564 AN ESSAY ON THE 



In that country are Siddlias, or .prophets, with the 

 gift o^ miracles; learned and famous BrdhmcnSy 



bright like fire • hundreds , lof thousands of them 

 are in that country.' 



It is tfiily surprising to'findt.so plain, and sen- 

 sible a description of a country in the Puranas : 

 for the translation is faithful, and I have not left 

 out, as before, any passage on any account what- 

 soever. It appears to be Syria in its largest di- 

 mensions, and which the author calls Canan; be- 

 cause the Cananea7is, and amongst them the Phcs- 

 nicians, were possessed of the greatest and best 

 part of it, and were, moreover, famous all over the 

 East. 



The dimensions in ynjcmas in general, iiuist be 

 considerably reduced : but there are particular in- 

 stances when they must be retained, and such 

 cases are by no means numerous. I have noticed 

 that the description of this country was a plain 

 narrative, which, if not true, bore at least every 

 mark of probability. 



The mountains o^ Capbijala, a sort of bird, and 

 JW/ga, or of the Serpents, are unknown : the re- 

 gion between them was 200 yqjanas, or about 

 900 miles long, and 100 broad, or about 450 

 miles. These arc the dimensions of Syria from 

 Babylon to the Mediterranean sea. It consisted of 

 two parts, a dreary desert, and the other a most 

 charming and fruitful country, with six or seven 

 lakes, called seas, the largest of which is the As- 

 phaltite sea, thirty yojanas in circumference, ac- 

 cording to JosEPHUs's account. 



The Paur/in'lcs, in their description of countries, 

 never mention, at least as far as 1 can recollect, 



