Page:History of India Vol 9.djvu/34

 10 ACCOUNT OF INDIA BY STRABO of the new channel of the river, but above that of the inundations. The account of Onesikritos confirms the facts of the rising of the rivers and of the absence of land breezes. He says that the seashore is swampy, particularly near the mouths of rivers, on account of the mud, tides, and the force of the winds blowing from the sea. Megasthenes also indicates the fertility of India by the circumstance of the soil producing fruits and grain twice a year. Eratosthenes relates the same facts, for he speaks of a winter and a summer sowing, and of the rain at the same seasons. For, according to him, there is no year which is without rain at both those periods, whence ensues great abundance, the ground never failing to bear crops. An abundance of fruit is produced by trees; and the roots of plants, particularly of large reeds, possess a sweetness which they have by nature and by coction; for the water, both from rains and rivers, is warmed by the sun's rays. The meaning of Eratosthenes seems to be this, that what among other nations is called the ripening of fruits and juices, is called among these coction, and it contributes as much to produce an agree- able flavour as the coction by fire. To this is attributed the flexibility of the branches of trees, from which wheels of carriages are made, and to the same cause is imputed the growth of wool (*'. e. cotton) upon some trees. Nearchos says that their fine clothes were made of this wool, and that the Macedonians used it for mat- tresses and the stuffing of saddles. The Serika (silks)