Chap. II. 
of the East Indies. 
of Inquiring into the Accounts, which, in earlier Times, 
the, Egyptians had received of the Indians. They had like- 
wife a very ffri£i Intercourfe with the Tyrians , who ftill 
preferred, in virtue of their ftriCt Alliance with the Per- 
sians , that Commerce which they had fettled with the 
Indies , in the manner we have defcribed in the laft Section : 
And, as in this Period of Time, the Greek Learning was at 
the greateft Height, and as many of their Philofophers and 
learned Men travelled into the moft diftant Countries, purely 
for the fake of Information, we cannot doubt, that fo 
curious and fo ufeful a Subject efcaped them. 
It is, however, true, that fome of them took fuch a 
Method in relating their Difcoveries, that it is not eafy to 
difcern, whether they intended to write Hiftories or Fables ; 
of which we have Inftances in the Fragments that ftill 
remain of Solon , the great Law-giver of Athens , who was 
alfo a great Traveller, and fpent a long time in Egypt ; 
who brought home from thence an Account of aDifcovery, 
made by the Egyptians , of an Illand, in a far diftant Cli- 
mate, equally rich, fertile, and pleafant, and remarkable 
for the Angular Manners of its Inhabitants. Plato , the 
moft celebrated Philofopher of Greece , took Occafion from 
hence, to compofe a fine Dialogue upon this SubjeCt a ; in 
which he introduces Solon, and an Egyptian Prieft, dif- 
courfing upon this Difcovery ; and therein gives us a 
long and entertaining Account of this new Ifiand of At- 
lantis ; but, in fuch a manner, that it has been, to this 
Day, a Queftion, whether the Whole be not an elegant 
Fidion. Xenophon, who was one of the graved Hiftorians, 
and, without Controverfy, one of the belt Writers among 
the Greeks, has alfo given fuch a Turn to one of his belt 
Performances, I mean his Cyropadia, that Pofterity has 
been at a Lofs to know, whether it was to be underftood as 
a Hiftory, or a Romance ; and the latter Opinion feems 
to have prevailed. 
Yet, it is highly probable, that there is a great deal of 
Truth, mixed with Fables, in both thefe Works ; and 
that their Authors, though they had chiefly in View in- 
ftruding their Readers in moral Philofophy, might, not- 
withftanding, infert many Matters of Fad, as they really 
happened : But how to diftinguilh thefe, is a Queftion not 
eaiily anfwered. There is, however, extant, in a Greek 
Hiftorian, the Hiftory of a Voyage, undertaken in a An- 
gular Manner, and as furprifingly executed ; which is 
related in a plain and Ample Stile ; and, as it feems to 
have been the firft ever made to the Indies , of which we 
have any diftind Account, I lhall give it the Reader as near 
as poflible in the Words of the Author ; the rather, be- 
i caufe, though it is very curious and entertaining, yet I do 
i not remember to have feen it in any of our Colledions of 
Voyages, at leaft in its full Extent ; and, without taking 
in all its Circumftances, it is impoflible for the Reader to 
| apprehend it clearly, or to pafs a right Judgment upon 
I it b . 
10. There was one lamhulus, who, from his Youth, 
■ was addided to Learning : His Father was a Merchant ; 
i and, after his Deceafe, he applied himfelf, with great Dili- 
; gence, to the fame Profefliom This Man, travelling into 
Arabia , in order to purchafe Spices, was there taken Pri- 
I foner, with all his Company, by a Party of Robbers. At 
j firft, he, and one of his Companions, were employed in 
I keeping Sheep ; but they were foon after carried off by the 
< Ethiopians, inhabiting the Coaft, who conveyed them into 
their own Country, in order to ferve a very extraordinary 
1 Purpofe. For theft Ethiopians had a Cuftom, which had 
then fubfifted fix hundred Years, and was originally de- 
rived from the Direction of an Oracle, to expiate the Sins 
of their Nation once in an Age, or Generation, which with 
them comprehended the Space of thirty Years, by expofing 
two Strangers, in the following manner. 
Tney prepared a little V eflfel, well built, and extremely 
; well equipped, with Provifions for fix Months, on board 
of which the Men were put, at a certain Seafon of the 
’ Year, with mftrudions to fleer direCtly South, in order to 
arrive at a certain fortunate Ifiand, inhabited by a kind and 
’ holpi table People, with whom they might live happily all 
the reft of their Days. The Oracle declared, that, if thefe 
Men fucceeded in their Voyage, the Country' Would enjoy 
Reft and Quiet for many Years ; but, if, flighted by the 
Dangers of the Sea, they fliould return, it was ominous to 
Ethiopia ; and, therefore, they threatened lambu l us , and 
his Companion, with the fevereft Punifhments, in cafe they 
did not profecute their Voyage. When the Seafon of the 
Year came, the Ethiopians celebrated the Feftival of Pur- 
gation with moft fplendid Sacrifices ; and then, having 
crowned each of them with Garlands, they put lamhulus , 
and his Companion, on board the Veffel that had been 
prepared for them, and obliged them to put to Sea. 
They were four Months tofs’d by the Winds and 
Waves, before they arrived on the Coaft of the Ifiand to 
which they were bound ; at length they reached it fafely. 
In its Form it is almoft round, being about five tliqufand 
Stadia in Compafs, containing about five hundred of our 
Miles , 4 if we allow fix hundred Stadia to a Degree. As 
foon as they came within Sight of Land, the People on the 
Ifiand cro.uded on the Shore, to behold them : And, when 
they landed, Multitudes came from all Quarters, to gaze 
on, and admire them, wondering how they came thither ; 
but treating them with the utmoft Kindnefs and Civility, 
and offering them, with the greateft Read kiefs, whatever 
their Country afforded. 
Thefe People differed not a little from other Nations in 
their Appearance, as well as in their Manners ; for they 
were all of a pretty equal Size, each of them about four 
Cubits, or fix Foot high. They bent and turned their 
Bodies with fuch Agility, that their Bones feerned, to our 
Travellers, as flexible as the Sinew's of other People : 
Their Bodies were very tender; notwithftanding which, 
they were fo ftrong, that whatever they grafped, could 
not be forced out of their Hands. On their Heads, Eye- 
brows, Eye-lids, and on their Chins, they had Hair ; but 
the reft of their Bodies perfectly fmooth. They were 
handfome, and well-fhaped ; only the Ploles in their Ears 
were much wider than thofe of other Men, and had flefhy 
Protuberances in them. Their Tongues were very fingu- 
lar, being by Nature fomewhat divided, and cut in their 
Infancy to the very Root ; fo that they feerned double ; 
which enabled them to imitate the Notes, and even the 
Chatterings, of Birds : And, if our Travellers fay true, 
they could difeourfe with two People at once. 
This Ifiand is fiutated in a moft excellent and moderate 
Climate, lying very near the Equator ; fo that the People 
are neither feorched with Heat, nor pinched with Cold, 
enjoying, at once, all the Seafons, without any Divifion, 
like ours, of Spring and Harveft ; fo that, as Homer fings. 
Here ripe and green , at once, their Fruits appear. 
And Figs and Grapes are gather'd through the Tear. 
The Days and Nights are there always of equal Length; 
neither is there any Shadow at Noon-day, becaufe the 
Sun is direCtly in the Zenith. They are divided into 
Tribes, according to their Kindred, and into diftinCt So- 
cieties ; yet fo, as there are not above four hundred admit- 
ted into any one Tribe. They live in Meadows, where 
they are plentifully fupplied with all things neceffary for 
Food, by what the Earth produces ; for the Fertility of 
the Soil, and the Temperature of the Air, are fuch, that 
Corn grows there of itfelf. 
Plenty of Calamus, probably Maiz, grows there, whofe 
Fruit is like to white Vetches : When they have gathered 
it, they fteep it in hot Water, till it puffs up to the Big- 
nefs of a little Egg ; then bruifing it, and rubbing it in 
their Hands, they knead it into Dough; and fo bake and 
eat it, being exceeding fweet and delicious Bread to the 
Tafte. There are there both hot and cold Baths, which 
are for the curing and preventing of Diftempers, being ex- 
ceeding fweet and pleafant. They are learned in all Sorts 
of Sciences, efpecially in Aftrology. Theyufe eight-and- 
t-wenty particular Letters, for the expreffing what they 
mean^ compofed of fev.eri Characters ; each of which is 
varied four Ways. They live long, without ever being 
hck, and commonly to one hundred and fifty Years of 
Age. 
Z 
b 
Jdi'jdof . Si cut. lib. ii, cap, q. p, q6. 
$uch 
s De Inful. Atlantide. 
