124. The Ox til Booke of 



and difagi'cemore than in this: and as I take itjthis commeth ofthe infinite number of thofe na- G 

 tionSjwandedngto and fi'o,and abiding never in one place. Alexander ihc great andc^. Farro 

 make rcport^that the water of the Scythian Tea is frefli in taft5and potable. And in truth Pef??pey 

 the great had fuch water brought unto him from thence to drinke, when he waged warre there- 

 by againft LMithridates : by reafon no doubt of the great rivers that fall into itjwhch overcome 

 the faltnefle of the water faith moreoverjThat during this expedition and journie o^Pom- 

 peifis^ it was for ccrtaine knowne, that it is but (even daies journey from out of India to the Ba- 

 drians counttey^evcn asfarre as to the river Icarus which runneth into Oxus : and that the roer- 

 chandife of India^tranlportcd by the Cafpian fea^and fo to the river Cyrus^may bee brought in 

 five daies by land as farje as to Phafis in Pontus.Many Wands there lie all over that fea : but one 

 above the reft^and raoft renownedjis Tazata : for thither all the fhipping from out of the Cafpi- H 

 an fea and the Scythian Ocean^doe bend their courfe and there arrive : tor that all the fea coafts 

 doe affron t the Levantjand turne into the Eaft.The frontiers of Scythia from the firft cape ihcr- 

 of^is unhabitable by reafon of the fnow that lieth continually : neither are the next regions ther- 

 to frequented and tilled^for the barbarous crueltie of thole nations that border upon it : fuch as 

 the Anthropophagijwho live of mans flefh^and haunt thofe parts. Hereupon it commeth, that 

 you fhall find nothing therebut huge defart forrefts^ with a number of wild beafls, lying in wait 

 for men as favage as themfelves . When you are paft this region^ you enter againe among the 

 Scy thiansjwhere you fhall find likewife a wilderneile full of wild beafts^cvcn as far as to the pro- 

 montorie and mountaine called Tabis, which regardeth the fea. In fuch f ort as one moietic in 

 manner of that coaff, ail along which lookeih toward the Eaff, lieth wafl:, and is not inhabited. I 

 The firft people of any knowledge and acquaintaincejbe the Seres/amousfor the fine filke that 

 their woods doc yeeld.They kembe from the leaves of their trees the hoarie downe thereof^and 

 i\'hen it is fleeped in water^they card and fpin it, yea^ and after their manner make thereof a fey 

 or web^wherupon the dames here with us have a double labor both of undoing^and alfo of wea- 

 ving againe this kind of yearnc. See what adoe there is about itjwhat labour and toile it cofleth, 

 and how farrefet it is : and all for this, that our ladies and wives when they goe abroad in the 

 If rcet may caff a luflre from them5and fliine againe in their filkes and velvets. As for the Seres^a 

 niild and gentle kind of people they are by nature : howbeit,in this one point they lelcmble the 

 bruit and wild beaff Sjfor that they cannot away in the commerce with other nations^with the fel- 

 lowiliip and focietie of men, but fliun and avoid their companie, notwithff anding they defire K 

 * Even at this to "^traf^-ickc with them.Thc firft river known among them is Pfitaras : the next to itjCarabi : the 

 bSat^har ^' ^^^^^ Lsuos .* and then you come to a cape of that name. Beyond it is the gulfe Chryfe^the river 

 wares with tiie Attanos^aud auothcr bay or creeke called Attanos. By it lieth the region of the Attaci, a kind 

 prices, upo^l^s of people/ecludcd from all noifome wind and aire, keeping upon hils, expofed to the pleafant 

 thcu vSes^^*^ S unne fhine,whcre they enjoy the fame temperature of aire, that the Hiperboreans live in. Of 

 then the forain this countrcv and people, hath written a feverall booke of purpofc:likeas Herat/xu^ 



come^andh ^^^^"^^ compikd fuch another treatife of the Hyperboreans. Beyond the Attaci or Attacores,the 

 ^own^the mo- Thytians and Tocharians do inhabitiye3,and the Cafirians,who now by this time belong to the 

 iiey,and have Indiuns^and are a part of thcm.But they vsithin -forth that lie toward the Scythians,feed of mans 

 Sdtfe:IIld ' -^s for the Nomades of India,they likewife wander to and fro, and keepe no refting place . ^ 

 lo depart vvuh- Somc writCithat thcy coufine upou the vcty Cicouians audBryfaniaus on the North fide. But 

 nmnir there(as all Geographers doe agree) the mountaines Emodi arifc and fhoot up : and there ente- 

 aii. reth the coiintrey of theEaft Indians, and extendeth not onely tothatfea,butalfbtotheSou- .. 



therne,which wee have named the Indian fea. And this part ofthe Orientall Indians,which liah 

 directly freight forth,asfarre astothatplace wherelndia beginneth to twine and bend toward 

 thelndianfea, containeth 1875 miles. And all that trad which windeth and turneth along the 

 South,taketh 2475 myles (as hath colleded and fetdowne)even unto the river In- 



dus, which is the utmoff limit of India Weff ward. But many other writers have let downe the 

 whole length of India in this nianner,namely5that it requireth 40 daies and nights failing, with a 

 good gale of a fore-wind: alio, that from the North to the South coaff thereof, is 275prmyles, M 

 Howbeir, Agrif>fa hadi put downe in writing that it is 3003 miles long, and 2003 broad. Pofido- 

 mm took meafure of it from the Northeaft to the Southcaft : and that by this means it is diredlly 

 oppofiieuntoGauIe,which hechkewife meafured alongthe Weil coaft, even fromtheNorth- 

 weif point where the Sunncgoeth downe at Midfummer^ to the Southwell where it fettethin 



the 



