190 ON THE ANCIENT GEOGRAPHY 



This is exactly the picture of the modern Chinese ; and it is 

 one totally inapplicable to any other nation of any age. It 

 there are any from whose description it is most peculiarly re- 

 mote, these certainly are the rude tribes who inhabit Tartary, 

 Thibet, and the mountainous districts to the north of India- 

 It is a very remarkable phenomenon in the history of man, 

 and one which Southern Asia alone can present, that a de- 

 scription written nearly two thousand years ago, should paint 

 this celebrated people with as much precision, as if it had 

 been composed by a writer of the present day. 



If, then, Serica be considered as China, and the divisions of 

 Central Asia be regulated accordingly, then these divisions, in 

 all their grand outlines of extent, geographical features, rela- 

 tive position as to themselves, and to the kingdoms of Southern 

 Asia, will correspond exactly to the delineation of Ptolemy. 

 Even in the moral and political features of the remotest of 

 these countries, there is found the most surprising correspond- 

 ence. Nothing, therefore, remains to complete the proof, but 

 to consider some details, which appear, at first sight, to mili- 

 tate against this supposition. 



D'Anville remarks, that the general aspect of Serica, as ex- 

 hibited by Ptolemy, is that of a country similar to Scythia. 

 The truth of this observation cannot be denied. There is no- 

 thing in his description of the interior of Serica, which suggests 

 the idea of modern China. On the contrary, there is the broad 



fact, 



that this character is ascribed to the Seres only by secondary writers, and that 

 Pliny and Ammianus, our best and most copious authorities, make no mention 

 of such a feature. Ammianus, indeed, mentions the mode of trade above alluded 

 to -, but he omits entirely to draw from it the inference which is made by 

 Mela. 



