At this place is an oracle of Jupiter, whose declarations they permit, with the most implicit obedience, to regulate all their martial expeditions. XXX. Leaving this city at about the same distance as from hence to Elephantine, your bark will arrive at the country of the Automoli, who are also known by the name of Asmach. This word, translated into our language, signifies those who stand on the left-hand of the sovereign. This people, to the amount of two hundred and forty thousand individuals, were formerly Ægyptian warriors, and migrated to these parts of Ethiopia on the following occasion. In the reign of Psammetichus they were by his command stationed in different places; some were appointed for the defence of Elephantine against the Ethiopians, some at the Pelusian Daphne*, others were de tached *The place where the sun is feigned to have performed his acts of religious austerity, is named the St'han or Stahein of Area, Surya and Tapana. As it was in the limit between the Dwepas of Cush and Sancha, the Purans ascribed it indifferently to either of those countries. I believe it to be the Taphantes of Scripture, called Taphna, or Taphnai, by the Seventy Interpreters, and Daphne in the Roman Itinerary, where it is placed sixteen miles from Pelusium. It is mentioned by Herodotus under the name of Daphnæ Pelusiæ, and by Stephanus under that of Daphne, near Pelusium; but the moderns have corrupted the name into Safnas.-Wilford, in Asiatic Res. Dr. tached to prevent the incursions of the Arabians and Assyrians; and to awe Libya there was a garrison also at Marea: at this present period the. Dr. Vincent imagines these people to be the Adouli or Aduli. who inhabit the celebrated harbour and bay of Masuah. See his Periplus of the Erythræan Sea, p. 99. "That they are not of Hebrew origin, appears evident, notwithstanding their own pretension, and the arguments of Bruce, because, in the first place, the Jews among them continued a distinct tribe; and in the next, their language is written from the left hand to the right. Paolino, a missionary on the coast of Malabar, asserts, that though the character is different, the principle, genius, and constitution of their language is Shanskreet, a question well worthy of examination by those who are qualified to pursue it. But as far as private judgment is of weight, I must confess that the account of Herodotus has always appeared to me the most rational; that they are a nation of fugitives from Ægypt. Strabo, in copying this opinion, has added, that the appellation they give themselves is Sebritæ, a term which signifies Advenæ, the more remarkable, as Bruce observes that the original title by which they are distinguished in their own history and language, is that of Habesh, or Convenae. It is impossible to suppose that the affinity of these two words is accidental. The flight of these exiles is fixed by Herodotus in the reign of Psammetichus, 630 years before Christ, and only 185 years before the date of his own history; he mentions that they went to as great a distance beyond Meroe, as Meroe is from Elephantine, to the number of two hundred and forty thousand; and that the name by which they are distinguished as a nation, was Asmack, or Askham, an appellation which Reiske and other Orientalists have supposed to allude to Axum, the Axuma or Axoma first mentioned expressly in the Periplus; a supposition which there is very little reason to discredit. In addition to this testimony of Herodotus, we have a vaVOL. I. Ꮓ riety space the military stations are regulated by the Persians, as they were under king Psammetichus; for there are Persian garrisons now stationed at Elephantine and Daphne. When these Ægyptians had remained for the of three years in the above situation, without being relieved, they determined by general consent to revolt from Psammetichus" to the Ethiopians: on intelligence of which event they were immediately followed by Psammetichus, who, on his coming up with them, solemnly adjured them not to desert the gods of their country, their wives and their children. One of them is said indecently to have produced the mark of his sex, and to have replied, that wherever they carried that, they should riety of evidence from other authors, that Aduli was built by exiles from Ægypt; and if Bruce had not had such a predilection for his shepherds, he must have discovered that the monuments he found at Axuma himself, the obelisk, the tot, the table of hieroglyphics, and the sphinxes, are perfectly Egyptian, and not pastoral, Troglodytic, Meroite, or Greek. 51 Revolt from Psammetichus.]—Diodorus Siculus assigns a very different reason for the revolt of these Ægyptians. "Psammetichus," says that historian, "having meditated an expedition against Syria, gave the place of honour in his army to strangers, and discovered on all occasions a preference to them, to the prejudice of his natural subjects." A predilection of a similar nature was the cause of those repeated and formidable revolts, which so essentially disturbed the repose of Charles the fifth, on his first accession to the Spanish throne.-T. should doubtless obtain both wives and children. On their arrival in Ethiopia*, the Automolis devoted themselves to the service of the monarch, who in recompence for their conduct assigned them a certain district of Æthiopia, possessed by a people in rebellion against him, whom he ordered them to expel for that purpose. After the establishment of the Egyptians among them, the tincture which they imbibed of Egyptian manners, had a very sensible effect in civilizing the Æthiopians. XXXI. Thus, without computing that part of it which flows through Ægypt, the course of the Nile is known to the extent of four months journey, partly by land and partly by water; for it will be found on experience, that no one can go in a less time from Elephantine to the Automoli. It is certain that the Nile rises in the west, but beyond the Automoli all is uncertainty, this part of the country being, from the excessive heat, a rude and uncultivated desert. XXXII. It Herodotus, as Rennel observes, gives a wide range to Æthiopia. He seems to understand by this term the whole of the southern part of Africa. It is worthy of remark, adds the same author, that Bruce mentions a certain people who had revolted or deserted in modern times, and joined a community in Abyssinia. + "Automoli.]-Automoli is Greek, and means deserters.-T. XXXII. It may not be improper to relate an account which I received from certain Cyrenæans: On an expedition which they made to the oracle of Ammon, they said they had an opportunity of conversing with Etearchus, the sovereign of the country: among other topies the Nile was mentioned, and it was observed, that the particulars of its source were hitherto entirely unknown. Etearchus informed them, that some Nassamonians once visited his court; (these are a people of Africa who inhabit the Syrtes, and a tract of land which from thence extends towards the east ;) on his making enquiry of them concerning the deserts of Libya, they related the following incident: Some young men, who were sons of persons of distinction, had on their coming to man's estate signalized themselves by some extravagance of conduct. Among other things, they deputed by lot five of their companions to explore the soli tudes of Libya, and to endeavour at extending their discoveries beyond all preceding advenAll that part of Libya towards the Northern Ocean, from Ægypt to the promontory of Soloeis, which terminates the third division turers. of * The promontory which Herodotus here calls Soloeis, in Melpomene, c. 43, he calls Syloes. In Hanno's Periplus it is Soloeis. Pliny named it Solis. Here, says Major Rennel, he clearly distinguishes three belts or regions parallel to the Mediterranean, |