[897] There is great difficulty in determining the true position of Napata, as our author places it much farther north than Pliny; and there is reason for supposing that it is the designation of a royal residence, which might be moveable, rather than of a fixed locality. Ritter brings Napata as far north as Primis and the ruins at Ipsambul, while Mannert, Ukert, and other geographers, believe it to have been Merawe, on the farthest northern point of the region of Meroë. It is, however, generally placed at the east extremity of that great bend of the Nile which skirts the desert of Bahiouda, and near Mount Birkel. Among the ruins which probably cover the site of the ancient Napata are two lions of red granite, one bearing the name of Amuneph III., the other Amuntuonch. They were brought to England by Lord Prudhoe, and now stand at the entrance of the Gallery of Antiquities in the British Museum. See Smith’s Dict., art. _Napata_. [898] The inhabitants of Biscay. See b. iii. c. iii. § 8. [899] This name was common to the queens of Ethiopia. Acts viii. 27. [900] B. xvi. c. iv. § 8 et seqq. [901] Groskurd corrects the text, and translates, “the inhabitants also are small.” [902] The translation follows the proposed correction of the text by Kramer. [903] ταῖς συμβολαῖς. The passage presents a great difficulty, because Strabo has before asserted that Meroë is surrounded by these rivers, and that their union takes place below, that is, to the north, and not to the south of the city and island; and this notion corresponds with all the ancients have said on the subject. I declare, without hesitation, that I do not understand my author. _Letronne._ Groskurd attempts to avoid the difficulty by translating, “is within the compass of.” [904] The Tacazze. [905] Bahr-el-Azrek, or Blue River. [906] Reading διαπλεκομένων ἢ πλίνθων for διαπλεκόμεναι τοίχων ἢ πλίνθων. [907] The trees called persiai (or perseai) produce a fruit of great sweetness, which was introduced from Ethiopia by the Persians, when Cambyses conquered that country. Diod. Sic. i. 34. [908] Tsana. [909] According to Diod. Sic. iii. 9, this was Jupiter. [910] Above, c. i. § 15. [911] The sturgeon. [912] Cyprinus bynni. [913] Perea Nilotica. _Cuvier_, Histoire Naturelle des Poissons, xii. 5. [914] Silurus anguillaris. _Linn._ [915] Pliny, xxxii. 5. Coracini pisces Nilo quidem peculiares sunt. Athenæus, b. vii. c. 83, p. 484. Bohn’s Classical Library. [916] Called by the Arabs Gamor-el-Lelleh, or star of the night. _Cuvier._ [917] The shad. [918] The mullet.