59. At the foot of the mountains lie a people called the Sogdians, in
whose country are two rivers navigable for large vessels, the Araxates
and the Dymas, which, flowing among the hills and through the valleys
into the open plain, form the extensive Oxian marsh. In this district
the most celebrated towns are Alexandria, Cyreschata, and Drepsa the
metropolis.

60. Bordering on these are the Sacae, a fierce nation dwelling in a
gloomy-looking district, only fit for cattle, and on that account
destitute of cities. They are at the foot of Mount Ascanimia and Mount
Comedus, along the bottom of which, and by a town called the Stone
Tower, is the long road much frequented by merchants which leads to
China.

61. Around the glens at the bottom of the Imanian and Tapurian
mountains, and within the Persian frontier, is a tribe of Scythians,
bordering on the Asiatic Sarmatians, and touching the furthest side of
the Allemanni, who, like dwellers in a secluded spot, and made for
solitude, are scattered over the regions at long distances from one
another, and live on hard and poor food.

62. And various tribes inhabit these districts, which, as I am
hastening to other topics, I think superfluous to enumerate. But this is
worth knowing, that among these tribes, which are almost unapproachable
on account of their excessive ferocity, there are some races of gentle
and devout men, as the Jaxartae and the Galactophagi, whom Homer mentions
in his verses:--

+Glaktophagon, Abionte, dikaiotaton anthropon.+[147]

63. Among the many rivers which flow through this land, either uniting
at last with larger streams, or proceeding straight to the sea, the most
celebrated are the Roemnus, the Jaxartes, and the Talicus. There are
but three cities there of any note, Aspabota, Chauriana, and Saga.

64. Beyond the districts of the two Scythias, on the eastern side, is a
ring of mountains which surround Serica, a country considerable both for
its extent and the fertility of its soil. This tribe on their western
side border on the Scythians, on the north and the east they look
towards snowy deserts; towards the south they extend as far as India and
the Ganges. The best known of its mountains are Annib, Nazavicium,
Asmira, Emodon, and Opurocarra.

65. The plain, which descends very suddenly from the hills, and is of
considerable extent, is watered by two famous rivers, the OEchardes
and the Bautis, which is less rapid than the other. The chara