[734] The Georgians of the present day.
[735] Corcan.
[736] The precise time when this writer lived is unknown. The work here referred to is also mentioned by Athenæus, xv. p. 682.
[737] Prefect of Egypt in the reign of Augustus. This expedition into Arabia completely failed, through the treachery of the guide, a Roman named Syllæus. A long account of it is given by Strabo in the 16th book. “It would be extremely interesting,” says Professor Schmitz, “to trace this expedition of Ælius Gallus into Arabia, but our knowledge of that country is as yet too scanty to enable us to identify the route as described by Strabo, who derived most of his information about Arabia from his friend Ælius Gallus.”
[738] Red Sea.
[739] Myos-hormos, Mouse’s Harbour, a sea-port of Egypt on the coast of the Red Sea. Arrian says that it was one of the most celebrated ports on this sea. It was chosen by Ptolemy Philadelphus for the convenience of commerce, in preference to Arsinoe or Suez, on account of the difficulty of navigating the western extremity of the gulf. It was called also Aphroditis Portus, or the Port of Venus. Its modern name is Suffange-el-Bahri, or “Sponge of the Sea.” Lemprière.
[740] Humboldt commends Strabo’s zeal in prosecuting his gigantic work, Cosmos ii. 557.
[741] The Gulf of Aïas.
[742] The Bay of Bengal.
[743] Strabo seems here to confound the parallel of Ierna with that of the northern limits of the habitable earth, although a little above, as we have seen, he determines these limits at 15,000 stadia north of Ierna.