The Cambridge History of India, Vol. I: Ancient India v1.c26.77

v1.c26.77

The mineral, the vegetable, the animal world in India had all their special wonders for the Europeans. As to minerals, India was the land of gems and gold. In the book of Pliny’s *Natural History* which deals with precious stones (Book xxxvii) a great many are said to be products of India. It is often doubtful what stone is intended by Pliny’s description, but one can recognise diamonds⁶, opals⁷, and agate⁸ amongst those enumerated. The ultimate source of information would here, of course, not be a literary one, but the practical knowledge of merchants. As to gold, Nearchus and Megasthenes confirmed the account given by Herodotus of the ants as big as foxes which dug up gold.