The histories of Herodotus;

io5-no] THE BUDINI 245
however, they do not persuade me; they affirm it nevertheless,
and support their assertion with an oath. The Andro-
phagi have the most savage customs of all men :
they pay no
regard to justice, nor make use of any established law. They
are nomads, and wear a dress like the Scythian ; they speak
a peculiar language ; and of these nations are the only people
that eat human flesh. The Melanchlaeni all wear black garments,
from which circumstance they take their name. These
follow Scythian usages. The Budini, who are a great and
populous nation, paint their whole bodies with a deep blue
and red. There is in their country a city built of wood: its
name is Gelonus; each side of the wall is thirty stades in
length, it is lofty, and made entirely of wood. Their houses
also and their temples are of wood : for they have there temples
of Grecian gods, adorned after the Grecian manner with
images, altars, and shrines of wood. They celebrate the triennial
festivals of Bacchus, and perform the bacchanalian
ceremonies : for the Geloni were originally Grecians, but being
expelled from the trading ports, settled among the Budini:
and they use a language partly Scythian and partly Grecian.
The Budini, however, do not use the same language as the
Geloni, nor the same mode of living; for the Budini, being
indigenous, are nomads, and are the only people of these parts
who eat vermin ; whereas the Geloni are tillers of the soil,
feed upon corn, cultivate gardens, and are not at all like the
Budini in form or complexion. By the Greeks, however, the
Budini are called Geloni, though erroneously so called. Their
country is thickly covered with trees of all kinds ; and in the
thickest wood is a spacious and large lake, and a morass and
reeds around it: in this otters are taken, and beavers, and
other square-faced animals ; their skins are sewed as borders
to cloaks, and their testicles are useful for the cure of diseases
of the womb.
Concerning the Sauromatae the following account is given
When the Grecians had fought with the Amazons (the Scythians
called the Amazons " Aiorpata," and this name in the Grecian
language means manslayers, for they call a man " Aior,"
and " pata " to kill), the story goes, that the Greeks, having
been victorious in the battle at the Thermodon, sailed away,
taking with them in three ships as many Amazons as they had
been able to take alive ; but the Amazons attacking them out at
sea, cut the men to pieces. However, as they had no knowledge
of navigation, nor any skill in the use of the rudder, sails,
or oars, when they had cut the men to pieces, they were carried
by the waves and wind, and arrived at Cremni on the
: