BOOK XII. VIII. 17-X. 21 



Kings of Persia every three years a hundred logs 



of ebony, together with gold and ivory. Nor 



also should we omit the fact, since that author 



indicates it, that the Ethiopians used to pay twenty 



large elephant tusks on the same account. So high 



was the esteem in which ivory was held in the 310th 



year " of our city, the date at which that author 



composed his history at Thurii in Italy ; which makes 



all the more surprising the statement which we accept Hdt.iii.ii5. 



on his authority, that nobody of Asia or Greece had 



hitherto been seen who had evcr seen the river Po. 



The exploration of the geography of Ethiopia, which 



as we have said had Tately been reported to thevi. isi. 



Emperor Nero, showed that over a space of 1,996 



miles from Syene on the frontier of the empire to 



Meroe trees are rare, and there are none except of 



the palm species. That is possibly the reason why 



ebony was the third most important item in the 



tribute paid. 



IX. Ebony was exhibited at Rome by Pompey the varieties of 

 Great on the occasion of his triumph over Mithridates. ^^»"i'- 

 According to Fabius ebony does not give out a flame, 



yet burns with an agreeable scent. It is of two 

 kinds : the better one, which grows as a tree, is 

 rare — it is of a smooth substance and free from 

 knots, and of a shiny black colour that is pleasing 

 to the eye even in the natural state without the 

 aid of art ; whereas the other grows as a shrub 

 hke the cytisus, and is spread over the whole of 

 India. 



X. In India there is also a thorn the wood of The indian 

 which resembles ebony, but can be detected even '^*^'""- 



by the flame of a lantern, as the hght at once shines 

 through.* 



15 



