444 Difcovery, Settlement, and Commerce Book L 
own private Judgment, that have banifhecL that outfide 
Shew, which is certainly no more than a falfe Glory, and 
has no fort of Correfpondence with true Merit. I ufe, 
with Moderation, the little Splendor that our Laws per- 
mit ; and, though I may truly fay, that there are few 
Monarchs more powerful than my felt, yet, with like Ve- 
racity, I can affirm, that I can be content with a little, 
and leave the reft to my Friends. Happy CEconomy, 
cried out Apollonius, which teaches you, by defpifmg 
Wealth, to purchase a Treafureof fuperior Nature 1 But, 
replied the King, it is not only to my Friends that I part 
with my Riches •, I even beftow fome upon my Enemies, 
that my Subjects may enjoy Reft and Tranquillity. It is 
in that, and that alone, that I place all my Glory a . 
Apollonius , afterwards, inquired into the King’s man- 
ner of living •, to which that Monarch anfwered very gra- 
ciouffy, I never drink Wine, but when I facrifice to the 
Sun : What I take in hunting I diftribute among my 
Friends, contenting myfelf with the Benefit I receive from 
the Exercife. As for my Food, it confifts of Herbs, the 
Fruit of the Palm-tree, and other Vegetables, which I 
cultivate with my own Hands. After this he bathed with 
the King, and was entertained at a fumptuous Dinner, at 
which no more than five Perfons were prefent ; at which 
were ferved Fifh, Fowl, whole Lions, Kids, the Paws of 
Tygers, Roots, Fruits, and Bread. Every one rofe from 
his Place, and took at the Table what he thought fit, re- 
turning to his Place, and eat it there at his Leifure, 
Branches of Laurel, Myrtle, and other odoriferous Trees, 
were fcattered in the Room, yielding an agreeable, but not 
an overcoming Scent. All Dinner-time the Table was 
Surrounded by thirty Muficians *, and, at the fame time, 
Several young Indians diverted the King with Feats of 
Activity. When every body had done eating, Several 
Cups were brought of a very large Size, out of which 
every Man drank what he thought fit •, his Head, accord- 
ing to the Cuftom of the Country, being entirely co- 
vered by the Cup b . 
It is not to be fuppofed, that in a Country of fo large 
Extent as the Indies , all the Princes fhould purfue the fame 
regular Plan, or preferve a like Severity of Morals : And, 
indeed, the contrary of this is evident from what Hiftory 
informs us, with refpeeft to the Kingdom of Mufican , 
which lay towards the Mouth of the River Indus, in that 
Part of the Country, which, from its Likenefs to the Delta 
of Egypt, bore the fame Name-, the Princes of which 
lived in all the Splendor, and in all the Luxury, of the Per - 
fians, or rather exceeded them in both. A Multitude of 
Women were perpetually about the King’s Perfon ; fo 
that he was, by their Ablions, their Songs, and their 
Difcourfe, perpetually excited to lafeivious Pleafures. When- 
ever this Monarch appeared in public, his Officers car- 
ried Silver Incenle-pots before him, to perfume the Air. 
He lay at full Length in a Litter of Cloth of Gold, gar- 
niffied with Pearls, long Strings of which hung down on 
every Side. Flis Habit was a long Robe of Linen, em- 
broidered with Gold and Purple. His. Concubines ac- 
companied him with a Pomp equal to his own ; and his 
Guards carried Branches of fweet-fmelling Wood, filled 
with Birds of every Kind, the wild Notes of which were 
efteemed by the Indians beyond any kind of Mufic. After 
his Train followed the Queen, with a Magnificence equal, 
in all refpe&s, to that of her Confort. 
The only Kind of Exercife ufed by this King, was Hunt- 
ing : And when he took this Diverfion in a Park, he was 
always in his Chariot, Surrounded by his Concubines, who 
Shot at the wild Bealls, as well as he •, but il he purfued his 
Sport in the open Field, he went alone, mounted upon his 
Elephant. The Entry of his Palace was adorned with a 
ftately Portico, compofed of many Pillars richly gilt, on 
each of which a Vine of Gold twilled itfelf to the very Top, 
adorned with the Figures of feveral kind of Birds, painted 
of different Colours. This State-room was open to all the 
World, at the Hours of Audience efpecialiy; but at thefe 
Seafons, while the King gave Audience to Embaffadors, 
heard Caufes, or did any other kind of Bufinefs, he had 
a Philoftr. lib. ii. c. zg A fequen. 
d Philofirat. denjita Apollonii Tyanci, lib. i. c. 10. 
Several Women about him •, fome of whom combed his 
Hair, fome perfumed his Hands, and others his Feet : 
His Face was very clofely Shaved, except the very Point 
of the Chin, from whence there hung a long Beard. At 
Table, and on all other Occafions, he was ferved by thefe 
Ladies •, and was fo jealous of Snifter Defigns againft his 
Perfon, that if any looked upon him too Steadily, or came 
nearer than he thought convenient, he ordered them to be 
put to Death. So paffionately fond this Monarch was of 
Horfes, that he commanded Flolidays on their Account, 
as if they had been really Part of the Royal Family c . It 
may not, however, be amifs to caution the Reader as to 
both thefe Accounts, which, it mull be confeffed, are 
liable to fome Objections : And, in my Opinion, an Au- 
thor has no more a Right to produce a fufpicious Witnefs, 
and avail himfelf of his Teftimony, than he would have to 
deceive, in the fame manner, a Court of Juftice. In both 
Cafes, there is an Injury done to Truth; and tho’ it be 
true, that the latter may have more fatal Confequences than 
the former, yet the Falfifier of Truth does his utmoft, in 
one Cafe as well as the other : And fo far the Crime is alike 
in both. The Author of the latter Account is Onejicritus , 
who was Captain of Alexander's Ship, and had, doubtlefs. 
Opportunities of knowing the Truth of the Fact, if he 
could have had Candour enough to have related it ; but 
he had naturally fuch a Love for the Marvellous, that he 
could not help exaggerating whatever he reported, as Stra- 
bo, and other Writers, agree, and as the Fabts themfelves 
plainly declare. Quintus Cur tius, an elegant Writer, but 
one who was likewife fond of Wonders, copied this Story 
where-ever he found it ; which may, poffibly, rt be true, but 
has an Air of Improbability, at leaft. 
As to the former, Apollonius Pyaneus, I ought to have 
given the Reader a complete Sebtion of his Travels, if it 
had not been for the former Objeblion ; which, Imuftcon- 
fefs, weighed with me fo far as to engage me to lay afide 
that Defign. He was a very famous Philofopher of the 
Pythagorean Sebt, born about the time of the Commence- 
ment of the Chriftian JEra, and who lived to the Age of 
ninety-fix, or thereabouts. He was a Man of very lingu- 
lar Character ; for he affebled great Purity of Manners, 
and, at the fame time, aimed at two Things, which feem 
incompatible therewith : The firlt of thefe was Magic ; in 
which he pretended' to have extraordinary Skill, and took 
a great deal of Pains to perfuade the World, that he had a 
great Familiarity with the Demons, and was able, by their 
Helps, to perform mighty Feats. The other great Aim 
of his Life, was the reftoring and fupporting Polytheifm y , 
or Idolatry, which was then very much on the Decline. 
To accomplifh thefe Views, he travelled more than any 
Man of his Time. Flis principal Difciple was one Damis , , 
who followed him in moft of his Peregrinations, and parti- ■ 
cularly into the Indies : And this Man it was, that left be- ■ 
hind liirn Memoirs of his Mailer’s Life, which were drawn . 
up in a very confufed Way, and in a Stile that was very i 
uncouth. Philojlratus undertook to polifh thefe, and to : 
put them into proper Order ; and this Work of his is that I 
which I cite. But whether it be thro’ his Fault, or from : 
the Defebt of the original Memoirs of Damis, it fo falls \ 
out, that there many Things very punctually related in the : 
Story of his Travels, which, even at this Diftance of 1 
Time, we know could not be true. One Inftance of this « 
may fuffice, for the Reader’s Satisfaction, which I ffiall 
bring within as fhort a Compafs as poffible. 
In his W ay to India Apollonius palled thro’ Babylon , which, . 
in his Life, is defcribed as a City of twenty-four Leagues in 
Circuit ; and, in fhort, appears, in every refpebt, as it 1 
Hood in the Days of Nebuchadnezar d , tho’ it is certain that 
City was long before deftroyed ; and Pliny , who was his : 
Cotemporary, allures us, and that very truly, that nothing : 
but the Temple of Belus remained intire, all the reft being = 
become a perfebl Defert. He likewife reprefents it as the < 
Seat of the Parthian Kings, which it never was ; for thofe .< 
Princes fpent the Winter at Ctefiphon , near Seleucia , and c 
the Summer at Ecbatana. There are many other Slips of > 
the fame Kind ; by whofe Negligence committed, it is not ) 
c Onejicrit, ap. Strabouem , p. 710. Q Curt. lib. viii. c. g. : 
eafy 1 
b Philofirat. lib . iii. c, 26. 
