[ r 74 ] 
of them is, l< ad Tabim infula eft Chryfa, ad Gan- 
“ gem Argyra, altera aurea foli, altera argentea j at- 
“ que ut maxime videtur, aut ex re nomen, aut ex 
(t vocabulo fidta fabula eft.” 
The elder Pliny died in the 79th of the Chriftian 
aera, and was a cotemporary of Mela ; and feems 
to have referred to the above paftage, in the follow- 
ing words : “ Extra oftium Indi Chryfe et Argyre, 
“ fertiles metallis, ut credo j nam quod aliqui tradi- 
dere, aureum argenteumque iis folum efte, haud 
tc facile crediderim p.” 
Although the age in which Solinus lived is fo un- 
certain, yet it might be imagined that it was not 
very long after Pliny ; having copied from the other 
geographers which went before him, he has advan- 
ced nothing upon this point that had not been alrea- 
dy mentioned. His words are thefe: “ Extra Indi 
“ oftium infulae duas, Chryfe et Argyre, adeo foecundse 
“ copia metal lorum, ut plerique eas aurea fola pro- 
<l diderint habere et argentea 
Jofephus was 56 years of age, in the fourteenth year 
of Domitian’s reign, or 93d of the Chriftian trra r ; and 
appears to have had a little more knowledge of thefe 
places than any we have yet mentioned ; for, fpeaking 
of Saphira, from whence king Solomon had his gold, 
he iays, that “ it was a country of India, and not an 
“ llland ; and that it Wa now called by the name of 
“ Aurea, vuv Xgvo"r] 1/ yr t v KtxXcvfAivqv, T'/jg Iv^ixyg eg-iv 
<c 
p J- Harduin, Plin. p. 322. vol. 1. Paris, 1723. 
q C. J Soiin. c. Lil. Poly b. Hiftor. p. 700. 
r Jofeph. Open Ox. 1720. 
7 
Dionyfius 
