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303 THE NILE 303

be the capital of the other Ethiopians. The only- gods worshipped by the inhabitants are Jupiter and Bacchus; to whom great honors are paid. There is an oracle of Jupiter in the city, which directs the warlike expeditions of the Ethiopians ; when it commands, they go to war, and in whatever direction it bids them march, thither straightway they carry their arms.

On leaving this city, and again mounting the stream, in the same space of time which it took you to reach the capital from Elephantine, you come to the De- serters, who bear the name of Asmach. This word, translated into our language, means " the men who stand on the left hand of the king." These Deserters are Egyptians of the warrior caste, who, to the number of two hundred and forty thousand, went over to the Ethiopians in the reign of King Psammetichus. The cause of their desertion was the following : Three garrisons were maintained in Egypt at that time, one in the city of Elephantine, against the Ethiopians, an- other in the Pelusiac Daphnae, against the Syrians and Arabians, and a third, against the Libyans, in Marea. (The very same posts are to this day occu- pied by the Persians, whose forces are in garrison both in Daphnae and in Elephantine.) Xow it hap- pened that on one occasion the garrisons were not relieved during the space of three years ; the soldiers, therefore, at the end of that time, consulted together, and having determined by common consent to revolt, marched away towards Ethiopia. Psammetichus, in- formed of the movement, set out in pursuit, and com- ing up with them, besought them with many words not to desert the gods of their country, nor abandon their wives and children. " Xay, but," said one of the deserters with an unseemly gesture, " wherever