there are certain tribes of the scythians, and, indeed, many other nations, which feed upon human flesh. this fact itself might, perhaps, appear incredible, did we not recollect, that in the very centre of the earth, in italy and sicily, nations formerly existed with these monstrous propensities, the cyclopes, and the l?strygones, for example; and that, very recently, on the other side of the alps, it was the custom to offer human sacrifices, after the manner of those nations; and the difference is but small between sacrificing human beings and eating them.
in the vicinity also of those who dwell in the northern regions, and not far from the spot from which the north wind 41 arises, and the place which is called its cave, and is known by the name of geskleithron, the arimaspi are said to exist, a nation remarkable for having but one eye, and that placed in the middle of the forehead. this race is said to carry on a perpetual warfare with the griffins, a kind of monster, with wings, as they are commonly[49] represented, for the gold which they dig out of the mines, and which these wild beasts retain and keep watch over with a singular degree of cupidity, while the arimaspi are equally desirous to get possession of it. many authors have corroborated this fact, among the most illustrious of whom are herodotus and aristeas of proconnesus.[50]
beyond the other scythian anthropophagi, there is a country called abarimon, situated in a certain great valley of mount imaus, the inhabitants of which are a savage race, whose feet are turned backwards, relatively to their legs: they possess wonderful velocity, and wander about indiscriminately with the wild beasts. we learn from beeton, whose duty it was to take the measurements of the routes of alexander the 42 great, that this people cannot breathe in any climate except their own, for which reason it is impossible to take them before any of the neighboring kings; nor could any of them be brought before alexander himself.
the anthropophagi, whom we have previously mentioned as dwelling ten days’ journey beyond the borysthenes, according to the account of isigonus of nic?a, were in the habit of drinking out of human skulls,[51] and placing the scalps, with the hair attached, upon their breasts, like so many napkins. the same author relates, that there is, in albania, a certain race of men (the albinoes), whose eyes are of a sea-green color, and who have white hair from their earliest childhood, and that these people see better in the night than in the day. he states also that the sauromatae, who dwell ten days’ journey beyond the borysthenes, take food only every other day. isigonus says there are among the triballi and the illyrii, some persons who have the power of fascination with the eyes, and can even kill those on whom they fix their gaze for any length of time, especially if their look denotes anger.
a still more remarkable circumstance is, the fact that these persons have two pupils in each eye. apollonides says, that there are certain females of this description in scythia, who are known as bythi?, and phylarchus states that a tribe of the thibii in pontus, and many other persons as well, have a double pupil in one eye, and in the other the figure of a horse.[52] he also remarks, that the bodies of these persons will not sink in water,[53] even though weighed down by their 43 garments. cicero also, one of our own writers, makes the remark, that the glances of all women who have a double pupil is noxious.[54]
not far from the city of rome, in the territory of the falisci, a few families are found, who are known by the name of hirpi. these people perform a yearly sacrifice to apollo, on mount soracte, on which occasion they walk over a burning pile of wood, without even being scorched. on this account, by virtue of a decree of the senate, they are always exempted from military service, and from all other public duties.
the indian elephant.
some individuals, again, are born with certain parts of the body endowed with properties of a marvellous nature. such was the case with king pyrrhus, the great toe of whose right foot cured diseases of the spleen, merely by touching the patient.[56] we are also informed, that this toe could not be reduced to ashes together with the other portions of his body; 44 upon which it was placed in a coffer, and preserved in a temple.
india, and the region of ?thiopia more especially, abounds in wonders. in india the largest of animals are produced; their dogs, for example, are much bigger than those of any other country. the trees, too, are said to be of such vast height, that it is impossible to send an arrow over them. this is the result of the singular fertility of the soil, the equable temperature of the atmosphere, and the abundance of water; which, if we are to believe what is said, are such, that a single fig-tree[57] is capable of affording shelter to a whole troop of horse. the reeds here are also of such enormous length, that each portion of them, between the joints, forms a tube, of which a boat is made that is capable of holding three men.[58] it is a well-known fact, that many of the people here are more than five cubits in height.[59] these people never expectorate, are subject to no pains, either in the head, the teeth, or the eyes, and rarely in any other parts of the body; so well is the heat of the sun calculated to strengthen the constitution. their philosophers, who are called gymnosophists, remain in one posture, with their eyes immovably fixed upon the sun, from its rising to its setting, and, during the whole of the day, they are accustomed to stand in the burning sands on one foot, first one and then the other. according to the account of megasthenes, dwelling upon a mountain called nulo, there is a race of men who have their feet turned backwards, with eight toes on each foot.
on many of the mountains again, there is a tribe of men 45 who have the heads of dogs,[60] and clothe themselves with the skins of wild beasts. instead of speaking, they bark; and, furnished with claws, they live by hunting and catching birds. according to the story, as given by ctesias, the number of these people is more than a hundred and twenty thousand. he speaks also of another race of men, who are known as monocoli, who have only one leg, but are able to leap with surprising agility. the same people are also called sciapod?, because they are in the habit of lying on their backs, during the time of the extreme heat, and protect themselves from the sun by the shade of their feet. these people, he says, dwell not very far from the troglodyt?; to the west of whom again there is a tribe who are without necks, and have eyes in their shoulders.
among the mountainous districts of the eastern parts of india, in what is called the country of the catharcludi, we find the satyr,[61] an animal of extraordinary swiftness. these go sometimes on four feet, and sometimes walk erect; they have also the features of a human being. on account of their swiftness, these creatures are never to be caught, except when they are either aged or sickly. tauron gives the name of choromand? to a nation which dwell in the woods and have no proper voice. these people screech in a frightful manner; their bodies are covered with hair, their eyes are of a sea-green color, and their teeth like those of the dog. eudoxus tells us, that in the southern parts of india, the men have feet a cubit in length; while those of the women 46 are so remarkably small, that they are called struthopodes or sparrow-footed.[62]
megasthenes places among the nomades of india, a people who are called scyrit?. these have merely holes in their faces instead of nostrils, and flexible feet, like the body of the serpent. at the very extremity of india, on the eastern side, near the source of the river ganges, there is the nation of the astomi, a people who have no mouths; their bodies are rough and hairy, and they cover themselves with a down[63] plucked from the leaves of trees. these people subsist only by breathing and by the odors which they inhale through the nostrils. they support themselves upon neither meat nor drink; when they go upon a long journey they only carry with them various odoriferous roots and flowers, and wild apples, that they may not be without something to smell at. but an odor, which is a little more powerful than usual, easily destroys them.[64]
beyond these people, and at the very extremity of the mountains, the trispithami and the pygmies are said to exist; two races which are but three spans in height, that is to say, twenty-seven inches only. they enjoy a salubrious atmosphere, and a perpetual spring, being sheltered by the mountains from the northern blasts; it is these people that homer[65] has mentioned as being warred upon by cranes. it is said, that they are in the habit of going down every spring to the sea-shore, in a large body, seated on the backs of rams and goats, and armed with arrows, and there destroy the eggs and the young of those birds; that this expedition occupies them for the space of three months, and that otherwise it would be impossible for them to withstand the increasing 47 multitudes of the cranes. their cabins, it is said, are built of mud, mixed with feathers and egg-shells. aristotle says, that they dwell in caves; but, in all other respects, he gives the same details as other writers.
isigonus informs us, that the cyrni, a people of india, live to their four hundredth year; and he is of opinion that the same is the case also with the ?thiopian macrobii, the ser?, and the inhabitants of mount athos. in the case of these last, it is supposed to be owing to the flesh of vipers,[66] which they use as food; in consequence of which, they are free also from all noxious animals, both in their hair and their garments.
according to onesicritus, in those parts of india where there is no shadow, the bodies of men attain a height of five cubits and two palms, and their life is prolonged to one hundred and thirty years; they die without any symptoms of old age, and just as if they were in the middle period of life. ctesias mentions a tribe known by the name of pandore, whose locality is in the valleys, and who live to their two hundredth year; their hair is white in youth, and becomes black in old age. on the other hand, there are some people joining up to the country of the macrobii, who never live beyond their fortieth year, and there is never more than one child in a family. this circumstance is also mentioned by agatharchides, who states, in addition, that they live on locusts, and are very swift of foot. clitarchus and megasthenes give these people the name of mandi, and enumerate as many as three hundred villages which belong to them. 48 their women marry in the seventh year of their age, and become old at forty.
artemidorus states that in the island of taprobana, life is prolonged to an extreme length, while, at the same time, the body is exempt from weakness. among the caling?, a nation also of india, the women marry at five years of age, and do not live beyond their eighth year. in other places again, there are men born with long hairy tails, and of remarkable swiftness of foot; while there are others that have ears so large as to cover the whole body.[67]
there is a tribe of ?thiopian nomades dwelling on the banks of the river astragus, towards the north, and about twenty days’ journey from the ocean. these people are called menismini; they live on the milk of the animal which we call cynocephalus,[68] and rear large flocks of these creatures. in the deserts of africa, men are frequently seen to all appearance, and then vanish in an instant.
nature, in her ingenuity, has created all these marvels in the human race, with others of a similar nature, as so many amusements to herself, though they appear miraculous to us. but who is there that can enumerate all the things that she brings to pass each day, i may almost say each hour? as a striking evidence of her power, let it be sufficient for me to have cited whole nations in the list of her prodigies.
let us now proceed to mention some other particulars connected with man, the truth of which is universally admitted.
it is a subject for pity, and even for a feeling of shame, when one reflects that the origin and life of the most vain of all animated beings is so frail: thou man, who placest thy confidence in the strength of thy body, thou, who dost embrace the gifts of fortune, and look upon thyself, not only as her fosterling, but even as her own born child, thou, whose 49 mind is ever thirsting for blood, thou who, puffed up with some success or other, dost think thyself a god—by how trifling a thing might thy life have been cut short! even this very day, something still less even may have the same effect, the puncture, for instance, of the tiny sting of the serpent; or even, as befell the poet anacreon, the swallowing of the stone of a raisin, or of a single hair in a draught of milk, by which the pr?tor and senator, fabius, was choked, and so met his death. he only, in fact, will be able to form a just estimate of the value of life, who will always bear in mind the extreme frailty of its tenure.
