BOOK VI.] History of Nature. 145 



itself in the Ground ; but rising again, and running through 

 Mesobatene, it passeth round the Castle of the Susi and the 

 Temple of Diana, the most august Temple among those 

 Nations : and the very River itself is ceremoniously re- 

 garded : so that the Kings drink of no other , and therefore 

 they carry it to a great distance. It receiveth the River 

 Hedypnus, which cometh along by the Asylum of the Per- 

 sians, and one from among the Susiani. A Town there is near 

 it, called Magoa, 15 Miles fromCharax. Some place this Town 

 in the utmost Borders of Susiana, close to the Deserts. Be- 

 neath Eulaeus lieth Elymais, joining to Persis on the Sea- 

 coast ; it is 240 Miles from the River Oroates to Charax. The 

 Towns in it are Seleucia and Sositare, situated upon the 

 Mountain Casyrus. The Coast which lieth before it is, as 

 we have said before, no less dangerous than the Lesser Syrtes, 

 because of the Mud and Slime which the Rivers Brixia and 

 Ortacea bring down ; and Elimais itself is so moist that 

 there is no Way to Persis but by taking a Circuit about 

 it. It is also much infested with Serpents, which those 

 Rivers bring down : but that part of it is the least passable 

 which they call Characene, from the Town (Charax), which 

 limiteth the Kingdoms of Arabia : of which we will speak 

 by and by, after we have set down the Opinion of M.Agrippa; 

 for he hath written, that Media, Parthia, and Persis, are 

 bounded on the East by the Indus ; on the West, by the 

 Tigris ; on the North, by the Taurus and Caucasus ; and on 

 the South, by the Red Sea : also, that they extend in Length 

 1320 Miles, and in Breadth 840. Moreover, that Mesopo- 

 tamia by itself is enclosed eastward by the Tigris, westward by 

 the Euphrates ; on the North by the Taurus, and on the South 

 by the Persian Sea; being in Length 800 Miles, and in 

 Breadth 360. Charax is the inmost Town of the Persian 

 Gulf, from which Arabia, called Eudsemon (happy) runneth 

 forth in Length ; it is situated upon a Mount artificially 

 raised between the Confluence of Tigris on the right Hand, 

 and Eulseus on the left : with an Expansion of three Miles. 

 It was first founded by Alexander the Great ; who, having 

 drawn ColonLts out of the royal City Durine (which then 



VOL. II. L 



