the Scythians, but they spoke a peculiar language, EUROPE. and were the only people amongst these tribes who CHAP. VIII. were accustomed to eat human flesh.' They were separated from Scythia by a desert, and beyond them was another desert." Heeren fixes them as far north as the Russian government of Smolensk; and though Herodotus was prevented by the cataracts from being acquainted with the upper course of the Dnieper, yet this is no reason why he should not refer to a people dwelling even beyond its sources. 3 laeni, occupying Orloff 4. The Melanchlaeni wore black garments and fol- 4. Melanch lowed Scythian usages. Above them were lakes and an uninhabited desert as far as Herodotus's knowledge extended.* They may be placed in the government of Orloff, between the Dnieper and the Don. The names of both the Androphagi and the Melanchlaeni were evidently not the peculiar appellations of the tribes to which they belonged, but were derived from their customs and dress-Androphagi, or "men-eaters," and Melanchlaeni, or "black-clothed." matae, oc of and part of 5. The Sauromatae dwelt eastward of the Tanais 5. Sauro(or Don). Their territory commenced three days' cupying the journey eastward from the Tanais and three days' country journey northward from the Maeotis, and occupied Cossacks the country northward for fifteen days' journey, Astracan. reckoning from the farthest recess of the Maeotis. The country was completely destitute of trees." The people were said to have been descended from the offspring of Amazons and Scythian youths, of which Herodotus relates an account evidently amplified from some old tradition." The women in his time still retained their ancient customs, such as hunting on horseback either with or without their husbands, and joining in the wars and wearing the same dress as the men.8 The Sauromatae spoke the same language as the Scythians, but always corruptly, because the Amazons never learnt it correctly. According to their matrimonial laws, no virgin was permitted to CHAP. VIII. EUROPE. marry until she had killed an enemy, and consequently some lived unmarried all their days because they could not satisfy the law.' It is clear from our author that the Sauromatae occupied the steppe which is now inhabited by the Cossacks of the Don, and perhaps a part of Astracan besides; and they probably extended northward to the point where the Don and the Volga approach the nearest to each other. 6. Budini and Geloni, Saratoff. 3 6. The Budini dwelt above the Sauromatae, in a occupying country very thickly covered with all sorts of trees.2 They were a great and numerous people, with clear blue eyes and red hair. In their country was a square wooden town called Gelonus, surrounded by a high wooden wall, which was thirty stadia long on every side. The houses and sanctuaries were also made of wood; and the town contained temples of the Hellenic gods, adorned after the Hellenic manner with wooden images, altars, and shrines. The Geloni celebrated a festival to Dionysus with Dionysiac accompaniments every three years. Herodotus considered them to have been originally Greeks, who having been expelled from the Hellenic trading marts, had subsequently settled amongst the Budini; and indeed their language was partly Scythian and partly Hellenic. On the other hand, the Budini spoke a different language, and led altogether a different kind of life. They were aborigines of the country, and nomades, and were the only people in those regions who were accustomed to eat lice; whereas the Geloni were tillers of the soil, fed upon bread, and differed from the Budini both in form and complexion. In spite however of these points of difference, 1 iv. 117. 2 iv. 21. Baehr 3 Commentators hold different opinions upon this passage. and others understand that the Budini painted their bodies a vivid blue and red. Others, amongst whom are Mannert, Heeren, and Bobrik, suppose that the blue eyes and red hair, characteristic of the north, are referred to; and this latter opinion I have followed. This establishment was no doubt founded by the Hellenic colonists on the Pontus as a staple for the fur trade. Cf. Heeren, Asiat. Nat. vol. ii. P. 5 iv. 108. the Budini were still called Geloni by the Greeks.' EUROPE. The country, as already said, was covered with trees, CHAP. VIII. and in the thickest wood was a large and spacious lake surrounded by moorland and reeds. Otters and beavers were caught here, and other animals with four-sided faces," whose skins were sewn round the borders of cloaks, and whose testes were useful in curing diseases of the womb.3 The settlements of the Budini evidently began where the territory of the Sauromatae ended, and we may therefore place them in the government of Saratoff, and they may have extended to the river Don at Voronez. Herodotus calls them a great and numerous people, and there is no doubt but that their territory was very considerable.* ERN EU ROPE. III. On entering EASTERN EUROPE we find our- III. EASTselves in the track of the caravan route, which probably commenced at Olbia, and went over the Tanais Great carainto the country of the Budini on the banks of the Volga; and perhaps a preliminary sketch of the pro 1 Ritter refers back their Hellenic customs, and their worship of Dionysus, to their Asiatic originals; and deriving their name from Buddha, boldly brings them to the support of his theory respecting the great primeval migration from India and central Asia to the shores of the Maeotis, and to northern Europe. Sea-dogs (phocae vitulinae) inhabit the lakes of Siberia, and Heeren has no doubt but that these are the animals which Herodotus had in view, as the surprising size of their heads justifies the expression he has employed in defining them. There is however no more occasion for our here making Terpaywvog to signify a quadrate than in the case of Scythia. Some people wear peculiarly fashioned boots, which earn for them the title of "square toes;" in the same way possibly that the angular expression of these animals induced our author to describe them as Tetpaywvoπρόσωπα. 3 iv. 109. Heeren remarks, that if we admit it to have been equal in extent to the territory of the Sauromatae, it will comprise the present governments of Penza, Simbirsk, Kasan, and a part of Perm, and terminate in the vicinity of the southern branch of the Ural mountains. These provinces now abound in forests of oak, which are the magazines of Russian naval architecture; but the lake cannot be discovered, though, as he describes it almost as a morass, it may be observed that the place where we should expect to find it, is occupied by marshy grounds, which at certain periods turn the land into a vast lake. (Heeren, Asiat. Nat. vol. ii. p. 12.) This learned author however appears to be himself doubtful whether the Budini extended so far north, and would rather place their northern confines, as I have done, at 54 deg. north lat., so as to leave room for the seven days' journey across the desert, and then for the country of the Thyssagetae between the Budini and the Ural chain. See p. 185. van route. Character of the commerce. Olbia the emporium. Trade in corn. Slaves. EUROPE. bable character of the commerce, may throw additionCHAP. VIII. al interest around the geography of these regions. The Greek colonies on the Black Sea had, by their bold enterprise and commercial activity, opened a line of communications with the distant interior, and at length monopolized all the productions of the north and east. The city of Olbia, situated at the mouth of the Dnieper, (or Borysthenes,) near the site of the modern Kherson, was the most considerable settlement, and probably the emporium of trade. The Scythians of the Ukrain, of whom Herodotus especially mentions the Alazones, cultivated corn not only for food, but for the purposes of commerce,' and this necessary commodity would be in great demand at Athens, whose territory was over-populated for its means of supply. Again, the countries on the north and east of the Euxine were inexhaustible magazines for the slave trade. The name of Scythian became synonymous with the word slave, and amongst the nations of Mount Caucasus prisoners of war were invariably sold in the Greek markets. Another lucrative branch of commerce was the trade in furs. The use of furs was nearly general amongst the Thracian tribes and the nations bordering on the Euxine, and a considerable trade was likewise carried on amongst the people cast of the Caspian, and inhabitants of northern Asia. Furs have indeed been considered in all times as articles of necessity in the inclement regions of the north, and as articles of luxury and ornament in the warmer climes of the voluptuous south. Cloaks of fur were worn in Babylon, and furs are to be seen amongst the presents of the Persian governors to the great king, as represented on the relief of Persepolis. The Budini, whom we have already noticed, and the Thyssagetae and Jyrcae, whom we have yet to mention, are all described as nations of hunters, and from them, with Furs. 1 iv. 17. 2 2 The Thracians wore caps of fox-skin and boots of fur (iv. 17). The Scythians and Melanchlaeni used cloaks of the same material. Cf. Heeren, Asia, vol. ii. p. 23. the Ural out doubt, the Greek merchants obtained this com- EUROPE. modity. But the traffic in corn, slaves, or furs, would CHAP. VIII. never alone have induced the Greeks to take such long and perilous journeys into the interior as are described by our author. There was another article, Gold from which in all ages has excited the cupidity of man- and Altai kind, and exercised the most potent rule. Gold was mountains. procured in great quantity and with little difficulty from the Ural mountains and those of Altai; and we find many of the barbarous nations possessing this metal in great abundance. northward The great caravan route will be best described by Route exactly following in the order of our author's narra- from the tive, first recording his observation, that the Scy- Budini. thians who performed the journey carried on their affairs in seven different languages, and therefore required the same number of interpreters.' seven days' Further north beyond the Budini was first a de- Desert of sert of seven days' journey in extent, which we may journey, presume extended through the governments of Sim- occupying birsk and Kasan as far as the southern confines of and Kasan. Viatka. 3 Simbirsk wards the east. occupying Beyond the desert the route turned somewhat Route totowards the east, and entered the country of the Thyssagetae, a numerous and distinct people who Thyssagetae lived by hunting. Four great rivers rose amongst Perm. the Thyssagetae, and flowed into the lake Maeotis, namely, the Lycus, Oarus, Tanais, and Syrgis.* On the river Oarus Darius commenced building eight large forts, each sixty stadia distant from the other, but he left them half finished, and there the ruins 6 2 iv. 21. 3 iv. 22. 4 iv. 123. 45 1 iv. 24. 5 It is impossible, with the exception of the Tanais or Don, to identify these rivers in modern geography. The Oarus was perhaps the Volga, and perhaps one of the others was the Ural, but then both of these rivers discharge themselves into the Caspian, and not into the Maeotis, which Herodotus distinctly states, though he could not have been so well acquainted with the coast and with the lower courses of the rivers as he was with the upper courses. Mannert supposes the Lycus, Oarus, and Syrgis to be respectively the Volga, Uzen, and Ural: Rennell supposes the Oarus to be the Volga, and the Lycus and Syrgis to be the Medveditza and Khoper, which fall into the Don. Dahlmann has pointed out the difficulty in believing that Darius really advanced as far as the river Oarus, and whether we identify this river |