εἶχον οὐδὲν σίνεσθαι. The Persians must have passed through the lands of the Agricultural Scyths (cc. 17-18), but the land is described as all χέρσος; H. will not spoil a contrast by mentioning exceptions. He also ignores the great rivers; cf. cc. 51-6.
τείχεϊ. For the wooden town of Gelonus cf. c. 108. Rawlinson (on c. 142), who is disposed to accept H.'s narrative as generally credible, lays special stress on the burning of this town as a fact that must have been known to the Pontic Greeks.
