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16Now of the land about which this account has been begun, no one knows precisely what lies beyond it:[20] for I am not able to hear of any one who alleges that he knows as an eye-witness; and even Aristeas, the man of whom I was making mention just now, even he, I say, did not allege, although he was composing verse,[21] that he went further than the Issedonians; but that which is beyond them he spoke of by hearsay, and reported that it was the Issedonians who said these things. So far however as we were able to arrive at certainty by hearsay, carrying inquiries as far as possible, all this shall be told.
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Notes
[20] {katuperthe}: "above," i.e. beyond them towards the North. Similarly when dealing with Libya the writer uses the same word of those further from the coast towards the South; see ch. 174.
[21] {en autoisi toisi epesi poieon}: "even in the verses which he composed," in which he might be expected as a poet to go somewhat beyond the literal truth.