MELPOMENE. 83

:V\o, running to take them, was burnt by the gold.
>n Yiis retiring, the second brother approached, and
iras burnt also. When these two had been repelled
iy the burning gold, last of all the youngest brother
i&vanced; upon him the gold had no effect, and he
juried it to his house. The two elder brothers, ob-
jerving what had happened, resigned all authority to
the youngest.

VI. From Lipoxais those Scythians were descend­
ed who are termed the Auchatae; from Arpoxais, the
second brother, those who are called the Catiari and
the Traspies; from the youngest, who was king, came
the Paralatae. Generally speaking, these people are
named Scoloti, from a surname of their king, but the
Greeks call them Scythians.

VII. This is the account which the Scythians give
of their origin; and they add, that from their first
king Targitaus, to the invasion of their country by
Darius, is a period of a thousand years, and no more.
The sacred gold is preserved by their kings with the
greatest care; and every year there are solemn sacri­
fices, at which the prince assists. They have a tra­
dition, that if the person who has the custody of this
gold, sleeps in the open air during the time of their
annual festival, he dies before the end of the year; for
this reason they give him as much land as he can pass
over on horseback in the course of a day. As this
region is extensive, king Colaxais divided the coun­
try into three parts, which he gave to three sons,
making that portion the largest in which the gold
was deposited. As to the district which lies farther
to the north, and beyond the extreme inhabitants of
the country, they say that it neither can be passed,
nor yet discerned with the eye, on account of the
feathers which are continually falling: with these
both the earth and the air are so filled, as effectually
to obstruct the view.

VIII. Such is the manner in which the Scythians
describe themselves and the country beyond them.
The Greeks who inhabit Pontus speak of both as fol­
lows : Hercules, when he was driving away the heifers
of Geryon, came to this region, now inhabited by the