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THE INDIAN ANTIQUARY.
NOVEMBER, 1881.
sort like one who has never even heard of
FRAG. XXXII. them before. [Gellius now goes on to record Frag. IV. From Athênaios, lib. X. c. 9.]". many particulars regarding the Skythians, Ari
Ktësias says that in India the king is not allowmaspians, Sauromatae and others of whomed to make himself drunk, but that the Persian Pliny has written at length in his Natural
king is allowed to do so on one particular day History. These particulars have been evident
--that on which sacrifice is offered to Mithras. ly extracted from the Indika of Ktësias and
FRAG. XXXIII. are here subjoined] :-" On the mountains of
Tzetzee, Chil, VIII, v, 987.115
Herodotos, Diodôros, Ktësias and all others India are men who have the heads of dogs, and bark, and who live by hunting and fowling,
agree that the Happy Arabia, like the Indian
land, is most odoriferous, exhales a spicy fraThere are besides in the remotest regions of
grance, so that the very soil of the former, and the East other strange creatures-men who are
the stones of the latter, if cut, emit a delicious called Monocoli (one-legged), who run hopping
perfume, while the people there, when made upon their one leg with wonderful agility; others who have no necks but have eyes in their
languid and faint by the rich odours, recover shoulders." All unbounded however is his as
from the stupor by inhaling the smoke of certain tonishment on his learning from these writers
bones and horus and strong-smelling substances.
FRAG. XXXV. about a race of men in the uttermost parts of
Lucian, Ver. Hist. I, 3.116 India having shaggy bodies and plumage like
Ktësias the son of Ktêsiokhos, the Knidian, that of birds, who live not upon food, but on
wrote about India and its inhabitants what he the perfume of flowers inhaled through the
neither himself saw nor heard from the report nostrils. Not far from these live the Pygmies,
of others. the tallest of whom do not exceed 2 feet.
FRAG. XXXVI. The books contained these and many similar
Strabo, Geog. I. 2.117 absurd stories, and as we perused them we Theopompos professes in express terms that in felt how wearisome a task it is to read worth- his history he will tell fables better than such as less books which conduce neither to adorn nor have been related by Herodotos, and Ktégias and to improve life.
Hellanikos and those who wrote about India. LASSEN'S REVIEW OF THE REPORTS OF KTESIAS CONCERNING INDIA. In proceeding to examine the reports con- garding India. He could question eren Indians corning Indian matters which yet survive from themselves about their native country, because he the work of Ktesias, I call to mind what I previously testifies that he had seen such men, these being remarked, that on account of the unsatisfactory white, ie. Aryans. The second is that the state in which we possess the fragments, as well extract from his work was made by a Byzantine as on account of the predilection of the author of far later date, the Patriarch Photius, who for the marvellous, it is difficult to separate what lived about the middle of the ninth century of our is exaggerated from what is true, and to give a wra, and who had such a predilection for the satisfactory explanation of his statements, while wonderful and did the work so negligently, that it further, I have shown in several examples that his can offer no suitable scale whereby to measure the descriptions, as far as they have been examined, true value of the original. Most of the quotations, have been found to be truein material points, though besides, concern the fabulous Indian races and the they cannot be absolved from the reproach that the wonderful products of the country. Regarding facts have been purposely disfigured by being several of his statements the advancing knowledge magnified. In judging of his work, two especial of Indian archæology has sufficed to show that points are to be taken into account. The first is, they had not been invented by the author, but that that he resided at the Court of Artaxerxes they originated in fictions current among the Mnemon as his physician, and thereby enjoyed Indians. Accordingly, the accusations of mendathe best opportunity of questioning the Persians city heaped upon him by the ancients, with referabout all the information they had acquired re- ence to his book on India, have been generally
114 Müller places this as frag. 55 of the Persica.
116 Müller places this among the fragments of the Peri. plus or Periegesis.
110 This belongs to the life of Ktésias; conf, Müller, p. 8.
117 This is Lion's 49th frag., but can hardly be regarded as one.
1 Translated from his Ind. Alterthum. vol. II, pp. 641 8. 2nd edition, 1874.
Ctesiae, Fragm. ed. C. Müller, p. 8la.
