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Ten days' journey from Augila there is again a salt-hill and a
spring; palms of the fruitful kind grow here abundantly, as they do
also at the other salt-hills. This region is inhabited by a nation
called the Garamantians, a very powerful people, who cover the salt
with mould, and then sow their crops. From thence is the shortest
road to the Lutophagi, a journey of thirty days. In the Garamantian
country are found the oxen which, as they graze, walk backwards.
This they do because their horns curve outwards in front of their
heads, so that it is not possible for them when grazing to move
forwards, since in that case their horns would become fixed in the
ground. Only herein do they differ from other oxen, and further in
the thickness and hardness of their hides. The Garamantians have
four-horse chariots, in which they chase the Troglodyte Ethiopians,
who of all the nations whereof any account has reached our ears are by
far the swiftest of foot. The Troglodytes feed on serpents,
lizards, and other similar reptiles. Their language is unlike that of
any other people; it sounds like the screeching of bats.
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