wkoh the Ancient Books of the Hindus. 329 



Not only the land of Egypt and the countries bordering on the Nile, but 

 «ven Africa itfelf, had formerly the appellation of Atria-, from the nume- 

 rous fettlements, I fuppofe, of the Ahirs or Shepherds, as they are called 

 in the fpoken Indian diale&s : in Sanfcrtt the true word is Abhir, and hence, 

 I conceive, their principal ftation in the land of Go/hen, on the borders of 

 Egypt, was named Abaris and Avar-is 3 {orGko/ke^ itfelf, or Ghofhdyana, means 

 the abode of jhepherds, or herd/men; and Ghofha, though it aifo fignify a 

 go'pdl, or Cowherd, is explained in Sanfcrtt dictionaries by the phrafe AbhU 

 rapalli, a town or village of Abhiras or Pallis. 



The mountains of Abyfjinia have in Sanfcrit the name of Nijhadbai and 

 from them flowed the Nandd, (which runs through the land of Pu/hpavcr* 



Jham about the lake Dembea) the Little Crf/hnd, or Tacazze, and the Sane ha- 

 ndgd, or Mareb ; of which three rivers we fhall hereafter fpeak more parti- 

 cularly. Since the Hindus place another Meru in the Southern Hemifphere, 

 we muft not be furprized to find the Nild defcribedby them as ruining over 

 three ranges of r jntains, which have the fame names with three fimilar 

 ranges, over which the Ganga, in their opinion, forces its way, before it 

 enters the plains of India : thofe mountains are the Himalaya, or Seat of 

 Snow, the Nifhadha, and the Hemacuta, or with a golden peak. The Hin~ 

 dus believe, that a range of African hills is covered with fnow : the old 

 Egyptians, Greeks, and Romans believed the fame thing; and modern tra- 

 vellers aflert, that fnow falls here and there in fome parts of Africa ; but 



• the fouthern Himalaya is more generally called Sitdnta, which implies the 

 •end, or limit, of cold. On the northern Himalaya is the celebrated lake 

 Mdnafa-faras or Mdnafardvara, near Sumeru, the abode of Gods ; who are 

 reprefented fometimes as reclining in their bowers, and fometimes as mak- 

 ing aerial excurfions in their Vimdnas, or heavenly cars: thuson,or within, the 



S s 



