The histories of Herodotus;

]6 HERODOTUS—BOOK I, CLIO [193-196
trees growing all over the plain ; most of these bear fruit from
which they make bread, wine, and honey. These they cultivate
as fig trees, both in other respects, and they also tie the
fruit of that which the Grecians call the male palm about
those trees that bear dates, in order that the fly entering the
date may ripen it, lest otherwise the fruit fall before maturity
for the males have flies in the fruit, just like wild fig trees.
The most wonderful thing of all here, next to the city
itself, is what I now proceed to describe : their vessels that
sail down the river to Babylon are circular, and made of
leather. For when they have cut the ribs out of willows that
grow in Armenia above Babylon, they cover them with hides
extended on the outside, by way of a bottom; neither making
any distinction in the stern, nor contracting the prow,
but making them circular like a buckler; then having lined
this vessel throughout with reeds, they suffer it to be carried
down by the river freighted with merchandise, but they chiefly
take down casks of palm wine. The vessel is steered by two
spars, and two men standing upright, one of whom draws
his spar in and the other thrusts his out. Some of these vessels
are made very large, and others of a smaller size ; but
the largest of them carry a cargo of five thousand talents.
Every vessel has a live ass on board, and the larger ones more.
For after they arrive at Babylon, and have disposed of their
freight, they sell the ribs of the boat and all the reeds by public
auction ; then having piled the skins on the asses, they return
by land to Armenia, for it is not possible by any means
to sail up the river by reason of the rapidity of the current:
and for this reason they make their vessels of skins and not
of wood, and at their return to Armenia with their asses they
construct other vessels in the same manner. Such, then, is
the description of their boats. For their dress, they wear a
linen tunic that reaches down to the feet; over this they put
another garment of wool, and over all a short white cloak
they have sandals peculiar to the country, very like the Boeotian
clogs. They wear long hair, binding their heads with
turbans, and anoint the whole body with perfumes. Every
man has a seal, and a staff curiously wrought ; and on every
staff is carved either an apple, a rose, a lily, an eagle, or something
of the kind ; for it is not allowable to wear a stick without
a device. Such, then, is their manner of adorning the
body.
The following customs prevail among them : this, in my
opinion, was the wisest, which I hear the Venetians, of Illyria,
also practise. Once in every year the following course was
;