64 THALIA.

cerning it, with which I conceive them to be less ac­
quainted. Behind, the camel has four thigh and u
many knee joints; the member of generation falls from
between the hinder legs, and is turned towards the tail.

CIV. Having thus connected their camels, the In­
dians proceed in search of the gold, choosing the hot­
test time of the day as most proper for their purpose,
for then it is that the ants conceal themselves under
the earth. In distinction from all other nations, the
heat with these people is greatest, not at mid-day, but
in the morning. They have a vertical sun till about
the time when, with us, people withdraw from the
forum, during which period the warmth is more ex-
cossive than the mid-day sun in Greece, so that the
inhabitants are then said to go into the water for re­
freshment. Their mid-day is nearly of the same tem­
perature as in other places; after which the warmth
of the air becomes like the morning elsewhere; it then
progressively grows milder, till at the setting sun it
becomes very cool.

CV. As soon as they arrive at the spot, the Indians
precipitately fill their bags with sand, and return as
expeditiously as possible. The Persians say that these
ants know and pursue the Indians by their smell, with
inconceivable swiftness. They affirm, that if the In­
dians did not make considerable progress whilst the
ants were collecting themselves together, it would be
impossible for any of them to escape. ITor this rea­
son, at different intervals, they separate one of the
male camels from the female, which are always fleeter
than the males, and are at this time additionally in­
cited by the remembrance of their young whom they
had left. Thus, according to the Persians, the Indians
obtain their greatest quantity of gold; what they pro­
cure by digging is of much inferior importance.

C VI. Thus it appears that the extreme parts of the
habitable world, are distinguished by the possession of
many beautiful things, as Greece is for its agreeable
and temperate seasons. India, as I have already re­
marked, is the last inhabited country towards the east,
where every species of birds and of quadrupeds,
horses excepted, are much larger than in any other part