Carmania is large, situated in the interior, and extending itself between Gedrosia and Persia, but stretches more to the north than Gedrosia. This is indicated by its fertility, for it not only produces everything, but the trees are of a large size, excepting however the olive; it is also watered by rivers. Gedrosia also differs little from the country of the Ichthyophagi, so that frequently there is no produce from the ground. They therefore keep the annual produce in store for several years. Onesicritus says, that a river in Carmania brings down gold-dust; that there are mines of silver, copper, and minium; and that there are two mountains, one of which contains arsenic, the other salt. There belongs to it a desert tract, which is contiguous to Parthia and Parætacene. The produce of the ground is like that of Persia; and among other productions the vine. The Carmanian vine, as we call it, often bears bunches of grapes of two cubits in size; the seeds are very numerous and very large; probably the plant grows in its native soil with great luxuriance. Asses, on account of the scarcity of horses, are generally made use of even in war. They sacrifice an ass to Mars, who is the only deity worshipped by them, for they are a warlike people. No one marries before he has cut off the head of an enemy and presented it to the king, who deposits the scull in the royal treasury. The tongue is minced and mixed with flour, which the king, after tasting it, gives to the person who brought it, to be eaten by himself and his family. That king is the most highly respected, to whom the greatest number of heads are presented. According to Nearchus, most of the customs and the language of the inhabitants of Carmania resemble those of the Persians and Medes. The passage across the mouth of the Persian Gulf does not occupy more than one day. CHAPTER III. 1. Next to Carmania is Persis. A great part of it extends along the coast of the Gulf, which has its name from the country, but a much larger portion stretches into the interior, and particularly in its length, reckoned from the south, and Carmania to the north, and to the nations of Media. It is of a threefold character, as we regard its natural condition and the quality of the air. First, the coast, extending for about 4400 or 4300 stadia, is burnt up with heat; it is sandy, producing little except palm trees, and terminates at the greatest river in those parts, the name of which is Oroatis.[440] Secondly, the country above the coast produces everything, and is a plain; it is excellently adapted for the rearing of cattle, and abounds with rivers and lakes. The third portion lies towards the north, and is bleak and mountainous. On its borders live the camel-breeders.