note) “or the bold fountain above it, is supposed to be the
+Sephar+ of _Genesis_ X. 30.” It is certain that the Himyarites
had spread their dominion as far eastward as this place. Marco Polo
thus describes Dhafâr:—“It stands upon the sea, and has a very good
haven, so that there is a great traffic of shipping between this and
India; and the merchants take hence great numbers of Arab horses to
that market, making great profits thereby.... Much white incense is
produced here, and I will tell you how it grows. The trees are like
small fir-trees; these are notched with a knife in several places, and
from these notches the incense is exuded. Sometimes, also, it flows
from the tree without any notch, this is by reason of the great heat
of the sun there.” Müller would identify +Moskha+ with Zhafâr,
and accounts for the discrepancy of designation by supposing that our
author had confounded the name +Maskat+, which was the great seat
of the traffic in frankincense with the name of the greatest city
in the district which actually produced it. A similar confusion he
thinks transferred the name of Oman to the same part of the country.
The climate of the incense country is described as being extremely
unhealthy, but its unhealthiness seems to have been designedly
exaggerated.

33. From the port of +Moskha+ onward to +Asikh+, a distance
of about 1,500 stadia, runs a range of hills pretty close to the
shore, and at its termination there are seven islands bearing the
name of +Zenobios+, beyond which again we come to another
barbarous district not subject to any power in Arabia, but to Persia.
If when sailing by this coast you stand well out to sea so as to
keep a direct course, then at about a distance from the island of
+Zenobios+ of 2,000 stadia you arrive at another island, called
that of +Sarapis+, lying off shore, say, 120 stadia. It is about
200 stadia broad and 600 long, possessing three villages inhabited by a
_savage_ tribe of +Ikhthyophagoi+, who speak the Arabic language,
and whose clothing consists of a girdle made from the leaves of the
cocoa-palm. The island produces in great plenty tortoise of excellent
quality, and the merchants of +Kanê+ accordingly fit out little
boats and cargo-ships to trade with it.

(33) Beyond +Moskha+ the coast is mountainous as far as
+Asikh+ and the islands of Zenobios—a distance excessively
estimated at 1,500 stadia. The mountains referred to are 5,000 feet
in height, and are those now called Subaha. +Asikh+ is readily
to be identified with the +Hâsek+ of Arabian geographers. Edrisi
(I. p. 54) says: “Thence (from Marbat) to the town of Hâsek is a four
days’ journey and a two days’ sail. Before +Hâsek+ are the two
islands of +Khartan+ and +Martan+. Above +Hâsek+ is
a high mountain named +Sous+, which commands the sea. It is an
inconsiderable town but populous.” This place is now in ruins, but has
left its name to the promontory on which it stood [Râs Hâsek, lat. 17°
23´ N. long. 55° 20´ E. opposite the island of Hasiki]. The islands
of +Zenobios+ are mentioned by Ptolemy as seven in number, and
are those called by Edrisi +Khartan+ and +Martan+, now known
as the +Kuriyân Muriyân+ islands. The inhabitants belonged to an
Arab tribe which was spread from Hâsek to Râs-el-Ḥad, and was called
+Beit+ or +Beni Jenabi+, whence the Greek name. M. Polo in
the 31st chapter of his travels “discourseth of the two islands called
Male and Female,” the position of which he vaguely indicates by saying
that “when you leave the kingdom of +Kesmacoran+ (Mekran) which
is on the mainland, you go by sea some 500 miles towards the south,
and then you find the 2 islands Male and Female lying about 30 miles
distant from one another.” (See also _Marco Polo_, vol. II. p. 396
note.)

Beyond +Asikh+ is a district inhabited by barbarians, and subject
not to Arabia but to Persis. Then succeeds at a distance of 200 stadia
beyond the islands of +Zenobios+ the island of +Sarapis+,
(the Ogyris of Pliny) now called Masira [lat. 20° 10´ to 20° 42´ N.,
long. 58° 37´ to 58° 59´ E.] opposite that part of the coast where
Oman now begins. The _Periplûs_ exaggerates both its breadth and its
distance from the continent. It was still inhabited by a tribe of
fish-eaters in the time of Ebn Batuta, by whom it was visited.

On proceeding from +Sarapis+ the adjacent coast bends round, and
the direction of the voyage changes to north. The great cape which
forms the south-eastern extremity of Arabia called +Ras-el-Had+
[lat. 22° 33´ N. long. 59° 48´ E.] is here indicated, but without
being named; Ptolemy calls it +Korodamon+ (VI. vii. 11.)

34. If sailing onward you wind round with the adjacent coast to the
north, then as you approach the entrance of the Persian Gulf you
fall in with a group of islands which lie in a range along the coast
for 2,000 stadia, and are called the islands of +Kalaiou+. The
inhabitants of the adjacent coast are cruel and treacherous, and see
imperfectly in the daytime.

(34) Beyond it, and near the entrance to the Persian Gulf, occurs,
according to the _Periplûs_, a group of many islands, which lie in a
range along the coast over a space of 2,000 stadia, and are called the
islands of +Kalaiou+. Here our author is obviously in error, for
there are but three groups of islands on this coast, which are not by
any means near the entrance of the Gulf. They lie beyond Maskat [lat.
23° 38´ N. long. 58° 36´ E.] and extend for a considerable distance
along the Batinah coast. The central group is that of the Deymâniyeh
islands (probably the Damnia of Pliny) which are seven in number,
and lie nearly opposite Birkeh [lat 23° 42´ N. long. 57° 55´ E.].
The error, as Müller suggests, may be accounted for by supposing
that the tract of country called El Baṭinah was mistaken for islands.
This tract, which is very low and extremely fertile, stretches from
Birkeh [lat. 23° 42´ N. long. 57° 55´ E.] onward to Jibba, where high
mountains approach the very shore, and run on in an unbroken chain
to the mouth of the Persian Gulf. The islands are not mentioned by
any other author, for the +Calacou insulae+ of Pliny (VI. xxxii.
150) must, to avoid utter confusion, be referred to the coast of the
Arabian Gulf. There is a place called +El Kilat+, the Akilla of
Pliny [lat. 22° 40´ N. long. 59° 24´ E.]—but whether this is connected
with the +Kalaiou+ islands of the _Periplûs_ is uncertain [Conf.
_Ind. Ant._ vol. IV. p. 48. El Kilhat, south of Maskat and close to
Ṣûr, was once a great port.]

35. Near the last headland of the islands of +Kalaiou+ is the
mountain called +Kalon+ (Pulcher),[20] to which succeeds, at no
great distance, the mouth of the Persian Gulf, where there are very
many pearl fisheries. On the left of the entrance, towering to a vast
height, are the mountains which bear the name of +Asaboi+, and
directly opposite on the right you see another mountain high and round,
called the hill of +Semiramis+. The strait which separates them
has a width of 600 stadia, and through this opening the Persian Gulf
pours its vast expanse of waters far up into the interior. At the very
head of this gulf there is a regular mart of commerce, called the city
of +Apologos+, situate near +Pasinou-Kharax+ and the river
Euphrates.

(35) Before the mouth of the Persian Gulf is reached occurs a height
called +Kalon+ (Fair Mount) at the last head of the islands of
Papias—τῶν Παπίου νήσων. This reading has been altered by Fabricius
and Schwanbeck to των Καλαιου νησων. The Fair Mount, according to
Vincent, would answer sufficiently to Cape Fillam, if that be high
land, and not far from Fillam are the straits. The great cape which
Arabia protrudes at these straits towards Karmania is now called Ras
Mussendom. It was seen from the opposite coast by the expedition under
Nearkhos, to whom it appeared to be a day’s sail distant. The height
on that coast is called Semiramis, and also Strongylê from its round
shape. Mussendom, the ‘Asabôn akron’ of Ptolemy, Vincent says, “is a
sort of Lizard Point to the Gulf; for all the Arabian ships take their
departure from it with some ceremonies of superstition, imploring
a blessing on their voyage, and setting afloat a toy like a vessel
rigged and decorated, which if it is dashed to pieces by the rocks
is to be accepted by the ocean as an offering for the escape of the
vessel.” [The straits between the island of Mussendom and the mainland
are called El Bab, and this is the origin of the name of the Papiæ
islands.—Miles’ _Jour. R. A. Soc._ N. S. vol. x. p. 168.]

The actual width of the straits is 40 miles. Pliny gives it at 50, and
the _Periplûs_ at 75. Cape Mussendom is represented in the _Periplûs_
as in Ptolemy by the Mountains of the Asabi which are described as
tremendous heights, black, grim, and abrupt. They are named from the
tribe of +Beni Asab+.

We enter now the Gulf itself, and here the _Periplûs_ mentions only
two particulars: the famous Pearl Fisheries which begin at the straits
and extend to Bahrein, and the situation of a regular trading mart
called +Apologos+, which lies at the very head of the Gulf on the
Euphrates, and in the vicinity of +Spasinou Kharax+. This place
does not appear to be referred to in any other classical work, but it
is frequently mentioned by Arabian writers under the name of Oboleh
or Obolegh. As an emporium it took the place of +Terêdôn+ or
+Diridôtis+, just as +Basra+ (below which it was situated)
under the second Khaliphate took the place of +Oboleh+ itself.
According to Vincent, Oboleh, or a village that represents it, still
exists between Basra and the Euphrates. The canal also is called
the canal of Oboleh. +Kharax Pasinou+ was situated where the
+Karûn+ (the +Eulæus+ of the ancients) flows into the
+Pasitigris+, and is represented by the modern trading town
+Muhammarah+. It was founded by Alexander the Great, and after
its destruction, was rebuilt by Antiokhos Epiphanes, who changed its
name from Alexandreia to Antiokheia. It was afterwards occupied by an
Arab Chief called Pasines, or rather +Spasines+, who gave it the
name by which it is best known. Pliny states that the original town
was only 10 miles from the sea, but that in his time the existing
place was so much as 120 miles from it. It was the birth-place of two
eminent geographers—Dionysius Periegetes and Isidôros.

36. If you coast along the mouth of the gulf you are conducted by a
six days’ voyage to another seat of trade belonging to Persia, called
+Omana+.[21] Barugaza maintains a regular commercial intercourse
with both these Persian ports, despatching thither large vessels
freighted with copper, sandalwood, beams for rafters, horn, and logs of
sasamina and ebony. Omana imports also frankincense from Kanê, while
it exports to Arabia a particular species of vessels called _madara_,
which have their planks sewn together. But both from +Apologos+
and +Omana+ there are exported to Barugaza and to Arabia great
quantities of pearl, of mean quality however compared with the Indian
sort, together with purple, cloth for the natives, wine, dates in great
quantity, and gold and slaves.

(36) After this cursory glance at the great gulf, our author returns
to the straits, and at once conducts us to the Eastern shores of the
æErythræan, where occurs another emporium belonging to Persis, at a
distance from the straits of 6 courses or 3,000 stadia. This is Omana.
It is mentioned by Pliny (VI. xxxii. 149) who makes it belong to
Arabia, and accuses preceding writers for placing it in Karmania.

The name of +Omana+ has been corrupted in the MSS. of Ptolemy
into Nommana, Nombana, +Kommana+, Kombana, but Marcian has
preserved the correct spelling. From Omana as from Apologos great
quantities of pearl of an inferior sort were exported to Arabia and
Barugaza. No part however of the produce of India is mentioned as
among its exports, although it was the centre of commerce between that
country and Arabia.

37. After leaving the district of +Omana+ the country of the
+Parsidai+ succeeds, which belongs to another government, and
the bay which bears the name of +Terabdoi+, from the midst of
which a cape projects. Here also is a river large enough to permit the
entrance of ships, with a small mart at its mouth called +Oraia+.
Behind it in the interior, at the distance of a seven days’ journey
from the coast, is the city where the king resides, called Rhambakia.
This district, in addition to corn, produces wine, rice, and dates,
though in the tract near the sea, only the fragrant gum called
bdellium.

(37) The district which succeeds Omana belongs to the +Parsidai+,
a tribe in Gedrosia next neighbours to the +Arbitae+ on the
East. They are mentioned by Ptolemy (VI. xx., p. 439) and by Arrian
(_Indika_ xxvi.) who calls them +Pasirees+, and notes that they
had a small town called +Pasira+, distant about 60 stadia from
the sea, and a harbour with good anchorage called +Bagisara+. The
Promontory of the _Periplûs_ is also noted and described as projecting
far into the sea, and being high and precipitous. It is the Cape
now called +Arabah+ or +Urmarah+. The Bay into which it
projects is called +Terabdôn+, a name which is found only in our
author. Vincent erroneously identifies this with the +Paragôn+
of Ptolemy. It is no doubt the Bay which extends from Cape Guadel to
Cape Monze. The river which enters this Bay, at the mouth of which
stood the small mart called +Oraia+, was probably that which
is now called the Akbor. The royal city which lay inland from the
sea a seven days’ journey was perhaps, as Mannert has conjectured,
+Rambakia+, mentioned by Arrian (_Anab._ vi. 21) as the capital
of the +Oreitai+ or +Horitai+.

38. After this region, where the coast is already deeply indented by
gulfs caused by the land advancing with a vast curve from the east,
succeeds the seaboard of Skythia, a region which extends to northward.
It is very low and flat, and contains the mouths of the +Sinthos+
(Indus), the largest of all the rivers which fall into the Erythræan
Sea, and which, indeed, pours into it such a vast body of water that
while you are yet far off from the land at its mouth you find the sea
turned of a white colour by its waters.

The sign by which voyagers before sighting land know that it is near
is their meeting with serpents floating on the water; but higher up
and on the coasts of Persia the first sign of land is seeing them of
a different kind, called _graai_. [Sansk. _graha_—an alligator.] The
river has seven mouths, all shallow, marshy and unfit for navigation
except only the middle stream, on which is +Barbarikon+, a trading
seaport. Before this town lies a small islet, and behind it in the
interior is +Minnagar+, the metropolis of Skythia, which is
governed, however, by Parthian princes, who are perpetually at strife
among themselves, expelling each the other.

(38) We now approach the mouths of the Indus which our author
calls the +Sinthos+, transliterating the native name of
it—+Sindhu+. In his time the wide tract which was watered by this
river in the lower part of its course was called +Indoskythia+.
It derived its name from the Skythian tribes (the +Śâka+ of
Sansk.) who after the overthrow of the Graeco-Baktrian empire
gradually passed southward to the coast, where they established
themselves about the year 120 B. C., occupying all the region
between the Indus and the Narmadâ. They are called by Dionysios
Periegetes +Notioi Skythai+, the Southern Skythians. Our author
mentions two cities which belonged to them—+Barbarikon+ and
+Minnagar+; the former of which was an emporium situated near the
sea on the middle and only navigable branch of the Indus. Ptolemy has
a +Barbarei+ in the Delta, but the position he assigns to it,
does not correspond with that of +Barbarikon+. +Minnagar+
was the Skythian metropolis. It lay inland, on or near the banks of
the Indus.

39. Ships accordingly anchor near +Barbarikê+, but all their
cargoes are conveyed by the river up to the king, who resides in the
metropolis.

The articles imported into this emporium are—Ἱματισμὸς ἁπλους
ἱκανὸς—Clothing, plain and in considerable quantity.

Ἱματισμὸς νόθος οὐ πολὺς—Clothing, mixed, not much.

Πολύμιτα—Flowered cottons.

Χρυσόλιθον—Yellow-stone, topazes.

Κοράλλιον—Coral.

Στύραξ—Storax.

Λίβανος—Frankincense (_Lôbân_).

Ὑαλά σκεύη—Glass vessels.

Αργυρώματα—Silver plate.

Χρῆμα—Specie.

Οἰνος οὐ πολύς—Wine, but not much.

The exports are:—

Κόστος—Costus, a spice.

Βδέλλα—Bdellium, a gum.

Λύκιον—A yellow dye (_Ruzot_).

Νάρδος—Spikenard.

Λίθος καλλαïνος—Emeralds or green-stones.

Σάπφειρος—Sapphires.

Σηρικὰ δέρματα—Furs from China.

Ὀθόνιον—Cottons.

Νῆμα Σηρικὸν—Silk thread.

Ἰνδικὸν μέλαν—Indigo.

Ships destined for this port put out to sea when the Indian monsoon
prevails—that is, about the month of July or Epiphi. The voyage at this
season is attended with danger, but being shorter is more expeditious.

(39) Ships did not go up to it but remained at +Barbarikon+,
their cargoes being conveyed up the river in small boats. In Ptolemy
(VII. i. 61) the form of the name is +Binagara+, which is less
correct since the word is composed of _Min_, the Indian name for the
Skythians, and _nagar_, a city. Ritter considers that +Ṭhaṭha+
is its modern representative, since it is called +Saminagar+ by
the Jâḍejâ Rajputs who, though settled in Kachh, derive their origin
from that city. To this view it is objected that Ṭhaṭha is not near
the position which Ptolemy assigns to his +Binagara+. Mannert
places it at +Bakkar+, D’Anville at +Mansura+, and Vincent
at +Menhabery+ mentioned by Edrisi (I. p. 164) as distant two
stations or 60 miles from +Dabil+, which again was three stations
or 90 miles from the mouth of the Indus, that is it lay at the head
of the Delta. Our author informs us that in his time +Minagar+
was ruled by Parthian princes. The Parthians (the Parada of Sanskrit
writers) must therefore have subverted a Skythian dynasty which
must have been that which (as Benfey has shown) was founded by
+Yeukaotschin+ between the years 30 and 20 B.C., or
about 30 years only after the famous Indian Æra called _Śâkâbda_
(the year of the Śâka) being that in which Vikramâditya expelled the
Skythians from Indian soil. The statement of the _Periplûs_ that
Parthian rulers succeeded the Skythian is confirmed by Parthian coins
found everywhere in this part of the country. These sovereigns must
have been of consequence, or the trade of their country very lucrative
to the merchant as appears by the presents necessary to ensure his
protection—plate, musical instruments, handsome girls for the Harem,
the best wine, plain cloth of high price, and the finest perfumes.
The profits of the trade must therefore have been great, but if
Pliny’s account be true, that every pound laid out in India produced a
hundred at Rome, greater exactions than these might easily have been
supported.

40. After the river +Sinthos+ is passed we reach another gulf,
which cannot be easily seen. It has two divisions,—the Great and
the Little by name,—both shoal with violent and continuous eddies
extending far out from the shore, so that before ever land is in sight
ships are often grounded on the shoals, or being caught within the
eddies are lost. Over this gulf hangs a promontory which, curving from
+Eirinon+ first to the east, then to the south, and finally to the
west, encompasses the gulf called +Barakê+, in the bosom of which
lie seven islands. Should a vessel approach the entrance of this gulf,
the only chance of escape for those on board is at once to alter their
course and stand out to sea, for it is all over with them if they are
once fairly within the womb of +Barakê+, which surges with vast
and mighty billows, and where the sea, tossing in violent commotion,
forms eddies and impetuous whirlpools in every direction. The bottom
varies, presenting in places sudden shoals, in others being scabrous
with jagged rocks, so that when an anchor grounds its cable is either
at once cut through, or soon broken by friction at the bottom. The sign
by which voyagers know they are approaching this bay is their seeing
serpents floating about on the water, of extraordinary size and of a
black colour, for those met with lower down and in the neighbourhood of
Barugaza are of less size, and in colour green and golden.

(40) The first place mentioned after the Indus is the Gulf of
+Eirinon+, a name of which traces remain in the modern
appellation the +Raṇ+ of Kachh. This is no longer covered with
water except during the monsoon, when it is flooded by sea water or
by rains and inundated rivers. At other seasons it is not even a
marsh, for its bed is hard, dry and sandy; a mere saline waste almost
entirely devoid of herbage, and frequented but by one quadruped—the
wild ass. Burnes conjectured that its desiccation resulted from an
upheaval of the earth caused by one of those earthquakes which are so
common in that part of India. The +Raṇ+ is connected with the
Gulf of Kachh, which our author calls the Gulf of +Barakê+.
His account of it is far from clear. Perhaps, as Müller suggests, he
comprehended under +Eirinon+ the interior portion of the Gulf
of Kachh, limiting the Gulf of +Barakê+ to the exterior portion
or entrance to it. This gulf is called that of Kanthi by Ptolemy,
who mentions +Barakê+ only as an island, [and the south coast
of Kachh is still known by the name of Kantha]. The islands of the
_Periplûs_ extend westward from the neighbourhood of +Navanagar+
to the very entrance of the Gulf.

41. To the gulf of +Barakê+ succeeds that of +Barugaza+ and
the mainland of +Ariakê+, a district which forms the frontier of
the kingdom of +Mombaros+ and of all India. The interior part of
it which borders on +Skythia+ is called +Aberia+, and its
sea-board +Surastrênê+. It is a region which produces abundantly
corn and rice and the oil of sesamum, butter, muslins and the coarser
fabrics which are manufactured from Indian cotton. It has also numerous
herds of cattle. The natives are men of large stature and coloured
black. The metropolis of the district is +Minnagar+, from which
cotton cloth is exported in great quantity to +Barugaza+. In this
part of the country there are preserved even to this very day memorials
of the expedition of Alexander, old temples, foundations of camps, and
large wells. The extent of this coast, reckoned from +Barbarikon+
to the promontory called +Papikê+, near +Astakapra+, which is
opposite +Barugaza+, is 3,000 stadia.

(41) To +Barakê+ succeeds the Gulf of +Barugaza+ (Gulf of
+Khambhât+) and the sea-board of the region called +Ariakê+.
The reading of the MS. here ἡ πρἡὸς Ἀραβικῆς χώρας is considered
corrupt. Müller substitutes ἡ ἤπειρος τῆς Ἀριακῆς χώρας, though
Mannert and others prefer Λαρικῆς χώρας, relying on Ptolemy, who
places +Ariakê+ to the south of +Larikê+, and says that
+Larikê+ comprehends the peninsula (of Gujarât) Barugaza and the
parts adjacent. As +Ariakê+ was however previously mentioned in
the _Periplûs_ (sec. 14) in connexion with Barugaza, and is afterwards
mentioned (sec. 54) as trading with Muziris, it must no doubt have
been mentioned by the author in its proper place, which is here.
[Bhagvanlâl Indraji Pandit has shewn reasons however for correcting
the readings into Αβαρατικη, the Prakrit form of +Aparântikâ+, an
old name of the western sea board of India.—_Ind. Ant._ vol. VII., pp.
259, 263.] Regarding the name +Larikê+, Yule has the following
note (_Travels of M. Polo_ vol. II., p. 353):—“+Lâr-Deśa+,
the country of Lar,” properly Lât-deśa, was an early name for the
territory of Gujrat and the northern Konkan, embracing Saimur (the
modern Chaul as I believe) Thaṇa, and Bharoch. It appears in Ptolemy
in the form +Larikê+. The sea to the west of that coast was in
the early Muhammadan times called the sea of Lâr, and the language
spoken on its shores is called by +Mas’udi+, +Lâri+.
Abulfeda’s authority, Ibn Said, speaks of Lâr and Gujarât as identical.

+Ariakê+ (Aparântikâ), our author informs us, was the beginning
or frontier of India. That part of the interior of Ariakê which
bordered on Skythia was called +Aberia+ or Abiria (in the MS.
erroneously Ibêria). The corresponding Indian word is +Abhira+,
which designated the district near the mouths of the river. Having
been even in very early times a great seat of commerce, some (as
Lassen) have been led to think from a certain similarity of the
names that this was the +Ophir+ of scripture, a view opposed
by Ritter. Abiria is mentioned by Ptolemy, who took it to be not a
part of India but of Indoskythia. The sea-board of Ariakê was called
+Surastrênê+, and is mentioned by Ptolemy, who says (VII. i.
55) it was the region about the mouths of the Indus and the Gulf of
Kanthi. It answers to the Sanskrit +Surâshṭra+. Its capital was
Minnagar,—a city which, as its name shows, had once belonged to the
Min or Skythians. It was different of course from the Minnagar already
mentioned as the capital of Indo-Skythia. It was situated to the south
of +Ozênê+ (Ujjayinî, or Ujjain), and on the road which led from
that city to the River Narmadâ, probably near where Indôr now stands.
It must have been the capital only for a short time, as Ptolemy
informs us (II. i. 63) that +Ozênê+ was in his time the capital
of +Tiashanes+ [probably the Chashṭana of Coins and the Cave
Temple inscriptions]. From both places a great variety of merchandise
was sent down the Narmadâ to Barugaza.

The next place our author mentions is a promontory called
+Papikê+ projecting into the Gulf of Khambât from that part of
the peninsula of Gujarât which lies opposite to the Barugaza coast.
Its distance from Barbarikon on the middle mouth of the Indus is
correctly given at 3,000 stadia. This promontory is said to be near
+Astakapra+, a place which is mentioned also by Ptolemy, and
which (_Ind. Ant._ vol. V. p. 314) has been identified by Colonel Yule
with +Hastakavapra+ (now +Hâthab+ near Bhaunagar), a name
which occurs in a copper-plate grant of Dhruvasena I of Valabhi. With
regard to the Greek form of this name Dr. Bühler thinks it is not
derived immediately from the Sanskrit, but from an intermediate old
Prakrit word Hastakampra, which had been formed by the contraction of
the syllables _ava_ to _â_, and the insertion of a nasal, according
to the habits of the Gujarâtîs. The loss of the initial, he adds, may
be explained by the difficulty which Gujarâtîs have now and probably
had 1,600 years ago in pronouncing the spirans in its proper place.
The modern name Hâthab or Hâthap may be a corruption of the shorter
Sanskrit form Hastavapra.

42. After Papikê there is another gulf, exposed to the violence of the
waves and running up to the north. Near its mouth is an island called
+Baiônês+, and at its very head it receives a vast river called
the +Mais+. Those bound for +Barugaza+ sail up this gulf
(which has a breadth of about 300 stadia), leaving the island on the
left till it is scarcely visible in the horizon, when they shape their
course east for the mouth of the river that leads to Barugaza. This is
called the +Namnadios+.

(42) Beyond +Papikê+, we are next informed, there is another
gulf running northward into the interior of the country. This is not
really another Gulf but only the northern portion of the Gulf of
Khambât, which the _Periplûs_ calls the Gulf of Barugaza. It receives
a great river, the +Mais+, which is easily identified with the
+Mahi+, and contains an island called +Baiônês+ [the modern
Peram], which you leave on the left hand as you cross over from
Astakapra to Barugaza.

We are now conducted to +Barugaza+, the greatest seat of commerce
in Western India, situated on a river called in the MS. of the
_Periplûs_ the +Lamnaios+, which is no doubt an erroneous reading
for +Namados+, or Namnados or Namnadios. This river is the
+Narmadâ+. It is called by Ptolemy the Namades.

43. The passage into the gulf of +Barugaza+ is narrow and difficult
of access to those approaching it from the sea, for they are carried
either to the right or to the left, the left being the better passage
of the two. On the right, at the very entrance of the gulf, lies a
narrow stripe of shoal, rough and beset with rocks. It is called
+Herônê+, and lies opposite the village of +Kammôni+. On the
left side right against this is the promontory of +Papikê+, which
lies in front of +Astakapra+, where it is difficult to anchor,
from the strength of the current and because the cables are cut through
by the sharp rocks at the bottom. But even if the passage into the gulf
is secured the mouth of the Barugaza river is not easy to hit, since
the coast is low and there are no certain marks to be seen until you
are close upon them. Neither, if it is discovered, is it easy to enter,
from the presence of shoals at the mouth of the river.

(43) +Barugaza+ (Bharoch) which was 30 miles distant from its
mouth, was both difficult and dangerous of access; for the entrance
to the Gulf itself was, on the right, beset with a perilous stripe
(_tainia_) of rocky shoal called +Herônê+, and on the left,
(which was the safer course,) the violent currents which swept round
the promontory of Papikê rendered it unsafe to approach the shore or
to cast anchor. The shoal of Herônê was opposite a village on the
mainland called +Kammôni+, the Kamanê of Ptolemy (VII. i.), who
however places it to the north of the river’s mouth. Again, it was not
only difficult to hit the mouth of the river, but its navigation was
endangered by sandbanks and the violence of the tides, especially the
high tide called the ‘Bore,’ of which our author gives a description
so particular and so vivid as suffices to show that he was describing
what he had seen with his own eyes, and seen moreover for the first
time. With regard to the name +Barugaza+ the following passage,
which I quote from Dr. Wilson’s _Indian Castes_ (vol. II. p. 113)
will elucidate its etymology:—“The +Bhârgavas+ derive their
designation from +Bhargava+, the adjective form of +Bhṛigu+,
the name of one of the ancient Ṛishis. Their chief habitat is the
district of Bharoch, which must have got its name from a colony of
the school of Bhṛigu having been early established in this Kshêtra,
probably granted to them by some conqueror of the district. In
the name +Barugaza+ given to it by Ptolemy, we have a Greek
corruption of Bhṛigukshêtra (the territory of Bhṛigu) or Bhṛigukachha
(the tongueland of Bhṛigu).” Speaking of the Bhârgavas Dr. Drummond,
in his _Grammatical Illustrations_, says:—“These Brâhmans are indeed
poor and ignorant. Many of them, and other illiterate Gujarâtîs,
would, in attempting to articulate Bhṛigushêtra, lose the half in
coalesence, and call it Bargacha, whence the Greeks, having no _Ch_,
wrote it Barugaza.”

44. For this reason native fishermen appointed by Government are
stationed with well-manned long boats called _trappaga_ and
_kotumba_ at the entrance of the river, whence they go out as far as
+Surastrênê+ to meet ships, and pilot them up to Barugaza. At the
head of the gulf the pilot, immediately on taking charge of a ship,
with the help of his own boat’s crew, shifts her head to keep her
clear of the shoals, and tows her from one fixed station to another,
moving with the beginning of the tide, and dropping anchor at certain
roadsteads and basins when it ebbs. These basins occur at points where
the river is deeper than usual, all the way up to +Barugaza+,
which is 300 stadia distant from the mouth of the river if you sail up
the stream to reach it.

45. India has everywhere a great abundance of rivers, and her seas ebb
and flow with tides of extraordinary strength, which increase with
the moon, both when new and when full, and for three days after each,
but fall off in the intermediate space. About +Barugaza+ they are
more violent than elsewhere; so that all of a sudden you see the depths
laid bare, and portions of the land turned into sea, and the sea, where
ships were sailing but just before, turned without warning into dry
land. The rivers, again, on the access of flood tide rushing into their
channels with the whole body of the sea, are driven upwards against
their natural course for a great number of miles with a force that is
irresistible.

46. This is the reason why ships frequenting this emporium are exposed,
both in coming and going, to great risk, if handled by those who are
unacquainted with the navigation of the gulf or visit it for the
first time, since the impetuosity of the tide when it becomes full,
having nothing to stem or slacken it, is such that anchors cannot
hold against it. Large vessels, moreover, if caught in it are driven
athwart from their course by the rapidity of the current till they are
stranded on shoals and wrecked, while the smaller craft are capsized,
and many that have taken refuge in the side channels, being left dry
by the receding tide, turn over on one side, and, if not set erect
on props, are filled upon the return of the tide with the very first
head of the flood, and sunk. But at new moons, especially when they
occur in conjunction with a night tide, the flood sets in with such
extraordinary violence that on its beginning to advance, even though
the sea be calm, its roar is heard by those living near the river’s
mouth, sounding like the tumult of battle heard far off, and soon after
the sea with its hissing waves bursts over the bare shoals.

47. Inland from +Barugaza+ the country is inhabited by numerous
races—the +Aratrioi+, and the +Arakhosioi+, and the
+Gandaraioi+, and the people of +Proklaïs+, in which is
+Boukephalos Alexandreia+. Beyond these are the +Baktrianoi+,
a most warlike race, governed by their own independent sovereign.
It was from these parts Alexander issued to invade India when he
marched as far as the Ganges, without, however, attacking Limurikê and
the southern parts of the country. Hence up to the present day old
_drachmai_ bearing the Greek inscriptions of +Apollodotos+ and
+Menander+ are current in Barugaza.

(47) The account of the ‘bore’ is followed by an enumeration of the
countries around and beyond Barugaza with which it had commercial
relations. Inland are the +Aratrioi+, +Arakhosioi+,
+Gandarioi+ and the people of +Proklaïs+, a province wherein
is Boukephalos Alexandreia, beyond which is the Baktrian nation. It
has been thought by some that by the +Aratrioi+ are meant the
Arii, by others that they were the +Arâstrâs+ of Sanskrit called
Aratti in the Prakrit, so that the +Aratrioi+ of the _Periplûs_
hold an intermediate place between the Sanskrit and Prakrit form
of the name. Müller however says “if you want a people known to
the Greeks and Romans as familiarly as the well-known names of the
Arakhosii, Gandarii, Peukelitae, you may conjecture that the proper
reading is ΔΡΑΝΓΩΝ instead of ΑΡΑΤΡΙΩΝ.” It is an error of course on
the part of our author when he places +Boukephalos+ (a city built
by Alexander on the banks of the Hydaspês, where he defeated Pôros),
in the neighbourhood of Proklaïs, that is Pekhely in the neighbourhood
of Peshawar. He makes a still more surprising error when he states
that Alexander penetrated to the Ganges.

48. In the same region eastward is a city called +Ozênê+, formerly
the capital wherein the king resided. From it there is brought down
to Barugaza every commodity for the supply of the country and for
export to our own markets—onyx-stones, porcelain, fine muslins,
mallow-coloured muslins, and no small quantity of ordinary cottons. At
the same time there is brought down to it from the upper country by
way of +Proklaïs+, for transmission to the coast, Kattybourine,
Patropapigic, and Kabalitic spikenard, and another kind which reaches
it by way of the adjacent province of Skythia; also kostus and bdellium.

(48) The next place mentioned in the enumeration is +Ozênê+
(Ujjain), which, receiving nard through Proklaïs from the distant
regions where it was produced, passed it on to the coast for export
to the Western World. This aromatic was a product of three districts,
whence its varieties were called respectively the _Kattybourine_, the
_Patropapigic_ and the _Kabolitic_. What places were indicated by the
first two names cannot be ascertained, but the last points undoubtedly
to the region round Kâbul, since its inhabitants are called by Ptolemy
+Kabolitai+, and Edrisi uses the term _Myrobalanos Kabolinos_
for the ‘myrobolans of Kâbul.’ Nard, as Edrisi also observes, has its
proper soil in Thibet.

49. The imports of +Barugaza+ are—

Οἶνος προηγουμένος Ἰταλικὸς—Wine, principally Italian.

Καὶ Λαοδικηνὸς καὶ Ἀραβικὸς—Laodikean wine and Arabian.

Χαλκος καὶ κασσίτερος καὶ μόλυβδος—Brass or Copper and Tin and Lead.

Κοράλλιον καὶ χρυσόλιθον—Coral and Gold-stone or Yellow-stone.

Ἱματισμὸς ἁπλοῦς καὶ νόθος πανταῖος—Cloth, plain and mixed, of all
sorts.

Πολύμιται ζῶναι πηχυαῖαι—Variegated sashes half a yard wide.

Στύραξ—Storax.

Μελίλωτον—Sweet clover, melilot.

Ὕαλος ἀργὴ—White glass.

Σανδαράκη—Gum Sandarach.

Στίμμι—(Stibium) Tincture for the eyes,—_Sûrmâ_.

Δηνάριον χρυσοῦ καὶ ἀργυροῦν—Gold and Silver specie, yielding a profit
when exchanged for native money.

Μύρον οὐ βαρύτιμον ὀυδὲ πολὺ—Perfumes or unguents, neither costly nor
in great quantity.

In those times, moreover, there were imported, _as presents_ to the
king, costly silver vases, instruments of music, handsome young women
for concubinage, superior wine, apparel, plain but costly, and the
choicest unguents. The exports from this part of the country are—

Νὺρδος, κόστος, βδέλλα, ἐλέφας—Spikenard, costus, bdellium, ivory.

Ὀνυχίνη λιθία καὶ μουρρίνη—Onyx-stones and porcelain.

Λύκιον—_Ruzot_, Box-thorn.

Ὀθόνιον παντοῖον—Cottons of all sorts.

Σηρικὸν—Silk.

Μολόχινον—Mallow-coloured cottons.

Νῆμα—_Silk_ thread.

Πέτερι μακρὸν—Long pepper and other articles supplied from the
neighbouring ports.

The proper season to set sail for Barugaza from Egypt is the month of
July, or Epiphi.

50. From +Barugaza+ the coast immediately adjoining stretches from
the north directly to the south, and the country is therefore called
+Dakhinabadês+, because Dakhan in the language of the natives
signifies _south_. Of this country that part which lies inland towards
the east comprises a great space of desert country, and large mountains
abounding with all kinds of wild animals, leopards, tigers, elephants,
huge snakes, hyenas, and baboons of many different sorts, and is
inhabited right across to the Ganges by many and extremely populous
nations.

(50) +Barugaza+ had at the same time commercial
relations with the Dekhan also. This part of India our
author calls +Dakhinabadês+, transliterating the word
+Dakshinâpatha+—(the Dakshinâ, or the South Country). “Here,”
says Vincent, “the author of the _Periplûs_ gives the true direction
of this western coast of the Peninsula, and states in direct terms its
tendency to the South, while Ptolemy stretches out the whole angle
to a straight line, and places the Gulf of Cambay almost in the same
latitude as Cape Comorin.”

51. Among the marts in this South Country there are two of more
particular importance—+Paithana+, which lies south from
Barugaza, a distance of twenty days, and +Tagara+, ten days east
of Paithana, the greatest city in the country. Their commodities
are carried down on wagons to Barugaza along roads of extreme
difficulty,—that is, from +Paithana+ a great quantity of
onyx-stone, and from +Tagara+ ordinary cottons in abundance, many
sorts of muslins, mallow-coloured cottons, and other articles of local
production brought into it from the parts along the coast. The length
of the entire voyage as far as +Limurikê+ is 700 stadia, and to
reach +Aigialos+ you must sail very many stadia further.

(51) In the interior of the Dekhan, the _Periplûs_ places two great
seats of commerce, +Paithana+, 20 days’ journey to the south of
Barugaza, and +Tagara+, 10 days’ journey eastward from Paithana.
Paithana, which appears in Ptolemy as Baithana, may be identified
with +Paithana+. +Tagara+ is more puzzling. Wilford,
Vincent, Mannert, Ritter and others identify it with +Dêvagiri+
or Deogarh, near Elurâ, about 8 miles from Aurangâbâd. The name of a
place called Tagarapura occurs in a copper grant of land which was
found in the island of Salsette. There is however nothing to show
that this was a name of Dêvagiri. Besides, if Paithana be correctly
identified, Tagara cannot be Dêvagiri unless the distances and
directions are very erroneously given in the _Periplûs_. This is
not improbable, and Tagara may therefore be +Junnar+ (_i.e._
Jûna-nagar = _the old city_), which from its position must always have
been an emporium, and its Buddha caves belong to about B.C.
100 to A.D. 150 (see _Archæolog. Surv. of West. India_, vol.
III., and Elphinstone’s _History of India_, p. 223).

Our author introduces us next to another division of India, that
called +Limurikê+, which begins, as he informs us, at a distance
of 7,000 stadia (or nearly 900 miles) beyond Barugaza. This estimate
is wide of the mark, being in fact about the distance between
Barugaza and the southern or remote extremity of Limurikê. In the
Indian segment of the Roman maps called from their discoverer, the
_Peutinger Tables_, the portion of India to which this name is applied
is called +Damirike+. We can scarcely err, says Dr. Caldwell
(_Dravid. Gram._ Intr. page 14), in identifying this name with the
Tami[l:] country. If so, the earliest appearance of the name Tami[l:]
in any foreign documents will be found also to be most perfectly
in accordance with the native Tami[l:] mode of spelling the name.
+Damirike+ evidently means _Damirike_.... In another place in the
same map a district is called +Scytia Dymirice+; and it appears
to have been this word which by a mistake of Δ for Λ Ptolemy
wrote Λυμιρικὴ. The D retains its place however in the Cosmography
of the anonymous geographer of Ravenna, who repeatedly mentions
+Dimirica+ as one of the three divisions of India and the one
furthest to the East. He shows also that the Tami[l:] country must
have been meant by the name by mentioning +Modura+ as one of the
cities it contained.

52. The local marts which occur in order _along the coast_ after
+Barugaza+ are +Akabarou+, +Souppara+, +Kalliena+,
a city which was raised to the rank of a regular mart in the times
of the elder +Saraganes+, but after +Sandanes+ became its
master its trade was put under the severest restrictions; for if Greek
vessels, even by accident, enter its ports, a guard is put on board and
they are taken to Barugaza.

(52) Reverting to +Barugaza+ our author next enumerates the
less important emporia having merely a local trade which intervenes
between it and +Dimurikê+. Those are first +Akabarou+,
+Souppara+, and +Kalliena+—followed by +Semulla+,
+Mandagora+, +Palaipatmai+, +Meligeizara+,
+Buzantion+, +Toperon+, and +Turanosboas+,—beyond which
occurs a succession of islands, some of which give shelter to pirates,
and of which the last is called +Leukê+ or White Island. The
actual distance from Barugaza to Naoura, the first port of Dimurikê,
is 4,500 stadia.

To take these emporia in detail. +Akabarou+ cannot be identified.
The reading is probably corrupt. Between the mouths of the Namados
and those of the Goaris, Ptolemy interposes Nousaripa, Poulipoula,
Ariakê Sadinôn, and Soupara. +Nausaripa+ is +Nausari+, about
18 miles to the south of Surat, and +Soupara+ is +Sûpârâ+
near Vasâï. Benfey, who takes it to be the name of a region and not
of a city, regards it as the +Ophir+ of the Bible—called in the
Septuagint Σωφηρά. +Sôphir+, it may be added, is the Coptic name
for India. +Kalliena+ is now +Kalyâna+ near Bombay [which
must have been an important place at an early date. It is named in
the Kaṇhêri Bauddha Cave Inscriptions]. It is mentioned by Kosmas (p.
337), who states that it produced copper and sesamum and other kinds
of logs, and cloth for wearing apparel. The name +Sandanes+,
that of the Prince who sent Greek ships which happened to put into
its port under guard to Barugaza, is thought by Benfey to be a
territorial title which indicated that he ruled over +Ariakê+
of the Sandineis. [But the older “Saraganes” probably indicates one
of the great Śâtakarṇi or Ândhrabhṛitya dynasty.] Ptolemy does not
mention Kalliena, though he supplies the name of a place omitted in
the _Periplûs_, namely +Dounga+ (VII. i. 6) near the mouth of the
river +Bênda+.

53. After +Kalliena+ other local marts occur—+Semulla+,
+Mandagora+, +Palaipatmai+, +Melizeigara+,
+Buzantion+, +Toparon+, and +Turannosboas+. You come
next to the islands called +Sêsekreienai+ and the island of the
+Aigidioi+ and that of the +Kaineitai+, near what is called
the +Khersonêsos+, places in which are pirates, and after this
the island +Leukê+ (or ‘the White’). Then follow +Naoura+
and +Tundis+, the first marts of +Limurikê+, and after these
+Mouziris+ and +Nelkunda+, the seats of Government.

(53) +Semulla+ (in Ptolemy +Timoula+ and +Simulla+)
is identified by Yule with +Chênval+ or Chaul, a seaport 23
miles south of Bombay; [but Bhagvanlâl Indraji suggests Chimûla
in Trombay island at the head of the Bombay harbour; and this is
curiously supported by one of the Kanhêri inscriptions in which
+Chemûla+ is mentioned, apparently as a large city, like
Supârâ and Kalyâna, in the neighbourhood]. After Simulla Ptolemy
mentions +Hippokoura+ [possibly, as suggested by the same, a
partial translation of +Ghoḍabandar+ on the Choḍa nadi in the
Ṭhaṅa strait] and +Baltipatna+ as places still in Ariakê, but
+Mandagara Buzanteion+, +Khersonêsos+, +Armagara+,
the mouths of the river +Nanagouna+, and an emporium called
+Nitra+, as belonging to the Pirate Coast which extended to
Dimurikê, of which +Tundis+, he says, is the first city. Ptolemy
therefore agrees with our author in assigning the Pirate Coast to the
tract of country between Bombay and Goa. This coast continued to be
infested with pirates till so late a period as the year 1765, when
they were finally exterminated by the British arms. +Mandagara+
and +Palaipatma+ may have corresponded pretty nearly in situation
with the towns of Rájapur and Bankut. Yule places them respectively
at Bankut and Debal. +Melizeigara+ (Milizêguris or Milizigêris
of Ptolemy, VII. i. 95), Vincent identifies with Jaygaḍh or Sidê
Jaygaḍh. The same place appears in Pliny as +Sigerus+ (VI. xxvi.
100). Buzantium may be referred to about Vijayadrug or Esvantgadh,
+Toparon+ may be a corrupt reading for +Togaron+, and may
perhaps therefore be Devagaḍh which lies a little beyond Vijayndrug.
+Turannosboas+ is not mentioned elsewhere, but it may have been,
us Yule suggests, the Bandâ or Tirakal river. Müller placed it at
Acharê. The first island on this part of the coast is Sindhudrug
near Mâlwan, to which succeeds a group called the Burnt Islands,
among which the Vingorla rocks are conspicuous. These are no doubt
the +Heptanêsia+ of Ptolemy (VII. i. 95), and probably the
+Sêsikrienai+ of the _Periplûs_. The island Aigidion called that
of the Aigidii may be placed at Goa, [but Yule suggests Angediva south
of Sadaśivagaḍh, in lat. 14° 45´ N., which is better]. Kaineiton may
be the island of St. George.

We come next to +Naoura+ in Dimurikê. This is now +Honâvar+,
written otherwise Onore, situated on the estuary of a broad river,
the +Śarâvatî+, on which are the falls of Gêrsappa, one of
the most magnificent and stupendous cataracts in the world. If the
+Nitra+ of Ptolemy (VII. i. 7) and the +Nitria+ of Pliny be
the same as +Naoura+, then these authors extend the pirate coast
a little further south than the _Periplûs_ does. But if they do not,
and therefore agree in their views as to where Dimurikê begins, the
+Nitra+ may be placed, Müller thinks, at Mirjan or Komta, which
is not far north from Honâvar. [Yule places it at Mangalur.] Müller
regards the first supposition however as the more probable, and quotes
at length a passage from Pliny (VI. xxvi. 104) referring thereto,
which must have been excerpted from some _Periplûs_ like our author’s,
but not from it as some have thought. “To those bound for India it is
most convenient to depart from Okêlis. They sail thence with the wind
Hipalus in 40 days to the first emporium of India, Muziris, which is
not a desirable place to arrive at on account of pirates infesting the
neighbourhood, who hold a place called +Nitrias+, while it is not
well supplied with merchandize. Besides, the station for ships is at
a great distance from the shore, and cargoes have both to be landed
and to be shipped by means of little boats. There reigned there when I
wrote this +Caelobothras+. Another port belonging to the nation
is more convenient, +Neacyndon+, which is called +Becare+
(_sic. codd._, Barace, Harduin and Sillig). There reigned Pandiôn in
an inland town far distant from the emporium called +Modura+.
The region, however, from which they convey pepper to Becare in boats
formed from single logs is +Cottonara+.”

54. To the kingdom under the sway of +Kêprobotres[22] Tundis+ is
subject, a village of great note situate near the sea. +Mouziris+,
which pertains to the same realm, is a city at the height of
prosperity, frequented as it is by ships from +Ariakê+ and Greek
ships _from Egypt_. It lies near a river at a distance from Tundis of
500 stadia, whether this is measured from river to river or by the
length of the sea voyage, and it is 20 stadia distant from the mouth
of its own river. The distance of +Nelkunda+ from +Mouziris+
also nearly 500 stadia, whether measured from river to river or
by the sea voyage, but it belongs to a different kingdom, that of
+Pandiôn+. It likewise is situate near a river and at about a
distance from the sea of 120 stadia.

(54) With regard to the names in this extract which occur also in
the _Periplûs_ the following passages quoted from Dr. Caldwell’s
_Dravidian Grammar_ will throw much light. He says (Introd. p.
97):—“+Muziris+ appears to be the +Muyiri+ of Muyiri-kotta.
Tyndis is +Tuṇḍi+, and the Kynda, of Nelkynda, or as Ptolemy
has it, Melkynda, _i. e._ probably Western kingdom, seems to be
+Kannettri+, the southern boundary of Kêrala proper. One MS. of
Pliny writes the second part of this word not _Cyndon_ but _Canidon_.
The first of these places was identified by Dr. Gundert, for the
remaining two we are indebted to Dr. Burnell.

“Cottonara, Pliny; Kottonarike, _Periplûs_, the district where
the best pepper was produced. It is singular that this district
was not mentioned by Ptolemy. +Cottonara+ was evidently the
name of the district. κοττοναρικον the name of the pepper for
which the district was famous. Dr. Buchanan identifies Cottonara
with +Kaḍatta-naḍu+, the name of a district in the Calicut
country celebrated for its pepper. Dr. Burnell identifies it with
+Koļatta-nâḍu+, the district about Tellicherry which he says
is the pepper district. _Kadatta_ in Malayâlam means ‘transport,
conveyance,’ +Nâdû+, Tam.—Mal., means a district.”

“The prince called Kêrobothros by Ptolemy (VII. i. 86) is called
Kêprobotros by the author of the _Periplûs_. The insertion of π is
clearly an error, but more likely to be the error of a copyist than
that of the author, who himself had visited the territories of the
prince in question. He is called Caelobothras in Pliny’s text, but
one of the MSS. gives it more correctly as Celobotras. The name in
Sanskrit, and in full is ‘Keralaputra,’ but both _kêra_ and _kêla_ are
Dravidian abbreviations of _kêralâ_. They are Malayâļam however, not
Tamil abbreviations, and the district over which Keralaputra ruled
is that in which the Malayâļam language is now spoken” (p. 95). From
Ptolemy we learn that the capital of this prince was +Karoura+,
which has been “identified with +Karûr+, an important town in the
Koimbatur district originally included in the Chêra kingdom. Karûr
means the black town.... Ptolemy’s word +Karoura+ represents
the Tami[l:] name of the place with perfect accuracy.” Nelkunda, our
author informs us, was not subject to this prince but to another
called +Pandiôn+. This name, says Dr. Caldwell, “is of Sanskrit
origin, and +Pandæ+, the form which Pliny, after Megasthenês,
gives in his list of the Indian nations, comes very near the Sanskrit.
The more recent local information of Pliny himself, as well as the
notices of Ptolemy and the _Periplûs_, supply us with the Dravidian
form of the word. The Tami[l:] sign of the masc. sing. is _an_, and
Tami[l:] inserts _i_ euphonically after _ṇḍ_, consequently Pandiôn,
and still better the plural form of the word +Pandiones+,
faithfully represents the Tami[l:] masc. sing. +Pâṇḍiyan+.” In
another passage the same scholar says: “The Sanskrit Pâṇḍya is written
in Tamil Pâṇḍiya, but the more completely tamilized form +Pâṇḍi+
is still more commonly used all over southern India. I derive Pâṇḍi,
as native scholars always derive the word, from the Sanskrit Pâṇḍu,
the name of the father of the Pâṇḍava brothers.” The capital of this
prince, as Pliny has stated, was +Modura+, which is the Sanskrit
Maṭhurâ pronounced in the Tami[l:] manner. The corresponding city in
Northern India, Maṭhurâ, is written by the Greeks +Methora+.

+Nelkunda+ is mentioned by various authors under varying forms of
the name. As has been already stated, it is Melkunda in Ptolemy, who
places it in the country of the Aii. In the _Peutingerian Table_ it is
Nincylda, and in the Geographer of Ravenna, Nilcinna. At the mouth of
the river on which it stands was its shipping port +Bakare+ or
Becare, according to Müller now represented by +Markari+ (lat.
12° N.) Yule conjectures that it must have been between Kanetti and
Kolum in Travancore. Regarding the trade of this place we may quote a
remark from Vincent. “We find,” he says, “that throughout the whole
which the _Periplûs_ mentions of India we have a catalogue of the
exports and imports only at the two ports of Barugaza and Nelcynda,
and there seems to be a distinction fixed between the articles
appropriate to each. Fine muslins and ordinary cottons are the
principal commodities of the first; tortoise shell, precious stones,
silk, and above all pepper, seem to have been procurable only at the
latter. This pepper is said to be brought to this port from Cottonara,
famous to this hour for producing the best pepper in the world except
that of Sumatra. The pre-eminence of these two ports will account
for the little that is said of the others by the author, and why he
has left us so few characters by which we may distinguish one from
another.”

Our author on concluding his account of Nelkunda interrupts his
narrative to relate the incidents of the important discovery of the
monsoon made by that Columbus of antiquity Hippalus. This account,
Vincent remarks, naturally excites a curiosity in the mind to enquire
how it should happen that the monsoon should have been noticed by
Nearkhos, and that from the time of his voyage for 300 years no one
should have attempted a direct course till Hippalus ventured to
commit himself to the ocean. He is of opinion that there was a direct
passage by the monsoons both in going to and coming from India in use
among the Arabians before the Greeks adopted it, and that Hippalus
frequenting these seas as a pilot or merchant, had met with Indian or
Arabian traders who made their voyages in a more compendious manner
than the Greeks, and that he collected information from them which he
had both the prudence and courage to adopt, just as Columbus, while
owing much to his own nautical experience and fortitude was still
under obligations to the Portuguese, who had been resolving the great
problems in the art of navigation for almost a century previous to his
expedition.

55. At the very mouth of this river lies another village, +Bakare+,
to which the ships despatched from Nelkunda come down _empty_ and
ride at anchor off shore while taking in cargo: for the river, it may
be noted, has sunken reefs and shallows which make its navigation
difficult. The sign by which those who come hither by sea know they are
nearing land is their meeting with snakes, which are here of a black
colour, not so long as those already mentioned, like serpents about the
head, and with eyes the colour of blood.

(55) +Nelkunda+ appears to have been the limit of our author’s
voyage along the coast of India, for in the sequel of his narrative
he defines but vaguely the situation of the places which he notices,
while his details are scanty, and sometimes grossly inaccurate. Thus
he makes the Malabar Coast extend southwards beyond Cape Comorin as
far at least as Kolkhoi (near Tutikorin) on the Coromandel coast, and
like many ancient writers, represents Ceylon as stretching westward
almost as far as Africa.

56. The ships which frequent these ports are of a large size, on account
of the great amount and bulkiness of the pepper and betel of which
their lading consists. The imports here are principally—

Χρήματα πλεῖ στα—Great quantities of specie.

Χρυσόλιθα—(Topaz?) Gold-stone, Chrysolite.

Ἰματισμὸς ἁπλοὸς οὐ πολὺς—A small assortment of plain cloth.

Πολύμιτα—Flowered robes.

Στίμμι, κοράλλιον—Stibium, a pigment for the eyes, coral.

ὕαλος ἀργὴ χαλκὸς—White glass, copper or brass.

Κασσίτερος, μόλυβδος—Tin, lead.

Οἵνος οὐ πολύς, ὡσεὶ δὲ τοσοῦτον ὅσον ἐν Βαρυγάζοις—Wine but not much,
but about as much as at Barugaza.

Σανδαράκη—Sandarach (_Sindûrâ_).

Ἀρσενικὸν—Arsenic (Orpiment), yellow sulphuret of arsenic.

Σῖτος ὅσος ἀρκέ σει τοῖς περὶ το ναυκλήριον, διὰ τὸ μὴ τοὺς ἐμπόρους
αὐτῷ χρῆσθαι—Corn, only for the use of the ship’s company, as the
merchants do not sell it.

The following commodities are brought to it for export:—

Πέπερι μονογενῶς ἐν ἐνὶ τόπω τούτων τῶν ἐμπορίων γεννώμενον πολύ τῇ
λεγομενῇ Κοττοναρικη—Pepper in great quantity, produced in only one of
these marts, and called the pepper of Kottonara.

Μαργαρίτης ίκανὸς καὶ διάφορος—Pearls in great quantity and of superior
quality.

Ἐλέφας—Ivory.

Ὀθόνια Σηρικὰ—Fine silks.

Νάρδος ἡ Γαγγητικὴ—Spikenard from the Ganges.

Μαλάβαθρον—Betel—all brought from countries further east.

Λιθία διαφανὴς παντοία—Transparent or precious stones of all
sorts.

Αδάμας—Diamonds.

Ὑάκινθος—Jacinths.

Χελώνη ἥτε Χρυσονησιωτικὴ καὶ ἡ περὶ τὰς νήσους θηρευομένη τὰς
προκειμένας αὐτῆς τῆς Λιμυρικῆς—Tortoise-shell from the Golden Island,
and another sort which is taken in the islands which lie off the coast
of Limurikê.

The proper season to set sail from Egypt for this part of India is
about the month of July—that is, Epiphi.

57. The whole round of the voyage from +Kanê+ and +Eudaimôn
Arabia+, which we have just described, used to be performed in
small vessels which kept close to shore and followed its windings, but
+Hippalos+ was the pilot who first, by observing the bearings
of the ports and the configuration of the sea, discovered the direct
course across the ocean; whence as, at the season when our own Etesians
are blowing, a periodical wind from the ocean likewise blows in the
Indian Sea, this wind, which is the south-west, is, it seems, called in
these seas Hippalos [after the name of the pilot who first discovered
the _passage by means of it_]. From the time of this discovery to the
present day, merchants who sail for India either from +Kanê+, or,
as others do, from +Arômata+, if Limurikê be their destination,
must often change their tack, but if they are bound for +Barugaza+
and +Skythia+, they are not retarded for more than three days,
after which, committing themselves to the monsoon which blows right in
the direction of their course, they stand far out to sea, leaving all
the gulfs we have mentioned in the distance.

58. After +Bakare+ occurs the mountain called Pyrrhos (or the
Red) towards the south, near another district of the country called
+Paralia+ (where the pearl-fisheries are which belong to king
Pandiôn), and a city of the name of +Kolkhoi+. In this tract the
first place met with is called +Balita+, which has a good harbour
and a village on its shore. Next to this is another place called
+Komar+, where is the cape of the same name and a haven. Those who
wish to consecrate the closing part of their lives to religion come
hither and bathe and engage themselves to celibacy. This is also done
by women; since it is related that the goddess (_Kumârî_) once on a
time resided at the place and bathed. From +Komarei+ (towards the
south) the country extends as far as +Kolkhoi+, where the fishing
for pearls is carried on. Condemned criminals are employed in this
service. King Pandiôn is the owner of the fishery. To +Kolkhoi+
succeeds another coast lying along a gulf having a district in the
interior bearing the name of +Argalou+. In this single place are
obtained the pearls collected near the island of +Epiodôros+. From
it are exported the muslins called _ebargareitides_.

(58) The first place mentioned after +Bakare+ is +Pyrrhos+,
or the Red Mountain, which extends along a district called
+Paralia+. “There are,” says Dr. Caldwell (Introd. p. 99), “three
Paralias mentioned by the Greeks, two by Ptolemy ... one by the author
of the _Periplûs_. The Paralia mentioned by the latter corresponded
to Ptolemy’s country of the Ἄïοι, and that of the Καρεοι, that is,
to South Travancore and South Tinnevelly. It commenced at the Red
Cliffs south of Quilon, and included not only Cape Comorin but also
Κόλχοι, where the pearl fishing was carried on, which belonged to King
Pandiôn. Dr. Burnell identifies Paralia with Parali, which he states
is an old name for Travancore, but I am not quite able to adopt this
view.” “Paralia,” he adds afterwards, “may possibly have corresponded
in meaning, if not in sound, to some native word meaning coast,—viz.,
Karei.” On this coast is a place called +Balita+, which is
perhaps the +Bammala+ of Ptolemy (VII. i. 9), which Mannert
identifies with Manpalli, a little north of Anjenga.

[Transcriber’s Note: There is no Paragraph 59]

60. Among the marts and anchorages along this shore to which
merchants from Limurikê and the north resort, the most conspicuous
are +Kamara+ and +Podoukê+ and +Sôpatma+, which occur
in the order in which we have named them. In these marts are found
those native vessels for coasting voyages which trade as far as
Limurikê, and another kind called _sangara_, mode by fastening together
large vessels formed each of a single timber, and also others called
_kolandiophônta_, which are of great bulk and employed for voyages
to +Khrusê+ and the +Ganges+. These marts import all the
commodities which reach Limurikê for commercial purposes, absorbing
likewise nearly every species of goods brought from Egypt, and most
descriptions of all the goods exported from Limurikê and disposed of on
this coast _of India_.

(60) We now reach the great promontory called in the _Periplûs_
+Komar+ and +Komarei+, Cape Kumârî. “It has derived its
name,” says Caldwell, “from the Sans. _Kumârî_, a virgin, one of the
names of the goddess Durgâ, the presiding divinity of the place,
but the shape which this word has taken is, especially in _komar_,
distinctively Tamilian.” In ordinary Tamil _Kumârî_ becomes _Kumări_;
and in the vulgar dialect of the people residing in the neighbourhood
of the Cape a virgin is neither Kumârî nor Kumări but Kŭmăr pronounced
Kŏmar. It is remarkable that this vulgar corruption of the Sanskrit
is identical with the name given to the place by the author of the
_Periplûs_.... The monthly bathing in honor of the goddess Durgâ is
still continued at Cape Comorin, but is not practised to the same
extent as in ancient times.... Through the continued encroachments of
the sea, the harbour the Greek mariners found at Cape Comorin and the
fort (if φρουριον is the correct reading for βριάριον of the MS.) have
completely disappeared; but a fresh water well remains in the centre
of a rock, a little way out at sea. Regarding +Kolkhoi+, the
next place mentioned after Komari, the same authority as we have seen
places it (_Ind. Ant._ vol. VI. p. 80) near Tuticorin. It is mentioned
by Ptolemy and in the _Peutinger Tables_, where it is called ‘Colcis
Indorum’. The Gulf of Manaar was called by the Greeks the Colchic
Gulf. The Tami[l:] name of the place Kolkei is almost identical with
the Greek. “The place,” according to Caldwell, “is now about three
miles inland, but there are abundant traces of its having once stood
on the coast, and I have found the tradition that it was once the seat
of the pearl fishery, still surviving amongst its inhabitants.” After
the sea had retired from Κόλχοι ... a new emporium arose on the coast.
This was +Kâyal+, the Cael of Marco Polo. Kâyal in turn became
in time too far from the sea ... and Tuticorin (+Tûttrukuḍi+)
was raised instead by the Portuguese from the position of a
fishing village to that of the most important port on the southern
Coromandel coast. The identification of Kolkoi with Kolkei is one
of much importance. Being perfectly certain it helps forward other
identifications. _Kol._ in Tami[l:] means ‘to slay.’ _Kei_ is ‘hand.’
It was the first capital of Pandiôn.

The coast beyond +Kolkhoi+, which has an inland district
belonging to it called +Argalou+, is indented by a gulf called by
Ptolemy the Argarik—now Palk Bay. Ptolemy mentions also a promontory
called +Kôru+ and beyond it a city called +Argeirou+ and
an emporium called +Salour+. This Kôru of Ptolemy, Caldwell
thinks, represents the +Kôlis+ of the geographers who preceded
him, and the +Koṭi+ of Tami[l:], and identifies it with “the
island promontory of +Râmeśvaram+, the point of land from which
there was always the nearest access from Southern India to Ceylon.” An
island occurs in these parts, called that of +Epiodôros+, noted
for its pearl fishery, on which account Ritter would identify it with
the island of Manaar, which Ptolemy, as Mannert thinks, speaks of as
Νάνιγηρίς (VII. i. 95). Müller thinks, however, it may be compared
with Ptolemy’s +Kôru+, and so be Râmeśvaram.

This coast has commercial intercourse not only with the Malabar
ports, but also with the Ganges and the Golden Khersonese. For the
trade with the former a species of canoes was used called _Sangara_.
The Maļayâlam name of these, Caldwell says, is _Changâdam_, in Tuļa
_Jangâla_, compare Sanskrit _Samghâdam_ a raft (_Ind. Ant._ vol. I.
p. 309). The large vessels employed for the Eastern trade were called
_Kolandiophonta_, a name which Caldwell confesses his inability to
explain.

Three cities and ports are named in the order of their occurrence
which were of great commercial importance, +Kamara+,
+Podoukê+, and +Sôpatma+. +Kamara+ may perhaps be,
as Müller thinks, the emporium which Ptolemy calls +Khabêris+,
situated at the mouth of the River +Khabêros+ (now, the Kavery),
perhaps, as Dr. Burnell suggests, the modern Kaveripattam. (_Ind.
Ant._ vol. VII. p. 40). +Podoukê+ appears in Ptolemy as Podoukê.
It is +Puduchchêri+, _i. e._ ‘new town,’ now well known as
Pondicherry; so Bohlen, Ritter, and Benfey. [Yule and Lassen place it
at Pulikât]. +Sôpatma+ is not mentioned in Ptolemy, nor can it
now be traced. In Sanskrit it transliterates into _Su-patna_, _i. e._,
fair town.

61. Near the region which succeeds, where the course of the voyage now
bends to the east, there lies out in the open sea stretching towards
the west the island now called +Palaisimoundou+, but by the
ancients +Taprobanê+. To cross over to the northern side of it
takes a day. In the south part it gradually stretches towards the west
till it nearly reaches the opposite coast of +Azania+. It produces
pearl, precious (_transparent_) stones, muslins, and tortoise-shell.

(61) The next place noticed is the Island of Ceylon, which is
designated +Palaisimoundou+, with the remark that its former
name was +Taprobanê+. This is the Greek transliteration of
Tâmraparnî, the name given by a band of colonists from Magadha to the
place where they first landed in Ceylon, and which was afterwards
extended to the whole island. It is singular, Dr. Caldwell remarks,
that this is also the name of the principal river in Tinnevelly on the
opposite coast of India, and he infers that the colony referred to
might previously have formed a settlement in Tinnevelly at the mouth
of the Tâmraparṇi river—perhaps at Kolkei, the earliest residence of
the Pâṇḍya kings. The passage in the _Periplûs_ which refers to the
island is very corrupt.

62.(_Returning to the coast_,) not far from the three marts we have
mentioned lies +Masalia+, the seaboard of a country extending
far inland. Here immense quantities of fine muslins are manufactured.
From +Masalia+ the course of the voyage lies eastward across a
neighbouring bay to +Dêsarênê+, which has the breed of elephants
called Bôsarê. Leaving +Dêsarênê+ the course is northerly, passing
a variety of barbarous tribes, among which are the +Kirrhadai+,
savages whose noses are flattened to the face, and another tribe, that
of the +Bargusoi+, as well as the +Hîppioprosôpoi+ _or_
+Makroprosôpoi+ (the horse faced or long faced men), who are
reported to be cannibals.

(62) Recurring to the mainland, the narrative notices a district
called +Masalia+, where great quantities of cotton were
manufactured. This is the +Maïsôlia+ of Ptolemy, the region in
which he places the mouths of a river the +Maisôlos+, which
Benfey identifies with the Godâvarî, in opposition to others who
would make it the Krishnâ, which is perhaps Ptolemy’s +Tuna+.
The name Maisôlia is taken from the Sanskrit Mausala, preserved in
Machhlipatana, now Masulipatam. Beyond this, after an intervening gulf
running eastward is crossed, another district occurs, +Desarênê+,
noted for its elephants. This is not mentioned by Ptolemy, but a
river with a similar name, the +Dôsarôn+, is found in his
enumeration of the rivers which occur between the Maisôlos and the
Ganges. As it is the last in the list it may probably be, as Lassen
supposes, the Brâhmini. Our author however places Desarênê at a much
greater distance from the Ganges, for he peoples the intermediate
space with a variety of tribes which Ptolemy relegates to the East of
the river. The first of these tribes is that of the +Kirrâdai+
(Sanskrit, Kirâtas), whose features are of the Mongolian type. Next
are the +Bargusoi+, not mentioned by Ptolemy, but perhaps to be
identified with the cannibal race he speaks of, the +Barousai+
thought by Yule to be possibly the inhabitants of the Nikobar islands,
and lastly the tribe of the long or horse-faced men who were also
cannibals.

63. After passing these the course turns again to the east, and if you
sail with the ocean to your right and the coast far to your left, you
reach the Ganges and the extremity of the continent towards the east
_called_ +Khrusê+ (the Golden Khersonese). The river of this
region called the +Ganges+ is the largest in India; it has an
_annual_ increase and decrease like the Nile, and there is on it a mart
called after it, Gangê, through which passes _a considerable traffic_
consisting of betel, the Gangetic spikenard, pearl, and the finest of
all muslins—those called the Gangetic. In this locality also there is
said to be a gold mine and a gold coin called _Kaltis_. Near this river
there is an island of the ocean called +Khrusê+ (or the Golden),
which lies directly under the rising sun and at the extremity of the
world towards the east. It produces the finest tortoise-shell that is
found throughout the whole of the Erythræan Sea.

(63) When this coast of savages and monsters is left behind, the
course lies eastward, and leads to the Ganges, which is the greatest
river of India, and adjoins the extremity of the Eastern continent
called +Khrusê+, or the Golden. Near the river, or, according
to Ptolemy, on the third of its mouths stands a great emporium of
trade called +Gangê+, exporting _Malabathrum_ and cottons and
other commodities. Its exact position there are not sufficient data
to determine. Khrusê is not only the name of the last part of the
continent, but also of an island lying out in the ocean to eastward,
not far from the Ganges. It is the last part of the world which is
said to be inhabited. The situation of Khrusê is differently defined
by different ancient authors. It was not known to the Alexandrine
geographers. Pliny seems to have preserved the most ancient report
circulated regarding it. He says (VI. xxiii. 80): “Beyond the mouth
of the Indus are +Chryse+ and +Argyre+ abounding in metals
as I believe, for I can hardly credit what some have related that
the soil consists of gold and silver.” Mela (III. 7) assigns to it
a very different position, asserting it to be near +Tabis+,
the last spur of the range of Taurus. He therefore places it where
Eratosthenês places +Thînai+, to the north of the Ganges on the
confines of the Indian and Skythian oceans. Ptolemy, in whose time the
Transgangetic world was better known, refers it to the peninsula of
Malacca, the Golden Khersonese.

64. Beyond this region, immediately under the north, where the sea
terminates outwards, there lies somewhere in +Thîna+ a very great
city,—not on the coast, but in the interior of the country, called
+Thîna+,—from which silk, whether in the raw state or spun into
thread

and woven into cloth, is brought by land to Barugaza through Baktria,
or by the Ganges to Limurikê. To penetrate into +Thîna+ is not
an easy undertaking, and but few _merchants_ come from it, and that
rarely. Its situation is under the Lesser Bear, and it is said to be
conterminous with the remotest end of Pontos, and that part of the
Kaspian Sea which adjoins the Maiôtic Lake, along with which it issues
by _one and_ the same mouth into the ocean.

(64) The last place which the _Periplûs_ mentions is Thînai, an
inland city of the +Thînai+ or +Sinai+, having a large
commerce in silk and woollen stuffs. The ancient writers are not at
all agreed as to its position. Colonel Yule thinks it was probably
the city described by Marco Polo under the name of +Kenjan-fu+
(that is Singan-fu or Chauggan,) the most celebrated city in Chinese
history, and the capital of several of the most potent dynasties. It
was the metropolis of Shi Hwengti of the T’Sin dynasty, properly the
first emperor, and whose conquests almost intersected those of his
contemporary Ptolemy Euergetês—(vide Yule’s _Travels of Marco Polo_,
vol. II. p. 21).

65. On the confines, however, of +Thînai+ an annual fair is held,
attended by a race of men of squat figure, with their face very broad,
but mild in disposition, called the +Sesatai+, who in appearance
resemble wild animals. They come with their wives and children to this
fair, bringing heavy loads of goods wrapped up in mats resembling
in outward appearance the early leaves of the vine. Their place of
assembly is where their own territory borders with that of Thînai; and
here, squatted on the mats on which they exhibit their wares, they
feast for several days, after which they return to their homes in the
interior. On observing their retreat the people of Thînai, repairing to
the spot, collect the mats on which they had been sitting, and taking
out the fibres, which are called _petroi_, from the reeds, they put
the leaves two and two together, and roll them up into slender balls,
through which they pass the fibres extracted from the reeds. Three
kinds of Malabathrum are thus made—that of the large ball, that of the
middle, and that of the small, according to the size of the leaf of
which the balls are formed. Hence there are three kinds of Malabathrum,
which after being made up are forwarded to India by the manufacturers.

66. All the regions beyond this are unexplored, being difficult of
access by reason of the extreme rigour of the climate and the severe
frosts, or perhaps because such is the will of the divine power.

THE

VOYAGE OF NEARKHOS,

FROM THE INDUS TO THE HEAD OF THE
PERSIAN GULF,

AS DESCRIBED IN THE SECOND PART OF
THE INDIKA OF ARRIAN,

(FROM CHAPTER XVIII. TO THE END.)

TRANSLATED FROM MÜLLER’S EDITION
(As given in the _Geographi Græci Minores_: Paris, 1855).

WITH INTRODUCTION AND NOTES.

THE VOYAGE OF NEARKHOS.

INTRODUCTION.

The coasting voyage from the mouth of the Indus to the head of
the Persian Gulf, designed by Alexander the Great, and executed
by Nearkhos, may be regarded as the most important achievement of
the ancients in navigation. It opened up, as Vincent remarks, a
communication between Europe and the most distant countries of Asia,
and, at a later period, was the source and origin of the Portuguese
discoveries, and consequently the primary cause, however remote, of the
British establishments in India. A Journal of this voyage was written
by Nearkhos himself, which, though not extant in its original form,
has been preserved for us by Arrian, who embodied its contents in his
little work on India,[23] which he wrote as a sequel to his history of
the expedition of Alexander.

Nearkhos as a writer must be acknowledged to be most scrupulously
honest and exact,—for the result of explorations made in modern times
along the shores which he passed in the course of his voyage shows
that his description of them is accurate even in the most minute
particulars. His veracity was nevertheless oppugned in ancient times by
Strabo, who unjustly stigmatises the whole class of the Greek writers
upon India as mendacious. “Generally speaking,” he says (II. i. 9),
“the men who have written upon Indian affairs were a set of liars.
Deimakhos holds the first place in the list, Megasthenês comes next,
while Onêsikritos and Nearkhos, with others of the same class, stammer
out a few words of truth.” (παραψελλίζοντες). Strabo, however, in
spite of this censure did not hesitate to use Nearkhos as one of his
chief authorities for his description of India, and is indebted to him
for many facts relating to that country, which, however extraordinary
they might appear to his contemporaries, have been all confirmed by
subsequent observation. It is therefore fairly open to doubt whether
Strabo was altogether sincere in his ill opinion, seeing it had but
little, if any, influence on his practice. We know at all events that
he was too much inclined to undervalue any writer who retailed fables,
without discriminating whether the writer set them down as facts, or
merely as stories, which he had gathered from hearsay.

In modern times, the charge of mendacity has been repeated by Hardouin
and Huet. There are, however, no more than two passages of the Journal
which can be adduced to support this imputation. The first is that
in which the excessive breadth of 200 stadia is given to the Indus,
and the second that in which it is asserted that at Malana (situated
in 25° 17´ of N. latitude) the shadows at noon were observed to
fall southward, and this in the month of November. With regard to
the first charge, it may be supposed that the breadth assigned to
the Indus was probably that which it was observed to have when in a
state of inundation, and with regard to the second, it may be met by
the supposition, which is quite admissible, that Arrian may have
misapprehended in some measure the import of the statement as made
by Nearkhos. The passage will be afterwards examined,[24] but in the
meantime we may say, with Vincent, that if the difficulty it presents
admits of no satisfactory solution, the misstatement ought not, as
standing alone, to be insisted upon to the invalidation of the whole
work.

But another charge besides that of mendacity has been preferred
against the Journal. Dodwell has denied its authenticity. His attack
is based on the following passage in Pliny (VI. 23):—Onesciriti et
Nearchi navigatio nec nomina habet mansionum nec spatia. _The Journal
of Onesicritus and Nearchus has neither the names of the anchorages
nor the measure of the distances._ From this Dodwell argues that,
as the account of the voyage in Arrian contains both the names and
the distances, it could not have been a transcript of the Journal of
Nearkhos, which according to Pliny gave neither names nor distances.
Now, in the first place, it may well be asked, why the authority of
Pliny, who is by no means always a careful writer, should be set so
high as to override all other testimony, for instance, that of Arrian
himself, who expressly states in the outset of his narrative that he
intended to give the account of the voyage which had been written by
Nearkhos. In the second place, the passage in question is probably
corrupt, or if not, it is in direct conflict with the passage which
immediately follows it, and contains Pliny’s own summary of the voyage
in which little else is given than the names of the anchorages and the
distances. Dodwell was aware of the inconsistency of the two passages,
and endeavoured to explain it away. In this he entirely fails, and
there can therefore be no reasonable doubt, that in Arrian’s work we
have a record of the voyage as authentic as it is veracious.

Of that record we proceed to give a brief abstract, adding a few
particulars gathered from other sources.

The fleet with which Nearkhos accomplished the voyage consisted of
war-galleys and transports which had been partly built and partly
collected on the banks of the river Hydaspes (now the Jhelam), where
Alexander had supplied them with crews by selecting from his troops
such men as had a knowledge of seamanship. The fleet thus manned sailed
slowly down the Hydaspes, the Akesinês, and the Indus, its movements
being regulated by those of the army, which, in marching down towards
the sea, was engaged in reducing the warlike tribes settled along the
banks of these rivers. This downward voyage occupied, according to
Strabo, ten months, but it probably did not occupy more than nine. The
fleet having at length reached the apex of the Delta formed by the
Indus remained in that neighbourhood for some time at a place called
Pattala, which has generally been identified with Ṭhaṭha—a town near to
where the western arm of the Indus bifurcates,—but which Cunningham and
others would prefer to identify with Nirankol or Haidarâbâd.[25] From
Pattala Alexander sailed down the western stream of the river, where
some of his ships were damaged and others destroyed by encountering
the Bore, a phenomenon as alarming as it was new to the Greeks.[26]
He returned to Pattala, and thence made an excursion down the Eastern
stream, which he found less difficult to navigate. On again returning
to Pattala he removed his fleet down to a station on the Western
branch of the river (at an island called Killouta),[27] which was
at no great distance from the sea. He then set out on his return to
Persia, leaving instructions with Nearkhos to start on the voyage as
soon as the calming of the monsoon should render navigation safe. It
was the king’s intention to march near to the coast, and to collect at
convenient stations supplies for the victualling of the fleet, but he
found that such a route was impracticable, and he was obliged to lead
his army through the inland provinces which lay between India and his
destination, Sûsa.[28] He left Leonnatos, however, behind him in the
country of the Oreitai, with instructions to render every assistance in
his power to the expedition under Nearkhos when it should reach that
part of the coast.

Nearkhos remained in the harbour at Killouta for about a month after
Alexander had departed, and then sailed during a temporary lull in the
monsoon, as he was apprehensive of being attacked by the natives who
had been but imperfectly subjugated, and whose spirit was hostile.[29]
The date on which he set sail is fixed by Vincent as the 1st of October
in the year B.C. 326. He proceeded slowly down the river, and
anchored first at a place called Stoura, which was only 100 stadia
distant from the station they had quitted. Here the fleet remained for
two days, when it proceeded to an anchorage only 30 stadia farther
down the stream at a place called Kaumana.[30] Thence it proceeded to
Koreatis (v. 1. Koreëstis)—where it again anchored. When once more
under weigh its progress was soon arrested by a dangerous rock or bar
which obstructed the mouth of the river.[31] After some delay this
difficulty was overcome, and the fleet was conducted in safety into the
open main, and onward to an island called Krôkala (150 stadia distant
from the bar), where it remained at anchor throughout the day following
its arrival. On leaving this island Nearkhos had Mount Eiros (now
Manora) on his right hand, and a low flat island on his left; and this,
as Cunningham remarks, is a very accurate description of the entrance
to Karâchi harbour. The fleet was conducted into this harbour, now so
well known as the great emporium of the trade of the Indus, and here,
as the monsoon was still blowing with great violence, it remained for
four and twenty days. The harbour was so commodious and secure that
Nearkhos designated it the Port of Alexander. It was well sheltered by
an island lying close to its mouth, called by Arrian, Bibakta, but by
Pliny, Bibaga, and by Philostratos, Biblos.

The expedition took its departure from this station on the 3rd of
November. It suffered both from stress of weather and from shortness
of provisions until it reached Kôkala on the coast of the Oreitai,
where it took on board the supplies which had been collected for its
use by the exertions of Leonnatos. Here it remained for about 10
days, and by the time of its departure the monsoon had settled in its
favour, so that the courses daily accomplished were now of much greater
length than formerly. The shores, however, of the Ikhthyophagoi,
which succeeded to those of the Oreitai, were so miserably barren and
inhospitable that provisions were scarcely procurable, and Nearkhos
was apprehensive lest the men, famished and despairing, should desert
the ships. Their sufferings were not relieved till they approached the
straits, which open into the Persian Gulf. When within the straits,
they entered the mouth of the river Anamis (now the Minâb or Ibrahim
river), and having landed, formed a dockyard and a camp upon its banks.
This place lay in Harmozeia, a most fertile and beautiful district
belonging to Karmania. Nearkhos, having here learned that Alexander
was not more than a 5 days’ journey from the sea, proceeded into the
interior to meet him, and report the safety of the expedition. During
his absence the ships were repaired and provisioned, and therefore
soon after his return to the camp he gave orders for the resumption of
the voyage. The time spent at Harmozeia was one and twenty days. The
fleet again under weigh coasted the islands lying at the mouth of the
gulf, and then having shaped its course towards the mainland, passed
the western shores of Karmania and those of Persis, till it arrived
at the mouth of the Sitakos (now the Kara-Agach), where it was again
repaired and supplied with provisions, remaining for the same number
of days as at the Anamis. One of the next stations at which it touched
was Mesembria, which appears to have been situated in the neighbourhood
of the modern Bushire. The coast of Persis was difficult to navigate
on account of intricate and oozy channels, and of shoals and breakers
which frequently extended far out to sea. The coast which succeeded,
that of Sousis (from which Persis is separated by the river Arosis or
Oroatis, now the Tâb) was equally difficult and dangerous to navigate,
and therefore the fleet no longer crept along the shore, but stood
out more into the open sea. At the head of the gulf Sousis bends to
westward, and here are the mouths of the Tigris and Euphrates, which
appear in those days to have entered the sea by separate channels. It
was the intention of Nearkhos to have sailed up the former river, but
he passed its mouth unawares, and continued sailing westward till he
reached Diridôtis (or Terêdon), an emporium in Babylonia, situated on
the Pallacopas branch of the Euphrates. From Diridôtis he retraced
his course, and entering the mouth of the Tigris sailed up its stream
till he reached the lower end of a great lake (not now existing),
through which its current flowed. At the upper end of this lake was
a village called Aginis, said to have been 500 stadia distant from
Sousa. Nearkhos did not, as has been erroneously supposed by some, sail
up the lake to Aginis, but entered the mouth of a river which flows
into its south-eastern extremity, called the Pasitigris or Eulæus,
the Ulai of the Prophet Daniel, now the Karûn. The fleet proceeded
up this river, and came to a final anchor in its stream immediately
below a bridge, which continued the highway from Persia to Sousa. This
bridge, according to Ritter and Rawlinson, crossed the Pasitigris at
a point near the modern village of Ahwaz. Here the fleet and the army
were happily reunited. Alexander on his arrival embraced Nearkhos with
cordial warmth, and rewarded appropriately the splendid services which
he had rendered by bringing the expedition safely through so many
hardships and perils to its destination. The date on which the fleet
anchored at the bridge is fixed by Vincent for the 24th of February
B. C. 325, so that the whole voyage was performed in 146 days,
or somewhat less than 5 months.

The following tables show the names, positions, &c., of the different
places which occurred on the route taken by the expedition:—

From the Station on the Indus to the Port of Alexander (Karâchi
Harbour).

II.

Coast of the Arabies (Sindh).

Length of the Coast from the Indus to the Arabis R. 1000 Stadia.
Actual length in miles English 80
Time taken in its navigation 38 Days.

--------------------+-----------+----------+---------+---------
| Modern | Distance | |
Ancient Name. | name. | in | Lat. N. | Long. E.
| | Stadia. | |
--------------------+-----------+----------+---------+---------
1. Port of Alexander| Karâchi | -- | 24° 53´ | 66° 57´
2. _Bibakta_ | | | |
3. Domai Is. | | 60 | 24° 48´ | 66° 50´
4. Saranga | | 300 | 24° 44´ | 66° 34´
5. Sakala | | | 24° 52´ | 66° 33´
6. Morontobara | | 300 | 25° 13´ | 66° 40´
7. _Is. unnamed_ | | | |
8. Arabis R. | Purâli R. | 120 | 25° 28´ | 66° 35´
--------------------+-----------+----------+---------+----------

III.

Length of the coast (Arrian) 1600 Stadia.
Do. do. (Strabo) 1800 --”
Actual length in miles English 100
Time taken in its navigation 18 Days.

---------------+-------------------+----------+---------+---------
| | Distance | |
Ancient Name. | Modern name. | in | Lat. N. | Long. E.
| | Stadia. | |
---------------+-------------------+----------+---------+---------
1. Pagala | -- | 200 | 25° 30´ | 66° 15´
2. Kabana | -- | 400 | 25° 28´ | 65° 46´
3. Kôkala | NearRâs-Katchari | 200 | 25° 21´ | 65° 36´
4. Tomêros R. |Maklow or Hingul R.| 500 | 25° 16´ | 65° 15´
5. Malana | Râs Malan | 300 | 25° 18´ | 65° 7´
---------------+-------------------+----------+---------+---------

IV.

Coast of the Ikhthyophagoi (Mekran or Beluchistan).

Length of the coast (Arrian) 10,000 Stadia.
Do. do. (Strabo) 7,000 “
Actual length in miles English 480
Time taken in its navigation 20 Days.

----------------------+---------------+----------+---------+----------
| | Distance | |
Ancient Name. | Modern name. | in | Lat. N. | Long. E.
| | Stadia. | |
----------------------+---------------+----------+---------+----------
1. Bagisara | On Arabah or | 600 | 25° 12´ | 64° 31´
| Hormara Bay | | |
2. _Pasira_ | | | |
3. Cape unnamed | Râs Arabah | | 25° 7´ | 64° 29´
4. Kolta | | 200 | 25° 8´ | 64° 27´
5. Kalama | Kalami R. | 600 | 25° 21´ | 63° 59´
6. _Karbine Is._ | Asthola or | | |
| Sânga-dîp | | |
7. Kissa in _Karbis_ | -- | 200 | 25° 22´ | 63° 37´
8. Cape unnamed | C. Passence | | 25° 15´ | 63° 30´
9. Mosarna | Near do. | | |
10. Balômon | -- | 750 | |
11. Barna | -- | 400 | 25° 12´ | 63° 10´
12. Dendrobosa |Daram or Duram | 200 | 25° 11´ | 62° 45´
13. Kôphas |Râs Koppa | 400 | 25° 11´ | 62° 29´
14. Kuiza |Near Râs Ghunse| 800 | 25° 10´ | 61° 56´
15. Town unnamed |On Gwattar Bay | 500 | |
16. Cape called Bagia | | | 25° 7´ | 61° 28´
17. Talmena |On Chaubar Bay | 1000 | 25° 24´ | 60° 40´
18. Kanasis | | 400 | 25° 24 | 60° 12´
19. Anchorage unnamed.| | | |
20. Kanate | Kungoun | 850 | 25° 25´ | 59° 15´
21. Taœi or Troisi | Near Sudich | 800 | 25° 30´ | 58° 42´
| River | | |
22. Bagasira | Girishk | 300 | 25° 38´ | 58° 27´
23. Anchorage unnamed | -- | 1100 | |
----------------------+---------------+----------+---------+----------

Coast of Karmania (Moghistan and Laristan).
Length of the coast (Arrian and Strabo) 3,700 Stadia.
Actual length in miles English 296
Time taken in its navigation 19 Days.

VI.

Coast of Persis (Farsistan).

Length of Coast 4,400 Stadia.
Actual length in miles English 382
Time taken in its navigation 31 Days.

----------------------------+-----------+----------+---------+--------
Ancient name. | Modern | Distance | |
| name. | in | Lat. N. |Long. E.
| | Stadia. | |
----------------------------+-----------+----------+---------+--------
1. Ila and Kaikander Is. |Inderabia | 400 | 26° 38´ | 53° 35´
| Island | | |
2. Island with Pearl Fishery| | | |
3. Another anchorage here | -- | 40 | |
4. Mount Okhos | -- | | 26° 59´ | 53° 20´
5. Apostana | -- | 450 | 27° 1´ | 52° 55´
6. Bay unnamed |On it is | 400 | 27° 24´ | 52° 25´
| Nabend | | |
7. Gôgana at mouth of | Konkan | 600 | 27° 48´ | 52°
Areôn R. | | | |
8. Sitakos | Kara-Agach| | |
| R. | 800 | |
9. Hieratis | ... | 750 | 28° 52´ | 50° 45´
10. Heratemis | | | |
R. near it. | | | |
11. Podagron, R. | | | |
12. Mesambria | Near | ... | 29° | 50° 45´
| Bushire.| | |
13. Taökê on | Taaug | 200 | 29° 14´ | 50° 30´
Granis, R. | | | |
14. Rhogonis, R. | ... | 200 | 29° 27´ | 50° 29´
15. Brizana, R. | ... | 400 | 29° 57´ | 50° 15´
16. Arosis or | River Tâb.| ... | 30° 4´ | 49° 30´
Oroatis, R. | | | |
-----------------------------+-----------+----------+---------+--------

VII.

Coast of Sousis (Khuzistan.)

Length of the Coast 2000 Stadia.
Time taken in its navigation 3 Days.

----------------+-----------+----------+---------+---------
| Modern | Distance | |
Ancient name. | name. | in | Lat. N. | Long. E.
| | Stadia. | |
----------------+-----------+----------+---------+---------
1. Kataderbis R.| ... | 500 | 30° 16´ | 49°
| | | |
2. Margastana Is.| | | |
| | | |
3. Anchorage | ... | 600 | |
unnamed. | | | |
| | | |
4. Diridôtis, | Near Jebel| 900 | 30° 12´ | 47° 35´
the end of the| Sanâm. | | |
sea voyage. | | | |
----------------+-----------+----------+---------+--------

TRANSLATION.

XVIII. When the fleet formed for Alexander upon the banks of the
Hydaspes was now ready, he provided crews for the vessels by collecting
all the Phœnikians and all the Kyprians and Egyptians who had followed
him in his Eastern campaigns, and from these he selected such as
were skilled in seamanship to manage the vessels and work the oars.
He had besides in his army not a few islanders familiar with that
kind of work, and also natives both of Ionia and of the Hellespont.
The following officers he appointed as Commanders of the different
galleys[33]:—

Makedonians.

Citizens of Pella.

1. Hephaistiôn, son of Amyntor.
2. Leonnatos, son of Anteas.
3. Lysimakhos, son of Agathoklês.
4. Asklepiodôros, son of Timander.
5. Arkhôn, son of Kleinias.
6. Demonikos, son of Athenaios.
7. Arkhias, son of Anaxidotos.
8. Ophellas, son of Seilênos.
9. Timanthês, son of Pantiadês.

Of Amphipolis.

10. Nearkhos, son of Androtîmos, who wrote a narrative of the voyage.
11. Laomedôn, son of Larikhos.
12. Androsthenês, son of Kallistratos.

Of Oresis.

13. Krateros, son of Alexander.
14. Perdikkas, son of Orontes.

Of Eördaia.

15. Ptolemaios, son of Lagos.
16. Aristonous, son of Peisaios.

Of Pydna.

17. Metrôn, son of Epikharmos.
18. Nikarkhidês, son of Simos.

Of Stymphaia.

19. Attalos, son of Andromenês.

Of Mieza.

20. Peukestas, son of Alexander.

Of Alkomenai.

21. Peithôn, son of Krateuas.

Of Aigai.

22. Leonnatos, son of Antipater.

Of Alôros.

23. Pantoukhos, son of Nikolaös.

Of Beroia.

24. Mylleas, son of Zôilos.

All these were Makedonians.

Greeks,—of Larisa:

25. Mêdios, son of Oxynthemis.

Of Kardia.

26. Eumenês, son of Hierônymos.

Of Kôs.

27. Kritoboulos, son of Plato.

Of Magnêsia.

28. Thoas, son of Mênodôros.
29. Maiander, son of Mandrogenês.

Of Teos.

30. Andrôn, son of Kabêlas.

Of Soloi in Cyprus.

31. Nikokleês, son of Pasikratês.

Of Salamis in Cyprus.

32. Nithaphôn, son of Pnutagoras.

A Persian was also appointed as a Trierarch.

33. Bagoas, son of Pharnoukhês.

The Pilot and Master of Alexander’s own ship was Onêsikritos of
Astypalaia, and the Secretary-General of the fleet Euagoras, the son
of Eukleôn, a Corinthian. Nearkhos, the son of Androtîmos, a Kretan
by birth, but a citizen of Amphipolis on the Strymôn was appointed as
Admiral of the expedition.

When these dispositions had been all completed, Alexander sacrificed to
his ancestral gods, and to such as had been indicated by the oracle;
also to Poseidôn and Amphitritê and the Nêreids, and to Okeanos
himself, and to the River Hydaspês, from which he was setting forth on
his enterprise; and to the Akesinês into which the Hydaspês pours its
stream, and to the Indus which receives both these rivers. He further
celebrated the occasion by holding contests in music and gymnastics,
and by distributing to the whole army, rank by rank, the sacrificial
victims.

XIX. When all the preparations for the voyage had been made, Alexander
ordered Krateros, with a force of horse and foot, to go to one side of
the Hydaspês; while Hephaistiôn commanding a still larger force, which
included 200 elephants, should march in a parallel line on the other
side. Alexander himself had under his immediate command the body of
foot guards called the Hypaspists, and all the archers, and what was
called the companion-cavalry,—a force consisting in all of 8,000 men.
The troops under Krateros and Hephaistiôn marching in advance of the
fleet had received instructions where they were to wait its arrival.
Philip, whom he had appointed satrap of this region, was despatched to
the banks of the Akesinês with another large division, for by this time
he had a following of 120,000 soldiers,[34] including those whom he had
himself led up from the sea-coast, as well as the recruits enlisted by
the agents whom he had deputed to collect an army, when he admitted
to his ranks barbarous tribes of all countries in whatever way they
might be armed. Then weighing anchor, he sailed down the Hydaspês to
its point of junction with the Akesinês. The ships numbered altogether
1800, including the long narrow war galleys, the round-shaped roomy
merchantmen, and the transports for carrying horses and provisions
to feed the army. But how the fleet sailed down the rivers, and what
tribes Alexander conquered in the course of the voyage, and how he
was in danger among the Malli,[35] and how he was wounded in their
country, and how Peukestas and Leonnatos covered him with their shields
when he fell,—all these incidents have been already related in my
other work, that which is written in the Attic dialect.[36] My present
object is to give an account of the coasting voyage which Nearkhos
accomplished with the fleet when starting from the mouths of the Indus
he sailed through the great ocean as far as the Persian Gulf, called by
some the Red Sea.

XX. Nearkhos himself has supplied a narrative of this voyage, which
runs to this effect. Alexander, he informs us, had set his heart on
navigating the whole circuit of the sea which extends from India
to Persia, but the length of the voyage made him hesitate, and the
possibility of the destruction of his fleet, should it be cast on some
desert coast either quite harbourless or too barren to furnish adequate
supplies; in which case a great stain tarnishing the splendour of his
former actions would obliterate all his good fortune. His ambition,
however, to be always doing something new and astonishing prevailed
over all his scruples. Then arose a difficulty as to what commander
he should choose, having genius sufficient for working out his plans,
and a difficulty also with regard to the men on ship-board how he
could overcome their fear, that in being despatched on such a service
they were recklessly sent into open peril. Nearkhos here tells us that
Alexander consulted him on the choice of a commander, and that when the
king had mentioned one man after another, rejecting all, some because
they were not inclined to expose themselves for his sake to danger,
others because they were of a timid temper, others because their only
thought was how to get home, making this and that objection to each
in turn, Nearkhos then proffered his own services in these terms: “I,
then, O king, engage to command the expedition, and, under the divine
protection, will conduct the fleet and the people on board safe into
Persia, if the sea be that way navigable, and the undertaking within
the power of man to perform.” Alexander made a pretence of refusing the
offer, saying that he could not think of exposing any friend of his
to the distresses and hazard of such a voyage, but Nearkhos, so far
from withdrawing his proposal, only persisted the more in pressing its
acceptance upon him. Alexander, it need not be said, warmly appreciated
the promptitude to serve him shown by Nearkhos, and appointed him to be
commander-in-chief of the expedition. When this became known, it had a
great effect in calming the minds of the troops ordered on this service
and on the minds of the sailors, since they felt assured that Alexander
would never have sent forth Nearkhos into palpable danger unless their
lives were to be preserved. At the same time the splendour with which
the ships were equipped, and the enthusiasm of the officers vying with
each other who should collect the best men, and have his complement
most effective, inspired even those who had long hung back with nerve
for the work, and a good hope that success would crown the undertaking.
It added to the cheerfulness pervading the army that Alexander himself
sailed out from both the mouths of the Indus into the open main when
he sacrificed victims to Poseidôn and all the other sea-deities, and
presented gifts of great magnificence to the sea; and so the men
trusting to the immeasurable good fortune which had hitherto attended
all the projects of Alexander, believed there was nothing he might not
dare—nothing but would to him be feasible.

XXI. When the Etesian winds,[37] which continue all the hot season
blowing landward from the sea, making navigation on that coast
impracticable, had subsided, then the expedition started on the voyage
in the year when Kephisidôros was Archon at Athens, on the 20th day of
the month Boëdromion according to the Athenian Kalendar, but as the
Makedonians and Asiatics reckon * * in the 11th year of the reign of
Alexander.[38] Nearkhos, before putting to sea sacrifices to Zeus the
Preserver, and celebrates, as Alexander had done, gymnastic games. Then
clearing out of harbour they end the first day’s voyage by anchoring
in the Indus at a creek called Stoura, where they remain for two days.
The distance of this place from the station they had just left was 100
stadia. On the third day they resumed the voyage, but proceeded no
further than 30 stadia, coming to an anchor at another creek, where the
water was now salt, for the sea when filled with the tide ran up the
creek, and its waters even when the tide receded commingled with the
river. The name of this place was Kaumana. The next day’s course, which
was of 20 stadia only, brought them to Koreatis, where they once more
anchored in the river. When again under weigh their progress was soon
interrupted, for a bar was visible which there obstructed the mouth of
the Indus; and the waves were heard breaking with furious roar upon its
strand which was wild and rugged. Observing, however, that the bar at
a particular part was soft, they made a cutting through this, 5 stadia
long, _at low water_, and on the return of the flood-tide carried the
ships through by the passage thus formed into the open sea.[39] Then
following the winding of the coast they ran a course of 120 stadia, and
reach Krôkala,[40] a sandy island where they anchored and remained all
next day. The country adjoining was inhabited by an Indian race called
the Arabies, whom I have mentioned in my longer work, where it is
stated that they derive their name from the River Arabis, which flows
through their country to the sea, and parts them from the Oreitai.[41]
Weighing from Krôkala they had on their right hand a mountain which
the natives called Eiros, and on their left a flat island almost level
with the sea, and so near the mainland to which it runs parallel that
the intervening channel is extremely narrow. Having quite cleared
this passage they come to anchor in a well-sheltered harbour, which
Nearkhos, finding large and commodious, designated Alexander’s Haven.
This harbour is protected by an island lying about 2 stadia off from
its entrance. It is called Bibakta, and all the country round about
Sangada.[42] The existence of the harbour is due altogether to the
island which opposes a barrier to the violence of the sea. Here heavy
gales blew from seaward for many days without intermission, and
Nearkhos fearing lest the barbarians might, some of them, combine to
attack and plunder the camp, fortified his position with an enclosure
of stones. Here they were obliged to remain for 24 days. The soldiers,
we learn from Nearkhos, caught mussels and oysters, and what is called
the razor-fish, these being all of an extraordinary size as compared
with the sorts found in our own sea.[43] He adds that they had no water
to drink but what was brackish.

XXII. As soon as the monsoon ceased they put again to sea, and having
run fully 60 stadia came to anchor at a sandy beach under shelter of
a desert island that lay near, called Domai.[44] On the shore itself
there was no water, but 20 stadia inland it was procured of good
quality. The following day they proceeded 300 stadia to Saranga, where
they did not arrive till night. They anchored close to the shore, and
found water at a distance of about 8 stadia from it. Weighing from
Saranga they reach Sakala, a desert place, and anchored. On leaving
it they passed two rocks so close to each other that the oar-blades
of the galleys grazed both, and after a course of 300 stadia they
came to anchor at Morontobara.[45] The harbour here was deep and
capacious, and well sheltered all round, and its waters quite tranquil,
but the entrance into it was narrow. In the native language it was
called Women’s Haven, because a woman had been the first sovereign
of the place. They thought it a great achievement to have passed
those two rocks in safety, for when they were passing them the sea
was boisterous and running high. They did not remain in Morontobara,
but sailed the day after their arrival, when they had on their left
hand an island which sheltered them from the sea, and which lay so
near to the mainland that the intervening channel looked as if it
had been artificially formed. Its length from one end to the other
was 70 stadia.[46] The shore was woody and the island throughout
over-grown with trees of every description. They were not able to get
fairly through this passage till towards daybreak, for the sea was
not only rough, but also shoal, the tide being at ebb. They sailed on
continuously, and after a course of 120 stadia anchored at the mouth of
the river Arabis, where there was a spacious and very fine haven.[47]
The water here was not fit for drinking, for the sea ran up the mouths
of the Arabis. Having gone, however, about 40 stadia up the river,
they found a pool from which, having drawn water, they returned to the
fleet. Near the harbour is an island high and bare, but the sea around
it supplied oysters and fish of various kinds.[48] As far as this, the
country was possessed by the Arabies, the last Indian people living in
this direction; and the parts beyond were occupied by the Oreitai.[49]

XXIII. On weighing from the mouths of the Arabia, they coasted the
shores of the Oreitai, and after running 200 stadia reached Pagala,[50]
where there was a surf but nevertheless good anchorage. The crew were
obliged to remain on board, a party, however, being sent on shore to
procure water. They sailed next morning at sunrise, and after a course
of about 430 stadia, reached Kabana[51] in the evening, where they
anchored at some distance from the shore, which was a desert; the
violence of the surf by which the vessels were much tossed preventing
them from landing. While running the last course the fleet had been
caught in a heavy gale blowing from seaward, when two galleys and
a transport foundered. All the men, however, saved themselves by
swimming, as the vessels at the time of the disaster were sailing
close to the shore. They weighed from Kabana about midnight, and
having proceeded 200 stadia arrived at Kôkala, where the vessels _could
not be drawn on shore_, but rode at anchor out at sea. As the men,
however, had suffered severely by confinement on board,[52] and were
very much in want of rest, Nearkhos allowed them to go on shore, where
he formed a camp, fortifying it in the usual manner for protection
against the barbarians. In this part of the country Leonnatos, who
had been commissioned by Alexander to reduce the Oreitai and settle
their affairs, defeated that people and their allies in a great
battle, wherein all the leaders and 6,000 men were slain, the loss of
Leonnatos, being only 15 of his horse, besides a few foot-soldiers, and
_one man of note_ Apollophanês, the satrap of the Gedrosians.[53] A
full account, however, of those transactions is given in my other work,
where it is stated that for this service Leonnatos had a golden crown
placed upon his head by Alexander in presence of the Makedonian army.
Agreeably to orders given by Alexander, corn had been here collected
for the victualling of the vessels, and stores sufficient to last for
10 days were put on board. Here also such ships as had been damaged
during the voyage were repaired, while all the mariners that Nearkhos
considered deficient in fortitude for the enterprise, he consigned to
Leonnatos to be taken on by land, but at the same time he made good his
complement of men by taking in exchange others more efficient from the
troops under Leonnatos.

XXIV. From this place they bore away with a fresh breeze, and having
made good a course of 500 stadia anchored near a winter torrent called
the Tomêros, which at its mouth expanded into an estuary.[54] The
natives lived on the marshy ground near the shore in cabins close
and suffocating. Great was their astonishment when they descried the
fleet approaching, but _they were not without courage_, and collecting
in arms on the shore, drew up in line to attack the strangers when
landing. They carried thick spears about 6 cubits long, not headed
with iron, but what was as good, hardened at the point by fire. Their
number was about 600, and when Nearkhos saw that they stood their
ground prepared to fight, he ordered his vessels to advance, and then
to anchor just within bowshot of the shore, for he had noticed that the
thick spears of the barbarians were adapted only for close fight, and
were by no means formidable as missiles. He then issued his directions:
those men that were lightest equipped, and the most active and best
at swimming were to swim to shore at a given signal: when any one
had swum so far that he could stand in the water he was to wait for
his next neighbour, and not advance against the barbarians until a
file could be formed of three men deep: that done, they were to rush
forward shouting the war-cry. The men selected for this service at
once plunged into the sea, and swimming rapidly touched ground, still
keeping due order, when forming in file, they rushed to the charge,
shouting the war-cry, which was repeated from the ships, whence all
the while arrows and missiles from engines were launched against the
enemy. Then the barbarians terrified by the glittering arms and the
rapidity of the landing, and wounded by the arrows and other missiles,
against which they had no protection, being all but entirely naked,
fled at once without making any attempt at resistance. Some perished in
the ensuing flight, others were taken prisoners, and some escaped to
the mountains. Those they captured had shaggy hair, not only on their
head but all over their body; their nails resembled the claws of wild
beasts, and were used, it would seem, instead of iron for dividing fish
and splitting the softer kinds of wood. Things of a hard consistency
they cut with sharp stones, for iron they had none. As clothing they
wore the skins of wild beasts, and occasionally also the thick skins of
the large sorts of fish.[55]

XXV. After this action they draw the ships on shore and repair all
that had been damaged. On the 6th day they weighed again, and after a
course of 300 stadia reached a place called Malana, the last on the
coast, of the Oreitai.[56] In the interior these people dress like
the Indians, and use similar weapons, but differ from them in their
language and their customs. The length of the coast of the Arabies,
measured from the place whence the expedition had sailed, was about
1,000 stadia, and the extent of the coast of the Oreitai 1,600 stadia.
Nearkhos mentions that as they sailed along the Indian coast (for
the people beyond this are not Indians), their shadows did not fall
in the usual direction, for when they stood out a good way to the
southward, their shadows appeared to turn and fall southward.[57] Those
constellations, moreover, which they had been accustomed to see high
in the heavens, were either not visible at all, or were seen just on
the verge of the horizon, while the Polar constellations which had
formerly been always visible now set and soon afterwards rose again. In
this Nearkhos appears to me to assert nothing improbable, for at Syênê
in Egypt they show a well in which, when the sun is at the Tropic,
there is no shadow at noon. In Meroë also objects project no shadow at
that particular time. Hence it is probable that the shadow is subject
to the same law in India which lies to the south, and more especially
in the Indian ocean, which extends still further to the southward.

XXVI. Next to the Oreitai lies Gedrosia,[58] an inland province
through which Alexander led his army, but this with difficulty, for
the region was so desolate that the troops in the whole course of the
expedition never suffered such direful extremities as on this march.
But all the particulars relating to this I have set down in my larger
work (VI. 22-27). The seaboard below the Gedrosians is occupied by a
people culled the Ikhthyophagi, and along this country the fleet now
pursued its way. Weighing from Malana about the second watch they
ran a course of 600 stadia, and reached Bagisara. Here they found a
commodious harbour, and at a distance of 60 stadia from the sea a small
town called Pasira, whence the people of the neighbourhood were called
Pasirees.[59] Weighing early next morning they had to double a headland
which projected far out into the sea, and was high and precipitous.
Here having dug wells, and got only a small supply of bad water, they
rode at anchor that day because a high surf prevented the vessels
approaching the shore. They left this place next day, and sailed till
they reached Kolta after a course of 200 stadia.[60] Weighing thence
at daybreak they reached Kalama, after a course of 600 stadia, and
there anchored.[61] Near the beach was a village around which grew a
few palm-trees, the dates on which were still green. There was here an
island called Karbinê, distant from the shore about 100 stadia.[62]
The villagers by way of showing their hospitality brought presents
of sheep and fish to Nearkhos, who says that the mutton had a fishy
taste like the flesh of sea birds for the sheep fed on fish, there
being no grass in the place. Next day they proceeded 200 stadia, and
anchored off a shore near which lay a village called Kissa, 30 stadia
inland.[63] That coast was however called Karbis. There they found
little boats such as might belong to miserably poor fishermen, but
the men themselves they saw nothing of, for they had fled when they
observed the ships dropping anchor. No corn was here procurable, but
a few goats had been left, which were seized and put on board, for in
the fleet provisions now ran short. On weighing they doubled a steep
promontory, which projected about 150 stadia into the sea, and then put
into a well-sheltered haven called Mosarna, where they anchored. Here
the natives were fishermen, and here they obtained water.[64]

XXVII. From this place they took on board, Nearkhos says, as pilot of
the fleet, a Gedrosian called Hydrakês, who undertook to conduct them
as far as Karmania.[65] Thenceforth until they reached the Persian
Gulf, the voyage was more practicable, and the names of the stations
more familiar. Departing from Mosarna at night, they sailed 750 stadia,
and reached the coast of Balômon. They touched next at Barna, which
was 400 stadia distant.[66] Here grew many palm trees, and here was
a garden wherein were myrtles and flowers from which the men wove
chaplets for their hair.[67] They saw now for the first time cultivated
trees, and met with natives in a condition above that of mere savages.
Leaving this they followed the winding of the coast, and arrived at
Dendrobosa, where they anchor in the open sea.[68] They weighed from
this about midnight, and after a course of about 400 stadia gained
the haven of Kôphas.[69] The inhabitants were fishermen possessed of
small and wretched boats, which they did not manage with oars fastened
to a row-lock according to the Grecian manner, but with paddles which
they thrust on this side, and on that into the water, like diggers
using a spade. They found at this haven plenty of good water. Weighing
about the first watch they ran 800 stadia, and put into Kyiza, where
was a desert shore with a high surf breaking upon it.[70] They were
accordingly obliged to let the ships ride at anchor and take their meal
on board. Leaving this they ran a course of 500 stadia, and came to
a small town built on an eminence not far from the shore. On turning
his eyes in that direction Nearkhos noticed that the land had some
appearance of being cultivated, and thereupon addressing Arkhias (who
was the son of Anaxidotos of Pella, and sailed in the Commander’s
galley, being a Makedonian of distinction) pointed out to him that
they must take possession of the place, as the inhabitants would not
willingly supply the army with food. It could not however be taken by
assault, a tedious siege would be necessary, and they were already
short of provisions. But the country was one that produced corn as the
thick stubble which they saw covering the fields near the shore clearly
proved. This proposal being approved of by all, he ordered Arkhias to
make a feint of preparing the fleet, all but one ship to sail, while he
himself, pretending to be left behind with that ship, approached the
town as if merely to view it.

XXVIII. When he approached the walls the inhabitants came out to meet
him, bringing a present of tunny-fish broiled in pans (the first
instance of cookery among the Ikhthyophagi, although these were
the very last of them), accompanied with small cakes and dates. He
accepted their offering with the proper acknowledgments, but said he
wished to see their town, which he was accordingly allowed to enter.
No sooner was he within the gates than he ordered two of his archers
to seize the portal by which they had entered, while he himself with
two attendants and his interpreter mounting the wall hard by, made the
preconcerted signal, on seeing which the troops under Arkhias were to
perform the service assigned to them. The Makedonians, on seeing the
signal, immediately ran their ships towards land, and without loss of
time jumped into the sea. The barbarians, alarmed at these proceedings,
flew to arms. Upon this Nearkhos ordered his interpreter to proclaim
that if they wished their city to be preserved from pillage they must
supply his army with provisions. They replied that they had none, and
proceeded to attack the wall, but were repulsed by the archers with
Nearkhos, who assailed them with arrows from the summit of the wall.
Accordingly, when they saw that their city was taken, and on the point
of being pillaged, they at once begged Nearkhos to take whatever corn
they had, and to depart without destroying the place. Nearkhos upon
this orders Arkhias to possess himself of the gates and the ramparts
adjoining, and sends at the same time officers to see what stores were
available, and whether these would be all honestly given up. The stores
were produced, consisting of a kind of meal made from fish roasted,
and a little wheat and barley, for the chief diet of these people was
fish with bread added as a relish. The troops having appropriated these
supplies returned to the fleet, which then hauled off to a cape _in the
neighbourhood_ called Bagia, which the natives regarded as sacred to
the sun.[71]

XXIX. They weighed from this cape about midnight, and having made good
a course of 1,000 stadia, put into Talmena, where they found a harbour
with good anchorage.[72] They sailed thence to Kanasis, a deserted
town 400 stadia distant, where they find a well ready-dug and wild
palm-trees.[73] These they cut down, using the tender heads to support
life since provisions had again run scarce. They sailed all day and
all night suffering great distress from hunger, and then came to an
anchor off a desolate coast. Nearkhos fearing lest the men, if they
landed, would in despair desert the fleet, ordered the ships to be
moved to a distance from shore. Weighing from this they ran a course of
850 stadia, and came to anchor at Kanate, a place with an open beach
and some water-courses.[74] Weighing again, and making 800 stadia,
they reach Taoi, where they drop anchor.[75] The place contained some
small and wretched villages, which were deserted by the inhabitants
upon the approach of the fleet. Here the men found a little food and
dates of the palm-tree, beside seven camels left by the villagers which
were killed for food. Weighing thence about daybreak they ran a course
of 300 stadia, and came to anchor at Dagasira, where the people were
nomadic.[76] Weighing again they sailed all night and all day without
intermission, and having thus accomplished a course of 1,100 stadia,
left behind them the nation of the Ikhthyophagi, on whose shores they
had suffered such severe privations. They could not approach the
beach on account of the heavy surf, but rode at anchor out at sea. In
navigating the Ikhthyophagi coast the distance traversed was not much
short of 10,000 stadia. The people, as their name imports, live upon
fish. Few of them, however, are fishermen, and what fish they obtain
they owe mostly to the tide at whose reflux they catch them with nets
made for this purpose. These nets are generally about 2 stadia long,
and are composed of the bark (or fibres) of the palm, which they twine
into cord in the same way as the fibres of flax are twined. When the
sea recedes, hardly any fish are found among the dry sands, but they
abound in the depressions of the surface where the water still remains.
The fish are for the most part small, though some are caught of a
considerable size, these being taken in the nets. The more delicate
kinds they eat raw as soon as they are taken out of the water. The
large and coarser kinds they dry in the sun, and when properly dried
grind into a sort of meal from which they make bread. This meal is
sometimes also used to bake cakes with. The cattle as well as their
masters fare on dried fish, for the country has no pastures, and hardly
even a blade of grass. In most parts crabs, oysters and mussels add to
the means of subsistence. Natural salt is found in the country, * * *
from these they make oil.[77] Certain of their communities inhabit
deserts where not a tree grows, and where there are not even wild
fruits. Fish is their sole means of subsistence. In some few places,
however, they sow with grain some patches of land, and eat the produce
as a viand of luxury along with the fish which forms the staple of
their diet. The better class of the population in building their houses
use, instead of wood, the bones of whales stranded on the coast, the
broadest bones being employed in the framework of the doors. Poor
people, and these are the great majority, construct their dwellings
with the backbones of fish.[78]

XXX. Whales of enormous size frequent the outer ocean, besides other
fish larger than those found in the Mediterranean. Nearkhos relates
that when they were bearing away from Kyiza, the sea early in the
morning was observed to be blown up into the air as if by the force of
a whirlwind. The men greatly alarmed enquired of the pilots the nature
and cause of this phenomenon, and were informed that it proceeded from
the blowing of the whales as they sported in the sea. This report did
not quiet their alarm, and through astonishment they let the oars
drop from their hands. Nearkhos, however, recalled them to duty, and
encouraged them by his presence, ordering the prows of those vessels
that were near him to be turned as in a sea-fight towards the creatures
as they approached, while the rowers were just then to shout as
loud as they could the _alala_, and swell the noise by dashing the
water rapidly with the oars. The men thus encouraged on seeing the
preconcerted signal advanced to action. Then, as they approached the
monsters, they shouted the _alala_ as loud as they could bawl, sounded
the trumpets, and dashed the water noisily with the oars. Thereupon
the whales, which were seen ahead, plunged down terror-struck into the
depths, and soon after rose astern, when they vigorously continued
their blowing. The men by loud acclamations expressed their joy at this
unexpected deliverance, the credit of which they gave to Nearkhos, who
had shown such admirable fortitude and judgment.

We learn further, that on many parts of the coast whales are
occasionally stranded, being left in shallow water at ebb-tide, and
thus prevented from escaping back to sea, and that they are sometimes
also cast ashore by violent storms. Thus perishing, their flesh rots
away, and gradually drops off till the bones are left bare. These are
used by the natives in the construction of their huts, the larger ribs
making suitable bearing beams, and the smaller serving for rafters. The
jaw-bones make arches for the door-ways, for whales are sometimes five
and twenty _orguiæ_ (fathoms) in length.[79]

XXXI. When they were sailing along the Ikhthyophagi coast, they were
told about an island which was said to be about 100 stadia distant
from the mainland, and uninhabited. Its name was Nosala, and it was
according to the local tradition sacred to the sun. No one willingly
visited this island, and if any one was carried to it unawares, he was
never more seen. Nearkhos states that a transport of his fleet, manned
with an Egyptian crew, disappeared not far from this island, and that
the pilots accounted for their disappearance by saying that they must
have landed on the island in ignorance of the danger which they would
thereby incur. Nearkhos, however, sent a galley of 30 oars to sail
round the island, instructing the men not to land, but to approach as
near as they could to the shore, and hail the men, shouting out the
name of the captain or any other name they had not forgotten. No one
answered to the call, and Nearkhos says that he then sailed in person
to the island, and compelled his company much against their will to go
on shore. He too landed, and showed that the story about the island
was nothing but an empty fable. Concerning this same island he heard
also another story, which ran to this effect: it had been at one time
the residence of one of the Nereids, whose name, he says, he could not
learn. It was her wont to have intercourse with any man who visited
the island, changing him thereafter into a fish, and casting him into
the sea. The sun, however, being displeased with the Nereid, ordered
her to remove from the island. She agreed to do this, and seek a home
elsewhere, but stipulated that she should be cured of her malady. To
this condition the sun assented, and then the Nereid, taking pity upon
the men whom she had transformed into fish, restored them to their
human shape. These men were the progenitors of the Ikhthyophagi, the
line of succession remaining unbroken down to the time of Alexander.
Now, for my part I have no praise to bestow on Nearkhos for expending
so much time and ingenuity on the not very difficult task of proving
the falsehood of these stories, for, to take up antiquated fables
merely with a view to prove their falsehood, I can only regard as a
contemptible piece of folly.[80]

XXXII. To the Ikhthyophagi succeed the Gadrôsii, who occupy a most
wretched tract of country full of sandy deserts, in penetrating which
Alexander and his army were reduced to the greatest extremities, of
which an account is to be found in my other work. But this is an inland
region, and therefore when the expedition left the Ikhthyophagi, its
course lay along Karmania.[81] Here, when they first drew towards
shore, they could not effect a landing, but had to remain all night
on board anchored in the deep, because a violent surf spread along the
shore and far out to sea. Thereafter the direction of their course
changed, and they sailed no longer towards sunset, but turned the heads
of the vessels more to the north-west. Karmania is better wooded and
produces better fruit than the country either of the Ikhthyophagi or
the Oreitai. It is also more grassy, and better supplied with water.
They anchor next at Badis, an inhabited place in Karmania, where grew
cultivated trees of many different kinds, with the exception of the
olive, and where also the soil favoured the growth of the vine and of
corn.[82] Weighing thence they ran 800 stadia, and came to an anchor
off a barren coast, whence they descried a headland projecting far out
into the sea, its nearest extremity being to appearance about a day’s
sail distant. Persons acquainted with those regions asserted that this
cape belonged to Arabia, and was called Maketa, whence cinnamon and
other products were exported to the Assyrians.[83] And from this coast
where the fleet was now anchored, and from the headland which they saw
projecting into the sea right opposite, the gulf in my opinion (which
is also that of Nearkhos) extends up into the interior, and is probably
the Red Sea. When this headland was now in view Onesikritos, _the chief
pilot_, proposed that they should proceed to explore it, and by so
shaping their course, escape the distressing passage up the gulf; but
Nearkhos opposed this proposal. Onesikritos, he said, must be wanting
in ordinary judgment if he did not know with what design Alexander had
sent the fleet on this voyage. He certainly had not sent it, because
there were no proper means of conducting the whole army safely by land,
but his express purpose was to obtain a knowledge of the coasts they
might pass on their voyage, together with the harbours and islets, and
to have the bays that might occur explored, and to ascertain whether
there were towns bordering on the ocean, and whether the countries,
were habitable or desert. They ought not therefore to lose sight of
this object, seeing that they were now near the end of their toils, and
especially that they were no longer in want of the necessary supplies
for prosecuting the voyage. He feared, moreover, since the headland
stretched towards the south, lest they should find the country there a
parched desert destitute of water and insufferably hot. This argument
prevailed, and it appears to me that by this counsel Nearkhos saved the
expedition, for all accounts represent this cape and the parts adjacent
as an arid waste where water cannot possibly be procured.

XXXIII. On resuming the voyage they sailed close to land, and after
making about 700 stadia anchored on another shore called Neoptana.[84]
From this they weighed next day at dawn, and after a course of 100
stadia anchored at the mouth of the river Anamis[85] in a country
called Harmozeia.[86] Here at last they found a hospitable region,
one which was rich in every production except only the olive. Here
accordingly they landed, and enjoyed a welcome respite from their
many toils—heightening their pleasure by calling to remembrance what
miseries they had suffered at sea and in the Ikhthyophagi country,
where the shores were so sterile, and the natives so brute-like, and
where they had been reduced to the last extremities of want. Here,
also, some of them in scattered parties, leaving the encampment on
the shore, wandered inland searching for one thing and another that
might supply their several requirements. While thus engaged, they fell
in with a man who wore a Greek mantle, and was otherwise attired as
a Greek and spoke the Greek language. Those who first discovered him
declared that tears started to their eyes, so strange did it appear,
after all they had suffered, to see once more a countryman of their
own, and to hear the accents of their native tongue. They asked him
whence he came, and who he was. He replied that he had straggled from
the army of Alexander, and that the army led by Alexander in person
was not far off. On hearing this they hurry the man with shouts of
tumultuous joy to the presence of Nearkhos, to whom he repeated all
that he had already said, assuring him that the army and the king were
not more than a 5 days’ march distant from the sea. The Governor of
the province, he added, was on the spot, and he would present him to
Nearkhos, and he presented him accordingly. Nearkhos consulted this
person regarding the route he should take in order to reach the king,
and then they all went off, and made their way to the ships. Early
next morning the ships by orders of Nearkhos were drawn on shore,
partly for repair of the damages which some of them had suffered on the
voyage, and partly because he had resolved to leave here the greater
part of his army. Having this in view, he fortified the roadstead with
a double palisade, and also with an earthen rampart and a deep ditch
extending from the banks of the river to the dockyard where the ships
were lying.

XXXIV. While Nearkhos was thus occupied, the Governor being aware that
Alexander was in great anxiety about the fate of this expedition,
concluded that he would receive some great advantage from Alexander
should he be the first to apprize him of the safety of the fleet and of
the approaching visit of Nearkhos. Accordingly he hastened to Alexander
by the shortest route, and announced that Nearkhos was coming from the
fleet to visit him. Alexander, though he could scarcely believe the
report, nevertheless received the tidings with all the joy that might
have been expected.

Day after day, however, passed without confirmation of the fact, till
Alexander, on comparing the distance from the sea with the date on
which the report had reached him, at last gave up all belief in its
truth, the more especially as several of the parties which he had
successively despatched to find Nearkhos and escort him to the camp,
had returned without him, after going a short distance, and meeting no
one, while others who had prosecuted the search further, and failed to
find Nearkhos and his company were still absent. He therefore ordered
the Governor into confinement for having brought delusive intelligence
and rendered his vexation more acute by the disappointment of his
hopes, and indeed his looks and perturbation of mind plainly indicated
that he was pierced to the heart with a great grief. Meanwhile,
however, one of the parties that had been despatched in search of
Nearkhos, and his escort being furnished with horses and waggons for
their accommodation, fell in on the way with Nearkhos and Arkhias, who
were followed by five or six attendants. At first sight they recognized
neither the admiral himself nor Arkhias, so much changed was their
appearance, their hair long and neglected, their persons filthy,
encrusted all over with brine and shrivelled, their complexion sallow
from want of sleep and other severe privations. On their asking where
Alexander was, they were told the name of the place. Arkhias then,
perceiving who they were, said to Nearkhos—“It strikes me, Nearkhos,
these men are traversing the desert by the route we pursue, for no
other reason than because they have been sent to our relief. True, they
did not know us, but that is not at all surprising, for our appearance
is so wretched that we are past all recognition. Let us tell them who
we are, and ask them why they are travelling this way.” Nearkhos,
thinking he spoke with reason, asked the men whither they were bound.
They replied that they were searching for Nearkhos and the fleet.
“Well! I am Nearkhos,” said the admiral, “and this man here is Arkhias.
Take us under your conduct, and we will report to Alexander the whole
history of the expedition.”

XXXV. They were accordingly accommodated in the waggons, and conducted
to the camp. Some of the horsemen, however, wishing to be the first to
impart the news, hastened forward, and told Alexander that Nearkhos
himself, and Arkhias with him, and five attendants, would soon arrive,
but to enquiries about the rest of the people in the expedition they
had no information to give. Alexander, concluding from this that all
the expedition had perished except this small band, which had been
unaccountably saved, did not so much feel pleasure for the preservation
of Nearkhos and Arkhias as distress for the loss of his whole fleet.
During this conversation Nearkhos and Arkhias arrived. It was not
without difficulty Alexander after a close scrutiny recognized who the
hirsute, ill-clad men who stood before him were, and being confirmed
by their miserable appearance in his belief that the expedition had
perished, he was still more overcome with grief. At length he held out
his hand to Nearkhos, and leading him apart from his attendants and his
guards he burst into tears, and wept for a long time. Having, after a
good while, recovered some composure, “Nearkhos!” he says, “since you
and Arkhias have been restored to me alive, I can bear more patiently
the calamity of losing all my fleet; but tell me now, in what manner
did the vessels and my people perish.” “O my king!” replied Nearkhos,
“the ships are safe and the people also, and we are here to give you
an account of their preservation.” Tears now fell much faster from his
eyes than before, but they were tears of joy for the salvation of his
fleet which he had given up for lost. “And where are now my ships,” he
then enquired. “They are drawn upon shore,” replied Nearkhos, “on the
beach of the river Anamis for repairs.” Upon this Alexander, swearing
by Zeus of the Greeks and Ammon of the Libyans, declared that he felt
happier at receiving these tidings than in being the conqueror of all
Asia, for, had the expedition been lost, the blow to his peace of mind
would have been a counterpoise to all the success he had achieved.

XXXVI. But the Governor whom Alexander had put into confinement for
bringing intelligence that appeared to be false, seeing Nearkhos in
the camp, sunk on his knees before him, and said: “I am the man who
brought to Alexander the news of your safe arrival. You see how I am
situated.” Nearkhos interceded with Alexander on his behalf, and he was
then liberated. Alexander next proceeded to offer a solemn sacrifice in
gratitude for the preservation of his fleet unto Zeus the Preserver,
and Heraklês, and Apollo the Averter of Destruction, and unto Poseidôn,
and every other deity of ocean. He celebrated likewise a contest in
gymnastics and music, and exhibited a splendid procession wherein a
foremost place was assigned to Nearkhos. Chaplets were wreathed for his
head, and flowers were showered upon him by the admiring multitude.
At the end of these proceedings the king said to Nearkhos, “I do not
wish you, Nearkhos, either to risk your life or expose yourself again
to the hardships of sea-voyaging, and I shall therefore send some
other officer to conduct the expedition onward to Sousa.” But Nearkhos
answered, and said: “It is my duty, O king! as it is also my desire,
in all things to obey you, but if your object is to gratify me in some
way, do not take the command from me until I complete the voyage by
bringing the ships in safety to Sousa. I have been trusted to execute
that part of the undertaking in which all its difficulty and danger
lay; transfer not, then, to another the remaining part, which hardly
requires an effort, and that, too, just at the time when the glory of
final success is ready to be won.” Alexander scarcely allowed him to
conclude his request, which he granted with grateful acknowledgment of
his services.[87] Then he sent him down again to the coast with only a
small escort, believing that the country through which he would pass
was friendly. He was not permitted however to pursue his way to the
coast without opposition, for the barbarians, resenting the action
of Alexander in deposing their satrap, and gathered in full force
and seized all the strongholds of Karmania before Tlepolemos, the
newly appointed Governor, had yet succeeded in fully establishing his
authority.[88] It happened therefore that several times in the course
of a day Nearkhos encountered bands of the insurgents with whom he had
to do battle. He therefore hurried forward without lingering by the
way, and reached the coast in safety, though not without severe toil
and difficulty. On arriving he sacrificed to Zeus the Preserver, and
celebrated gymnastic games.

XXXVII. These pious rites having been duly performed, they again put
to sea, and, after passing a desolate and rocky island, arrived at
another island, where they anchored. This was one of considerable size
and inhabited, and 300 stadia distant from Harmozeia, the harbour
which they had last left. The desert island was called Organa, and
that where they anchored Oarakta.[89] It produced vines, palm-trees,
and corn. Its length is 800 stadia. Mazênês, the chief of this island,
accompanied them all the way to Sousa, having volunteered to act as
pilot of the fleet. The natives of the island professed to point out
the tomb of the very first sovereign of the country, whose name they
said was Erythrês, after whom the sea in that part of the world was
called the Erythræan.[90] Weighing thence their course lay along the
island, and they anchored on its shores at a place whence another
island was visible at a distance of about 40 stadia. They learned that
it was sacred to Poseidon, and inaccessible.[91] Next morning, as they
were putting out to sea, the ebb-tide caught them with such violence
that three of the galleys were stranded on the beach, and the rest of
the fleet escaped with difficulty from the surf into deep water. The
stranded vessels were however floated off at the return of the tide,
and the day after rejoined the fleet. They anchored at another island
distant from the mainland somewhere about 300 stadia, after running
a course of 400 stadia. Towards daybreak they resumed the voyage,
passing a desert island which lay on their left, called Pylora, and
anchored at Sisidone, a small town which could supply nothing but water
and fish.[92] Here again the natives were fish eaters, for the soil
was utterly sterile. Having taken water on board, they weighed again,
and having run 300 stadia, anchored at Tarsia, the extremity of a
cape which projects far into the sea. The next place of anchorage was
Kataia, a desert island, and very flat.[93] It was said to be sacred to
Hermês and Aphroditê. The length of this course was 300 stadia. To this
island sheep and goats are annually sent by the people of the adjoining
continent who consecrate them to Hermês and Aphroditê. These animals
were to be seen running about in a wild state, the effect of time and
the barren soil.

XXXVIII. Karmania extends as far as this island, but the parts beyond
appertain to Persia. The extent of the Karmanian coast was 3,700
stadia.[94] The people of this province live like the Persians, on
whom they border, and they have similar weapons and a similar military
system. When the fleet left the sacred island, its course lay along
the coast of Persis, and it first drew to land at a place called Ila,
where there is a harbour under cover of a small and desert island
called Kaikander.[95] The distance run was 400 stadia. Towards daybreak
they came to another island which was inhabited, and anchored thereon.
Nearkhos notices that there is here a fishery for pearl as there is in
the Indian Sea.[96] Having sailed along the shores of the promontory in
which this island terminates, a distance of about 40 stadia, they came
to an anchor upon its shores. The next anchorage was in the vicinity
of a lofty hill called Okhos, where the harbour was well sheltered
and the inhabitants were fishermen.[97] Weighing thence they ran a
course of 400 stadia, which brought them to Apostana, where they
anchored. At this station they saw a great many boats, and learned that
at a distance of 60 stadia from the shore there was a village. From
Apostana they weighed at night, and proceeded 400 stadia to a bay, on
the borders of which many villages were to be seen. Here the fleet
anchored under the projection of a cape which rose to a considerable
height.[98] Palm-trees and other fruit-bearing trees similar to those
of Greece, adorned the country round. On weighing thence they sailed in
a line with the coast, and after a course of somewhere about 600 stadia
reached Gôgana, which was an inhabited place, where they anchored at
the mouth of a winter torrent called the Areôn. It was difficult to
anchor, for the approach to the mouth of the river was by a narrow
channel, since the ebbing of the tide had left shoals which lay all
round in a circle.[99] Weighing thence they gained, after running as
many as 800 stadia, the mouth of another river called the Sitakos,
where also it was troublesome to anchor. Indeed all along the coast
of Persis the fleet had to be navigated through shoals and breakers
and oozy channels. At the Sitakos they took on board a large supply
of provisions, which under orders from the king had been collected
expressly for the fleet. They remained at this station one-and-twenty
days in all, occupied in repairing and kareening the ships, which had
been drawn on shore for the purpose.[100]

XXXIX. Weighing thence they came to an inhabited district with a town
called Hieratis, after accomplishing a distance of 750 stadia. They
anchored in a canal which drew its waters from a river and emptied into
the sea, and was called Heratemis.[101] Weighing next morning about
sunrise, and sailing by the shore, they reached a winter torrent called
the Padargos, where the whole place was a peninsula, wherein were many
gardens and all kinds of trees that bear fruit. The name of the place
was Mesambria.[102] Weighing from Mesambria and running a course of
about 200 stadia, they reach Taôkê on the river Granis, and there
anchor. Inland from this lay a royal city of the Persians, distant from
the mouths of the river about 200 stadia.[103] We learn from Nearkhos
that on their way to Taôkê a stranded whale had been observed from
the fleet, and that a party of the men having rowed alongside of it,
measured it and brought back word that it had a length of 50 cubits.
Its skin, they added, was clad with scales to a depth of about a
cubit, and thickly clustered over with parasitic mussels, barnacles,
and seaweed. The monster, it was also noticed, was attended by a great
number of dolphins, larger than are ever seen in the Mediterranean.
Weighing from Taôkê they proceeded to Rhogonis, a winter torrent, where
they anchored in a safe harbour.[104] The course thither was one of
200 stadia. Weighing thence, and running 400 stadia, they arrived at
another winter torrent, called Brizana, where they land and form an
encampment. They had here difficulty in anchoring because of shoals and
breakers and reefs that showed their heads above the sea. They could
therefore enter the roads only when the tide was full; when it receded,
the ships were left high and dry.[105] They weighed with the next flood
tide, and came to anchor at the mouth of a river called the Arosis, the
greatest, according to Nearkhos, of all the rivers that in the course
of his voyage fell into the outer ocean.[106]

XL. The Arosis marks the limit of the possessions of the Persians, and
divides them from the Susians. Above the Susians occurs an independent
race called the Uxians, whom I have described in my other work (_Anab._
VII. 15, 3) as robbers. The length of the Persian coast is 4,400
stadia. Persis, according to general report, has three different
climates,[107] for that part of it which lies along the Erythræan sea,
is sandy and barren from the violence of the heat, while the part
which succeeds enjoys a delightful temperature, for there the mountains
stretch towards the pole and the North wind, and the region is clothed
with verdure and has well-watered meadows, and bears in profusion the
vine and every fruit else but the olive, while it blooms with gardens
and pleasure parks of all kinds, and is permeated with crystal streams
and abounds with lakes, and lake and stream alike are the haunts of
every variety of water-fowl, and it is also a good country for horses
and other yoke cattle, being rich in pasture, while it is throughout
well-wooded and well-stocked with game. The part, however, which lies
still further to the North is said to be bleak and cold, and covered
with snow, so that, as Nearkhos tells us, certain ambassadors from the
Euxine Sea, after a very brief journey, met Alexander marching forward
to Persis, whereat Alexander being greatly surprised, they explained
to him how very inconsiderable the distance was.[108] 1 have already
stated that the immediate neighbours to the Susians are the Uxians,
just as the Mardians, a race of robbers, are next neighbours to the
Persians, and the Kossaeans to the Medes. All these tribes Alexander
subdued, attacking them in the winter time when their country was, as
they imagined, inaccessible. He then founded cities to reclaim them
from their wandering life, and encouraged them to till their lands
and devote themselves to agriculture. At the same time he appointed
magistrates armed with the terrors of the law to prevent them having
recourse to violence in the settlement of their quarrels. On weighing
from the Arosis the expedition coasted the shores of the Susians. The
remainder of the voyage, Nearkhos says, he cannot describe with the
same precision; he can but give the names of the stations and the
length of the courses, for the coast was full of shoals and beset with
breakers which spread far out to sea, and made the approach to land
dangerous. The navigation thereafter was of course almost entirely
restricted to the open sea. In mentioning their departure from the
mouth of the river where they had encamped on the borders of Persis, he
states that they took there on board a five days’ supply of water, as
the pilots had brought to their notice that none could be procured on
the way.

XLI. A course of 500 stadia having been accomplished, their
next anchorage was in an estuary, which swarmed with fish,
called Kataderbis, at the entrance of which lay an island called
Margastana.[109], They weighed at daybreak, the ships sailing out in
single file through shoals. The direction of the shoal was indicated
by stakes fixed both on the right and the left side, just as posts
are erected as signals of danger in the passage between the island of
Leukadia and Akarnania to prevent vessels grounding on the shoals.
The shoals of Leukadia, however, are of firm sand, and it is thus
easy to float off vessels should they happen to strand, but in this
passage there is a deep mud on both sides of such tenacity that if
vessels once touched the bottom, they could not by any appliances
be got off; for, if they thrust poles into the mud to propel the
vessels, these found no resistance or support, and the people who got
overboard to ease them off into navigable water found no footing, but
sunk in the mud higher than the waist. The fleet proceeded 600 stadia,
having such difficulties of navigation to contend with, and then came
to an anchor, each crew remaining in their own vessel, and taking
their repast on board. From this anchorage they weighed in the night,
sailing on in deep water till about the close of the ensuing day, when,
after completing a course of 900 stadia, they dropped anchor at the
mouth of the Euphrates near a town in Babylonia called Diridôtis—the
emporium of the sea-borne trade in frankincense and all the other
fragrant productions of Arabia.[110] The distance from the mouth of the
Euphrates up stream to Babylon is, according to Nearkhos, 3,300 stadia.

XLII. Here intelligence having been received that Alexander was
marching towards Sousa, they retraced their course from Diridôtis so as
to join him by sailing up the Pasitigris. They had now Sousis on their
left hand, and were coasting the shores of a lake into which the Tigris
empties itself, a river, which flowing from Armenia past Nineveh, a
city once of yore great and flourishing, encloses between itself and
the Euphrates the tract of country which from its position between the
two rivers is called Mesopotamia. It is a distance of 600 stadia from
the entrance into the lake up to the river’s mouth at Aginis, a village
in the province of Sousis, distant from the city of Sousa 500 stadia.
The length of the voyage along the coast of the Sousians to the mouth
of the Pasitigris was 2,000 stadia.[111] Weighing from the mouth of
this river they sailed up its stream through a fertile and populous
country, and having proceeded 150 stadia dropped anchor, awaiting the
return of certain messengers whom Nearkhos had sent off to ascertain
where the king was. Nearkhos then presented sacrifices to the gods
their preservers, and celebrated games, and full of gladness were the
hearts of all that had taken part in the expedition. The messengers
having returned with tidings that Alexander was approaching, the fleet
resumed its voyage up the river, and anchored near the bridge by which
Alexander intended to lead his army to Sousa. In that same place the
troops were reunited, when sacrifices wore offered by Alexander for
the preservation of his ships and his men, and games were celebrated.
Nearkhos, whenever he was seen among the troops, was decorated by them
with garlands and pelted with flowers. There also both Nearkhos and
Leonnatos were crowned by Alexander with golden diadems—Nearkhos for
the safety of the expedition by sea, and Leonnatos for the victory
which he had gained over the +Oreitai+ and the neighbouring
barbarians. It was thus that the expedition which had begun its voyage
from the mouths of the Indus was brought in safety to Alexander.

XLIII. Now[112] the parts which lie to the right of the
+Erythræan[113] Sea+ beyond the realms of Babylonia belong
principally to +Arabia+, which extends in one direction as far
as the sea that washes the shores of +Phœnikia+ and +Syrian
Palestine+, while towards sunset it borders on the Egyptians in
the direction of the +Mediterranean Sea+. Egypt is penetrated
by a gulf which extends up from the great ocean, and as this ocean
is connected with the +Erythræan Sea+, this fact proves that a
voyage could be made all the way from +Babylon+ to +Egypt+ by
means of this gulf. But, owing to the heat and utter sterility of the
coast, no one has ever made this voyage, except, it may be, some chance
navigator. For the troops belonging to the army of +Kambysês+,
which escaped from +Egypt+, and reached +Sousa+ in safety,
and the troops sent by +Ptolemy+, the son of Lagos, to +Seleukos
Nikatôr+ to +Babylon+, traversed the Arabian isthmus in eight
days altogether.[114] It was a waterless and sterile region, and they
had to cross it mounted on swift camels carrying water, travelling
only by night, the heat by day being so fierce that they could not
expose themselves in the open air. So far are the parts lying beyond
this region, which we have spoken of as an isthmus extending from
the +Arabian Gulf+ to the +Erythræan Sea+ from being
inhabited, that even the parts which run up further to the north are
a desert of sand. Moreover, men setting forth from the +Arabian
Gulf+ in +Egypt+, after having sailed round the greater part of
+Arabia+ to reach the sea which washes the shores of +Persis+
and +Sousa+, have returned, after sailing as far along the
coast of Arabia as the water they had on board lasted them, and no
further. The exploring party again which +Alexander+ sent from
+Babylon+ with instructions to sail as far as they could along the
right-hand coast of the +Erythræan Sea+, with a view to examine
the regions lying in that direction, discovered some islands lying
in their route, and touched also at certain points of the mainland
of +Arabia+. But as for that cape which Nearkhos states to have
been seen by the expedition projecting into the sea right opposite to
+Karmania+, there is no one who has been able to double it and
gain the other side. But if the place could possibly be passed, either
by sea or by land, it seems to me that Alexander, being so inquisitive
and enterprising, would have proved that it could be passed in both
these ways. But again +Hanno+ the +Libyan+, setting out
from +Carthage+, sailed out into the ocean beyond the Pillars of
+Hercules+, having +Libya+ on his left hand, and the time
until his course was shaped towards the rising sun was five-and-thirty
days; but when he steered southward he encountered many difficulties
from the want of water, from the scorching heat, and from streams of
fire that fell into the sea. +Kyrênê+, no doubt, which is situated
in a somewhat barren part of +Libya+, is verdant, possessed of a
genial climate, and well watered, has groves and meadows, and yields
abundantly all kinds of useful animals and vegetable products. But
this is only the case up to the limits of the area within which the
fennel-plant can grow, while beyond this area the interior of Kyrênê is
but a desert of sand.

So ends my narrative relating to +Alexander+, the son of Philip
the Makedonian.

INDEX.

CHIEFLY GEOGRAPHICAL.

_Abbreviations._—B. Bay, C. Cape, G. Gulf, Is. Island or Islands, M.
Mountain, R. River.

Common names are printed in Italics. Many proper names which in the
usual orthography begin with C, will be found under K.

A Page

Abalitês, 51, 54, 55, 57

Aberia or Abiria, 113

Abhira, 114

_Abolla_, 38

Abu-Fatima C., 43

Abu-Shahr, _see_ Bushire.

Acharê, 129

Adel, 53

Aden, _see_ Eudaimôn-Arabia.

Adouli, 12-39 _passim_, 45-49

Adramitae, 87

Agbor R., 177 n.

Aginis, 161, 220, 221 n.

Agriophagoi, 43

Agrisa, _see_ Agrispolis.

Agrispolis, 194 n.

Abile C., 59

Ahwaz, 161

Aigialos, 126

Aigidioi, 130

Aii, 134, 139

Akabah G., 74

Akabarou, 127

Akannai, 21, 54, 58, 59

Akesinês R. (Chenâb R.), 150, 170, 171

Alabagium C., _see_ Alambator.

_Alabaster_, 34

Alalaiou Is., 48, 49

Alambator C., 191 n.

Alexander, Port of, _see_ Karâchi.

Alexander the Great, _passim_.

Alexandria, 76

_Aloes_, 15, 93, 94

Anamis R., 159 n., 202 n., 207

Ananis R., _see_ Anamis R.

Andanis R., _see_ Anamis R.

Angediva Is., 130

Anger Is., 210 n.

Annesley B., 45, 48, 49

Antarah C., 68

Antigonê, 41

Aparântikâ, 113

Apokopa, 62, 65, 66, 67

Apollodotos, 121

Apollophanês, 182 n.

Apologos, 10-38 _passim_., 103, 104

Apostana, 212 n., 213

Arabah C. & B., 106, 187

Arabii, 177 n.

Arakhosioi, 121, 186, 208 n.

Arâstrâs or Aratti, 121

Aratrioi, 120

Arbitae, 106

Areôn R., 213 n.

Argalou, 14, 29, 140

Argaric G., 142

Argeirou, 142

Argyre Is., 147

Ariakê, 13-39 _passim_., 52, 64, 112, 114

Ariakê Sadinôn, 127

Arii, 121, 186

Arkhias, 169, 191, 192

Armagara, 129

Aroatis R., _see_ Arosis R.

Arômata C., 59, 62, 91, 138

Arômata (a mart), 59

Arosapes R., 183 n.

Arosis R., 160, 216 n., 218

_Arsenic_, 30

Arsinoê (Suez), 39, 40

Arsinoê (in Barbaria), 50

Arusaces R., _see_ Arosapes R.

Asaboi M., 102, 103

Asîdah C., 86

Asikh, 98

Asir C., 58-60

Asmak, 46

Astakapra, 115, 117

Astola or Ashtola Is., 188 n.

Atramitae, _see_ Adramitae.

Attanae, 84, 85

Aualités, 12-37 _passim_., 50, 53, 83

Aurangâbâd, 125

Ausera, 95

Auxumê, 46

Axum, _see_ Auxumê.

Axumitae, 5, 48

Azania (Ajan), 1-144 _passim_.

Azania, Courses of, 62, 66, 67

Bab-el Mandab Straits, 83

Babylon, 219, 221 n., 222

Badera or Bodera, _see_ Barna.

Badis, 181, 200

Baghwar Dasti R., 193 n.

Bagia C., 193

Bagisara, 106, 187

Bagradas R., 212 n., 213 n., 215 n.

Bahar R., 179 n.

Bahrein Is., 103

Baiônês Is., 116

Bakare, 131, 134

Bakkar, 109

Baktria, 12, 148

Baktrianoi, 121

Ba-l-hâf C., 87

Balita, 140

Balômon, 190

Baltipatna, 129

Bammala, 140

Bandâ R., 129

Bandar Barthe, 58

Bandel-caus C., 62

Bankut, 129

Banna, 63

Barakê G., 111, 112

Barbara, _see_ Berbera.

Barbarei, 108

Barbaria, 42, 43, 62

Barbarikon, 12-38 _passim_, 108, 115

Bargusoi, 145

Baricaza, 57

Barna, 190

Barousai, 145

Barugaza, 10, 39 _passim_, 64, 78, 88, 96, 116-120

Barugaza G., 112, 117

Basra, 103

Batinah, 100, 101

_Bdellium_, 16

Becare, 131, 134

Bênda R., 128

Berbera, 58

Berenîkê, 1, 3, 9, 41, 42, 74, 75, 78

Berenîkê (in Barbaria), 50

Betel, 23, 25

Bharoch, _see_ Barugaza.

Bhaunagar, 115

Bhusâl R., _see_ Tomêros R.

Bibakta Is., 159, 177

Biblos Is., _see_ Bibakta Is.

Binagara, _see_ Minnagar.

Birkeh, 100

Bombarak C., 200

Bonah, 59

Bore (of rivers), 119, 120, 157

Boshavir R., _see_ Kisht.

Boukephalos Alexandreia, 121

_Brass_, 31

Brisoana R., 214 n., 215 n.

Brizana R., 216 n.

Brokt Is., 202 n.

Bubian Is., 219

Bunah Is., 218

Bunth R., 194 n.

Burnt Island, 78

Busheab Is., 212 n.

_Butter_, 12

Buzantion, 127, 129

Cael, 141

Caelobothras, 6, 131

Calaeou Insulae, 101

Calcutta, 20

_Cannibals_, 146

Canary Is., 20

Carfouna, 57

Carthage, 223

Ceylon, _see_ Taprobanê.

Chaubar B., 193 n.

Chauggan, 148

Chaul, 113, 128

Chênval, 128

Chewabad, _see_ Churber.

Chimûla, 128 n.

China, 188 n.

Choaspes R., 220 n.

Choda R., 129

Chryse Is., 147

_Chrysolite_, 37

Churber B., 190 n.

_Cinnabar_, 15, 19, 94

_Cinnamon_, 18, 19

Coast Little and Great, 66

Colcis Indorum, 141

Comorin C., 125, 137, 139

_Copper_, 32

Cottonara, 131

Dabil, 110

Dagasira, 194

Dahra Ahbân, 212 n.

Dakhan, 124

Dakhinabadês, 124

Dakshinâpatha, 124

Damirike, 126

Damnia Is., 160

Daphnôn, 59

Daphnous, 53, 61

Debal, 129

Deirê or Dêrê, 51, 54, 60

Deimakhos, 154

Delgado C., 73

Dendrobosa, 190

Ḍeri Is., 218 n.

Desarênê, 12, 145

Dêvagiri or Deogarh, 125

Deymâniyeh Is., 100

Dhafur or Dofar, 80, 81, 97

_Diamonds_, 33

Dimurikê, 12-29 _passim_. 94, 96, 121, 126

Djerun Is., _see_ Ormus Is.,

Diodôros, Is., 47, 48

Diodôrus Is., _Perim_, 57, 82, 83

Dioskoridês Is., 15, 26, 27, 29, 91-93

Diospolis, 27, 34, 50, 53

Dîsâ, 16

Diset Is., _see_ Diodôros Is.

Domai Is., 178 n.

Dorak R., 218 n.

Dôsarôn R., 145

_Drachmai_, 121, 122

_Dragon’s-Blood_, 94

Drangiani, 186

Eden, 84

Eirinon G., 111

Eiros M., 158, 177, 178 n.

Elanitic Gulf, 9, 47, 74

El Bab Straits, 102

Eleazos, 87

Elephant C., 58

Elephant M., 54, 58, 61

Elephant R., 59

Elephantinê, 45

Elephantophagoi, 44, 51

Elisarôn, 81

El Kilhat, 101

Elurâ, 125

Epideirês, 57

Epiodôros, 14, 140, 142

_Epiphi_ (July), 64, 110, 124, 138

Er-rib Is., 44

Erythræan Sea—its extent, 1, 209 n., 222 n.,
why so called, 209 n.

Erythrês, 202 n., 209

Esan, 88

Essina, 67

Esvautgadh, 129

_Etesian Winds_, 138, 174 n.

Eudaimôn-Arabia (Aden), 6, 84-86, 138

Eulæus R., 103, 220 n., 161

Eumenês, Grove of, 57

Euphrates R., 10, 219, 220

Eynounah, 75

Fartak C., 10, 91, 95

Felix or Felles M., _see_ Elephant M.

Filik C., 58

Fillam C., 101

_Fluor-spath_, 34, 35

Foul Bay, 42

_Frankincense_, 21, 90, 97

Fuggem C., 194 n.

Galla, 66

Gandarioi, 121

Gangê, 14, 23, 25, 146

Ganges R., 146

Gaza (Bandar Gazim), 57

Gedrosia, 10, 16, 186, 199

Gêrsappa, Falls of, 130

Ghalla or Cella, 84

Ghâra R., 176 n.

Ghodabandar, 129

Ghubet-al-Kamar, 86

Ghunse C., 191

Girishk, 194 n.

_Glass_, 36, 37

Goa, 129

Goaris R., 127

Godâvarî R., 144

Godem C., 194 n.

Gôgana, 213 n.

_Gold_, 33

_Gold-stone_, 33, 122

Govind R., _see_ Juba R.

_Graai_ (_Alligators_), 108

Granis R., 215 n.

Guadel C., 106, 191

Guardafui C., 9, 10, 58

Guesele, 57

Gujarât, 34, 113, 114

Gwattar B., 193 n.

Hadâs R., 48

Hadhramaut, 21, 87

Hafûn C., 64, 65

Haidarâbâd, 156

Halanî Is., 87

Hanfelah B., 35, 49

Hanjam Is., _see_ Angar Is.

Hanno, 223

Harkânâ, 181 n.

Harmozeia, 159, 202 n.

Hâsek, 98, 99

Hassani Is., 75

Hastakavapra, _see_ Astakapra.

Hâthab, _see_ Astakapra.

Hauara, 75

Haur, 177 n.

Hazine (Ajan), 65, 66

Hejid, 77

Heroöpolite Gulf, 40

Heptanêsia, 130

Heratemis, 214

Hercules, Pillars of, 223

Herônê, 117

Hieratis, 214

Himaryi, 80

Hingal R., _see_ Tomêros R.

Hippalos, 5, 7, 10, 131, 135, 138

Hîppioprosôpoi, 146

Hippokoura, 128

Hisn Ghorab, 87, 88, 91

Homerites, 80, 81

Homnae, 84, 104

Honâvar or Onore, 130

Horitai, _see_ Oreitai.

Hormara B., _see_ Arabah B.

Hutemi, 77

Hwen-Thsang, 181 n.

_Hyacinth_, 36

Hydaspês R., 156, 168, 171

Hydrakês, 189

Hydriaces R., 193

Hydriakus, 189 n.

_Hyenas_, 124

Iambe, 41

_Ibis_, 61

Ikhthyophagi _passim_.

Ikhthyophagi of Mekran described, 195

Ila, 212

Inderabia Is., 212 n.

_Indigo_, 17

Indo-Skythia, 10, 25, 107

Indôr, 114

Indus R., 107 and _passim_.

_Iron_, 31

Isis R., 61

Istabel Antai, 75

_Jacinth_, 36

Jahsseb, 80

Jask C., 189, 199 n.

Jaygaḍh, 129

Jebel Sanâm M., 219 n.

Jerd Hafûn, 60

Jerim, 80

Jibba, 101

Jibûs Is., 87

Jifâtin Is., 40

Juba R., 66, 68, 70

Junnar, 125

Kabana, 181

Kabolitai, 123

Kâbul, 20, 123

Kachh, Gulf of, 111

Kaḍattanâḍu, 28, 132

Kaes or Keesh Is., 211 n.

Kaikander Is., 212 n.

Kaineitai, 130

Kakee R., _see_ Sitakos R.

Kalaiou Is., 100, 101

Kalama, 187

Kalami R., 180 n., 188 n., 189

Kalat C., 194 n.

Kalliena, 127

Kalon M., 101, 102

Kalpê, Straits of, 83

Kaltis, 147

Kalyâṇa, 127

Kalybi, _see_ Karbine.

Kamara, 141, 143

Kammôni, 117

Kanasis, 194

Kanate, 194

Kanê, 1-39 _passim_, 86, 88, 138

Kannettri, 131, 134

Kanraîtai, 77

Kanthatis, 200

Kara-Agach R., 160, 214 n.

Karâchi, 158, 176 n.

Karbinê, 188 n., 199 n.

Karbis, 189

Karmana, _see_ Kirman.

Karmania, 10, 35, 86, 199 n.

Karoura, 133

_Karpasos_, 18

Karpella C., 200

Karûn R., 103

Karun, 202 n.

Karûn R., 220

Kâśmîr, 20

Kaspian Sea, 148

Kassia, 18, 19

Kataderbis, 218 n.

Kataia Is., 211 n., 212 n.

Kâṭhiâvâḍ, 16

Kaumana, 158

Kaveripattam, 143

Kavery R., 143

Kâyal C., 141

Kenjan-fu, 148

Kenn Is., _see_ Kataia.

Kêprobotres, 6, 132

Kêrala, 131

Keralaputra, 132

Kerazi C., 200

Keroot, _see_ Kerazi C.

Keshin, 90

Kesmacoran (Mekran), 99

Khabêris, 143

Khabêros R., 143

Khambhât G., 95, 112, 116

Kharibaël, 7, 39, 80, 82

Khartan Is., 90

Kheil C., 65

Khersonêsos, the Golden., 15, 143, 146

Khersonêsos, in India, 129, 130

Khori R., 58

Kholaibos, 79

Khrusê Is., 146

Kilwa (Quiloa), 62, 72

Killouta Is., 157

Kirrhadia, 23, 145

Kirkê, 199

Kirman, 199 n.

Kissa, 189

Kishm Is., 202 n.

Kisht R., 215 n.

Kobê, 54

Koiamba, 180 n., 181 n.

Kôkala, 159, 182

_Kolandiophonta_, 142, 143

Kolatta-nâḍu, 132

Kôlis, 142

Kolkei, 144

Kolkhoi, 14, 138, 141

Kolöê, 48

Kolta, 187 n.

Kolum, 134

Komar C., 139

Kommana, 194 n.

Komta, 130

Konkan or Kanoun, 213 n.

Kôphas, 189 n., 191

Koppa C., _see_ Kôphas.

Koptos, 41, 42, 76

Koreatis, 158, 175

Korodamon C., 100

Korû C., 142

Kossaeans, 217

_Kostus_, 20

Koṭi, 142

Kottonara, 28, 132

Creophagoi, 60

Krishnâ R., 144

Krôkala Is., 158, 176

Kumârî (Durga), 140, 141

Kungoun, 194 n.

Kunokephali, 61

Kurmut R., 180 n.

Kurya Murya Is., 92, 99

Kyêneion, 48

Kyiza, 191, 193 n., 196

Kysa, _see_ Kissa.

Kyros, 213 n.

Kyrênê, 223, 229

_Lac_, 13

Lamnaios R. (Narmadâ R.), 116

Lamou Is., 68

Laccadive Is., 15

Lar-Desa, _see_ Larikê.

Larikê, 113

Laristan, 199 n.

Laurel Grove, the Little, 58

Laurel Grove, the Great, 59

Las, 177 n.

_Lead_, 31

Leukê (White) Is., 127, 130

Leukê Kômê, 7-9, 74, 76

Licha, 60

Limyrikê, _see_ Dimyrikê.

_Lycium_, 22

Lykia, 22

Mabber C., 65

_Macer_, 22

_Madara_, 105

Madeira Is., 20

Mahi R., _see_ Mais R.

Maiôtic Lake, 148

Mais R., 116

Maisôlos R., 144

Makalleh, 91

Makdashû (Magadoxo), 67

Maklow R., _see_ Tomêros R.

Makroprosôpoi, 140

Malabar, 10, 95, 137, 143

_Malabathrum_ (_Betel_), 22, 149

Malacca, 147

Malana, 154, 185, 187

Malaô, 17-39 _passim_, 54, 55

Malava, 171 n.

Maleus M., 185 n.

Malikhos, 8

Malin C., 185

Malli, 171

Manaar G., 141, 142

Mand R., _see_ Sitakos.

Manda Is., 68

Mandagora, 127, 129

Mangalur, 130

Manora, 158, 178

Manpalli, 140

Mansura, 109

Mapharitis, 7

Mardians, 217

Margastana Is., 218

Mariabo, 189

Markah, 158

Markari, 134

Martan Is., 98

Masalia, 144, 145

Masawwâ, 45, 48

Masira, 99

Maskat, 73, 95, 97, 100

Maṭhurâ, 133

Mazênês, 209

Medina, 75

Megasthenês, 154, 208

Mekran, 186

Meligeizara, 127, 129

_Melilot_, 24

Menander, 121

Menhabery, 109

Menouthias Is., 15, 62, 69-71

Mensureh R., 218

Meroê, 45, 46, 186

Mesembria, 160, 215 n., 216 n.

Mesha, 79

Mesopotamia, 220

Mete C., 57, 59

Methora, 134

Mharras, _see_ Mopharitis.

Minâb R., 159, 202 n.

Minnagar, 108-110, 114

Mirjan, 130

Modura, 127, 131, 133

Moghostan, 199 n.

Moinanokalû C., 72

Mokhâ, 78

Mombaros, 113

Momfia Is., 69, 71

Monedes, 186 n.

Monze C., 106, 178 n.

Mopharitis, 72, 74, 79

Moran C., _see_ Malin C.

Morontobara, 178 n., 180 n.

Mosarna, 189

Moskha, 17, 21, 29, 95, 96

Moskhophagoi, 43, 49

Mossylon, 12-39, _passim_. 54

Moundou, 17-39, _passim_. 54, 57

Mouza, 9, 38, _passim_. 54-82, _passim_.

Mouziris, 6-39 _passim_. 131

Mowilah, 75

Muâri C., 178 n.

Muhammarah, 103

Muhani R., 193 n.

Multân, 20, 171 n.

Murghâb, 213 n.

_Muslin_, 26

Mussendom or Mesandum C., 102, 200 n., 212 n.

Muyiri, 131

Myos Hormos, 9, 40-42, 74, 75

_Myrrh_, 24, 25, 29

Nabathaea, 7, 74, 75

Nabend C., 199

Nabend or Naban R., 212 n., 213 n.

Nakb-el-Hajar, 88

Namades R., _see_ Narmadâ R.

Nammadios R., _see_ Narmadâ R.

Nanagouna R., 129

Naoura, 13, 127, 130

_Nard_, 25, 122

Narmadâ (Nerbada) R., 10, 107, 114, 117, 127

Nausari, 127

Nausaripa, 127

Neacyndon, 131

Nebaioth, _see_ Nabathaea.

Neiloptolemaios, 58

Neilospotamia, 58

Nelkynda, 10-39 _passim_. 131-135

Neoptana, 202

Nepâl, 23 n.

Nereid, story of a, 198

Nikobar Is., 145

Nikôn, 62, 66

Nineveh, 220

Nirankol, 156

Nitra or Nitria, 129-131

Nosala Is., 188 n., 198, 199 n.

Notou Keras (South Horn) C., 60, 61

Oarakta Is., 202 n., 209

Oboleh (Obolegh), 10, 103

Ogyris Is., 99, 202 n.

Okêlis, 54, 83, 84, 131

Okhos M., 212, 213 n.

Omana (Oman), 12-38 _passim_. 88, 92, 95, 98, 104, 105

Omana, 194 n.

Onne, 75

Onore, 130

_Onyx_, 34

Ophir, 114, 127

Opônê, 15-31 _passim_. 62-64

Opsian or Obsidian Stone, 35, 36, 49

Oraia, 27, 106

Oreinê Is., 46-48

Oreitai, 107, 177, 181 n.

Orfui C., 63

Organa Is., 202 n., 209

Ormus, Straits of, 200

Ormus Is., 202 n., 209 n.

Orneôn Is., 87

Oroatis R., 160

Ozênê (Ujjain), 25, 26, 29, 34, 114, 122

Pab M., 178 n.

Padargos R., 214

Pagala, 181

Paithana, 34, 125

Palaipatmai, 127, 129

Palaisimoundou (Ceylon), 4, 143

Palk Bay, 142

Pallacopas R., 160, 219 n.

Pandæ, 133

Pandiôn, 6, 131, 133, 135, 139

Panôn Kômê, 63, 64

Papias Is., 101, 102

Papikê C., 115, 117

_Papyrus_, 61

Parada, _see_ Parthians.

Paragôn B., 106

Paralaoi Is., 62

Paralia, 139

Parsidai, 105

Parthians, 110

Pasargada, 213 n.

Pasinou Kharax, _see_ Spasinou Kharax.

Pasira, 106, 187

Pasirees, 106, 187

Pasitigris R., 103, 161, 220

Passence C., 188 n., 189

Pattala, 156

_Pearl Fisheries_, 102, 103, 141, 178, 212

Pegada, _see_ Pagala.

Pekhely, 121

Pemba Is., 69

_Pepper_, 27, 28, 132

Peram Is., 116

Perim Is., 82

Persian Gulf, aspect of, 209 n.

Persis, Climates of, 216, 217

Persis, Coast of, 86, 88, 212

Peshawar, 121

Petra, 75, 76

Phagiaura, 180 n.

Pharan C., 74

Phœnikia, 222

Pirate Coast, 129

_Pirates_, 95, 130, 131, 177, 188

Piti R., 176 n.

Plocamus, 7, 8

Podoukê, 141, 143

Polior Is., 211 n.

Polymita, 39

Pondicherry, 143

Pontos, 148

_Porcelain_, _see_ _Fluor-spath_.

Poulipoula, 127

Pouna C., 72

Prasii, 24

Prasum C., 73

Proklaïs, 20, 121, 122

Psammêtikḥos, 45

Pseudokêlis, 184

Psygmus, 61

Ptolemaïs Thêrôn, 12, 15, 13, 45

Ptolemy Euergetês, 47

Ptolemy Lagos, 41

Ptolemy Philadelphos, 40, 41, 44

Puduchchêri, 143

Pulikât, 143

Purâli R., 177 n.

Puthangelos, Chase of, 51

Pythangelus, 61

Pylora Is., 211 n.

Puralaoi Is., 68

Pytholaus, 61

Râjapur, 129

Rambakia, 106

Râmeśvaram C., 142

Ran, _see_ Eirinon.

Ras-al-Sair C., 96

Ras-el-Had C., 10, 90, 95, 99, 100

Regh, 215 n.

Rhapsioi, 73

Rhapta, 9, 62, 71

Rhaptum C., 72, 73

Rhapua, 187 n.

_Rhinoceros_, 14

Rhinokoloura, 76

Rhizana, 180 n.

Rhogonis R., 215 n.

_Rice_, 27, 64

Rizophagoi, 43

Rumrah R., _see_ Kurmut R.

Rangpur, 23

Sabæa, 10, 11

Sabæans, 81, 86

Sabaïtai, 80

Sabbatha, 87-89

Saber M., 79

Sabota, _see_ Sabbatha.

Saghar, 91

Saimur, 113

Śâka, 107

Śâkâbda, 110

Sakala, 178

Sakhalitis Regio, 97

Sakhalîtes G., 90

Sakhlê, 91

Salama C., _see_ Mussendom C.

Salikê (Ceylon), 4

Salour, 142

Salsette Is., 125

_Sandalwood_, 28

Sandanes, 128

_Sandarakê_, 28

Sangada, 177 n.

Sangadip Is., 188 n.

Sangara, 142, 143

San Pedro R., 58, 59

Sauê, 79, 80

Saugra C., 90

Saphar, 80

_Sapphire_, 36

Saraganes, 127, 128

Saranga, 178

Śarâvatî R., 130

Sawa, 89

Schevar, 212 n.

Seger M., 95

Semiramis M., 102, 103

Semulla, 127, 128, 129

Sephar, 97

Serapiôn, 62, 67

Serapis Is., 15, 99

Sesatai, 23, 148

Sêsekreienai Is., 129, 130

Sesostris, 83

_Shadows_, 85 n.

Shat-el-Arab R., 220 n.

Shamba, 70

Sheba, 82, 89

Shehr, 93

Shenarif C., 60

Shi-Hwengti, 148

Shiraz, 213 n.

Sibyrtios, 208

Sigerus, 129

Sijan M., 83

Sikkah Is., 87

Simulla, 128

Sinai (Chinese), 148

Sindhu, _see_ Sinthos.

Sindhudrug, 129

Sinthos (Indus R.), 107

Sisidone, 211 n.

Sitakos R., 160, 214 n.

Sitioganas R., _see_ Sitakos R.

Skythia, 88, 107, 122, 138

Soal R., 57

Sohar, 104

Sokotra Is., _see_ Dioskoridês Is.

Somâli, 66

Sonmiyâni, 177 n., 179 n., 180 n.

Sôpatma, 141, 143

Sôphir, 127

Soupara, 127

Sous M., 98

Sousa, 220, _passim_.

Sousis, Coast of, 218

Spasinou Kharax, 103, 104

Spermatophagoi, 43

_Spikenard_, _see_ _Nard_.

_Stadium, length of_, 162 n.

St. George Is., 130

Stibium, 32

_Storax_, 30

Stoura, 158, 175

Strongylê M., 102

Suari, 106 n.

Subaha M., 98

Suche, 44

Sudich R., 194 n.

_Sugar_, 11, 23, 65

Sumatra Is., 134

Supârâ, 127

Surat, 127, 209 n.

Suagros C., 10, 21, 90, 91, 95

Surastrênê, 113, 114

Taaes, 79

Tâb R., 160, 216 n.

Tabai, 16-31 _passim_. 62

Tabis M., 147

Tagara, 26, 125, 126

Talmena, 193

Tamil, 126, 127

Taôkê, 215 n.

Tapatêgê, 58

Tapharon, _see_ Sapphar.

Taprobanê, 7-33 _passim_., 143, 144

Tarphara, _see_ Sapphar.

Tarsia, 211

Tejureh G., 52, 55

Tellicherry, 132

Terabdôn B., 106

Terêdôn, _see_ Diridôtis.

Thaṇa, 113

Tḥaṭha, 109, 156

Thibet, 124

Thîna (China), 147, 148

Thînai, 12, 14, 23

_Thôth_, 52, 82

Thurbot Ali C., 96

Tigre, 46

Tigris R., 160

Tiashanes (Chashtana), 115

Timoula, 128

_Tin_, 31

Tinnevelly, 139, 144

Tirakal R., 129

Tisa, 193 n.

Tiz, 193 n.

Tlepolemos, 208

Tombo Is., 210 n.

Tomêros R., 183 n.

Tonikê, 67

Topazas Is., 28

Toperon, 127

Torra or Torre, 68

Touag, 215 n.

Travancore, 134, 139

Troglodytes, 45, 47

Troisi, 194 n.

Trombay Is., 128

Troullas Is., 87

Tuna, 144

Tutikorin, 138, 141

Tybi, 52

Tyndis, 13, 129, 131

Turanosboas, 127

Ujjain, _see_ Ozênê.

Ulai R., 161

Ulûlah Bandar, 59

Urmara C., _see_ Arabah C.

Uxians, 216

Valabhi, 115

Vasâï, 127

Vatrachitis R., 215 n.

Veneris Portus, 41

Vijayadrug, 129

Vikramâditya, 110

Vingorla Rocks, 130

Vrokt Is., _see_ Brokt Is.

Wadi Meifah, 88

Wejh, 75

_Whales_, 196, 215

_Wheat_, 28

_Wine_, 27

Yemen, 78, 80

Yenbo, 74

Yeukaotschin, 110

Za-Hakale, 5

Zalegh, 55

Zanzibar Is., 69, 71

Zapphar, _see_ Sapphar.

Zarotis R., 216 n.

Zeyla, 54

Zeyla G., 52

Zenobios Is., 98, 99

Zhafâr, 97

Zoskalês, 5, 49

Zouileh, 55

BOMBAY: PRINTED AT THE EDUCATION SOCIETY’S PRESS.

FOOTNOTES:

[1] The Introduction and Commentary embody the main substance of
Müller’s Prolegomena and Notes to the _Periplûs_, and of Vincent’s
_Commerce and Navigation of the Ancients_ so far as it relates
specially to that work. The most recent authorities accessible have,
however, been also consulted, and the result of their inquiries noted.
I may mention particularly Bishop Caldwell’s Dravidian Grammar, to
which I am indebted for the identification of places on the Malabar and
Coromandel coasts.

[2] The enumeration is Vincent’s, altered and abridged.

[3] The numerals indicate the sections of the _Periplûs_ in which the
articles are mentioned.

[4] Bhagvânlâl Indraji Pâṇḍit points out that the colour is called
_alaktaka_, Prakrit _alito_: it is used by women for dying the nails
and feet,—also as a dye. The _gulalî_ or pill-like balls used by women
are made with arrowroot coloured with _alito_, and cotton dipped in it
is sold in the bazars under the name of _pothi_, and used for the same
purposes. He has also contributed many of the Sanskṛit names, and some
notes.

[5] Sans. _Guggula_, Guj. _Gûgal_, used as a tonic and for skin and
urinary diseases.—B. I. P.

[6] Mahuwâ oil (Guj. _doliuṅ_, Sans. _madhuka_) is much exported from
Bharoch.—B. I. P.

[7] May not some of these be the fragrant root of the kusâ, grass,
_Andropogon calamus_—_aromaticus_?—J. B.

[8] A similar gum is obtained from the _Pâlâśa_ (Guj. _khâkhara_), the
_Dhâka_ of Râjputâna.—B. I. P.

[9] What the Brâhmans call _kuṇḍaru_ is the gum of a tree called the
_Dhûpa-salai_; another sort of it, from Arabia, they call _Isêsa_, and
in Kâṭhiâvâḍ it is known as _Sesagundar_.—B. I. P.

[10] More likely from Nepâl, where it is called _tejapât_.—B. I. P.

[11] Obtained from the root of _Nardostachys jatamansi_, a native of
the eastern Himâlayas.—J. B.

[12] It is brought now from the Eastern Archipelago.—B. I. P.

[13] In early times it was obtained chiefly from _Styrax officinalis_,
a native of the same region.—J. B.

[14] Nero gave for one 300 talents = £58,125. They were first seen at
Rome in the triumphal procession of Pompey. [May these not have been of
emerald, or even ruby?—J. B.]

[15] Possibly the Lapis Lazuli is meant.—J. B.

[16] There was another Arsinoe between Ras Dh’ib and Ras Shukhair,
lat. 28° 3´ N. The few geographical indications added by Mr. Burgess
to these comments as they passed through the press are enclosed in
brackets. []

[17] Bruce, _Travels_, vol. III., p. 62.—J. B.

[18] From the Tamil _ariśi_, rice deprived of the husk.—_Caldwell._

[19] Meaning _white village_.

[20] “This” (Mons Pulcher) says Major-General Miles, “is Jebel Lahrim
or Shaum, the loftiest and most conspicuous peak on the whole cape
(Mussendom), being nearly 7,000 feet high.”—_Jour. R. As. Soc._ (N.S.)
vol. X. p. 168.—ED.

[21] “The city of Omana is Ṣoḥar, the ancient capital of Omana, which
name, as is well known, it then bore, and Pliny is quite right in
correcting _former writers_ who had placed it in Caramania, on which
coast there is no good evidence that there was a place of this name.
Nearchus does not mention it, and though the author of the _Periplûs
of the Erithræan Sea_ does locate it in Persia, it is pretty evident
he never visited the place himself, and he must have mistaken the
information he obtained from others. It was this city of Ṣoḥar most
probably that bore the appellation of Emporium Persarum, in which,
as Philostorgius relates, permission was given to Theophilus, the
ambassador of Constantine, to erect a Christian church.” The Homna
of Pliny may be a repetition of Omana or Ṣoḥar, which he had already
mentioned.—Miles in _Jour. R. As. Soc._ (N. S.) vol. X. pp. 164-5.—ED.

[22] _Ind. Ant._ vol. I. pp. 309-310.

[23] Written in the Ionic dialect.

[24] See infra, note 35.

[25] Geog. of Anc. India, p. 279 sqq.

[26] See Arrian’s Anab. VI. 19. Καὶ τοῦτο οὔπω πρότερον εγνωκόσι τοῖς
ἀμφ' Ἀλέξανδρον ἔκπληξιν μὲν καὶ αὐτὸ οὐ σμικρὰν παρέσχε.

[27] See Arrian, ib.

[28] See id. VI. 23, and Strab. xv. ii. 3, 4.

[29] Strab. ib. 5.

[30] This may perhaps be represented by the modern Khâu, the name of
one of the western mouths of the Indus.

[31] See infra, p. 176, note 17.

[32] The Olympic stadium, which was in general use throughout Greece,
contained 600 Greek feet = 625 Roman feet, or 606 English feet. The
Roman mile contained eight stadia, being about half a stadium less
than an English mile. Not a few of the measurements given by Arrian
are excessive, and it has therefore been conjectured that he may have
used some standard different from the Olympic,—which, however, is
hardly probable. See the subject discussed in Smith’s Dictionary of
Antiquities, S. V. _Stadium_.

[33] This list does not specify those officers who performed the
voyage, but such as had a temporary command during the passage down
the river. The only names which occur afterwards in the narrative are
those of Arkhias and Onêsikritos. Nearkhos, by his silence, leaves it
uncertain whether any other officers enumerated in his list accompanied
him throughout the expedition. The following are known not to have
done so: Hephaistion, Leonnatos, Lysimakhos, Ptolemy, Krateros,
Attalos and Peukestas. It does not clearly appear what number of ships
or men accompanied Nearkhos to the conclusion of the voyage. If we
suppose the ships of war only fit for the service, 30 galleys might
possibly contain from two to three thousand men, but this estimation is
uncertain.

See Vincent, I. 118 sqq.

[34] So also Plutarch in the Life of Alexander (C. 66) says that in
returning from India Alexander had 120,000 foot and 15,000 cavalry.

[35] Sansk. Malava. The name is preserved in the modern Moultan.

[36] Anab. VI. 11.

[37] The general effect of the monsoon Nearkhos certainly knew; he
was a native of Crete, and a resident at Amphipolis, both which lie
within the track of the annual or Etesian winds, which commencing
from the Hellespont and probably from the Euxine sweep the Egêan sea,
and stretching quite across the Mediterranean to the coast of Africa,
entered through Egypt to Nubia or Ethiopia. Arrian has accordingly
mentioned the monsoon by the name of the Etesian winds; his expression
is remarkable, and attended with a precision that does his accuracy
credit. These Etesian winds, says he, do not blow from the north in
the summer months as with us in the Mediterranean, but from the South.
On the commencement of winter, or at latest on the setting of the
Pleiades, the sea is said to be navigable till the winter solstice
(Anab. VI. 21-1) Vincent I. 43 sq.

[38] The date here fixed by Arrian is the 2nd of October 326 B.C., but
the computation now generally accepted refers the event to the year
after to suit the chronology of Alexander’s subsequent history (see
Clinton’s F. Hell. II. pp. 174 and 563, 3rd ed.). There was an Archon
called Kephisidoros in office in the year B.C. 323-322; so Arrian has
here either made a mistake, or perhaps an Archon of the year 326-325
may have died during his tenure of office, and a substitute called
Kephisidôros been elected to fill the vacancy. The _lacuna_ marked by
the asterisks has been supplied by inserting the name of the Makedonian
month Dius. The Ephesians adopted the names of the months used by the
Makedonians, and so began their year with the month Dius, the first
day of which corresponds to the 24th of September. The 20th day of
Boedromion of the year B.C. 325 corresponded to the 21st of September.

[39] Regarding the sunken reef encountered by the fleet after leaving
Koreatis, Sir Alexander Burnes says: “Near the mouth of the river we
passed a rock stretching across the stream, which is particularly
mentioned by Nearchus, who calls it _a dangerous rock_, and is the
more remarkable since there is not even a stone below Tatta in any
other part of the Indus.” The rock, he adds, is at a distance of six
miles up the Pitti. “It is vain,” says Captain Wood in the narrative
of his _Journey to the Source of the Oxus_, “in the delta of such a
river (as the Indus), to identify existing localities with descriptions
handed down to us by the historians of Alexander the Great ... (but)
Burnes has, I think, shown that the mouth by which the Grecian fleet
left the Indus was the modern +Piti+. The ‘dangerous rock’
of Nearchus completely identifies the spot, and as it is still in
existence, without any other within a circle of many miles, we can
wish for no stronger evidence.” With regard to the canal dug through
this rock, Burnes remarks: “The Greek admiral only availed himself
of the experience of the people, for it is yet customary among the
natives of Sind to dig shallow canals, and leave the tides or river
to deepen them; and a distance of five stadia, or half a mile, would
call for not great labour. It is not to be supposed that sandbanks will
continue unaltered for centuries, but I may observe that there was a
large bank contiguous to the island, between it and which a passage
like that of Nearchus might have been dug with the greatest advantage.”
The same author thus describes the mouth of the Piti:—“Beginning from
the westward we have the Pitti mouth, an embouchure of the Buggaur,
that falls into what may be called the Bay of Karachi. It has no bar,
but a large sandbank, together with an island outside prevent a direct
passage into it from the sea, and narrow the channel to about half a
mile at its mouth.”

[40] All inquirers have agreed in identifying the Kolaka of Ptolemy,
and the sandy island of Krokola where Nearchus tarried with his fleet,
for one day, with a small island in the bay of Karâchi. Krôkala is
further described as lying off the mainland of the Arabii. It was 150
stadia, or 17¼ miles, from the western mouth of the Indus,—which agrees
exactly with the relative positions of Karâchi and the mouth of the
Ghâra river, if, as we may fairly assume, the present coast-line has
advanced five or six miles during the twenty-one centuries that have
elapsed since the death of Alexander. The identification is continued
by the fact that the district in which Karâchi is situated is called
+Karkalla+ to this day. Cunningham _Geog. of An. India_, I. p. 306.

[41] The name of the Arabii is variously written,—Arabitæ, Arbii,
Arabies, Arbies, Aribes, Arbiti. The name of their river has also
several forms,—Arabis, Arabius, Artabis, Artabius. It is now called
the +Purâli+, the river which flows through the present district
of Las into the bay of Soumiyâni. The name of the Oreitai in Curtius
is Horitæ. Cunningham identifies them with the people on the Aghor
river, whom he says the Greeks would have named Agoritæ or Aoritæ, by
the suppression of the guttural, of which a trace still remains in
the initial aspirate of ‘Horitæ.’ Some would connect the name with
+Haur+, a town which lay on the route to Firabaz, in Mekran.

[42] This name Sangada, D’Anville thought, survived in that of a race
of noted pirates who infested the shores of the gulf of Kachh, called
the +Sangadians+ or Sangarians.

[43] “The pearl oyster abounds in 11 or 12 fathoms of water all
along the coast of Scinde. There was a fishery in the harbour of
Kurrachee which had been of some importance in the days of the native
rulers.”—_Wanderings of a Naturalist in India_, p. 36.

[44] This island is not known, but it probably lay near the rocky
headland of Irus, now called +Manora+, which protects the port of
Karâchi from the sea and bad weather.

[45] “The name of Morontobara,” says Cunningham, “I would identify with
Muâri, which is now applied to the headland of Râs Muâri or Cape Monze,
the last point of the Pab range of mountains. _Bâra_, or _Bâri_, means
roadstead or haven; and Moranta is evidently connected with the Persian
_Mard_ a man, of which the feminine is still preserved in Kâśmîrî as
_Mahrin_ a woman. From the distances given by Arrian, I am inclined to
fix it at the mouth of the +Bahar+ rivulet, a small stream which
falls into the sea about midway between Cape Monze and Sonmiyâni.”
_Women’s Haven_ is mentioned by Ptolemy and Ammianus Marcellinus. There
is in the neighbourhood a mountain now called +Mor+, which may be
a remnant of the name Morontobari. The channel through which the fleet
passed after leaving this place no longer exists, and the island has of
course disappeared.

[46] The coast from Karâchi to the Purâli has undergone considerable
changes, so that the position of the intermediate places cannot be
precisely determined. “From Cape Monze to Sonmiyâni,” says Blair, “the
coast bears evident marks of having suffered considerable alterations
from the encroachments of the sea. We found trees which had been washed
down, and which afforded us a supply of fuel. In some parts I saw
imperfect creeks in a parallel direction with the coast. These might
probably be the vestiges of that narrow channel through which the Greek
galleys passed.”

[47] Ptolemy and Marcian enumerate the following places as lying
between the Indus and the Arabis: Rhizana, Koiamba, Women’s Haven,
Phagiaura, Arbis. Ptolemy does not mention the Oreitai, but extends the
Arabii to the utmost limit of the district assigned to them in Arrian.
He makes, notwithstanding, the river Arabia to be the boundary of the
Arabii. His Arabis must therefore be identified not with the _Pârâli_,
but with the _Kurmut_, called otherwise the _Rumra_ or _Kalami_, where
the position of Arrian’s Kalama must be fixed. Pliny (vi. 25) places
a people whom he calls the Arbii between the Oritae and Karmania,
assigning as the boundary between the Arbii and the Oritae the river
Arbis.

[48] The +Arabis+ or +Purâli+ discharges its waters into the
bay of Sonmiyâni. “Sonmiyâni,” says Kempthorne, “is a small town or
fishing village situated at the mouth of a creek which runs up some
distance inland. It is governed by a Sheikh, and the inhabitants appear
to be very poor, chiefly subsisting on dried fish and rice. A very
extensive bar or sandbank runs across the mouth of this inlet, and none
but vessels of small burden can get over it even at high water, but
inside the water is deep.” The inhabitants of the present day are as
badly off for water as their predecessors of old. “Everything,” says
one who visited the place, “is scarce, even water, which is procured
by digging a hole five or six feet deep, and as many in diameter, in
a place which was formerly a swamp; and if the water oozes, which
sometimes it does not, it serves them that day, and perhaps the next,
when it turns quite brackish, owing to the nitrous quality of the
earth.”

[49] Strabo agrees with Arrian in representing the Oreitai as
non-Indian. Cunningham, however, relying on statement made by Curtius,
Diodorus and the Chinese pilgrim Hwen Thsang, a most competent
observer, considers them to be of Indian origin, for their customs,
according to the Pilgrim, were like those of the people of Kachh,
and their written characters closely resembled those of India, while
their language was only slightly different. The Oreitai as early as
the 6th century B.C. were tributary to Darius Hystaspes, and they were
still subject to Persia nearly 12 centuries later when visited by Hwen
Thsang.—_Geog. of An. Ind._ pp. 304 sqq.

[50] Another form is Pegadæ, met with in Philostratos, who wrote a work
on India.

[51] To judge from the distances given, this place should be near the
stream now called Agbor, on which is situated +Harkânâ+. It is
probably the Koiamba of Ptolemy.

[52] “In vessels like those of the Greeks, which afforded neither space
for motion, nor convenience for rest, the continuing on board at night
was always a calamity. When a whole crew was to sleep on board, the
suffering was in proportion to the confinement.”—Vincent, I. p. 209
note.

[53] In another passage of Arrian (Anab. VI. 27, 1,) this Apollophanês
is said to have been deposed from his satrapy, when Alexander was
halting in the capital of Gedrosia. In the Journal Arrian follows
Nearkhos, in the History, Ptolemy or Aristobûlus.—Vincent.

[54] From the distances given, the Tomêros must be identified with the
+Maklow+ or +Hingal+ river; some would, however, make it the
+Bhusâl+. The form of the name in Pliny is +Tomberus+, and in
Mela—+Tubero+. These authors mention another river in connection
with the Tomêros,—the +Arosapes+ or +Arusaces+.

[55] Similar statements are made regarding this savage race by
Curtius IX. 10, 9; Diodôros XVII. 105; Pliny VI. 28; Strabo p. 720;
Philostratos V. Ap. III., 57. Cf. Agatharkhides passim.—_Müller._

[56] Its modern representative is doubtless +Râs Malin+, Malen or
Moran.

[57] Such a phenomenon could not of course have been observed at
Malana, which is about 2 degrees north of the Tropic, and Nearkhos,
as has been already noticed (Introd. p. 155), has on account mainly
of this statement been represented as a mendacious writer. Schmieder
and Gosselin attempt to vindicate him by suggesting that Arrian in
copying his journal had either missed the meaning of this passage,
or altered it to bring it into accordance with his own geographical
theories. Müller, however, has a better and probably the correct
explanation to offer. He thinks that the text of Nearkhos which Arrian
used contained passages interpolated from Onêsikritos and writers of
his stamp. The interpolations may have been inserted by the Alexandrian
geographers, who, following Eratosthenes, believed that India lay
between the Tropics. In support of this view it is to be noted that
Arrian’s account of the shadow occurs in that part of his work where
he is speaking of Malana of the Oreitai, and that Pliny (VIII. 75)
gives a similar account of the shadows that fall on a mountain of a
somewhat similar name in the country of that very people. His words
are: _In Indiae gente Oretam Mons est Maleus nomine, juxta quem umbrae
aestate in Austrum, hieme in Septemtrionem_ _jaciuntur_. Now Pliny was
indebted for his knowledge of Mons Maleus to Baeton, who places it
however not in the country of the Oreitai but somewhere in the lower
Gangetic region among the Suari and Monedes. It would thus appear
that what Baeton had said of _Mount Maleus_ was applied to _Malana_
of the Oreitai, no doubt on account of the likeness of the two names.
Add to this that the expression in the passage under consideration,
_for the people beyond this (Malana) are not Indians_, is no doubt an
interpolation into the text of the Journal, for it makes the Oreitai
to be an Indian people, whereas the Journal had a little before made
the Arabies to be the last people of Indian descent living in this
direction.

[58] This country, which corresponds generally to +Mekran+,
was called also Kedrosia, Gadrosia, or Gadrusia. The people were an
Ârianian race akin to the Arakhosii, Arii, and Drangiani.

[59] Bagisara, says Kempthorne, “is now known by the name of
+Arabah+ or +Hormarah+ Bay, and is deep and commodious
with good anchorage, sheltered from all winds but those from the
southward and eastward. The point which forms this bay is very high
and precipitous, and runs out some distance into the sea. A rather
large fishing village is situated on a low sandy isthmus about one mile
across, which divides the bay from another.... The only articles of
provision we could obtain from the inhabitants were a few fowls, some
dried fish, and goats. They grew no kind of vegetable or corn, a few
water-melons being the only thing these desolate regions bring forth.
Sandy deserts extend into the interior as far as the eye can reach,
and at the back of these rise high mountains.” The +Rhapua+ of
Ptolemy corresponds to the Bagisara or +Pasira+ of Arrian, and
evidently survives in the present name of the bay and the headland of
+Araba+.

[60] +Kolta.+—A place unknown. It was situated on the western side
of the isthmus which connects +Râs Araba+ with the mainland.

[61] A different form is Kaluboi. Situated on the river now called
+Kalami+, or Kumra, or Kurmut, the Arabis of Ptolemy, who was
probably misled by the likeness of the name to Karbis as the littoral
district was designated here.

[62] Other forms—+Karnine+, Karmina. The coast was probably called
Karmin, if Karmis is represented in +Kurmat+. The island lying
twelve miles off the mouth of the Kalami is now called +Astola+ or
+Sangadip+, which Kempthorne thus describes:—“Ashtola is a small
desolate island about four or five miles in circumference, situated
twelve miles from the coast of Mekran. Its cliffs rise rather abruptly
from the sea to the height of about 300 feet, and it is inaccessible
except in one place, which is a sandy beach about one mile in extent
on the northern side. Great quantities of turtle frequent this island
for the purpose of depositing their eggs. Nearchus anchored off it,
and called it Karnine. He says also that he received hospitable
entertainment from its inhabitants, their presents being cattle and
fish; but not a vestige of any habitation now remains. The Arabs come
to this island, and kill immense numbers of these turtles,—not for
the purpose of food, but they traffic with the shell to China, where
it is made into a kind of paste, and then into combs, ornaments, &c.,
in imitation of tortoise-shell. The carcasses caused a stench almost
unbearable. The only land animals we could see on the island were rats,
and they were swarming. They feed chiefly on the dead turtle. The
island was once famous as the rendezvous of the Jowassimee pirates.”
Vincent quotes Blair to this effect regarding the island:—“We were
warned by the natives at Passence that it would be dangerous to
approach the island of Asthola, as it was enchanted, and that a ship
had been turned into a rock. The superstitious story did not deter us;
we visited the island, found plenty of excellent turtle, and saw the
rock alluded to, which at a distance had the appearance of a ship under
sail. The story was probably told to prevent our disturbing the turtle.
It has, however, some affinity to the tale of Nearchus’s transport.” As
the enchanted island mentioned afterwards (chap. xxxi.), under the name
of Nosala, was 100 stadia distant from the coast, it was probably the
same as Karnine.

[63] Another form of the name is Kysa.

[64] The place according to Ptolemy is 900 stadia distant from the
Kalami river, but according to Marcianus 1,300 stadia. It must have
been situated in the neighbourhood of Cape Passence. The distances here
are so greatly exaggerated that the text is suspected to be corrupt or
disturbed. From Mosarna to Kophas the distance is represented as 1,750
stadia, and yet the distance from Cape Passence to Râs +Koppa+
(the Kophas of the text) is barely 500 stadia. According to Ptolemy
and Marcian Karmania begins at Mosarna, but according to Arrian much
further westward, at Badis near Cape Jask.

[65] “From the name given to this pilot I imagine that he was an
inhabitant of Hydriakos, a town near the bay of Churber or Chewabad....
Upon the acquisition of Hydrakês or the Hydriakan two circumstances
occur, that give a new face to the future course of the voyage, one
is the very great addition to the length of each day’s course; and
the other, that they generally weighed during the night: the former
depending upon the confidence they acquired by having a pilot on board;
and the latter on the nature of the land breeze.”—Vincent I., p. 244.

[66] This place is called in Ptolemy and Marcianus Badera or Bodera,
and may have been situated near the Cape now called Chemaul Bunder. It
is mentioned under the form Balara by Philostratos (Vit. Apoll. III.
56), whose description of the place is in close agreement with Arrian’s.

[67] τῇσι κvμῇσιν. Another reading, not so good however, is, τῇσι
κωμήτῇσιν _for the village women_, but the Greeks were not likely
to have indulged in such gallantry. Wearing chaplets in the hair on
festive occasions was a common practice with the Greeks. Cf. our
author’s Anab. V. 2. 8.

[68] In Ptolemy a place is mentioned called Derenoibila, which may
be the same as this. The old name perhaps survives in the modern
+Daram+ or Durum, the name of a highland on part of the coast
between Cape Passence and Cape Guadel.

[69] The name appears to survive in a cognominal Cape—Râs Coppa. The
natives use the same kind of boat to this day; it is a curve made of
several small planks nailed or sewn together in a rude manner with cord
made from the bark of date trees and called _kair_, the whole being
then smeared over with dammer or pitch.—_Kempthorne._

[70] According to Ptolemy and Marcianus this place lay 400 stadia to
the west of the promontory of Alambator (now Râs Gnadel). Some trace of
the word may be recognized in +Râs Ghunse+, which now designates
a point of land situated about those parts. Arrian passes Cape Guadel
without notice. “We should be reasonably surprised at this,” says
Vincent (I. 248), “as the doubling of a cape is always an achievement
in the estimation of a Greek navigator; but having now a native pilot
on board, it is evident he took advantage of the land-breeze to give
the fleet an offing. This is clearly the reason why we hear nothing in
Arrian of Ptolemy’s Alabagium, or Alambateir, the prominent feature of
this coast.”

[71] _The little town attached by Nearchus_ lay on Gwattar Bay. The
promontory in its neighbourhood called +Bagia+ is mentioned by
Ptolemy and Marcianus, the latter of whom gives its distance from Kyiza
at 250 stadia, which is but half the distance as given by Arrian. To
the west of this was the river Kaudryaces or Hydriaces, the modern
Baghwar Dasti or Muhani river, which falls into the Bay of Gwattar.

[72] A name not found elsewhere. To judge by the distance assigned,
it must be placed on what is now called Chaubar Bay, on the shores of
which are three towns, one being called +Tiz+,—perhaps the modern
representative of Tisa, a place in those parts mentioned by Ptolemy,
and which may have been the Talmena of Arrian.

[73] The name is not found elsewhere. It must have been situated on a
bay enclosed within the two headlands Râs Fuggem and Râs Godem.

[74] +Kanate+ probably stood on the site of the modern
+Kungoun+, which is near +Râs Kalat+, and not far from the
river +Bunth+.

[75] Another and the common form is Troisi. The villages of the Taoi
must have been where the Sudich river enters the sea. Here Ptolemy
places his Kommana or Nommana and his follower Marcian his Ommana. See
ante p. 104 note.

[76] The place in Ptolemy is called Agrispolis,—in Marcianus, Agrisa.
The modern name is +Girishk+.

[77] Schmieder suggests that instead of the common reading here ἀπὸ
τούταν ἔλαιον ποιέουσιν Arrian may have written ἀπὸ θύννων ε. π. _they
make oil from thunnies_, i. e. use the fat for oil.

[78] “This description of the natives, with that of their mode of
living and the country they inhabit, is strictly correct even to the
present day.”—Kempthorne.

[79] Strabo (XV. ii. 12, 13) has extracted from Nearkhos the same
passage regarding whales. See Nearchi fragm. 25. Cf. Onesikritos (fr.
30) and Orthagoras in Aelian, N. An. XVII. 6; Diodor. XVII. 106;
Curtius X. 1, 11.

[80] The story of the Nereid is evidently an Eastern version of the
story of the enchantress Kirkê. The island here called Nosala is that
already mentioned under the name of Karbine, now Asthola.

[81] +Karmania+ extended from Cape Jask to Râs Nabend, and
comprehended the districts now called Moghostan, Kirman, and Laristan.
Its metropolis, according to Ptolemy, was +Karmana+, now
+Kirman+, which gives its name to the whole province. The first
port in Karmania reached by the expedition was in the neighbourhood
of Cape Jask, where the coast is described as being very rocky, and
dangerous to mariners on account of shoals and rocks under water.
Kempthorne says: “The cliffs along this part of the coast are very
high, and in many places almost perpendicular. Some have a singular
appearance, one near Jask being exactly of the shape of a quoin or
wedge; and another is a very remarkable peak, being formed by three
stones, as if placed by human hands, one on the top of the other. It is
very high, and has the resemblance of a chimney.”

[82] Badis must have been near where the village of Jask now stands,
beyond which was the promontory now called Râs Kerazi or Keroot or
Bombarak, which marks the entrance to the Straits of Ormus. This
projection is the Cape Karpella of Ptolemy. Badis may be the same as
the Kanthatis of this geographer.

[83] Maketa is now called Cape Mesandum in Oman. It is thus described
by Palgrave in the Narrative of his Travels through Central and Eastern
Arabia (Vol. II. pp. 316-7). The afternoon was already far advanced
when we reached the headland, and saw before us the narrow sea-pass
which runs between the farthest rooks of Mesandum and the mainland
of the Cape. This strait is called the “Bab” or “gate:” it presents
an imposing spectacle, with lofty precipices on either side, and the
water flowing deep and black below; the cliffs are utterly bare and
extremely well adapted for shivering whatever vessels have the ill luck
to come upon them. Hence and from the ceaseless dash of the dark waves,
the name of “Mesandum” or “Anvil,” a term seldom better applied. But
this is not all, for some way out at sea rises a huge square mass of
basalt of a hundred feet and more in height sheer above the water; it
bears the name of “Salâmah” or “safety,” a euphemism of good augury
for “danger.” Several small jagged peaks, just projecting above the
surface, cluster in its neighbourhood; these bear the endearing name of
“Benât Salâmah,” or “Daughters of Salamah.”

[84] This place is not mentioned elsewhere, but must have been situated
somewhere in the neighbourhood of the village of Karun.

[85] The +Anamis+, called by Pliny the Ananis, and by Ptolemy and
Mela the Andanis, is now the Minâb or Ibrahim River.

[86] Other forms—Hormazia, Armizia regio. The name was transferred
from the mainland to the island now called +Ormus+, when the
inhabitants fled thither to escape from the Moghals. It is called by
Arrian +Organa+ (chap. xxxvii.) The Arabians called it Djerun, a
name which it continued to bear up to the 12th century. Pliny mentions
an island called Oguris, of which perhaps Djerun is a corruption. He
ascribes to it the honour of having been the birthplace of Erythrés.
The description, however, which he gives of it is more applicable to
the island called by Arrian (chap. xxxvii.) Oârakta (now Kishm) than
to Ormus. Arrian’s description of Harmozia is still applicable to the
region adjacent to the Mînâb. “It is termed,” says Kempthorne, “the
Paradise of Persia. It is certainly most beautifully fertile, and
abounds in orange groves, orchards containing apples, pears, peaches,
and apricots, with vineyards producing a delicious grape, from which
was made at one time a wine called Amber rosolia, generally considered
the white wine of Kishma; but no wine is made here now.” The old name
of Kishma—Oârakta—is preserved in one of its modern names, Vrokt or
Brokt.

[87] Diodôros (XVII. 106) gives quite a different account of the visit
of Nearkhos to Alexander.

[88] The preceding satrap was Sibyrtios, the friend of Megasthenês. He
had been transferred to govern the Gadrosians and the Arakhotians.

[89] As stated in Note 64, Organa is now _Ormuz_, and Oarakta, _Kishm_.
Ormuz, once so renowned for its wealth and commerce, that it was said
of it by its Portuguese occupants, that if the world were a golden
ring, Ormuz would be the diamond signet, is now in utter decay. “I have
seen,” says Palgrave (II. 319), “the abasement of Tyre, the decline of
Surat, the degradation of Goa: but in none of those fallen seaports is
aught resembling the utter desolation of Ormuz.” A recent traveller
in Persia (Binning) thus describes the coast: “It presents no view
but sterile, barren, and desolate chains of rocks and hills: and the
general aspect of the Gulf is dismal and forbidding. Moore’s charming
allusions to Oman’s sea, with its ‘banks of pearl and palmy isles’
are unfortunately quite visionary; for uglier and more unpicturesque
scenery 1 never beheld.”—_Two Years’ Travel in Persia_, I. pp. 136, 137.

[90] For the legend of Erythrês see Agatharkhides De Mari Eryth. I.
1-4 and Strabo XVI. iv. 20. The Erythræan Sea included the Indian
Ocean, the Persian Gulf, and the Red Sea, the last being called
also the Arabian Gulf, when it was necessary to distinguish it from
the Erythræan in general. It can hardly be doubted that the epithet
_Erythræan_ (which means _red_, Greek ἐρυθρὸς) first designated the
Arabian Gulf or Red Sea, and was afterwards extended to the seas beyond
the Straits by those who first explored them. The Red Sea was so
called because it washed the shores of Arabia, called _the Red Land_
(Edom), in contradistinction to Egypt, called _the Black Land_ (Kemi),
from the darkness of the soil deposited by the Nile. Some however
thought that it received its name from the quantity of red coral found
in its waters, especially along the eastern shores, and Strabo says
(loc. cit.): “Some say that the sea is red from the colour arising
from reflexion either from the sun, which is vertical, or from the
mountains, which are red by being scorched with intense heat; for the
colour it is supposed may be produced by both of these causes. Ktesias
of Knidos speaks of a spring which discharges into the sea a red and
ochrous water.”—Cf. Eustath. Comment. 38.

[91] This island is that now called +Angar+, or +Hanjam+,
to the south of Kishm. It is described as being nearly destitute of
vegetation and uninhabited. Its hills, of volcanic origin, rise to a
height of 300 feet. The other island, distant from the mainland about
300 stadia, is now called the Great Tombo, near which is a smaller
island called Little Tombo. They are low, flat, and uninhabited. They
are 25 miles distant from the western extremity of Kishm.

[92] The island of +Pylora+ is that now called Polior.
+Sisidone+ appears in other forms—Prosidodone, pro-Sidodone, pros
Sidone, pros Dodone. Kempthorne thought this was the small fishing
village now called +Mogos+, situated in a bay of the same name.
The name may perhaps be preserved in the name of a village in the same
neighbourhood, called Dnan Tarsia—now +Râs-el-Djard+—described as
high and rugged, and of a reddish colour.

[93] +Kataia+ is now the island called +Kaes+ or +Kenn+.
Its character has altered, being now covered with dwarf trees, and
growing wheat and tobacco. It supplies ships with refreshment, chiefly
goats and sheep and a few vegetables. “At morning,” says Binning (I.
137), “we passed Polior, and at noon were running along the South side
of the Isle of Keesh, called in our maps Kenn; a fertile and populous
island about 7 miles in length. The inhabitants of this, as well as
of every other island in the Gulf, are of Arab blood—for every true
Persian appears to hate the very sight of the sea.”

[94] The boundary between Karmania and Persis was formed by a range of
mountains opposite the island of +Kataia+. Ptolemy, however, makes
Karmania extend much further, to the river +Bagradas+, now called
the +Naban+ or +Nabend+.

[95] +Kaikander+ has the other forms—Kekander, Kikander,
Kaskandrus, Karkundrus, Karskandrus, Sasækander. This island, which
is now called +Inderabia+, or +Andaravia+, is about four or
five miles from the mainland, having a small town on the north side,
where is a safe and commodious harbour. The other island mentioned
immediately after is probably that now called Busheab. It is, according
to Kempthorne, a low, flat island, about eleven miles from the
mainland, containing a small town principally inhabited by Arabs, who
live on fish and dates. The harbour has good anchorage even for large
vessels.

[96] The pearl oyster is found from Ras Musendom to the head of the
Gulf. There are no famed banks on the Persian side, but near Bushire
there are some good ones.

[97] +Apostana+ was near a place now called +Schevar+. It
is thought that the name may be traced in +Dahra+ +Ahbân+,
an adjacent mountain ridge of which Okhos was probably the southern
extremity.

[98] This bay is that on which +Naban+ or +Nabend+ is now
situated. It is not far from the river called by Ptolemy the Bagradas.
The place abounds with palm-trees as of old.

[99] +Gôgana+ is now +Konkan+ or +Konaun+. The bay lacks
depth of water; a stream still falls into it—the Areôn of the text.
To the north-west of this place in the interior lay +Pasargada+,
the ancient capital of Persia, and the burial-place of Kyros, in the
neighbourhood of Murghâb, a place to the N. E. of Shiraz (30° 24´ N.
56° 29´ E.).

[100] The Sitakos has been identified with the Kara Agach, Mand, Mund
or Kakee river, which has a course of 300 miles. Its source is near
Kodiyan, which lies N. W. of Shiraz. At a part of its course it is
called the Kewar River. The meaning of its name is _black wood_. In
Pliny it appears as the Sitioganus. _Sitakon_ was probably the name
as Nearkhos heard it pronounced, as it frequently happens that when
a Greek writer comes upon a name like an oblique case in Greek, he
invents a nominative for it. With regard to the form of the name in
Pliny, ‘g’ is but a phonetic change instead of ‘k’. The ‘i’ is probably
an error in transcription for ‘t’. The Sitakos is probably the Brisoana
of Ptolemy, which can have no connexion with the later-mentioned
Brizana of our author. See _Report on the Persian Gulf_ by Colonel
Ross, lately issued. Pliny states that from the mouth of the Sitioganus
an ascent could be made to Pasargada, in seven days; but this is
manifestly an error.

[101] The changes which have taken place along the coast have been so
considerable that it is difficult to explain this part of the narrative
consistently with the now existing state of things.

[102] The peninsula, which is 10 miles in length and 3 in breadth, lies
so low that at times of high tide it is all but submerged. The modern
+Abu-Shahr+ or +Bushir+ is situated on it.

[103] Nearkhos, it is probable, put into the mouth of the river now
called by some the +Kisht+, by others the Boshavir. A town exists
in the neighbourhood called +Gra+ or +Gran+, which may have
received its name from the Granis. The royal city (or rather palace),
200 stadia distant from this river, is mentioned by Strabo, xv. 3, 3,
as being situate on the coast. Ptolemy does not mention the Granis. He
makes Taökê to be an inland town, and calls all the district in this
part Taôkênê. Taokê may be the Touag mentioned by Idrisi, which is now
represented by Konar Takhta near the Kisht.

[104] +Rhogonis.+—It is written Rhogomanis by Ammianus
Marcellinus, who mentions it as one of the four largest rivers in
Persia, the other three being the Vatrachitis, Brisoana, and Bagrada.
It is the river at the mouth of which is Bender-Righ or Regh, which
is considered now as in the days of Nearkhos to be a day’s sail from
Bushire.

[105] “The measures here are neglected in the Journal, for we have only
800 stadia specified from Mesambria to Brizana, and none from Brizana
to the Arosis; but 800 stadia are short of 50 miles, while the real
distance from Mesambria (Bushir) to the Arosis with the winding of the
coast is above 140. In these two points we cannot be mistaken, and
therefore, besides the omission of the interval between Brizana and
the Arosis, there must be some defect in the Journal for which it is
impossible now to account.”—Vincent, 1. p. 405.

[106] Another form of the name of this river is the Aroatis. It answers
to the Zarotis of Pliny, who states that the navigation at its mouth
was difficult, except to those well acquainted with it. It formed the
boundary between Persis and Susiana. The form Oroatis corresponds to
the Zend word _aurwat_ ‘swift.’ It is now called the Tâb.

[107] On this point compare Strabo, bk. xv. 3, 1.

[108] It has been conjectured that the text here is imperfect.
Schmieder opines that the story about the ambassadors is a fiction.

[109] The bay of Kataderbis is that which receives the streams of the
+Mensureh+ and +Dorak+; at its entrance lie two islands,
Bunah and Ḍeri, one of which is the Margastana of Arrian.

[110] +Diridôtis+ is called by other writers Terêdon, and is said
to have been founded by Nabukhodonosor. Mannert places it on the island
now called +Bubian+; Colonel Chesney, however, fixes its position
at +Jebel Sanâm+, a gigantic mound near the Pallacopas branch
of the Euphrates, considerably to the north of the embouchure of the
present Euphrates. Nearkhos had evidently passed unawares the stream
of the Tigris and sailed too far westward. Hence he had to retrace his
course, as mentioned in the next chapter.

[111] This is the Eulæus, now called the +Karûn+, one arm of
which united with the Tigris, while the other fell into the sea by an
independent mouth. It is the +Ulai+ of the prophet Daniel. _Pas_
is said to be an old Persian word, meaning _small_. By some writers the
name +Pasitigris+ was applied to the united stream of the Tigris
and Euphrates, now called the +Shat-el-Arab+. The courses of the
rivers and the conformation of the country in the parts here have all
undergone great changes, and hence the identification of localities
is a matter of difficulty and uncertainty. The following extract from
Strabo will illustrate this part of the narrative:—

Polycletus says that the +Choaspes+, and the +Eulæus+, and
the +Tigris+ also enter a lake, and thence discharge themselves
into the sea; that on the side of the lake is a mart, as the rivers do
not receive the merchandize from the sea, nor convey it down to the
sea, on account of dams in the river, purposely constructed; and that
the goods are transported by land, a distance of 800 stadia, to Susis:
according to others, the rivers which flow through Susis discharge
themselves by the intermediate canals of the Euphrates into the single
stream of the Tigris, which on this account has at its mouth the name
of Pasitigris. According to Nearchus, the sea-coast of Susis is swampy,
and terminates at the river Euphrates; at its mouth is a village
which receives the merchandize from Arabia, for the coast of Arabia
approaches close to the mouths of the Euphrates and the Pasitigris;
the whole intermediate space is occupied by a lake which receives
the Tigris. On sailing up the Pasitigris 150 stadia is a bridge of
rafts leading to Susa from Persis, and is distant from Susa 60 (600?)
stadia; the Pasitigris is distant from the Oroatis about 2,000 stadia;
the ascent through the lake to the mouth of the Tigris is 600 stadia;
near the mouth stands the Susian village Aginis, distant from Susa 500
stadia; the journey by water from the mouth of the Euphrates up to
Babylon, through a well-inhabited tract of country, is a distance of
more than 3,000 stadia.—Book xv. 3, _Bohn’s trans._

[112] The 3rd part of the _Indika_, the purport of which is to prove
that the southern parts of the world are uninhabitable, begins with
this chapter.

[113] Here and subsequently meaning the Persian Gulf.

[114] It is not known when or wherefore Ptolemy sent troops on this
expedition.

* * * * *

Transcriber's Notes

Obvious typographical errors have been silently corrected. Variations
in hyphenation, spelling, accents and punctuation remain unchanged.

Italics are represented thus _italic_ and geapertt thus +gespertt+.

In the original, with one exception, Tamil is spelt with the diacritic
.. beneath the l. As this symbol is not available, the reader is asked
to imagine it.

*** End of this LibraryBlog Digital Book "The Commerce and Navigation of the Erythraean Sea - Being a Translation of the Periplus Maris Erythraei and - Arrian's Account of the Voyage of Nearkhos" ***

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