The traditions of the Early Church affirm that the Gospel was preached by several of the Apostles—notably by Thomas,[90] Simon Zelotes, and Matthias—in Asiatic Ethiopia, or the Land of Cush; the bounds of which are wholly uncertain, but which extended a long way to the eastward of the two great rivers. It is stated that they encountered opposition from the Jews of those regions.[91] Benjamin of Tudela also affirms that the authority of the Resch Glutha ‘extended eastward to the Iron Gates, and as far as India.’ This assertion must be regarded as doubtful; but it certainly goes to prove that there were Jewish communities in the districts he names. Nothing, indeed, is more probable than that the Jews should have migrated towards the East, when Chosroes let loose against them the merciless wrath of an Eastern despot. To the West lay the Roman empire, where harsh laws against their nation were in force: to the South the new Arabian impostor was persecuting their countrymen: to the North all was barren and ungenial. But to the East were rich and pleasant regions, where, though they might encounter hostility from neighbouring tribes, they were strong enough to maintain themselves in peace and security. But though there is great likelihood of their having done this, there is no certainty. We must acquiesce in Milman’s opinion, that ‘the history of the Oriental Jews at this early period is so obscure, so entirely or so nearly fabulous, that it may wisely be dismissed.’ But though authentic history does not record the immigration of the Jews into these countries, there are not wanting incidental evidences to the fact. Take as an example the collection of Eastern tales called the Arabian Nights. The date of these cannot be later than the eighth century, and they are probably much older. In the various countries to which they relate,—Persia, Turkestan, India, China, etc., the presence of Jews as an integral part of the population is assumed as a matter of course. In Balsora, in Kashgar, and other cities, there is the Jewish merchant, the Jewish physician, the Jewish banker—no strangers evidently, but recognised citizens. In the tale of ‘The King of the Black Isles,’ described in the story as a part of India, lying to the east of Persia, the people of the country are represented as being changed by enchantment into four different kinds of fishes, the four being the Mahometans, _the Jews_, the Christians, and the Parsees. No writer would have introduced this into his story, if the Jews had not formed a considerable and recognised part of the population. A fact also is recorded by a Mahometan historian of the ninth century, which shows that even so far east as China, the Jews were to be found in large numbers. He states that when the rebel Baechoo took Canton, he massacred 120,000 Mahometans, _Jews_, Christians, and Parsees.