'The Expedition for the survey of the rivers Euphrates and Tigris, carried on by order of the British government, in the years 1835, 1836, and 1837; preceded by geographical and historical notices of the regions situated between the rivers Nile and Indus. In four volumes. With fourteen maps and charts, and embellished with ninety-seven plates, besides numerous wood-cuts. Volume the first.' [‎278] (345/905)

278 PRECIOUS STONES IN COLCHIS. [CHAP. XII.
known story in Plutarch 1 concerning the golden banquet of
Pythius, as well as the account of his wealth given by Hero
dotus, 2 was then sometimes carried to the utmost extent of
human endurance, in order to satisfy the avarice of the
princes.
We read in Strabo, 3 that Alexander sent Memnon, with a
body of troops, to the gold mines which then existed near
Cambala in Armenia; and Ibn Haukal, speaking of Haditha
(on the Tigris), says, that the river Dijlah runs by the skirts
of Mount Barmah, on which are fountains yielding gold dust
and bitumen. 4
The amount paid by the different satrapies in gold and
silver to Xerxes, 5 must, of itself, establish the fact, that not
only in Asiatic Ethiopia, but generally throughout the Assy-
nan empire, the precious metals were anciently obtained in
great abundance. They might, in all probability, still be
found in the same regions; for Malte Brun states, 6 that gold
is obtained at Ma'den ; and indications of it were recently met
with by Mr. Ainsworth a little way south of that place; 7
from whence, according to Sestini, gold was carried to Con
stantinople as late as the year 1781. 8
At this day, the silver mines of Gumish Khanah and
Demk, near Jarabuzun, as well as those between Yuz-Kat
and Tokat, might be turned to some account. 9
Pliny asserts that the mountains of the Caucasus, 10 and con
sequently Colchis, abound with precious metals and stones; a
De Virtutibus Mulierum, pp. 262, 263.
n W" n "J"', , ' 1 Lib. XL. p. 529.
5 Ouseley s Ibn Haukal, p. 54, and following.
5 This prince received from the Paricanians, the Asiatic Ethiopians, and
the people ^ Colchis, 400 talents, and from the Moschians, Tibarenians, and
Macrones, 300 talents.—Herodotus, lib. Ill c xciv
6 Vol. II. p. 3.
of Ktbbto n Ma>dT Seli8kl '° 0tiilrfr0m DiVrigi: alS0 in Syenite ' a litt,e ^
P ' 8 J 0yage de Const!lntir >opk a Basrah, with the Right Hon. John Sullivan,
'• J T 0 r$vvv,f l0yal Ge0srai>hical Socie, y- Vo1 - V L Part IL, p. 221.
I-IID. AAAVII. C. xxxiii.