154 MELPOMENE.

of atl the people in the world of whom we have ever
heard, are far the swiftest of foot: their food is lizanifc
serpents, and other reptiles; their language bears n»
resemblance to that of any other nation, for it is like

the screaming of bats.

CLXXXIV. From the Garamantes, it is another
ten days' journey to the Atlantes, where also is a hill
of salt with water. Of all mankind of whom we ba#
arty knowledge, the Atlantes alone have no distinc­
tion of names; the body of the people are termed At­
lantes, but their individuals have no appropriate ap­
pellation : when the sun is at the highest they heap
upon it reproaches and execrations, because their
country and themselves are parched by its rays. At
the same distance onward, of a ten days' march, an­
other hill of salt occurs, with water and inhabitants:
near this hill stands mount Atlas, which at every ap­
proach is uniformly round and steep; it is so lofty
that, on account of the clouds which in summer is
well as winter envelop it, its summit can never be dis­
cerned; it is called by the inhabitants a pillar of
heaven. From this mountain the people take their
name of Atlantes: it is said of them, that they never
feed on any thing which has life, and that they know
not what it is to dream.

CLXXXV. I am able to call by name all the dif­
ferent nations as far as the Atlantes, but beyond
these I have no knowledge. There is, however, from
hence, a habitable country, as far as the columns of
Hercules, and even beyond it. At the regular in­
terval of a ten days' journey, there is a bed of sail,
and inhabitants whose houses are formed from masses
of salt. In this part of Libya it never rains, for if i'.
did, these structures of salt could not be durable;
they have here two sorts of salt, white and purple.
Beyond this sandy desert, southward, to the interior
parts of Libya, there is a vast and horrid space with­
out water, wood, or beasts, and totally destitute of
moisture.

CLXXXVI. Thus from Egypt, as far as lake Tri-
tonis, the Libyans lead a pastoral life, living on flesh
and milk, but, like the Egyptians, will neither eat