OXUS, or JIRUN, a large river of Asia, much
taken notice of in ancient histories, but does not rise
in the north of India, as most writers affirm; for,
according to the best and latest maps made by those
who have been upon the spot, it ran a course of about
260 miles from the Caspian Sea to the lake Aral,
whose dimensions have lately been discovered, and
is but very lately known to the Europeans; but, as
it passes through a desert country abounding with
sands, the inhabitants so diverted its course, that the
old channel can hardly be discovered.