1847-1 Periplus of the Erythrean Sea, fyc. 5 



" In this province also there is said to be a gold mine, and a gold 

 coin called Kaltis. 



" Immediately after leaving the Ganges, there is an island in the ocean 

 called Khruse, or the Golden Isle, which lies directly under the rising 

 sun and at the extremity of the world towards the east. This island 

 produces the finest tortoise-shell that is found throughout the whole of 

 the Erythrean Sea. 



" But still beyond this, immediately under the north, at a certain 

 point where the exterior sea terminates, lies a city called Thina, not on 

 the coast, but inland ; from which both the raw material and manufac- 

 tured silk are brought by land, through Bactria to Barugaza, or else 

 down the Ganges [to Bengal] and thence by sea to Limurike, or the 

 coast of Malabar. 



" To Thina itself the means of approach are very difficult ; and from 

 Thina some few [merchants] come, but very rarely : for it lies [very far 

 remote] under the constellation of the Lesser Bear, and is said to join 

 the confines of the Euxine Sea, the Caspian, and the Lake Meotis, 

 which issues at the same mouth with the Caspian into the Northern 

 Ocean. 



" On the confines, however, of Thina, an annual fair or mart is esta- 

 blished : for the Sesatse, who are a wild, uncivilized tribe, assemble there 

 with their wives and children. They are described as a race of men, 

 squat, and thick set, with their face broad, and their nose greatly de- 

 pressed. The articles they bring for trade are of great bulk and enve- 

 loped in mats or sacs, which in their outward appearance resemble the 

 early leaves of the vine. Their place of assembly is between their own 

 borders and those of Thina, and here spreading out their mats [on which 

 they exhibit their goods for sale], they hold a feast [or fair] for several 

 days, and at the conclusion of it, return to their own country in the 

 interior. 



" Upon their retreat, the Thinee, who have continued on the watch, 

 repair to the spot, and collect the mats which the strangers left behind 

 at their departure ; from these they pick out the haulm, which is called 

 Petros, and drawing out the fibres, spread the leaves double, and make 

 them up into balls, and then pass the fibres through them. Of these 

 balls there are three sorts — the large, the middle-sized, and the small ; 

 in this form they take the name of Malabathrum : and under this de- 



