by eating the flesh of goats and sheep; for a pig from the Thebaid is no longer found in the regions of India or Ethiopia because of the excessive heat. 1.7 This scholar, then, related that from Axum, having found some Indians crossing over in small boats for the sake of trade, he tried to go further inland; and having arrived near those called the Bisadae who gather pepper; that is a very small and feeble people, dwelling in stone caves, who also know how to traverse cliffs because of the region's configuration and thus they gather pepper from the bushes; for they are stunted little trees, as that scholar said. The Bisadae are stunted little men with large heads, beardless and with straight hair; but the other Ethiopians and Indians are black, vigorous, and with bristly hair. 1.8 "From there," he says, "being detained by the one in power, I was questioned for having dared to enter their country; and neither did they accept my defense, not understanding the dialect of our country, nor did I recognize the accusations made against me by them. For I did not know their language, but we corresponded with each other with recognizable signs only by the contortions of our faces. I, for my part, guessed the meaning of their accusatory words from the bloodshot color of their eyes and the savage grinding of their teeth and their gestures, while they in turn clearly understood the pitiful state of my soul through the cowardice of my body from my trembling and anxiety and the pallor of my face. 1.9 Being detained, therefore, by them, I served for six years, having been handed over to the bakery for work. And the expenditure of their king, he says, was one modius of wheat for his entire palace, and that, I do not know from where it was brought. In this way, he says, in the six years I was able to note down a great many things from their language, through which I also learned about the neighboring peoples. 1.10 I was released from there, he says, in this manner: another king, making war against the one holding me, slandered him to the great king who sits on the island of Taprobane, saying that having taken a worthy Roman man captive, he holds him in the most menial service. And he, sending a judge and learning the truth, ordered him to be flayed alive for having insulted a Roman; for they greatly honor and fear the Roman dominion, as being able to overrun their country through an excess of courage and resourcefulness. 1.11 This man said, therefore, that the Brahmans are a people who renounce the world not by choice, like the monks, but they received this lot from above and by the judgments of God, dwelling by the river, living naturally in nakedness. Among whom there is no four-footed animal, no agriculture, no iron, no building, no fire, no bread, no wine, no clothing, nor anything else that contributes to work or tends toward enjoyment. But they have an air that is clear, temperate, and very beautiful. Worshipping God and having knowledge, though not so subtle, nor able to discern so well the reasons of providence, nevertheless they pray without ceasing. And when praying, instead of the east they gaze at the sky, not paying attention to the turning of the sunrise. 1.12 They eat whatever fruit they happen upon and wild vegetables, as many as the earth produces spontaneously, and they drink water, being nomads in the woods, resting on leaves. And among them there is much of the persea-wood and the so-called acanthus and some other native fruit-bearing trees from which they live. 1.13 And the men dwell on that side of the river Ganges toward the Ocean; for this river flows into the Ocean; but their women are on this side of the Ganges toward India. The men cross over to the women in the months of July and August; for among them these are the coolest months, when the sun is raised up above the north toward us; and those months are said to be more temperate and to stir desire. And having made with the

κρεωφαγίᾳ αἰγῶν καὶ προβάτων· χοῖρος γὰρ ἀπὸ Θηβαΐδος οὐκέτι εὑρίσκεται ἐν τοῖς μέρεσιν Ἰνδίας ἢ Αἰθιοπίας δι' ὑπερβολὴν καυμάτων. 1.7 διηγεῖτο οὖν οὗτος ὁ σχολαστικός, ὅτι ἀπὸ τῆς Αὐξούμης εὑρών τινας πλοιαρίοις διαβαίνοντας Ἰνδοὺς ἐμπορίας χάριν ἐπειράθη ἐνδότερον ἀπελθεῖν· καὶ φθάσας ἐγγὺς τῶν καλουμένων Βισάδων τῶν τὸ πίπερ συναγόντων· ἔθνος δέ ἐστιν ἐκεῖνο πάνυ σμικρότατον καὶ ἀδρανέστατον, λιθίνοις σπηλαίοις ἐνοικοῦντες, οἵτινες καὶ κρημνοβατεῖν ἐπίστανται διὰ τὴν τοῦ τόπου συστρο φὴν καὶ τὸ πίπερ οὕτως ἀπὸ τῶν θάμνων συνάγουσι· δενδρύφια γάρ εἰσι κολοβά, ὡς ἔλεγεν ἐκεῖνος ὁ σχολαστικός. εἰσὶ δὲ καὶ οἱ Βισάδες ἀνθρωπάρια κολοβὰ μεγαλοκέφαλα, ἄκαρτα καὶ ἁπλό τριχα· οἱ δὲ λοιποὶ Αἰθίορες καὶ Ἰνδοὶ μέλανές εἰσιν καὶ νεανικοὶ καὶ φριξότριχες. 1.8 "ἐκεῖθεν δέ", φησι, "κατασχεθεὶς ὑπὸ τοῦ δυναστεύοντος πραγμάτων ἐπειρώμην ὡς τολμήσας εἰσελθεῖν εἰς τὴν χώραν αὐτῶν· καὶ οὔτε ἐκεῖνοι τὴν ἀπολογίαν ἐδέχοντο τὴν ἐμὴν μὴ ἐπιστάμε νοι τὴν διάλεκτον τῆς ἡμετέρας χώρας, οὔτε δὲ ἐγὼ τὰς παρ' ἐκεί νων εὐθύνας εἰς ἐμὲ γινομένας ἐγνώριζον. οὐδὲ γὰρ ἐγὼ τὴν ἐκείνων ἠπιστάμην γλῶσσαν, μόναις δὲ ταῖς διαστροφαῖς τῶν ὄνεων ἀλλήλοις ἐστοιχοῦμεν γνώριμα σημεῖα. ἐγὼ μὲν τὰς ἐκεί νων ἐγκληματώδεις φωνὰς ἐκ τοῦ ὑφαίμου τῆς χρόας τῶν ὀφθαλμῶν καὶ τοῦ ἀγρίου τρισμοῦ τῶν ὀδόντων καὶ τῶν κινήσεων τὴν τῶν λεγομένων παρ' αὐτῶν ἐστοχαζόμην δύναμιν, ἐκεῖνοι δὲ αὖ πάλιν ἐκ τοῦ τρόμου τοῦ ἐμοῦ καὶ τῆς ἀγωνίας καὶ τῆς ὠχρότητος τοῦ προσώπου τό τε τῆς ψυχῆς ἐλεεινὸν διὰ τῆς τοῦ σώματος δειλίας ἐναργῶς κατεμάνθανον. 1.9 κατασχεθεὶς οὖν παρ' αὐτοῖς ἑξαετίαν ὑπηρέτησα, τῷ ἀρτοκοπείῳ παραδοθεὶς εἰς ἐργασίαν. ἦν δὲ τὸ ἀνάλωμα τοῦ βασιλέως αὐτῶν, φησι, μόδιος εἷς σίτου εἰς ὅλον αὐτοῦ πα λάτιον, κἀκεῖνος οὐκ οἶδα πόθεν φερόμενος. οὕτως δέ, φησιν, ἐν τῇ ἑξαετίᾳ ἠδυνήθην πλεῖστα ἐκ τῆς γλώσσης αὐτῶν σημει ώσασθαι, δι' ὧν καὶ τὰ παρακείμενα λοιπὸν ἔθνη μεμάθηκα. 1.10 ἀπελύθην δέ, φησιν, ἐκεῖθεν τῷ τρόπῳ τούτῳ· ἕτερος βασιλεὺς ποιήσας μάχην μετὰ τοῦ κατέχοντός με διέβαλεν αὐ τὸν πρὸς τὸν μέγαν βασιλέα τὸν ἐν Ταπροβάνῃ νήσῳ καθεζόμε νον ὡς ἄνδρα ἀξιόλογον Ῥωμαῖον αἰχμάλωτον λαβὼν τοῦτον ἔχει εἰς ὑπηρεσίαν ἀγενεστάτην. ὁ δὲ πέμψας κριτὴν ἕνα καὶ μαθὼν τὸ ἀκριβὲς ἐκέλευσεν αὐτὸν ἀσκοδαρῆναι ὡς ὑβρίσαντα Ῥωμαῖον· πάνυ γὰρ τιμῶσι τε καὶ φοβοῦνται τὴν Ῥωμαίων ἀρχὴν ὡς δυναμένην καὶ τῇ χώρᾳ αὐτῶν ἐπιβῆναι δι' ὑπερβολὴν ἀνδρείας καὶ εὐμηχανίας. 1.11 ἔλεγεν οὖν οὗτος ὅτι οἱ Βραγμᾶνες ἔθνος ἐστὶν οὐ προ αιρέσει ἀποτασσόμενον ὡς οἱ μοναχοί, ἀλλ' ἔλαχον τὸν κλῆρον τοῦτον ἄνωθεν καὶ ἐκ θεοῦ κριμάτων, τὴν τοῦ ποταμοῦ παροι κίαν, φυσικῶς ἐν γυμνότητι διαζῶντες. παρ' οἷς οὐδὲν τετρά ποδον ὑπάρχει, οὐ γεώργιον, οὐ σίδηρος, οὐκ οἰκοδομή, οὐ πῦρ, οὐκ ἄρτος, οὐκ οἶνος, οὐχ ἱμάτιον, οὐκ ἄλλο τι τῶν εἰς ἐργασίαν συντελούντων ἢ ἀπόλαυσιν συντεινόντων. ἔχουσι δὲ ἀέρα λιγυρόν τε καὶ εὔκρατον καὶ πάνυ κάλλιστον. σεβόμενοι τὸν θεὸν καὶ γνῶσιν ἔχοντες οὐχ οὕτως δὲ λεπτὴν οὔτε δὲ δι ευκρινεῖν οὕτως τοὺς τῆς προνοίας λόγους δυνάμενοι ὅμως εὔ χονται ἀδιαλείπτως. εὐχόμενοι δὲ ἀντὶ τῆς ἀνατολῆς τῷ οὐρα νῷ ἀτενίζουσι, τῇ τροπῇ τῆς ἀνατολῆς οὐ προσέχοντες. 1.12 ἐσθίουσι δὲ τὰ παρατυγχάνοντα ἀκρόδρυα καὶ λαχάνων τὰ ἄγρια, ὅσα ἡ γῆ ἐκφύει αὐτομάτως, καὶ ὕδωρ πίνουσι νομάδες ὄντες ἐν ὕλαις ἐπὶ φύλλοις ἀναπαυόμενοι. παρ' αὐτοῖς δὲ πολὺ τὸ περσεϊνὸν ξύλον καὶ τὸ λεγόμενον ἀκάνθινον καί τινα ἕτε ρα ἐπιχώρια καρποφόρα ἀφ' ὧν ἀποζῶσιν. 1.13 καὶ οἱ μὲν ἄνδρες εἰς τὸ μέρος τοῦ Ὠκεανοῦ ἐκεῖθεν τοῦ ποταμοῦ τοῦ Γάγγου παροικοῦσιν· οὗτος γὰρ ὁ ποταμὸς εἰς τὸν Ὠκεανὸν εἰσβάλλει· αἱ δὲ γυναῖκες αὐτῶν εἰσιν ἐντεῦθεν τοῦ Γάγγου ἐπὶ τὸ μέρος τῆς Ἰνδίας. περαιοῦνται δὲ οἱ ἄν δρες πρὸς τὰς γυναῖκας Ἰουλίῳ καὶ Αὐγούστῳ μηνί· οὗτοι γάρ εἰσι παρ' αὐτοῖς οἱ μῆνες ψυχρότατοι τοῦ ἡλίου πρὸς ἡμᾶς ὑπὲρ βοῤῥᾶν ὑψωθέντος· οἳ καὶ εὐκρατότεροι λέγονται εἶναι οἱ μῆνες ἐκεῖνοι καὶ οἶστρον κινεῖν. καὶ ποιήσαντες μετὰ τῶν