Note 517 — Chapter I

Gosselin says, the Oxus, or Abi-amu, which now discharges itself into Lake Aral, anciently communicated with the Caspian.—The vessels carrying Indian merchandise used to come down the Oxus into the Caspian; they then steered along the southern coasts till they reached the mouth of the Cyrus; up this river they sailed to the sources of the Phasis, (the Fasch,) and so descended into the Black Sea and Mediterranean. About the middle of the 17th century the Russians endeavoured to re-open this ancient route, but this effort was unsuccessful.