Page:The geography of Strabo (1854) Volume 2.djvu/241

 B. xi. c. iv. 35. CAUCASUS. ALBANIA. 233 river impels forward, making the channel pervious, is replaced by the Cyrus. 3. Perhaps such a race of people have no need of the sea, for they do not make a proper use even of the land, which produces every kind of fruit, even the most delicate, and every kind of plant and evergreen. It is not cultivated with the least care ; but all that is excellent grows without sowing, and without ploughing, according to the accounts of persons who have accompanied armies there, and describe the inhabit- ants as leading a Cyclopean mode of life. In many places the ground, which has been sowed once, produces two or three crops, the first of which is even fifty- fold, and that without a fallow, nor is the ground turned with an iron instrument, but with a plough made entirely of wood. The whole plain is better watered than Babylon or ^Egypt, by rivers and streams, so that it always presents the appearance of herbage, and it affords excellent pasture. The air here is better than in those countries. The vines remain always without digging round them, and are pruned every five years. The young trees bear fruit even the second year, but the full grown yield so much that a large quantity of it is left on the branches. The cattle, both tame and wild, thrive well in this country. 4. The men are distinguished for beauty of person and for size. They are simple in their dealings and not fraudulent, for they do not in general use coined money ; nor are they acquainted with any number above a hundred, and transact their exchanges by loads. They are careless with regard to the other circumstances of life. They are ignorant of weights and measures as far as exactness is concerned ; they are im- provident with respect to war, government, and agriculture. They fight however on foot and on horseback, both in light and in heavy armour, like the Armenians. 5. They can send into the field a larger army than the Iberians, for they can equip 60,000 infantry and 22,000 horsemen ; with such a force they offered resistance to Pom- pey. The Nomades also co-operate with them against foreign- ers, as they do with the Iberians on similar occasions. When there is no war they frequently attack these people and pre- vent them from cultivating the ground. They use javelins and bows, and wear breastplates, shields, and coverings for