but those who dwell in the
parts beyond Caucasus toward the North Wind regard the Persians no
longer),--these, I say, continued to bring the gifts which they had fixed
for themselves every four years 87 even down to my own time, that is to
say, a hundred boys and a hundred maidens. Finally, the Arabians brought
a thousand talents of frankincense every year. Such were the gifts which
these brought to the king apart from the tribute.

98. Now this great quantity of gold, out of which the Indians bring in
to the king the gold-dust which has been mentioned, is obtained by them
in a manner which I shall tell:--That part of the Indian land which is
towards the rising sun is sand; for of all the peoples in Asia of which
we know or about which any certain report is given, the Indians dwell
furthest away towards the East and the sunrising; seeing that the
country to the East of the Indians is desert on account of the sand. Now
there are many tribes of Indians, and they do not agree with one another
in language; and some of them are pastoral and others not so, and some
dwell in the swamps of the river 88 and feed upon raw fish, which they
catch by fishing from boats made of cane; and each boat is made of one
joint of cane. These Indians of which I speak wear clothing made of
rushes: they gather and cut the rushes from the river and then weave
them together into a kind of mat and put it on like a corslet.

99. Others of the Indians, dwelling to the East of these, are pastoral
and eat raw flesh: these are called Padaians, and they practise the
following customs:--whenever any of their tribe falls ill, whether it be
a woman or a man, if a man then the men who are his nearest associates
put him to death, saying that he is wasting away with the disease and
his flesh is being spoilt for them: 89 and meanwhile he denies stoutly
and says that he is not ill, but they do not agree with him; and after
they have killed him they feast upon his flesh: but if it be a woman
who falls ill, the women who are her greatest intimates do to her in the
same manner as the men do in the other case. For 90 in fact even if a
man has come to old age they slay him and feast upon him; but very few
of them come to be reckoned as old, for they kill every one who falls
into sickness, before he reaches old age.

100. Other Indians have on the contrary a manner of life as
follows:--they neither kill any living thing nor do they sow any crops
nor is it their cust