The Ister

But as they began to pluck it, there came upon them small men, of less stature than men of the common size, and these seized them and carried them away, and neither could the Nassimonians understand anything of their speech, nor could those who were carrying them off understand anything of the speech of the Nassimonians.

and they led them so it was said through very great swamps and after passing through these they came to a city in which all the men were in size like those who had carried them off and in colour of skin black and by the city ran a great river which ran from the west towards the sun rising and in it were seen crocodiles of the account given by etearchus the ammonian let so much suffice as is here said except that as the men of caerini told me he alleged that the nasamonians returned safe home and that the people to whom they had come were all wizards Now this river which ran by the city, Etiarchus conjectured to be the Nile, and moreover reason compels us to think so, for the Nile flows from Libya and cuts Libya through in the midst, and as I conjecture, judging of what is not known by that which is evident to the view, it starts at a distance from its mouth equal to that of the Ister, for the river Ister begins from the Catoi, and the city of pyrene and so runs that it divides europe in the midst now the keltoi are outside the pillars of heracles and border upon the kinesians who dwell furthest towards the sunset of all those who have their dwelling in europe and the ista ends having its course through the whole of europe by flowing into the euxine sea at the place where the milesians have their settlement of now the ista since it flows through land which is inhabited is known by the reports of many but of the sources of the nile no one can give an account for the part of libya through which it flows is uninhabited and desert about its course however so much as it was possible to learn by the most diligent inquiry has been told and it runs out into egypt now egypt lies nearly opposite to the mountain districts of kilikia and from thence to sinope which lies upon the euxine sea is a journey of the same straight line of five days for a man without encumbrance and sinope lies opposite to the place where the ister runs out into the sea thus i think that the nile passes through the whole of libya and is of equal measure with the ister Of the Nile, then, let so much suffice as had been said.

Of Egypt, however, I shall make my report at length, because it has wonders more in number than any other land, and works too it has to show as much as any land, which are beyond expression great.

For this reason, then, more shall be said concerning it.