40 ACCOUNT OF INDIA BY STEABO sion or trade to another, or for the same person to undertake several, unless he is of the caste of philos- ophers, when permission is given on account of his superior qualifications. Of the magistrates, some have charge of the market, others of the city, others of the soldiery. The first supervise the rivers, measure the land, as in Egypt, and inspect the closed reservoirs, from which water is distributed by canals, so that all may have an equal use of it. These persons have charge also of the hunters, and have the power of rewarding or punishing those who merit either. They collect the taxes and super- intend the occupations connected with land, as wood- cutters, carpenters, workers in brass, and miners. They construct the public roads, and place a pillar at every ten stadia (20221/2 English yards) to indicate the byways and distances. Those who have charge of the city are divided into six bodies of five each. The first has the inspection of everything relating to the mechanical arts; members of the second body entertain strangers, assign lodgings to them, observe their mode of life by means of attend- ants whom they attach to them, and escort them out of the country on their departure. If the strangers die, they take charge of forwarding their property (to their relatives), as well as having had the care of them when sick and burying them when they die. The third class consists of those who inquire at what time and in what manner births and deaths take place, which is done with a view to taxation, and in order that
