[414] See the Map,—[Plate vii.] at the end of Part iv. Bochart, Geogr. Sacra, p. 766. Cadomi, 1651. Heeren, Ideen, i. 2. p. 214-219.
Sprengel in his German translation (p. 150. vol. ii.) supposes the Broussonetia Papyrifera to be meant in the former passage. But he gives no good reason for this supposition, and he admits, that the Broussonetia Papyrifera grows in China, not in India. The expression of Theophrastus, ὥσπερ ἐλέχθη, which he employs in the latter passage (c. 9. p. 144. ed. Schneider), clearly proves, that he is speaking of the same plant in both passages, and Sprengel himself (p. 164.) supposes the Gossypium Arboreum of Linnæus, the Cotton Tree, to be meant in the latter, though not in the former. The description of Theophrastus is remarkably exact, if we consider it as applying, not to the Cotton Tree (Gossypium Arboreum), but to the Cotton Plant (G. Herbaceum), from which the chief supply of cotton for spinning and weaving into cloth has always been obtained.
Aristobulus, one of Alexander’s generals, made mention of the cotton-plant under the name of the Wool-bearing Tree, and stated that its capsule contained seeds, which were taken out, and that what remained was combed like wool[415].
[415] Strabo, L. xv. c. 1. vol. vi. p. 43. ed. Siebenkees.
The testimony of Nearchus, who was the admiral of Alexander, is also preserved to the following effect; “that there were in India trees bearing, as it were, flocks or bunches of wool; that the natives made linen garments of it, wearing a shirt, which reached to the middle of the leg, a sheet folded about the shoulders, and a turban rolled round the head; and that the linen made by them from this substance was fine and whiter than any other.” It is to be observed, that Nearchus, or rather the two later authors who quote him, viz. Arrian and Strabo, use the terms for linen in a general sense, as including all fine light cloths made of vegetable substances[416].
[416] Arriani Rer. Indic. p. 522. 539. ed. Blancardi. Strabo, L. xv. c. 1. vol. vi. p. 40. ed. Sieb.
We read in the account of India by Pomponius Mela (L. iii. c. 7.), that the woods produced wool, used by the natives for clothing. He distinctly mentions the use of flax likewise. It has been conjectured, that he may have taken his account from Nearchus, or some other Greek writer, and that he may have intended to speak only of the use of cotton. But in reply to this it is to be observed, that Pomponius Mela here mentions flax in opposition to cotton, and that his assertion, so understood, was probably true, since we have other evidence to show that flax grows in India as well as cotton. (See [Part IV.]) Nevertheless it seems necessary to understand other authors of the same period as meaning cotton by the term λίνον, or linum. Thus Dyonisius Periegetes (l. 1116), speaking of the employments of the Indians, says, Οἱ δὲ ἱστοὺς ὑφόωσι λινεργέας, which probably meant “some weave muslins”. In the same manner we must interpret the assertion of Quintus Curtius, “Terra lini ferax, unde plerisque sunt vestes” i. e., The land produces flax, from which the greater part obtain garments. Soon after this Curtius says in terms more strictly proper,
Corpora usque pedes carbaso velant, soleis pedes, capita linteis vinciunt.
They cover their bodies from head to foot with carbasus; they bind shoes about their feet, linen cloths about their heads.
Again, speaking of the dress of the King, he says,