MELPOMENE

larger; it is indeed superior to flax, whether it is cul­
tivated or grows spontaneously. Of this the Thra-
cians make themselves garments, which so nearly re­
semble those of flax, as to require a skilful eye to dis­
tinguish them: they who had never seen this hemp,
would conclude these vests to be made of flax.

LXXV. The Scythians take the seed of this hemp,
and placing it beneath the woollen fleeces which we
have before described, they throw it upon the red-hot
stones, when immediately a perfumed vapour ascends
stronger than from any Grecian stove. This, to the
Scythians, is in the place of a bath, and it excites from
them cries of exultation. It is to be observed, that
they never bathe themselves: the Scythian women
bruise under a stone, some wood of the cypress, cedar,
and frankincense; upon this they pour a quantity of
water, till it becomes of a Certain consistency, with
which they anoint the body and the face; this at the
time imparts an agreeable odour, and when removed
on the following day, gives the skin a soft and beau­
tiful appearance.

LXXVI. The Scythians have not only a great ab­
horrence of all foreign customs, but each province
seems unalterably tenacious of its own. Those of the
Greeks they particularly avoid, as appears both from
Anacharsis and Scyles. Of Anacharsis it is remark- -
able, that having personally visited a large part of
the habitable world, and acquired great wisdom, he at
length returned to Scythia. In his passage Over the
Hellespont, he touched at Cyzicus, at the time when
the inhabitants were celebrating a solemn and mag­
nificent festival to the mother of the gods. He made
a vow, that if he should return safe and without in­
jury to his country, he would institute, in honour of
this deity, the same rites which he had seen perform­
ed at Cyzicus, together with the solemnities observed
on the eve of her festival. Arriving therefore in
Scythia, in the district of Hyltea, near the Course of
Achilles, a place abounding with trees, he performed
all the particulars of the above-mentioned ceremonies,
having a number of small statues fastened about him,
with a cymbal in hie hand. In this situation he was

Vol. II. K