BOOK VI. x.x.w. 187-190 



It is certainly reported that in the interior on the 

 east side there are tribes of people without noses, 

 their whole face bcing perfectly flat, and other tribes 

 that have no uppcr lip and others no tongues. Also 

 one section has the mouth closed up and has no 

 nostrils, but only a single orifice through Avhich it 

 breathes and sucks in drink by means of oat straws, 

 as ■well as grains of oat, which grows \n\d there, for 

 food. Some of the tribes communicate by means of 

 nods and gestures instead of speech ; and some were 

 unacquainted with the use of fire before the reign of 

 King Ptolemy Lathyrus in Egypt. Some writers 

 have actually reported a race of Pygmies Hving among 

 the marshes in which the Nile rises. On the coast, 

 in a region whicli we shall describe later, there is a § 107. 

 range of mountains of a glo\ving red colour, which 

 have the appearance of being on fire. 



After Meroe all the region is bounded by the Cave- 

 dwellers and the llcd Sea, the distance from Napata 

 to the coast of the Red Sea being three days' 

 journey ; in scveral places rainwater is stored for the 

 use of travellers, and the district in between produces 

 a large amount of gokl. The parts beyond are occupied 

 by the AtabuU, an Ethiopian tribe ; and then, over 

 against Meroe, are the Alegabarri, to wliom some 

 give the name of Adiabari ; they have a town 

 named the Town of Apollo, but one division of them 

 are Nomads, and live on the flesh of elephants. 

 Opposite to them, on the African side, are the 

 Macrobii, and again after the Megabarri come the 

 Memnones and Dabelli, and 20 days' journey further 

 on the Critensi. Beyond these are the Dochi, next 

 the Gymnetes, who never wear any ckithes, then the 

 Anderae, Mattitae and Mesanches : the last are 



479 



