Book 16
4.12
Bordering on this people is a nation blacker in complexion than the others,Groskurd supposes the name of this nation has been omitted in the text, and proposes Acridophagi, or Locust-eaters. shorter in stature, and very short-lived. They rarely live beyond forty years; for the flesh of their bodies is eaten up with worms.According to Agatharchides and Diodorus Sic. iii. 28, the habit of living on locusts produced a kind of winged louse in the interior of the body; but this is denied by Niebuhr. Their food consists of locusts, which the south-west and west winds, when they blow violently in the spring-time, drive in bodies into the country. The inhabitants catch them by throwing into the ravines materials which cause a great deal of smoke, and light them gently. The locusts, as they fly across the smoke, are blinded and fall down. They are pounded with salt, made into cakes, and eaten as food.
4.12
Above these people is situated a desert tract with extensive pastures. It was abandoned in consequence of the multitudes of scorpions and tarantulas, called tetragnathi (or fourjawed), which formerly abounded to so great a degree as to occasion a complete desertion of the place long since by its inhabitants.
4.13
Next to the harbour of Eumenes, as far as Deire and the straits opposite the six islands,Above, § 4. live the Ichthyophagi, Creophagi, and Colobi, who extend into the interior.
4.13
Many hunting-grounds for elephants, and obscure cities and islands, lie in front of the coast.
