“Behind this country the sea comes to a termination somewhere in Thin ; and in the interior of that country, quite to the north, there is a very great city called ThinÆ, from which raw silk and silk thread and silk stuffs are brought overland through Bactria to Barygaza, as they are on the other hand by the Ganges River to Limyrice. It is not easy, however, to get to this Thin, and few and far between are those who come from it. The place lies quite under the Little Bear ; and it is said that its territories adjoin the remoter frontiers of Pontus and the Caspian Sea, beside which you find the Lagoon Mæotis which has a communication with the ocean.

“ Every year there come to the frontier of Thin certain people of dwarfish stature and very broad in the face, scarcely superior to wild creatures, but harmless, who are said to be called SesadÆ They come accompanied by their wives and children, and bring with them great loads in creels that look as if they were made of green vines. These people halt at some place on the frontier between their own country and Thin, and hold a feast for several days, during which they strew [the materials of] their baskets about on the ground, and then they depart to their own homes in the interior. When the other people are aware of their departure they come to the spot and gather those withes that had been strewn about.