182 ON THE ANCIENT GEOGRAPHY 



The delineation of the country of the Sacae, will be found to 

 correspond, in every respect, with that given by Mr Elphin- 

 stoxe of the Plain of Pamere and Little Thibet, It was 

 bounded on the south by Indostan, from which it was separa- 

 ted by the ridge of Imaus. On the north it was bounded by 

 the next parallel chain, Mom Ascataneas, which cannot possi- 

 bly be any other than the Mooz Taugh, to whose name, in- 

 deed, it bears a rude resemblance. It extended eastward from 

 the Montes Comcdorum (the Beloor) to somewhat beyond the 

 head of the Ganges ; precisely the dimensions of Little Thibet. 

 Again, it appears from Ptolemy, that the merchants, after as- 

 cending the Beloor, proceeded for several hundred miles to the 

 south-east, which is precisely the direction of the table land. 

 The mere aspect of Ptolemy's map, and that of Mr Elphin- 

 stoxe, present a striking similarity of form and geographical 

 features. It seems plain, then, that geographers, in placing 

 the Sacic among the defiles of the Beloor, or extending them 

 towards Cashgar, have disregarded the whole tenor of Ptole- 

 my's statements. It is true, Edrisi has given us a region called 

 Sakita, which seems merely to occupy the summit of the Be- 

 loor. But we must observe, that Sacce, in Pliny and Ptole- 

 my, was a generic name for a number of nomadic and pasto- 

 ral tribes. It is well known that such names, among the civi- 

 lized nations of antiquity, were usually formed by extending 

 that of the nearest tribe to a long range of territory behind. 

 It was natural, therefore, that the Sacae, the first people who 

 occurred, on ascending the mountains, should give name to a 

 succession of similar districts, till another grand barrier of na- 

 ture interposed. We are not, however, left here to mere infe- 

 rence or conjecture. Pliny, after mentioning the Scythian 

 tribes east of Bactria, expressly says : " Persae omnes illos Sa- 

 " cas appellavere, a proxi?na ge?ite" The district of Sakita,. 



therefore, 



