58 Remarks on the Sequel to the [Jan. 



earth. "* The words, " ubertate regionum et amplitudine circumspectos" 

 applied to the Seres, seem to imply, that the " aggeres celsi" with which 

 they were surrounded, were not mountains, but works of art, construct- 

 ed to protect their extensive and fertile territory from the incursions of 

 hostile tribes. It is probable, therefore, that these defences, the sum- 

 mits of which are described by Ammianus Marcellinus, as interlaced 

 or intertwined in a circular form, were stockades at the duwars, or close 

 hedges of bamboos erected or planted on the causeways of Assam, with 

 their tops intertwined in the manner mentioned by Mahomed Cazim. 



The position which Ammianus Marcellinus assigns to the Scythians, 

 corresponds with that of Scythica extra Imaum, which is placed by 

 Ptolemy on the western side of Serica. On the ground that this Scy- 

 thia is Thibet, Murray infers that China, which lies to the east of that 

 country, is Serica. The account, however, which both Ptolemy and 

 Ammianus Marcellinus give of the other boundaries of Serica, is op- 

 posed to the opinion which identifies Serica with China. The former 

 author makes no mention of the sea, as the boundary on the east, 

 which, in all probability, he would have done if he had been describing 

 China : but speaks of Serica, as bounded in this direction by unknown 

 lands. Ammianus Marcellinus describes Serica, as situated beyond the 

 two Scythias, (viz. to the south of them,) and as lying opposite to 

 the eastern country, which can be no other than China. He more 

 particularly describes the country of Seres, as being adjacent on the 

 north and east, to a dreary region of frost and snow, which refers, no 

 doubt, to the lofty snowy peaks of the Himalaya, which surround the 

 eastern part of the valley of Assam. That Serica is not China, but 

 Assam, is still more probable, from the circumstance of India being 

 mentioned by Ammianus Marcellinus, as lying to the south of the latter 

 country. This is India extra Gangem, which is referred by Pomponius 

 Mela, Pliny, and Ptolemy, to the situation assigned to it in the text. 

 Pomponius Mela, and Pliny give a general description of the situation 

 of Serica. " They agree," says Vincent, " that their boundary [viz. 

 that of the Seres] on the north is Tabis, and Taurus on the south : 

 that all beyond them north is Scythia, and all beyond them south is 

 India east of the Ganges." Tabis and Taurus seem to be moun- 

 tains in Upper Assam, the former being, perhaps, the mountain 

 * Huklyut's Voyages. 



