[p. 36]those Scythians which are called Nomades, because
they have no houses, but live in wagons. The smallest of these wagons
have four wheels, but some have six; they are covered in with felt,
and they are constructed in the manner of houses, some having but
a single apartment, and some three; they are proof against rain, snow,
and winds. The wagons are drawn by yokes of oxen, some of two and
others of three, and all without horns, for they have no horns, owing
to the cold. In these wagons the women live, but the men are carried
about on horses, and the sheep, oxen, and horses accompany them; and
they remain on any spot as long as there is provender for their cattle,
and when that fails they migrate to some other place. They eat boiled
meat, and drink the milk of mares, and also eat hippace, which is
cheese prepared from the milk of the mare. Such is their mode of life
and their customs.
PART 19
In respect of the seasons and figure of body, the Scythian race, like
the Egyptian, have a uniformity of resemblance, different from all
other nations; they are by no means prolific, and the wild beasts
which are indigenous there are small in size and few in number, for
the country lies under the Northern Bears, and the Rhiphaean mountains,
whence the north wind blows; the sun comes very near to them only
when in the summer solstice, and warms them but for a short period,
and not strongly; and the winds blowing from the hot regions of the
earth do not reach them, or but seldom, and with little force; but
the winds from the north always blow, congealed, as they are, by the
snow, ice, and much water, for these never leave the mountains, which
are thereby rendered uninhabitable. A thick fog covers the plains
during the day, and amidst it they live, so that winter may be said
to be always present with them; or, if they have summer, it is only
for a few days, and the heat is not very strong. Their plains are
high-lying and naked, not crowned with mountains, but extending upwards
under the Northern Bears. The wild beasts there are not large, but
such as can be sheltered underground; for the cold of winter and the
barrenness of the country prevent their growth, and because they have
no covert nor shelter. The changes of the seasons, too, are not great
nor violent, for, in
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