§3.40.1παραπλεύσαντι δὲ τούτους τοὺς τόπους πολλὰ μὲν Ἰχθυοφάγων ἔθνη κατοικεῖ τὴν παράλιον, πολλοὶ δὲ νομάδες Τρωγλοδύται.
For one who has sailed past these regions, many tribes of the Fish-eaters inhabit the coast, and many nomadic Troglodytes as well.
πρὸς δὲ τούτοις ὄρη παντοῖα ταῖς ἰδιότησιν ὑπάρχει μέχρι λιμένος τοῦ προσαγορευθέντος σωτηρίας, ὃς ἔτυχε τῆς ὀνομασίας ταύτης ἀπὸ τῶν πρώτων πλευσάντων Ἑλλήνων καὶ διασωθέντων.
In addition to these, there are mountains of every variety in their characteristics as far as the harbor called that of Salvation, which obtained this name from the first Greeks who sailed there and were saved.
§3.40.2ἀπὸ δὲ τούτων τῶν μερῶν ἄρχεται συναγωγὴν λαμβάνειν ὁ κόλπος καὶ τὴν ἐπιστροφὴν ἐπὶ τὰ κατὰ τὴν Ἀραβίαν μέρη ποιεῖσθαι.
From these parts, the gulf begins to contract and to make its bend toward the regions of Arabia.
καὶ τὴν φύσιν δὲ τῆς χώρας καὶ θαλάττης ἀλλοίαν εἶναι συμβέβηκε διὰ τὴν ἰδιότητα τῶν τόπων· §3.40.3ἥ τε γὰρ ἤπειρος ταπεινὴ καθορᾶται, μηδαμόθεν ἀναστήματος ὑπερκειμένου, ἥ τε θάλαττα τεναγώδης οὖσα τὸ βάθος οὐ πλέον εὑρίσκεται τριῶν ὀργυιῶν, καὶ τῇ χρόᾳ παντελῶς ὑπάρχει χλωρά.
And it has come about that the nature of both the land and the sea is different because of the peculiar character of these places; for the mainland appears low, with no elevation rising above it from any direction, and the sea, being shallow, is found to have a depth of no more than three fathoms, and in color is completely green.
τοῦτο δʼ αὐτῇ φασι συμβαίνειν οὐ διὰ τὸ τὴν τῶν ὑγρῶν φύσιν εἶναι τοιαύτην, ἀλλὰ διὰ τὸ πλῆθος τοῦ διαφαινομένου καθʼ ὕδατος μνίου καὶ φύκους.
They say that this happens to it not because the nature of the water itself is such, but because of the abundance of moss and seaweed showing through the water.
§3.40.4ταῖς μὲν οὖν ἐπικώποις τῶν νεῶν εὔθετός ἐστιν ὁ τόπος, κλύδωνα μὲν οὐκ ἐκ πολλοῦ κυλίων διαστήματος, θήραν δʼ ἰχθύων ἄπλατον παρεχόμενος· αἱ δὲ τοὺς ἐλέφαντας διάγουσαι, διὰ τὰ βάρη βαθύπλοι καθεστῶσαι καὶ ταῖς κατασκευαῖς ἐμβριθεῖς, μεγάλους καὶ δεινοὺς ἐπιφέρουσι κινδύνους τοῖς ἐν αὐταῖς πλέουσι.
For rowed vessels, then, the place is well suited, since it does not roll waves from a great distance and offers an immense catch of fish; but those ships which carry elephants, being deep-drafted because of their weight and heavy in their construction, bring great and terrible dangers to those sailing in them.
§3.40.5διάρσει γὰρ ἱστίων θέουσαι καὶ διὰ τὴν τῶν πνευμάτων βίαν πολλάκις νυκτὸς ὠθούμεναι, ὁτὲ μὲν πέτραις προσπεσοῦσαι ναυαγοῦσι, ποτὲ δʼ εἰς τεναγώδεις ἰσθμοὺς ἐμπίπτουσιν·
For as they run with sails raised and are often driven by the force of the winds at night, they sometimes run upon rocks and are wrecked, and at other times fall into shallow shoals.
οἱ δὲ ναῦται παρακαταβῆναι μὲν ἀδυνατοῦσι διὰ τὸ πλέον εἶναι τὸ βάθος ἀνδρομήκους, διὰ δὲ τῶν κοντῶν τῷ σκάφει βοηθοῦντες ὅταν μηδὲν ἀνύωσιν, ἐκβάλλουσιν ἅπαντα πλὴν τῆς τροφῆς· οὐδʼ οὕτω δὲ τῆς ἀποστροφῆς τυγχάνοντες εἰς μεγάλην ἀπορίαν ἐμπίπτουσι διὰ τὸ μήτε νῆσον μήτʼ ἄκραν ἠπείρου μήτε ναῦν ἑτέραν πλησίον ὑπάρχουσαν ὁρᾶσθαι· ἄξενοι γὰρ παντελῶς οἱ τόποι καὶ σπανίους ἔχοντες τοὺς ναυσὶ διακομιζομένους.
And the sailors are unable to go overboard because the depth is more than a man's height, and though they try to help the vessel by means of poles, when they accomplish nothing, they throw overboard everything except their food; and even when they do not obtain an escape in this way, they fall into great distress, because neither island nor promontory of the mainland nor another ship is seen nearby; for these places are entirely inhospitable and have few who travel through them by ship.
§3.40.6χωρὶς δὲ τούτων τῶν κακῶν ὁ κλύδων ἐν ἀκαρεῖ χρόνῳ τῷ κύτει τῆς νεὼς τοσοῦτο πλῆθος ἅμμου προσβάλλει καὶ συσσωρεύει παραδόξως ὥστε τὸν κύκλῳ τόπον περιχώννυσθαι καὶ τὸ σκάφος ὥσπερ ἐπίτηδες ἐνδεσμεύεσθαι τῇ χέρσῳ.
And apart from these evils, the wave in a moment of time unexpectedly throws up and heaps such a quantity of sand against the hull of the ship that the surrounding place is silted up and the vessel is, as if on purpose, bound fast to the dry land.
§3.40.7οἱ δὲ τούτῳ τῷ συμπτώματι περιπεσόντες τὸ μὲν πρῶτον μετρίως ὀδύρονται πρὸς κωφὴν ἐρημίαν, οὐ παντελῶς ἀπεγνωκότες τὴν σωτηρίαν· πολλάκις γὰρ τοῖς τοιούτοις ἐπιφανεὶς ὁ τῆς πλημυρίδος κλύδων ἐξῆρεν εἰς ὕψος, καὶ τοὺς ἐσχάτως κινδυνεύοντας ὡσπερεὶ θεὸς ἐπιφανεὶς διεφύλαξεν· ὅταν δὲ ἀπὸ μὲν τῶν θεῶν ἡ προειρημένη μὴ παρακολουθήσῃ βοήθεια, τὰ δὲ τῆς τροφῆς λίπῃ, τοὺς μὲν ἀσθενεστέρους οἱ κατισχύοντες ἐκβάλλουσιν εἰς θάλατταν, ὅπως τοῖς ὀλίγοις τὰ λειπόμενα τῶν ἀναγκαίων πλείονας ἡμέρας ἀντέχῃ, πέρας δὲ πάσας τὰς ἐλπίδας ἐξαλείψαντες ἀπόλλυνται πολὺ χεῖρον τῶν προαποθανόντων· οἱ μὲν γὰρ ἐν ἀκαρεῖ χρόνῳ τὸ πνεῦμα τῇ δούσῃ φύσει πάλιν ἀπέδωκαν, οἱ δʼ εἰς πολλὰς ταλαιπωρίας καταμερίσαντες τὸν θάνατον πολυχρονίους τὰς συμφορὰς ἔχοντες τῆς τοῦ βίου καταστροφῆς τυγχάνουσι.
Those who have fallen into this misfortune at first lament moderately to the deaf wilderness, not having completely despaired of safety; for often the wave of the flood-tide, appearing to such men, has lifted them on high and, appearing like a god, has preserved those in the extreme of danger; but when the aforementioned help from the gods does not follow, and the provisions fail, the stronger throw the weaker into the sea, so that the remaining necessities may hold out for more days for the few, and finally, having wiped out all hope, they perish in a way much worse than those who died before; for the former in a moment of time gave back their breath again to nature which gave it, but the latter, having divided death into many sufferings, meet the end of their lives with long-lasting misfortunes.
§3.40.8τὰ δὲ σκάφη ταῦτα τῶν ἐπιβατῶν οἰκτρῶς στερηθέντα, καθάπερ τινὰ κενοτάφια, διαμένει πολὺν χρόνον πανταχόθεν περιχωννύμενα, τοὺς δʼ ἱστοὺς καὶ τὰς κεραίας μετεώρους ἔχοντα πόρρωθεν τοὺς ὁρῶντας εἰς οἶκτον καὶ συμπάθειαν ἄγει τῶν ἀπολωλότων πρόσταγμα γάρ ἐστι βασιλέως ἐᾶν τὰ τοιαῦτα συμπτώματα τοῖς πλέουσι διασημαίνειν τοὺς τὸν ὄλεθρον περιποιοῦντας τόπους.
And these vessels, miserably deprived of their passengers, remain for a long time like some cenotaphs, silted up on all sides, and having their masts and yards aloft, they move those who see them from afar to pity and sympathy for those who perished; for it is an order of the king to leave such wrecks to signal to those who sail the places that bring destruction.
§3.40.9παρὰ δὲ τοῖς πλησίον κατοικοῦσιν Ἰχθυοφάγοις παραδέδοται λόγος, ἐκ προγόνων ἔχων φυλαττομένην τὴν φήμην, ὅτι μεγάλης τινὸς γενομένης ἀμπώτεως ἐγεώθη τοῦ κόλπου πᾶς ὁ τόπος ὁ τὴν χλωρὰν ἔχων τοῦ τύπου πρόσοψιν, μεταπεσούσης τῆς θαλάττης εἰς τἀναντία μέρη, καὶ φανείσης τῆς ἐπὶ τῷ βυθῷ χέρσου πάλιν ἐπελθοῦσαν ἐξαίσιον πλήμην ἀποκαταστῆσαι τὸν πόρον εἰς τὴν προϋπάρχουσαν τάξιν.
Among the neighboring Fish-eaters, a story has been handed down, preserving its tradition from their ancestors, that when a great ebb-tide occurred, the whole area of the gulf which has the green appearance of the region became dry land, the sea having shifted to the opposite parts, and the dry land at the bottom having appeared, a tremendous flood-tide came back again and restored the channel to its previous state.