The Voyage around the Erythraean Sea
ThePeriplus Maris Erythraei (or ‘Voyage around theErythraean Sea’) is an anonymous work from around the middleof the first century CE written by a Greek speaking Egyptianmerchant. The first part of the work (sections 1-18)describes the maritime trade-routes following the north-south axisfrom Egypt down the coast of East Africa as far as modern dayTanzania. The remainder describes the routes of the East-Westaxis running from Egypt, around the Arabian Peninsula and past the PersianGulf on to the west coast of India. From the vivid descriptionsof the places mentioned it is generally held that the authorhimself traveled to nearly all the lands he describes. Thefinal chapters describe the East Coast of India as far north as themouth of the Ganges and include reports the author had heard of theuncharted lands beyond. The author’s pattern is todescribe the lengths and conditions of the routes, the keyemporiums and anchorage points, the disposition of the locals, andthe imports and exports of the region. Because the annualmonsoon winds were the key factor in making the voyage to India theauthor will at times note the month (in both Greek and Egyptian) inwhich one should sail from Egypt.
The present text has been digitalized from the translation ofWilfred H. Schoff,The Periplus of the Erythraean Sea: Traveland Trade in the Indian Ocean by a Merchant of the FirstCentury (New York: Longmans, Green, and Co., 1912). Someadditional commentary including alternate spellings or translationsfrom Lionel Casson’s more recent edition are given in squarebrackets. For a full commentary one should consult Casson,The Periplus Maris Erythraei: Text with Introduction,Translation and Commentary (Princeton, NJ: Princeton UniversityPress, 1989).
Measures:
10 Greekstadion (pl.stadia) are equivalent toabout 1 English mile or 1.6 kilometers.
 | -Lance Jenott June, 2004 |
1. Of the designated ports on the ErythraeanSea, and the market-towns around it, the first is the Egyptianport of Mussel Harbor [=Myos Hormos]. To those sailing down fromthat place, on the right hand, after eighteen hundred stadia,there is Berenice. The harbors of both are at the boundary ofEgypt, and are bays opening from the Erythraean Sea.
2. On the right-hand coast next belowBerenice is the country of the Berbers [or Barbaroi,“foreigners”: traditionally designating any non-Greekspeaker]. Along the shore are the Fish-Eaters, living in scatteredcaves in the narrow valleys. Further inland are the Berbers,and beyond them the Wild-flesh-Eaters and Calf-Eaters [Casson:“shoot-eaters”, from Greekmosxophagoi:translatable as either “calf” or “shoot,twig”], each tribe governed by its chief; and behindthem, further inland, in the country toward the west, there lies acity called Meroe.
3. Below the Calf-Eaters there is a little market-townon the shore after sailing about four thousand stadia fromBerenice, called Ptolemais of the Hunts, from which the huntersstarted for the interior under the dynasty of the Ptolemies. Thismarket-town has the true land-tortoise in small quantity; it iswhite and smaller in the shells. And here also is found a littleivory, like that of Adulis. But the place has no harbor and isreached only by small boats.
4. Below Ptolemais of the Hunts, at a distance ofabout three thousand stadia, there is Adulis, a portestablished by law, lying at the inner end of a bay that runsin toward the south. Before the harbor lies the so-called MountainIsland, about two hundred stadia sea-ward from the very head of thebay, with the shores of the mainland close to it on both sides.Ships bound for this port now anchor here because of attacks fromthe land. They used formerly to anchor at the very head of the bay,by an island called Diodorus, close to the shore, which could bereached on foot from the land; by which means the barbarous nativesattacked the island. Opposite Mountain Island, on the mainlandtwenty stadia from shore, lies Adulis, a fair-sized village, fromwhich there is a three-days' journey to Coloe, an inland town andthe first market for ivory. From that place to the city of thepeople called Auxumites there is a five days' journey more; to thatplace all the ivory is brought from the country beyond the Nilethrough the district called Cyeneum, and thence to Adulis.Practically the whole number of elephants and rhinoceros that arekilled live in the places inland, although at rare intervalsthey are hunted on the seacoast even near Adulis. Before the harborof that market-town, out at sea on the right hand, there lie agreat many little sandy islands called Alalaei, yieldingtortoise-shell, which is brought to market there by theFish-Eaters.
5. And about eight hundred stadia beyond there isanother very deep bay, with a great mound of sand piled up at theright of the entrance; at the bottom of which the opsian stone isfound, and this is the only place where it is produced. Theseplaces, from the Calf-Eaters to the other Berber country, aregoverned by Zoscales, who is miserly in his ways and alwaysstriving for more, but otherwise upright, and acquainted [Casson:“well versed”; Greek:empeiros] with Greekliterature.
6. There are imported into these places, undressedcloth made in Egypt for the Berbers; robes from Arsinoe;cloaks of poor quality dyed in colors; double-fringed linenmantles; many articles of flint glass, and others of murrhine, madein Diospolis; and brass, which is used for ornament and in cutpieces instead of coin; sheets of soft copper, used forcooking-utensils and cut up for bracelets and anklets for thewomen; iron, which is made into spears used against the elephantsand other wild beasts, and in their wars. Besides these, small axesare imported, and adzes and swords; copper drinking-cups, round andlarge; a little coin for those comning to the market; wine ofLaodicea and Italy, not much; olive oil, not much; for the king,gold and silver plate made after the fashion of the country, andfor clothing, military cloaks, and thin coats of skin, of no greatvalue. Likewise from the district of Ariaca across this sea, thereare imported Indian iron, and steel, and Indian cotton cloth; thebroad cloth calledmonache and that calledsagimtogene, and girdles, and coats of skin andmallow-colored cloth, and a few muslins, and colored lac.There are exported from these places ivory, and tortoise-shell andrhinoceros-horn. The most from Egypt is brought to this market fromthe month of January, to September, that is, from Tybi to Thoth;but seasonably they put to sea about the month of September.
7. From this place the Arabian Gulf trends toward theeast and becomes narrowest just before the Gulf of Avalites. Afterabout four thousand stadia, for those sailing eastward along thesame coast, there are other Berber market-towns, known as the"far-side" ports; lying at intervals one after theother, without harbors but having roadsteads where ships can anchorand lie in good weather. The first is called Avalites; to thisplace the voyage from Arabia to the far-side coast is the shortest.Here there is a small market-town called Avalites, which must bereached by boats and rafts. There are imported into this place,flint glass, assorted; juice of sour grapes from Diospolis; dressedcloth, assorted, made for the Berbers; wheat, wine, and a littletin. There are exported from the same place, and sometimes by theBerbers themselves crossing on rafts to Ocelis and Muza on theopposite shore, spices, a little ivory, tortoise-shell, and a verylittle myrrh, but better than the rest. And the Berbers who live inthe place are very unruly.
8 After Avalites there is another market-town, betterthan this, called Malao, distant a sail of about eight hundredstadia. The anchorage is an open road-stead, sheltered by a spitrunning out from the east. Here the natives are more peaceable.There are imported into this place the things alreadymentioned, and many tunics, cloaks from Arsinoe, dressed and dyed;drinking-cups, sheets of soft copper in small quantity, iron, andgold and silver coin, not much. There are exported from theseplaces myrrh, a little frankincense (that known as“far-side”), the harder cinnamon,duaca, Indiancopal andmacir, which are imported into Arabia; and slaves,but rarely.
9. Two days' sail, or three, beyond Malao is the market-town ofMundus, where the ships lie at anchor more safely behind aprojecting island close to the shore. There are imported into thisplace the things previously set forth, and from it likewise areexported the merchandise already stated, and the incensecalledmocrotu. And the traders living here are morequarrelsome [Greeksklêros:“tough”—i.e., shrewd traders].
10. Beyond Mundus, sailing toward the east, afteranother two days' sail, or three, you reach Mosyllum, on a beach,with a bad anchorage. There are imported here the same thingsalready mentioned, also silver plate, a very little iron, andglass. There are shipped from the place a great quantity ofcinnamon, (so that this market-town requires ships of larger size),and fragrant gums, spices, a little tortoise shell, andmocrotu, (poorer than that of Mundus), frankincense [from]the “far-side”, ivory and myrrh in smallquantities.
11. Sailing along the coast beyond Mosyllum, after atwo days' course you come to the so-called Little Nile River, and afine spring, and a small laurel-grove, and Cape Elephant. Then theshore recedes into a bay, and has a river, called Elephant, and alarge laurel-grove called Acanna; where alone is produced thefar-side frankincense, in great quantity and of the best grade.
12. Beyond this place, the coast trending toward the south, there isthe Market and Cape of Spices, an abrupt promontory, at the veryend of the Berber coast toward the east. The anchorage is dangerousat times from the ground-swell, because the place is exposed to thenorth. A sign of an approaching storm which is peculiar to theplace, is that the deep water becomes more turbid and changes itscolor. When this happens they all run to a large promontory calledTaba, which offers safe shelter. There are imported into thismarket-town the things already mentioned; and there areproduced in it cinnamon, (and its different varieties,gizir,asypha,arebo,magla, andmoto) and frankincense.
13. Beyond Taba, after four hundred stadia, there is the village ofPano. And then, after sailing four hundred stadia along apromontory, toward which place the current also draws you, there isanother market-town called Opone, into which the same things areimported as those already mentioned, and in it the greatestquantity of cinnamon is produced, (thearebo andmoto), and slaves of the better sort, which are brought toEgypt in increasing numbers; and a great quantity oftortoise-shell, better than that found elsewhere.
14. The voyage to all these far-side market-towns is made from Egyptabout the month of July, that is Epiphi. And ships are alsocustomarily fitted out from the places across this sea, from Ariacaand Barygaza, bringing to these far-side market-towns the productsof their own places; wheat, rice, clarified butter, sesame oil,cotton cloth, (themonacheand thesagmatogene), andgirdles, and honey from the reed calledsacchari. Some makethe voyage especially to these market-towns, and others exchangetheir cargoes while sailing along the coast. This country is notsubject to a King, but each market-town is ruled by its separatechief.
15. Beyond Opone, the shore trending more toward thesouth, first there are the small and great bluffs of Azania; thiscoast is destitute of harbors, but there are places where ships canlie at anchor, the shore being abrupt; and this course is of sixdays, the direction being south-west. Then come the small and greatbeach for another six days' course and after that in order, theCourses of Azania, the first being called Sarapion and the nextNicon; and after that several rivers and other anchorages, oneafter the other, separately a rest and a run for each day, seven inall, until the Pyralae islands and what is called the channel;beyond which, a little to the south of south-west, after twocourses of a day and night along the Ausanitic coast, is the islandMenuthias, about three hundred stadia from the main-land, low andwooded, in which there are rivers and many kinds of birds and themountain-tortoise. There are no wild beasts except the crocodiles;but there they do not attack men. In this place there are sewedboats, and canoes hollowed from single logs, which they use forfishing and catching tortoise. In this island they also catch themin a peculiar way, in wicker baskets, which they fasten across thechannel-opening between the breakers.
16. Two days' sail beyond, there lies the very lastmarket-town of the continent of Azania, which is called Rhapta;which has its name from the sewed boats (rhaptonploiarion) already mentioned; in which there is ivory ingreat quantity, and tortoise-shell. Along this coast live men ofpiratical habits, very great in stature, and under separate chiefsfor each place. The Mapharitic chief governs it under some ancientright that subjects it to the sovereignty of the state that isbecome first in Arabia. And the people of Muza now hold it underhis authority, and send thither many large ships, using Arabcaptains and agents, who are familiar with the natives andintermarry with them, and who know the whole coast and understandthe language.
17. There are imported into these markets the lancesmade at Muza especially for this trade, and hatchets and daggersand awls, and various kinds of glass; and at some places a littlewine, and wheat, not for trade, but to serve for getting thegood-will of the savages. There are exported from these places agreat quantity of ivory, but inferior to that of Adulis, andrhinoceros-horn and tortoise-shell (which is in best demand afterthat from India), and a little palm-oil.
18. And these markets of Azania are the very last ofthe continent that stretches down on the right hand from Berenice;for beyond these places the unexplored ocean curves around towardthe west, and running along by the regions to the south ofAethiopia and Libya and Africa, it mingles with the westernsea.
19. Now to the left of Berenice, sailing for two orthree days from Mussel Harbor eastward across the adjacent gulf,there is another harbor and fortified place, which is called WhiteVillage, from which there is a road to Petra, which is subject toMalichas, King of the Nabataans. It holds the position of amarket-town for the small vessels sent there from Arabia; and so acenturion is stationed there as a collector of one-fourth of themerchandise imported, with an armed force, as a garrison.
20. Directly below this place is the adjoining countryof Arabia, in its length bordering a great distance on theErythraean Sea. Different tribes inhabit the country, differing intheir speech, some partially, and some altogether. The land nextthe sea is similarly dotted here and there with caves of theFish-Eaters, but the country inland is peopled by rascally menspeaking two languages, who live in villages and nomadic camps, bywhom those sailing off the middle course are plundered, andthose surviving shipwrecks are taken for slaves. And so they tooare continually taken prisoners by the chiefs and kings of Arabia;and they are called Carnaites. Navigation is dangerous along thiswhole coast of Arabia, which is without harbors, with badanchorages, foul, inaccessible because of breakers and rocks,and terrible in every way. Therefore we hold our course down themiddle of the gulf and pass on as fast as possible by the countryof Arabia until we come to the Burnt Island; directly below whichthere are regions of peaceful people, nomadic, pasturers of cattle,sheep and camels.
21. Beyond these places, in a bay at the foot of theleft side of this gulf, there is a place by the shore called Muza,a market-town established by law, distant altogether fromBerenice for those sailing southward, about twelve thousand stadia.And the whole place is crowded with Arab ship-owners and seafaringmen, and is busy with the affairs of commerce; for they carry on atrade with the far-side coast and with Barygaza, sending their ownships there.
22. Three days inland from this port there is a citycalled Saua, in the midst of the region called Mapharitis; andthere is a vassal-chief named Cholaebus who lives in thatcity.
23. And after nine days more there is Saphar, themetropolis, in which lives Charibael, lawful king of two tribes,the Homerites and those living next to them, called the Sabaites;through continual embassies and gifts, he is a friend of theEmperors.
24. The market-town of Muza is without a harbor,but has a good roadstead and anchorage because of the sandy bottomthereabouts, where the anchors hold safely. The merchandiseimported there consists of purple cloths, both fine and coarse;clothing in the Arabian style, with sleeves; plain, ordinary,embroidered, or interwoven with gold; saffron, sweet rush,muslins, cloaks, blankets (not many), some plain and others made inthe local fashion; sashes of different colors, fragrant ointmentsin moderate quantity, wine and wheat, not much. For the countryproduces grain in moderate amount, and a great deal of wine. And tothe King and the Chief are given horses and sumpter-mules,vessels of gold and polished silver, finely woven clothing andcopper vessels. There are exported from the same place the thingsproduced in the country: selected myrrh, and theGebanite-Minaeanstacte, alabaster and all the thingsalready mentioned from Avalites and the far-side coast. The voyageto this place is made best about the month of September, that isThoth; but there is nothing to prevent it even earlier.
25. After sailing beyond this place about three hundredstadia, the coast of Arabia and the Berber country about theAvalitic gulf now coming close together, there is a channel,not long in extent, which forces the sea together and shuts it intoa narrow strait, the passage through which, sixty stadia in length,the island Diodorus divides. Therefore the course through it isbeset with rushing currents and with strong winds blowing down fromthe adjacent ridge of mountains. Directly on this strait by theshore there is a village of Arabs, subject to the same chief,called Ocelis; which is not so much a market-town as it is ananchorage and watering-place and the first landing for thosesailing into the gulf.
26. Beyond Ocelis, the sea widening again toward the east and soongiving a view of the open ocean, after about twelve hundred stadiathere is Eudaemon Arabia, a village by the shore, also of theKingdom of Charibael, and having convenient anchorages, andwatering-places, sweeter and better than those at Ocelis; it liesat the entrance of a bay, and the land recedes from it. It wascalled Eudaemon [= “Prosperous”], because in the earlydays of the city when the voyage was not yet made from India toEgypt, and when they did not dare to sail from Egypt to the portsacross this ocean, but all came together at this place, itreceived the cargoes from both countries, just as Alexandria nowreceives the things brought both from abroad and from Egypt. Butnot long before our own time Charibael destroyed the place.
27. After Eudaemon Arabia there is a continuous length of coast, anda bay extending two thousand stadia or more, along which there areNomads and Fish-Eaters living in villages; just beyond the capeprojecting from this bay there is another market-town by the shore,Cana [Kanê], of the Kingdom of Eleazus, the FrankincenseCountry; and facing it there are two desert islands, one calledIsland of Birds, the other Dome Island, one hundred and twentystadia from Cana. Inland from this place lies the metropolisSabbatha, in which the King lives. All the frankincense produced inthe country is brought by camels to that place to be stored, and toCana on rafts held up by inflated skins after the manner of thecountry, and in boats. And this place has a trade also with thefar-side ports, with Barygaza and Scythia and Ommana and theneighboring coast of Persia.
28. There are imported into this place from Egypt alittle wheat and wine, as at Muza; clothing in the Arabian style,plain and common and most of it spurious; and copper and tinand coral and storax and other things such as go to Muza; and forthe King usually wrought gold and silver plate, also horses, images[Greekandriantes: “male statuary”], and thinclothing of fine quality. And there are exported from this place,native produce, frankincense and aloes, and the rest of the thingsthat enter into the trade of the other ports. The voyage to thisplace is best made at the same time as that to Muza, or ratherearlier.
29. Beyond Cana, the land receding greatly, therefollows a very deep bay stretching a great way across, which iscalled Sachalites; and the Frankincense Country, mountainousand forbidding, wrapped in thick clouds and fog, and yieldingfrankincense from the trees. These incense-bearing trees are not ofgreat height or thickness; they bear the frankincense stickingin drops on the bark, just as the trees among us in Egypt weeptheir gum. The frankincense is gathered by the King's slaves andthose who are sent to this service for punishment. For theseplaces are very unhealthy, and pestilential even to thosesailing along the coast, but almost always fatal to those workingthere, who also perish often from want of food.
30. On this bay there is a very great promontory facingthe east, called Syagrus; on which is a fort for.thedefense of the country, and a harbor and storehouse for thefrankincense that is collected; and opposite this cape, well out atsea, there is an island, lying between it and the Cape of Spicesopposite, but nearer Syagrus: it is called Dioscorida [=modernSocotra], and is very large but desert and marshy, having rivers init and crocodiles and many snakes and great lizards, of which theflesh is eaten and the fat melted and used instead of olive oil.The island yields no fruit, neither vine nor grain. The inhabitantsare few and they live on the coast toward the north, which fromthis side faces the continent. They are foreigners, a mixture ofArabs and Indians and Greeks, who have emigrated to carry on tradethere. The island produces the true sea-tortoise, and theland-tortoise, and the white tortoise which is very numerous andpreferred for its large shells; and the mountain-tortoise, which islargest of all and has the thickest shell; of which the worthless'specimens cannot be cut apart on the under-side, because they areeven too hard; but those of value are cut apart and the shells madewhole into caskets and small plates and cake-dishes and that sortof ware. There is also produced in this island cinnabar, thatcalled Indian, which is collected in drops from the trees.
31. It happens that just as Azania is subject toCharibael and the Chief of Mapharitis, this island is subject tothe King of the Frankincense Country. Trade is also carried onthere by some people from Muza and by those who chance to callthere on the voyage from Damirica [Casson:“Limyrikê”; i.e. Malabar Coast of south India]and Barygaza; they bring in rice and wheat and Indian cloth, and afew female slaves; and they take for their exchange cargoes, agreat quantity of tortoise-shell. Now the island is farmed outunder the Kings and is garrisoned.
32. Immediately beyond Syagrus the bay of Omana cutsdeep into the coast-line, the width of it being six hundred stadia;and beyond this there are mountains, high and rocky and steep,inhabited by cave-dwellers for five hundred stadia more; and beyondthis is a port established for receiving the Sachaliticfrankincense; the harbor is called Moscha, and ships from Cana callthere regularly; and ships returning from Damirica [=Limyrike] andBarygaza, if the season is late, winter there, and trade with theKing's officers, exchanging their cloth and wheat and sesame oilfor frankincense, which lies in heaps all over the Sachaliticcountry, open and unguarded, as if the place were under theprotection of the gods; for neither openly nor by stealth can it beloaded on board ship without the King's permission; if a singlegrain were loaded without this, the ship could not clear from theharbor.
33. Beyond the harbor of Moscha for about fifteenhundred stadia as far as Asich, a mountain range runs along theshore; at the end of which, in a row, lie seven islands, calledZenobian. Beyond these there is a barbarous region which is nolonger of the same Kingdom, but now belongs to Persia. Sailingalong this coast well out at sea for two thousand stadia from theZenobian Islands, there meets you an island called Sarapis, aboutone hundred and twenty stadia from the mainland. It is about twohundred stadia wide and six hundred long, inhabited by threesettlements of Fish-Eaters, a villainous lot, who use the Arabianlanguage and wear girdles of palm-leaves. The island producesconsiderable tortoise-shell of fine quality, and small sail-boatsand cargo-ships are sent there regularly from Cana.
34. Sailing along the coast, which trends north-ward toward theentrance of the Persian Sea, there are many islands known as theCalaei, after about two thousand stadia, extending along the shore.The inhabitants are a treacherous lot, very little civilized.
35. At the upper end of these Calai islandsis a range of mountains called Calon, and there follows not farbeyond, the mouth of the Persian Gulf, where there is much divingfor the pearl-mussel. To the left of the straits are greatmountains called Asabon, and to the right there rises in full viewanother round and high mountain called Semiramis; between them thepassage across the strait is about six hundred stadia; beyond whichthat very great and broad sea, the Persian Gulf, reaches far intothe interior. At the upper end of this Gulf there is a market-towndesignated by law, called Apologus, situated near Charax Spasiniand the River Euphrates.
36. Sailing through the mouth of the Gulf, after asix-days’ course there is another market-town of Persiacalled Ommana. To both of these market-towns large vessels areregularly sent from Barygaza, loaded with copper and sandalwood andtimbers of teakwood and logs of blackwood and ebony. To Ommanafrankincense is also brought from Cana, and from Ommana to Arabiaboats sewed together after the fashion of the place; these areknown asmadarata. From each of these market-towns, thereare exported to Barygaza and also to Arabia, many pearls, butinferior to those of India; purple, clothing after the fashion ofthe place, wine, a great quantity of dates, gold and slaves.
37. Beyond the Ommanitic region there is a country also of theParsidae, of another Kingdom, and the bay of Gedrosia [Casson:“Gulf of Terabdoi”], from the middle of which a capejuts out into the bay. Here there is a river affording an entrancefor ships, with a little market-town at the mouth, called Oraea andback from the place an in-land city, distant a seven days' journeyfrom the sea, in which also is the King's court; it is called ...(probably Rhambacia) [Casson notes the name was inadvertentlyadmitted in the manuscript]. This country yields much wheat, wine,rice and dates; but along the coast there is nothing butbdellium.
38. Beyond this region, the continent making a widecurve from the east across the depths of the bays, there followsthe coast district of Scythia, which lies above toward the north;the whole marshy; from which flows down the river Sinthus [=IndusRiver], the greatest of all the rivers that flow into theErythraean Sea, bringing down an enormous volume of water; so thata long way out at sea, before reaching this country, the water ofthe ocean is fresh from it. Now as a sign of approach to thiscountry to those coming from the sea, there are serpents comingforth from the depths to meet you; and a sign of the places justmentioned and in Persia, are those calledgraea. This riverhas seven mouths, very shallow and marshy, so that they are notnavigable, except the one in the middle; at which by the shore, isthe market-town, Barbaricum. Before it there lies a small island,and inland behind it is the metropolis of Scythia, Minnagara;it is subject to Parthian princes who are constantly driving eachother out.
39. The ships lie at anchor at Barbaricum, but all their cargoes arecarried up to the metropolis by the river, to the King. There areimported into this market a great deal of thin clothing, and alittle spurious; figured linens, topaz, coral, storax,frankincense, vessels of glass, silver and gold plate, and a littlewine. On the other hand there are exported costus, bdellium,lycium, nard, turquoise, lapis lazuli, Seric skins, cotton cloth,silk yarn, and indigo. And sailors set out thither with the IndianEtesian winds, about the month of July, that is Epiphi: it is moredangerous then, but through these winds the voyage is more direct,and sooner completed.
40. Beyond the river Sinthus there is another gulf,not navigable, running in toward the north; it is called Eirinon;its parts are called separately the small gulf and the great; inboth parts the water is shallow, with shifting sandbanks occurringcontinually and a great way from shore; so that very often when theshore is not even in sight, ships run aground, and if they attemptto hold their course they are wrecked. A promontory stands outfrom this gulf, curving around from Eirinon toward the East, thenSouth, then West, and enclosing the gulf called Baraca, whichcontains seven islands. Those who come to the entrance of this bayescape it by putting about a little and standing further out tosea; but those who are drawn inside into the gulf of Baraca arelost; for the waves are high and very violent, and the sea istumultuous and foul, and has eddies and rushing whirlpools. Thebottom is in some places abrupt, and in others rocky and sharp, sothat the anchors lying there are parted, some being quickly cutoff, and others chafing on the bottom. As a sign of these places tothose approaching from the sea there are serpents, very large andblack; for at the other places on this coast and around Barygaza,they are smaller, and in color bright green, running into gold.
41. Beyond the gulf of Baraca is that of Barygaza andthe coast of the country of Ariaca, which is the beginning of theKingdom of Nambanus and of all India. That part of it lying inlandand adjoining Scythia is called Abiria, but the coast is calledSyrastrene. It is a fertile country, yielding wheat and rice andsesame oil and clarified butter, cotton and the Indian cloths madetherefrom, of the coarser sorts. Very many cattle are pasturedthere, and the men are of great stature and black in color.The metropolis of this country is Minnagara, from which much cottoncloth is brought down to Barygaza. In these places there remaineven to the present time signs of the expedition of Alexander, suchas ancient shrines, walls of forts and great wells. The sailingcourse along this coast, from Barbaricum to the promontory calledPapica, opposite Barygaza, and before Astacampra, is of threethousand stadia.
42. Beyond this there is another gulf exposed to thesea-waves, running up toward the north, at the mouth of which thereis an island called Bavones: at its innermost part there is a greatriver called Mais. Those sailing to Barygaza pass across this gulf,which is three hundred stadia in width, leaving behind to theirleft the island just visible from their tops toward the east,straight to the very mouth of the river of Barygaza; and this riveris called Nammadus.
43. This gulf is very narrow to Barygaza and very hardto navigate for those coming from the ocean; this is the case withboth the right and left passages, but there is a better passagethrough the left. For on the right at the very mouth of the gulfthere lies a shoal, along and narrow, and full of rocks, calledHerone, facing the village of Cammoni; and opposite this on theleft projects the promontory that lies before Astacampra,which is called Papica, and is a had anchorage because of thestrong current setting in around it and because the anchors are cutoff, the bottom being rough and rocky. And even if the entrance tothe gulf is made safely, the mouth of the river at Barygaza isfound with difficulty, because the shore is very low and cannot bemade out until you are close upon it. And when you have found itthe passage is difficult because of the shoals at the mouth of theriver.
44. Because of this, native fishermen in the King'sservice, stationed at the very entrance in well-manned large boatscalledtrappaga andcotymba, go up the coast as faras Syrastrene, from which they pilot vessels to Barygaza. And theysteer them straight from the mouth of the bay between the shoalswith their crews; and they tow them to fixed stations, going upwith the beginning of the flood, and lying through the ebb atanchorages and in basins. These basins are deeper places in theriver as far as Barygaza; which lies by the river, about threehundred stadia up from the mouth.
45. Now the whole country of India has very manyrivers, and very great ebb and flow of the tides; increasing at thenew moon, and at the full moon for three days, and falling offduring the intervening days of the moon. But about Barygaza it ismuch greater, so that the bottom is suddenly seen, and now parts ofthe dry land are sea, and now it is dry where ships were sailingjust before; and the rivers, under the inrush of the flood tide,when the whole force of the sea is directed against them, aredriven upwards more strongly against their natural current, formany stadia.
46. For this reason entrance and departure ofvessels is very dangerous to those who are inexperienced orwho come to this market-town for the first time. For the rush ofwaters at the incoming tide is irresistible, and the anchors cannothold against it; so that large ships are caught up by the force ofit, turned broadside on through the speed of the current, and sodriven on the shoals and wrecked; and smaller boats areover-turned; and those that have been turned aside among thechannels by the receding waters at the ebb, are left on theirsides, and if not held on an even keel by props, the flood tidecomes upon them suddenly and under the first head of the currentthey are filled with water. For there is so great force in the rushof the sea at the new moon, especially during the flood tide atnight, that if you begin the entrance at the moment when the watersare still, on the instant there is borne to you at the mouth of theriver, a noise like the cries of an army heard from afar; and verysoon the sea itself comes rushing in over the shoals with ahoarse roar.
47. The country inland from Barygaza is inhabited bynumerous tribes, such as the Arattii, the Arachosii, the Gandaraeiand the people of Poclais, in which is Bucephalus Alexandria. Abovethese is the very war-like nation of the Bactrians, who are undertheir own king. And Alexander, setting out from these parts,penetrated to the Ganges, leaving aside Damirica [=Limyrike] andthe southern part of India; and to the present day ancientdrachma are current in Barygaza, coming from this country, bearinginscriptions in Greek letters, and the devices of those who reignedafter Alexander, Apollodotus and Menander.
48. Inland from this place and to the east, is the citycalled Ozene, formerly a royal capital; from this place are broughtdown all things needed for the welfare of the country aboutBarygaza, and many things for our trade : agate and carnelian,Indian muslins and mallow cloth, and much ordinary cloth. Throughthis same region and from the upper country is brought thespikenard that comes through Poclais; that is, the Caspapyrene andParopanisene and Cabolitic and that brought through the adjoiningcountry of Scythia; also costus and bdellium.
49. There are imported into this market-town, wine, Italianpreferred, also Laodicean and Arabian; copper, tin, and lead; coraland topaz; thin clothing and inferior sorts of all kinds;bright-colored girdles a cubit wide; storax, sweet clover, flintglass, realgar, antimony, gold and silver coin, on which thereis a profit when exchanged for the money of the country; andointment, but not very costly and not much. And for the King thereare brought into those places very costly vessels of silver,singing boys, beautiful maidens for the harem, fine wines, thinclothing of the finest weaves, and the choicest ointments. Thereare exported from these places spikenard, costus, bdellium, ivory,agate and carnelian, lycium, cotton cloth of all kinds, silk cloth,mallow cloth, yarn, long pepper and such other things as arebrought here from the various market-towns. Those bound for thismarket-town from Egypt make the voyage favorably about the month ofJuly, that is Epiphi.
50. Beyond Barygaza the adjoining coast extends in a straight linefrom north to south; and so this region is calledDachinabades, for dachanos in the language of the nativesmeans "south." The inland country back from the coast toward theeast comprises many desert regions and great mountains; and allkinds of wild beasts--leopards, tigers, elephants, enormousserpents, hyenas, and baboons of many sorts; and many populousnations, as far as the Ganges.
51. Among the market-towns of Dachinabades there aretwo of special importance; Pathana, distant about twenty days'journey south from Barygaza; beyond which, about ten days'journey east, there is another very great city, Tagara. There arebrought down to Barygaza from these places by wagons and throughgreat tracts without roads, from Pathana carnelian in greatquantity, and from Tagara much common cloth, all kinds ofmuslins and mallow cloth, and other merchandise brought therelocally from the regions along the sea-coast. And the wholecourse to the end of Damirica [=Limyrike] is seven thousand stadia;but the distance is greater to the Coast Country.
52. The market-towns of this region are, in order, after Barygaza:Suppara, and the city of Calliena, which in the time of the elderSaraganus became a lawful Market-town; but since it came into thepossession of Sandares the port is much obstructed, and Greek shipslanding there may chance to be taken to Barygaza under guard.
53. Beyond Calliena there are other market-towns of this region;Semylla, Mandagora, Pala patma, Meligara, Byzantium, Togarumand Aurannohoas. Then there are the islands called Sesecrienae andthat of the Aegidii, and that of the Caenitae, opposite the placecalled Chersonesus (and in these places there are pirates) andafter this the White Island. Then come Naura and Tyndis, the firstmarkets of Damirica [=Limyrike], and then Muziris and Nelcynda,which are now of leading importance.
54. Tyndis is of the Kingdom of Cerobothra; it is avillage in plain sight by the sea. Muziris, of the same Kingdom,abounds in ships sent there with cargoes from Arabia, and by theGreeks; it is located on a river, distant from Tyndis by river andsea five hundred stadia, and up the river from the shore twentystadia. Nelcynda is distant from Muziris by river and sea aboutfive hundred stadia, and is of another Kingdom, the Pandian.This place also is situated on a river, about one hundred andtwenty stadia from the sea.
55. There is another place at the mouth of this river,the village of Bacare; to which ships drop down on the outwardvoyage from Nelcynda, and anchor in the roadstead to take on theircargoes; because the river is full of shoals and the channels arenot clear. The kings of both these market-towns live in theinterior. And as a sign to those approaching these places fromthe sea there are serpents coming forth to meet you, black incolor, but shorter, like snakes in the head, and with blood-red eyes.
56. They send large ships to these market-townson account of the great quantity and bulk of pepper andmalabathrum. There are imported here, in the first place, a greatquantity of coin; topaz, thin clothing, not much; figured linens,antimony, coral, crude glass, copper, tin, lead; wine, not much,but as much as at Barygaza; realgar and orpiment; and wheat enoughfor the sailors, for this is not dealt in by the merchants there.There is exported pepper, which is produced in quantity in only oneregion near these markets, a district called Cottonara. Besidesthis there are ex-ported great quantities of fine pearls, ivory,silk cloth, spikenard from the Ganges, malabathrum from the placesin the interior, transparent stones of all kinds, diamonds andsapphires, and tortoise-shell; that from Chryse Island, and thattaken among the islands along the coast of Damirica [=Limyrike].They make the voyage to this place in a favorable season who setout from Egypt about the month of July, that is Epiphi.
57. This whole voyage as above described, from Cana andEudaemon Arabia, they used to make in small vessels, sailing closearound the shores of the gulfs; and Hippalus was the pilot who byobserving the location of the ports and the conditions of the sea,first discovered how to lay his course straight across theocean. For at the same time when with us the Etesian winds areblowing, on the shores of India the wind sets in from the ocean,and this southwest wind is called Hippalus, from the name ofhim who first discovered the passage across. From that time to thepresent day ships start, some direct from Cana, and some from theCape of Spices; and those bound for Damirica [=Limyrike] throw theship's head considerably off the wind; while those bound forBarygaza and Scythia keep along shore not more than three days andfor the rest of the time hold the same course straight out to seafrom that region, with a favorable wind, quite away from the land,and so sail outside past the aforesaid gulfs.
58. Beyond Bacare there is the Dark Red Mountain, andanother district stretching along the coast toward the south,called Paralia. The first place is called Balita; it has a fineharbor and a village by the shore. Beyond this there is anotherplace called Comari at which are the Cape of Comari [=Cape Comorin]and a harbor; hither come those men who wish to consecratethemselves for the rest of their lives, and bathe and dwell incelibacy; and women also do the same; for it is told that a goddessonce dwelt here and bathed.
59. From Comari toward the south this region extends toColchi, where the pearl-fisheries are; (they are worked bycondemned criminals); and it belongs to the Pandian Kingdom. BeyondColchi there follows another district called the CoastCountry, which lies on a bay, and has a region inland calledArgaru. At this place, and nowhere else, are bought the pearlsgathered on the coast thereabouts; and from there are exportedmuslins, those called Argaritic.
60. Among the market-towns of these countries, and the harbors wherethe ships put in from Damirica [=Limyrike] and from the north, themost important are, in order as they lie, first Camara, thenPoduca, then Sopatma; in which there are ships of the countrycoasting along the shore as far as Damirica; and other very largevessels made of single logs bound together, calledsangara: but those which make the voyage to Chryse and tothe Ganges are calledcolandia, and are very large. Thereare imported into these places everything made in Damirica, and thegreatest part of what is brought at any time from Egypt comes here,together with most kinds of all the things that are brought fromDamirica and of those that are carried through Paralia.
61. About the following region, the coursetrending toward the east, lying out at sea toward the west isthe island Palaesimundu, called by the ancients Taprobane. Thenorthern part is a day's journey distant, and the southern parttrends gradually toward the west, and almost touches the oppositeshore of Azania. It produces pearls, transparent stones, muslins,and tortoise-shell.
62. About these places is the region of Masalia stretching a greatway along the coast before the inland country; a great quantity ofmuslins is made there. Beyond this region, sailing toward the eastand crossing the adjacent bay, there is the region of Dosarene,yielding the ivory known as Dosarenic. Beyond this, the coursetrending toward the north, there are many barbarous tribes,among whom are the Cirrhadae, a race of men with flattened noses,very savage; another tribe, the Bargysi; and the Horse-faces andthe Long-faces, who are said to be cannibals.
63. After these, the course turns toward the east again, and sailingwith the ocean to the right and the shore remaining beyond to theleft, Ganges comes into view, and near it the very last land towardthe east, Chryse. There is a river near it called the Ganges, andit rises and falls in the same way as the Nile. On its bank is amarket-town which has the same name as the river, Ganges. Throughthis place are brought malabathrum and Gangetic spikenard andpearls, and muslins of the finest sorts, which are called Gangetic.It is said that there are gold-mines near these places, and thereis a gold coin which is calledcaltis. And just oppositethis river there is an island in the ocean, the last part of theinhabited world toward the east, under the rising sun itself; it iscalled Chryse; and it has the best tortoise-shell of all the placeson the Erythraean Sea.
64. After this region under the very north, the sea outside endingin a land called This, there is a very great inland city calledThinae [i.e. China], from which raw silk and silk yarn and silkcloth are brought on foot through Bactria to Barygaza, and are alsoexported to Damirica [=Limyrike] by way of the river Ganges. Butthe land of This is not easy of access; few men come from there,and seldom. The country lies under the Lesser Bear [Ursa Minor],and is said to border on the farthest parts of Pontus and theCaspian Sea, next to which lies Lake Maeotis; all of which emptyinto the ocean.
65. Every year on the borders of the land of This there comestogether a tribe of men with short bodies and broad, flat faces,and by nature peaceable; they are called Besata,, and are almostentirely uncivilized. They come with their wives and children,carrying great packs and plaited baskets of what looks likegreengrape-leaves. They meet in a place between their own countryand the land of This. There they hold a feast for several days,spreading out the baskets under themselves as mats, and then returnto their own places in the interior. And then the natives watchingthem come into that place and gather up their mats; and they pickout from the braids the fibers which they callpetri.They lay the leaves closely together in several layers and makethem into balls, which they pierce with the fibers from the mats.And there are three sorts; those made of the largest leaves arecalled the large-ball malabathrum; those of the smaller, themedium-ball; and those of the smallest, the small-ball. Thusthere exist three sorts of malabathrum, and it is brought intoIndia by those who prepare it.
66. The regions beyond these places are either difficult of accessbecause of their excessive winters and great cold, or else cannotbe sought out because of some divine influence of the gods.