BOOK V. VIII. 45-ix. 48 



world. The Gamphasantes go naked, do not engage 

 in battle, and hold no intercourse with any foreigner. 

 The Bleniniyae are reported to have no heads, their 

 mouth and eyes being attached to their chests. The 

 Satyrs have nothing of ordinary humanity about them 

 except human shape. The form of the Goat-Pans 

 is that wliich is commonly shown in pictures of 

 them. The Strapfoots are people with feet Uke 

 leather thongs, whose nature it is to crawl instead 

 of walking. The Pharusi, originally a Persian people, 

 are said to have accompanied Hercules on his 

 journey to the Ladies of the West. Nothing more 

 occurs to us to record about Africa. 



IX. Joining on to Africa is Asia, the extent of 

 which from the Canopic mouth of the Nile to the 

 mouth of the Black Sea is given by Timosthenes as 

 2638 miles ; Eratosthenes gives the distance from 

 the mouth of the Black Sea to the mouth of the 

 Sea of Azov as 1545 miles ; and Artemidorus and 

 Isidorus give the whole extent of Asia including 

 Egypt as far as the river Don as 5013| miles.* It 

 possesses several seas, named after the tribes on 

 their shores, for which reason they will be mentioned 

 together. 



The inhabited country next to Africa is Egypt, Egypi. 

 which stretches southward into the interior to where 

 tlie Etliiopians border it in the rear. The boun- 

 daries of its lower part are formed by the two 

 branches of the Nile embracing it on the right and 

 on the left, the Canopic mouth separating it from 

 Africa and the Pelusiac from Asia, with a space of 

 170 miles between the two mouths. This has caused 

 some authorities to class Egypt as an island, because 

 the Nile divides in such a manner as to produce a 



253 



