CHAP. 112-115. EXTREME REGIONS OF EUROPE. 501 self, and the tails are then tied down upon them. The other kind has a broad tail, which is a cubit across sometimes.1 114. Where the south declines towards the setting sun lies the country called Ethiopia, the last inhabited land in that direction. There gold is obtained in great plenty, huge elephants abound, with wild trees of all sorts, and ebony; and the men are taller, handsomer, and longer lived than anywhere else. 115. Now these are the furthest regions of the world in Asia and Libya. Of the extreme tracts of Europe towards the west I cannot speak with any certainty; for I do not allow that there is any tiver, to which the barbarians give the name of Eridanus, emptying itself into the northern sea, whence (as the tale goes) amber is procured; nor do I know of any islands called the Cassiterides (Tin Islands), whence the tin comes which Perhaps a variety, rather than a distinct species. (Cf. Heeren's As. Nat. vol. ii. p. 119.) 5 Vide supra, ch. 22. With regard to the ebony, see ch. 97, note. For the size of the men, see ch. 20, note. Here Herodotus is over-cautious, and rejects as fable what we can see to be truth. The amber district upon the northern sea is the coast of the Baltic about the gulf of Dantzig, and the mouths of the Vistula and Niemen (the Frische Nehrung and Kurische Nehrung of our maps), which is still one of the best amber regions in the world. The very name, Eridanus, lingers there in the Rhodaune, the small stream which washes the west side of the town of Dantzig. It is possible that in early times the name attached rather to the Vistula than the Rhodaune. For the word Eridanus (= Rhodanus) seems to have been applied by the early inhabitants of Europe, especially to great and strong-running rivers. The Italian Eridanus (the Po), the Transalpine Rhodanus (the Rhône), and the still more northern Rhenus (the Rhine), a name in which we may recognise a similar contraction to that which has now changed Rhodanus into Rhône, are all streams of this character. The main root of the word appears in the Sanscrit sru-, the Greek pe- pu- (hre-, hru-, or rhe-, rhu-), the Latin ri-vus, our ri-ver, the Germau rinnen, &c. This root appears to have been common to all the Indo-Germanic nations. In Eridanus, Rhodanus, &c., it is joined with a root dan ("stream," or "water"), which is also very widely spread, appearing in the words Danube, Dane, Dniester, Dnieper, Don, Donau, Donetz, Tanais, Tana, and perhaps in Jor-dan. 7 This name was applied to the Selinæ, or Scilly Isles; and the imperfect information respecting the site of the mines of tin led to the belief that they were there, instead of on the mainland (of Cornwall). Strabo thought they were in the open sea between Spain and Britain (iii. 125), and that they produced tin, though he allows this was exported from Britain to Gaul. Polybius was aware that it came from Britain; and Diodorus (v. 21, 22) mentions its being found and smelted near Belerium (the Land's 502 THE TIN ISLANDS. BOOK III. we use. For in the first place the name Eridanus is manifestly not a barbarian word at all, but a Greek End), and being run into pigs (eis ἀστραγάλων ῥυθμούς) it was carried to an island off Britain called Ictis, in carts, at low tide, when the channel is dry. It was there bought by traders, who took it on horses through Gaul to the mouth of the Rhone. He afterwards speaks of "tin-mines of the Cassiterides Islands, lying off Iberia, in the ocean," and of the quantity sent from Britain through Gaul to Massalia and Narbôna. Ictis is the Vectis of Pliny and Ptolemy, Vecta of Antoninus' Itinerary, now the Isle of Wight, but the Ictis mentioned by Diodorus was evidently St. Michael's Mount in Cornwall. Timæus speaks of Mictis, 6 days' sail from Britain (Plin. iv. 30). Pliny and Solinus also thought the Cassiterides were out at sea over against Spain (iv. 36; vii. 57). Strabo says, they are 10 in number, one only inhabited, near to each other, and lying northward from the port of the Artabri (Finisterre or Corunna). The people live by their cattle, and having mines of tin and lead, they exchange these and skins for pottery, salt, and bronze manufactures." Ptolemy thought they were 10, and P. Mela (iii. 6) says they were called Cassiterides from the tin that abounded there. He does not mention them in Britain, but "in Celticis." All these accounts show how confused an idea they had of them, and how well the Phoenicians kept the secret of the tinmines, which is further proved by the well-known story of the Phoenician captain, who, when chased by a Roman, steered upon a shoal, and caused the wreck of his own and his pursuer's ship, rather than betray it; for which he was rewarded from the public treasury (Strabo, iii. at the end). The bronze swords, daggers, and spearheads of beautiful workmanship, found in England, which have neither a Greek nor a Roman type, were probably first introduced by this trade. The Greek name Kaoσirepos is the same as the Arabic Kasdeer; but the notion that it was a British word is at once disproved by Kastira, signifying "tin" in Sanscrit. Its Hebrew name Bedeel, , "separated," a "substitute" (perhaps an "alloy "), may refer to its principal use in making bronze, or to its being found with silver in the ore. Pliny calls it "lead," or "white lead" (iv. 30; vii. 57); Pomponius Mela (iii. 6) merely "lead." A blue metal in the Egyptian sculptures is called Khasd, or Khusbt; and in another place mention is made of Khasit; but this has been thought to be lapis lazzuli. In Coptic tin is Thram, or Thran, and Basensh, BACHO. According to Mr. Crawfurd it is called in India Kalahi, and by the Malays Timah. The Arabs call tin saféch. Their téneka, tin-plate," bears a resemblance to the German zinn, the Swedish tenn, the Icelandic din, and our tin. Pliny (iv. 34) mentions it in the North of Spain; and a small quantity is still found in Lugo, and another district of Gallicia; but it was principally obtained by the Phoenicians from Britain. It is, however, probable, from its being known by the Sanscrit name kastira, that it went at a very remote period from the Malay Islands to India and Central Asia; and Ezekiel mentions tin, with silver, iron, and lead, coming to Tyre from Tarshish (xxvii. 12), which was the same Tarshish, on the Indian Ocean, whence Solomon received "gold, silver, ivory, apes, and peacocks," once every three years (2 Chron. ix. 21), and to which the ships built by Jehoshaphat and Ahaziah were to go from Eziongeber "on the Red Sea in the land of Edom" (1 Kings ix. 26). The first mention of tin in the Bible is in Numbers xxxi. 22; and in Isaiah i. 25, and Ezek. xxii. 18, it is mentioned as an alloy. It is not possible to decide when it was first brought from Britain, but probably at a very early time. Tin is mentioned in the Periplus among the imports from Egypt to the Indian CHAP. 116. AMBER-GOLD REGION OF EUROPE. 503 name, invented by some poet or other; and secondly, though I have taken vast pains, I have never been able to get an assurance from an eye-witness that there is any sea on the further side of Europe. Nevertheless, tin and amber do certainly come to us from the ends. of the earth. 8 116. The northern parts of Europe are very much richer in gold than any other region: but how it is pro coast, and it was brought long before that from Britain by the Phoenicians. Tin was not discovered in Germany till 1240 A.D. The quantity used of old for making bronze was very great, and the remote period when that mixed metal was made shows how early the mines of one or the other of these countries were known. An Egyptian bronze, apparently cast, has been found bearing the name of Papi of the 6th dynasty, more than 2000 years B.C.; and bronze knives appear from the sculptures to have been used before that time. Bronze was first merely hammered into shape, then cast, then cast hollow on a core or inner mould. In Egypt, Assyria, Greece, and Rome, it had generally 10 or 20 parts of tin to 90 or 80 of copper, but for ornamental purposes the alloys varied, and silver was sometimes introduced. One pig of tin has been found in England, which, as it differs from those made by the Romans, Normans, and others, is supposed to be Pho nician. It is remarkable from its shape, and from a particular mark upon it, evidently taken from the usual form of the trough into which the metal was run. It is in the Truro Museum, and a cast of it is in the Museum of Practical Geology in London. It is about 2 ft. 11 in. long, 11 in. broad, and 3 in. high. The Carthaginians also went to 9 | Britain for tin, as the Tyrians had before. See the Poem of Festus Avienus on Himilco's exploring the N.W. coasts of Europe, between 362 and 350 B.C. The islands of the Albioni and Hiberni are both mentioned, and the tin islands Estrymnides near Albion. (Of Carthage and early Greek colonies, see Vell. Paterculus, and n. on Book ii. ch. 32.)—[G. W.] 2 Herodotus is quite correct in his information respecting amber being found at the extremity of Europe, though not at the West. Sotacus (according to Pliny, xxxvii. 11) thought in Britain. Pliny mentions the insects in amber, and speaks of its coming from North Germany, where it was called glesum (glass ?). Compare Tacit. Germ. 45. Diodorus (v. 22) says it is found at an island above Gaul, over against Scythia, called Basilea, thrown up by the sea, and nowhere else. It still comes mainly from the south coast of the Baltic, between Königsberg and Memel, but is not quite unknown in other parts of Europe. It is remarkable that the amber of Catania contains insects of Europe, that of the Baltic has insects of Asia.-[G. W.] It appears, by the mention of the Arimaspi, that the European gold region of which Herodotus here speaks, is the district east of the Ural Mountains, which modern geography would assign to Asia. (Vide infrà, iv. 27.) ́ Herodotus, it must be remembered, regards Europe as extending the whole length of both Africa and Asia, since he makes the Phasis, the Caspian, and the Araxes (Jaxartes) the boundaries between Asia and Europe (infrà, iv. 45). He would therefore assign the 504 THE RIVER ACES. BOOK III. cured I have no certain knowledge. The story runs, that the one-eyed Arimaspi purloin it from the griffins; but here too I am incredulous, and cannot persuade myself that there is a race of men born with one eye, who in all else resemble the rest of mankind. Nevertheless it seems to be true that the extreme regions of the earth, which surround and shut up within themselves all other countries, produce the things which are the rarest, and which men reckon the most beautiful. 117. There is a plain in Asia which is shut in on all sides by a mountain-range, and in this mountain-range are five openings. The plain lies on the confines of the Chorasmians, Hyrcanians, Parthians, Sarangians, and Thaminæans, and belonged formerly to the firstmentioned of those peoples. Ever since the Persians, however, obtained the mastery of Asia, it has been the property of the Great King. A mighty river, called the Aces,10 flows from the hills inclosing the plain; and this stream, formerly, splitting into five channels, ran through the five openings in the hills, and watered the lands of the five nations which dwell around. The whole of Siberia, including the Ural and Altai chains, to Europe. The Russian gold-mines in these mountain-ranges, which were not very productive up to a recent period (Heeren's As. Nat. i. p. 45), have yielded enormously of late years. The annual production at the present time is said to be from four to five million pounds sterling. 10 The Aces has been taken for the Oxus (Jyhun), the Ochus (Tejend?), the Margus (Murgab), the Acesines (Chenab), and the Etymander (Helmend). See Bähr ad loc. It should undoubtedly be a stream in the vicinity of the Elburz range, near Meshed or Herat, where alone the territories of the five nations named could approach one another. But no river can be found which at all answers the description. The plain and the five openings are probably a fable; but the origin of the tale may be found in the distribution by the Persian Government of the waters (most likely) of the Heri-rud, which is capable of being led through the hills into the low country north of the range, or of being prolonged westward along the range, or finally of being turned southward into the desert. (See Ferrier's Caravan Journeys, pp. 139 et seqq.) The wild tribes now quarrel for this stream, and not unfrequently turn its course. In such quarrels blood is often shed, and sometimes they are even the occasion of actual wars (ibid. pp. 276, 305, &c.). Under a strong government, the water supply would of course have been regulated, and so good an opportunity of raising a revenue was no doubt seized with alacrity. For the modern Persian custom see the next note. CHAP. 117, 118. SALE OF WATER IN PERSIA. 505 Persian came, however, and conquered the region, and then it went ill with the people of these lands. The Great King blocked up all the passages between the hills with dykes and flood-gates, and so prevented the water from flowing out. Then the plain within the hills became a sea, for the river kept rising, and the water could find no outlet. From that time the five nations which were wont formerly to have the use of the stream, losing their accustomed supply of water, have been in great distress. In winter, indeed, they have rain from heaven like the rest of the world, but in summer, after sowing their millet and their sesame, they always stood in need of water from the river. When, therefore, they suffer from this want, hastening to Persia, men and women alike, they take their station at the gate of the king's palace, and wail aloud. Then the king orders the flood-gates to be opened towards the country whose need is greatest, and lets the soil drink until it has had enough; after which the gates on this side are shut, and others are unclosed for the nation which, of the remainder, needs it most. It has been told me that the king never gives the order to open the gates till the suppliants have paid him a large sum of money over and above the tribute." 118. Of the seven Persians who rose up against the Magus, one, Intaphernes, lost his life very shortly after the outbreak,' for an act of insolence. He wished to "The sale of water is now practised throughout the whole of Persia, and the money thus raised forms a considerable item in the revenue. Each province has its Mirab, or Water-Lord, who superintends the distribution of the water within his district, and collects the payments due on this account from the inhabitants. Chardin says "Chaque province a un officier établi sur les eaux de la province, qu'on appelle Mirab, c'est-à-dire Prince de l'Eau, qui règle la distribution de l'eau partout, avec grande exactitude, ayant toujours ses gens aux courans des ruisseaux pour les faire aller de canton en canton, et de champ en champ, selon ses ordres... Les terres et les jardins d'Ispahan, et des environs, payent vingt sols l'année au Roi par girib, qui est leur mesure de terre ordinaire, laquelle est moindre qu'un arpent" (tom. iii. p. 100. Compare Chesney's Euphrat. Exp. vol. ii. p. 660). It seems probable that Herodotus places this event too early in the history. It can scarcely have occurred |