4.18.2
These farming Scythians inhabit a land stretching east a three days' journey to a river called Panticapes, note and north as far as an eleven days' voyage up the Borysthenes; and north of these the land is desolate for a long way;
4.18.3
after the desolation is the country of the Man-eaters, who are a nation apart and by no means Scythian; and beyond them is true desolation, where no nation of men lives, as far as we know.
ch. 19
4.19.1
But to the east of these farming Scythians, across the Panticapes river, you are in the land of nomadic Scythians, who plant nothing, nor plough; and all these lands except the Woodlands are bare of trees. These nomads inhabit a country to the east that stretches fourteen days' journey to the Gerrus river. note
ch. 20
4.20.1
Across the Gerrus are those lands called Royal, where the best and most numerous of the Scythians are, who consider all other Scythians their slaves; their territory stretches south to the Tauric land, and east to the trench that was dug by the sons of the blind men, and to the port called The Cliffs note on the Maeetian lake; and part of it stretches to the Tanaïs river.
4.20.2
North of the Royal Scythians live the Blackcloaks, who are of another and not a Scythian stock; and beyond the Blackcloaks the land is all marshes and uninhabited by men, so far as we know.
ch. 21
4.21.1
Across the Tanaïs it is no longer Scythia; the first of the districts belongs to the Sauromatae, whose country begins at the inner end of the Maeetian lake and stretches fifteen days' journey north, and is quite bare of both wild and cultivated trees. Above these in the second district, the Budini inhabit a country thickly overgrown with trees of all kinds.
ch. 22
4.22.1
North of the Budini the land is uninhabited for seven days' journey; after this desolation, and somewhat more toward the east wind, live the Thyssagetae, a numerous and a separate nation, who live by hunting.
4.22.2
Adjoining these and in the same country live the people called Iyrkae; these also live by hunting, in the way that I will describe. The hunter climbs a tree, and sits there concealed; for trees grow thickly all over the land; and each man has his horse at hand, trained to flatten on its belly for the sake of lowness, and his dog; and when he sees the quarry from the tree, he shoots with the bow and mounts his horse and pursues it, and the dog follows close behind.
4.22.3
Beyond these and somewhat to the east live Scythians again, who revolted from the Royal Scythians and came to this country.
ch. 23
4.23.1
As for the countryside of these Scythians, all the land mentioned up to this point is level and its soil deep; but thereafter it is stony and rough.
4.23.2
After a long journey through this rough country, there are men inhabiting the foothills of high mountains, who are said to be bald from birth (male and female alike) and snub-nosed and with long beards; they speak their own language, and wear Scythian clothing, and their food comes from trees.
4.23.3
The tree by which they live is called “Pontic”; it is about the size of a fig-tree, and bears a fruit as big as a bean, with a stone in it. When this fruit is ripe, they strain it through cloth, and a thick black liquid comes from it, which they call “aschu”; note they lick this up or drink it mixed with milk, and from the thickest lees of it they make cakes, and eat them.
4.23.4
They have few cattle, for the pasture in their land is not good. They each live under a tree, covering it in winter with a white felt cloth, but using no felt in summer.
4.23.5
These people are wronged by no man, for they are said to be sacred; nor have they any weapon of war. They judge the quarrels between their neighbors; furthermore, whatever banished man has taken refuge with them is wronged by no one. They are called Argippeans.
