Γεωγραφικά 15.2.2

15.2.2

2. The country of the Ichthyophagoi is for the most part flat, and has no trees except the palm, a kind of thorn, and the tamarisk. There is also a scarcity of water and of food, such as is obtained by cultivating the soil. The inhabitants and their cattle alike live upon fish, and obtain their water supply from showers of rain and from wells. The flesh of the cattle has a smell of fish. They construct their dwellings, for the most part, with the bones of whales and with oyster-shells, employing the ribs for beams and supports and the jaw-bones for doorways. The bones of the spine serve as mortars, in which they pound the fish after having been dried in the sun. They make a kind of bread by mixing a little flour with this fish-powder; for they have grinding mills although they have no iron. This is all the less surprising since they can be brought from other parts. But how do they hollow out the millstones again when worn away? With the same stones, they say, with which their spears and arrows, which are hardened in the fire, are sharpened. Some of the fish are broiled in pans, but they are for the most part eaten raw. The fish are caught by nets made from the bark of the palm.