Geography

​And these things also are said by the historians: that the Indians worship rainy Zeus and the Ganges River and the local deities. And whenever the king washes his hair, they celebrate a great festival and send great gifts, each displaying his own wealth in rivalry. And they say that some of the gold-mining ants are also winged; and that the rivers, just like the Iberian ones, bring down particles of gold. In the processions at the festivals, many elephants decorated with gold and silver are sent, and many four-horse chariots and ox-teams; then the army decorated; and gold vessels of large caldrons and mixing-bowls of a fathom wide; and tables, thrones, drinking cups, and bathtubs made of Indian bronze, most of them inlaid with precious stones such as emeralds, beryls, and Indian carbuncles; and also multicolored clothing embroidered with gold, and bonasi, leopards, tame lions, and a multitude of multicolored and sweet-sounding birds. But Cleitarchus says that there are four-wheeled wagons carrying trees of large-leaved kinds, from which are suspended breeds of tamed birds, of which he has said the sweetest-singing is the orion, and the most brilliant in appearance and having the greatest variety of color is the one called catreus; for its form comes closest to a peacock. The rest of the description must be taken from him.

​And as philosophers they distinguish the Pramnae in contrast to the Brachmanes, who are argumentative and refutative; and they say that the Brachmanes practice natural philosophy and astronomy, but are laughed at by the former as braggarts and fools. And of these, some are called Mountainous, some Naked, and others Civil and Neighboring. The Mountainous use deer skins, and have pouches full of roots and drugs, pretending to practice medicine with sorcery, incantations, and amulets. The Naked, according to their name, live naked, mostly in the open air, practicing the endurance which we mentioned before until thirty-seven years of age; and women associate with them but do not cohabit with them. And these are admired ​exceedingly. But the Civil live in the city, wearing linen, or also in the fields, clad in fawn-skins or gazelle-skins. To speak generally, the Indians use white clothing, white linen and cotton garments, contrary to those who say that they wear most brightly colored garments; and they all wear long hair and grow beards, but they plait their hair and bind it with headbands.

​And Artemidorus says that the Ganges, flowing down from the Emodi mountains towards the south, when it reaches the city of Gange, turns towards the east as far as Palibothra and its outlet into the sea; and of the rivers flowing into it, he calls one Oidanes; and he says that it also breeds crocodiles and dolphins. He says also some other things, but in a confused and careless manner, which need not be regarded. One might add to these also the accounts of Nicolaus of Damascus.

​For he says that in Antioch by Daphne he happened to meet the ambassadors of the Indians who had arrived to see Caesar Augustus; of whom, though the letter showed they were more numerous, only three survived, whom he says he saw, and the others had perished for the most part because of the length of the journeys. The letter was written in Greek on parchment, showing that Porus was the writer, and though ruling over six hundred kings, he nevertheless made it of great value to be a friend to Caesar, and was ready to afford a passage wherever he wished and to cooperate in whatever was honorable. This he said the letter stated, and that eight naked servants, covered with spices in loincloths, brought the gifts that were carried; and the gifts were the herm, a man whose arms had been cut off from his shoulders from infancy, whom we also saw, and large vipers, and a snake of ten cubits, and a river-tortoise of three cubits, and a partridge larger than a vulture. And there was also present, as he says, the man who burned himself at Athens. And those who do this, some seek release from their present troubles due to misfortune, but others do so due to good fortune, just like this man; for having succeeded in all things according to his mind up to the present, he felt he must depart, lest some unexpected thing might happen to him if he lingered; and indeed, laughing, he leaped naked, anointed with oil and wearing a loincloth, onto the pyre. And on his tomb was inscribed: “Zarmanochegas, an Indian from Bargosa, having immortalized himself according to the ancestral customs of the Indians, lies here.”