MELPOMENE. 123

themselves assert to be Iphigenia, the daughter of
Agamemnon. The manner in which they treat their
captives is this:—Every man cuts off the head of his
prisoner, and carries it to his house; this he fixes on
a stake, which is placed generally at the top of the
chimney; thus situated, they affect to consider it as
the protector of their families: their whole subsistence
is procured by acts of plunder and hostility.

CIV. The Agathyrsi are a people of very effeminate
manners, but abounding in gold; they have their wo­
men in common, so that, being all connected by the
ties of consanguinity, they know nothing of envy or
of hatred: in other respects they resemble the Thra-
cians.

CV. The Neuri observe the Scythian customs. In
the age preceding this invasion of Darius, they were
compelled to change their habitations, from the mul­
titude of serpents which infested them : besides what
their own soil produced, these came in far greater
numbers from the deserts above them; till they were
at length compelled to take refuge with the Budini;
these people have the character of being magicians.
It is asserted by the Scythians, as well as by those
Greeks who dwell in Scythia, that once in every year
they are all of them changed into wolves; and that
after remaining so for the space of a few days, they
resume their former shape; but this I do not believe,
although they swear that it is true.

CVI. The Androphagi are, perhaps, of all mankind,
the rudest: they have no forms of law or justice, their
employment is feeding of cattle; and though their
dress is Scythian, they have a dialect appropriate to
themselves.

CVII. The Melanchlami, have all black garments;
from whence they derive their name: these are the
only people known to feed on human flesh; their
manners are those of Scythia.

CVIII. The Budini are a great and numerous peo­
ple ; their bodies are painted of a blue and red colour;
they have in their country a town called Gelonus;
built entirely of wood. Its walls are of a surprising
height: they are on each side three hundred stadia