The Cambridge History of India, Vol. I: Ancient India v1.c26.228

v1.c26.228

Even Megasthenes depended, of course, mainly upon his Indian informants for knowledge of the peoples on the borders of the Indian world, and he therefore repeated the fables as to the monstrous races with one leg, with ears reaching to their feet and so on, which had long been current in India and had already been communicated to the Greeks by Scylax and Hecataeus and Ctesias. One would however like to know the fact which lies behind his story that members of one tribe, living near the sources of the Ganges, had been brought to the camp of Chandragupta—‘men of gentler manners—but without a mouth! They lived on the fumes of roast meat and the smell of fruits and flowers. And since nostrils with them took the place of mouths, they suffered terribly from evil odours, and it was difficult to keep them alive, especially in a camp’¹! Does the notice reflect some sect who, like the Jains, abstained from all animal food and kept their mouths covered lest they should breathe in minute insects?