406 pliny's natueal histoet. [Book V. 



their mouths and eyes being seated in their breasts. The 

 Satyri\ beyond their figure, have nothing in common with 

 the manners of the human race, and the form of the jEgi- 

 pani^ is such as is commonly represented in paintings. The 

 Himantopodes^ are a race of people with feet resembling 

 thongs, upon which they move along by nature with a ser- 

 pentine, crawling kind of gait. The Pharusii, descended 

 from the ancient Persians, are said to have been the compa- 

 nions of Hercules when on his expedition to the Hesperides. 

 Beyond the above, I have met with nothing relative to 

 Africa^ worthy of mention. 



CHAP. 9. (9.) — EGYPT AND THEBAIS. 



Joining on to Africa is Asia, the extent of which, accord- 

 ing to Timosthenes, from the Canopic mouth of the Nile 

 to the mouth of the Euxine, is 2689 miles. From the 

 mouth of the Euxine to that of Lake Maeotis is, according to 

 Eratosthenes, 1545 miles. The whole distance to the Ta- 

 nais, including Egypt, is, according to Artemidorus and 

 Isidorus, 6375* miles. The seas of Egypt, which are several 



rodotus. The mistate was probably made by Mela in copying from 

 Herodotus, and continued by Pliny when borrowing from him. 



^ So called from their supposed resemblance in form to the Satyrs 

 of the ancient mythology, who were represented as little hairy men with 

 horns, long ears, and tails. They were probably monkeys, which had been 

 mistaken for men. 2 Half goat, half man. See the Note relative to 

 -S^gipan, in C. 1 of the present Book, p. 378. 



** Evidently intended to be derived from the Greek ijids "a thong,'* 

 and Tropes " the feet." It is most probable that the name of a savage 

 people in the interior bore a fancied resemblance to this word, upon 

 which the marvellous story here stated was coined for the purpose of 

 tallying with the name. From a statement in the iEthiopica of Helio- 

 dorus, B. X., Marcus suggests that the story as to theBlemmyse having 

 no heads arose from the circumstance, that on the invasion of the Per- 

 sians they were in the habit of falling on one knee and bowing the head 

 to the breast, by which means, without injury to themselves, they 

 afforded a passage to the horses of the enemy. 



* It must be remembered, as already mentioned, that the ancients 

 looked upon ^gypt as forming part of Asia, not of Africa. It seema 

 impossible to say how this supposition arose, when the Eed Sea and the 

 Isthmus of Suez form so natural and so palpable a frontier between 

 Asia, and Africa. 



5 It is not improbable that these numbers are incorrectly stated in 

 the MSS. of our author. 



