§15.1.17Ἀριστόβουλος δὲ μόνα καὶ ὕεσθαι καὶ νίφεσθαι τὰ ὄρη καὶ τὰς ὑπωρείας φησί, τὰ πεδία δὲ καὶ ὄμβρων ὁμοίως ἀπηλλάχθαι καὶ νιφετῶν, ἐπικλύζεσθαι δὲ μόνον κατὰ τὰς ἀναβάσεις τῶν ποταμῶν·
Aristobulus says that only the mountains and their foothills experience rain and snow, whereas the plains are equally free from both rain and snowstorms, and are inundated only by the rise of the rivers.
νίφεσθαι μὲν οὖν τὰ ὄρη κατὰ χειμῶνα, τοῦ δὲ ἔαρος ἀρχομένου καὶ τοὺς ὄμβρους ἐνάρχεσθαι καὶ ἀεὶ καὶ μᾶλλον λαμβάνειν ἐπίδοσιν· τοῖς δʼ ἐτησίαις καὶ ἀδιαλείπτως νύκτωρ καὶ μεθʼ ἡμέραν ἐκχεῖσθαι καὶ λάβρους ἕως ἐπιτολῆς ἀρκτούρου· ἔκ τε δὴ τῶν χιόνων καὶ τῶν ὑετῶν πληρουμένους ποτίζειν τὰ πεδία.
He states that snow falls on the mountains in winter, but at the beginning of spring the rains also begin and continually increase in volume; and during the Etesian winds, the rains pour down incessantly, day and night, and violently, until the rising of Arcturus; and thus, being filled from both the snows and the rains, the rivers water the plains.
κατανοηθῆναι δὲ ταῦτα καὶ ὑφʼ ἑαυτοῦ καὶ ὑπὸ τῶν ἄλλων φησίν, ὡρμηκότων μὲν εἰς τὴν Ἰνδικὴν ἀπὸ Παροπαμισαδῶν, μετὰ δὲ δυσμὰς πληιάδων, καὶ διατριψάντων κατὰ τὴν ὀρεινὴν ἔν τε τῇ Ὑπασίων καὶ τῇ Ἀσσακανοῦ γῇ τὸν χειμῶνα, τοῦ δʼ ἔαρος ἀρχομένου καταβεβηκότων εἰς τὰ πεδία καὶ πόλιν Τάξιλα εὐμεγέθη, ἐντεῦθεν δʼ ἐπὶ Ὑδάσπην καὶ τὴν Πώρου χώραν·
He says that these things were observed both by himself and by the others when they set out for India from the Paropamisadae after the setting of the Pleiades, and spent the winter in the mountainous country in the land of the Hypasioi and of Assacanus, and at the beginning of spring descended to the plains and to Taxila, a city of great size, and thence to the Hydaspes and the country of Porus.
τοῦ μὲν οὖν χειμῶνος ὕδωρ οὐκ ἰδεῖν ἀλλὰ χιόνας μόνον· ἐν δὲ τοῖς Ταξίλοις πρῶτον ὑσθῆναι, καὶ ἐπειδὴ καταβᾶσιν ἐπὶ τὸν Ὑδάσπην καὶ νικήσασι Πῶρον ὁδὸς ἦν ἐπὶ τὸν Ὕπανιν πρὸς ἕω κἀκεῖθεν ἐπὶ τὸν Ὑδάσπην πάλιν, ὕεσθαι συνεχῶς καὶ μάλιστα τοῖς ἐτησίαις, ἐπιτείλαντος δὲ ἀρκτούρου γενέσθαι παῦλαν·
During the winter, therefore, they saw no water but only snow; and it first rained at Taxila. And when, having descended to the Hydaspes and defeated Porus, their route lay towards the east to the Hypanis, and from there back again to the Hydaspes, it rained continuously, especially during the Etesian winds; but when Arcturus rose, there was a cessation.
διατρίψαντας δὲ περὶ τὴν ναυπηγίαν ἐπὶ τῷ Ὑδάσπῃ καὶ πλεῖν ἀρξαμένους πρὸ δύσεως πληιάδος οὐ πολλαῖς ἡμέραις, καὶ τὸ φθινόπωρον πᾶν καὶ τὸν χειμῶνα καὶ τὸ ἐπιὸν ἔαρ καὶ θέρος ἐν τῷ κατάπλῳ πραγματευθέντας ἐλθεῖν εἰς τὴν Παταληνὴν περὶ κυνὸς ἐπιτολήν·
While they tarried for the shipbuilding on the Hydaspes and began their voyage not many days before the setting of the Pleiades, and spent the whole autumn and winter and the following spring and summer on their voyage down, they arrived at Patalene about the rising of the Dog Star.
δέκα μὲν δὴ τοῦ κατάπλου γενέσθαι μῆνας, οὐδαμοῦ δʼ ὑετῶν αἰσθέσθαι οὐδʼ ὅτε ἐπήκμασαν οἱ ἐτησίαι, τῶν δὲ ποταμῶν πληρουμένων τὰ πεδία κλύζεσθαι· τὴν δὲ θάλατταν ἄπλουν εἶναι τῶν ἀνέμων ἀντιπνεόντων, ἀπογαίας δὲ μηδεμιᾶς πνοῆς ἐκδεξαμένης.
The voyage down took ten months, and they nowhere perceived any rain, not even when the Etesian winds were at their height, though the plains were flooded because the rivers were full; and the sea was unnavigable because the winds blew in the contrary direction, and no land breeze succeeded them.
§15.1.18τοῦτο μὲν οὖν αὐτὸ καὶ ὁ Νέαρχος λέγει, περὶ δὲ τῶν θερινῶν ὄμβρων οὐχ ὁμολογεῖ, ἀλλά φησιν ὕεσθαι τὰ πεδία θέρους, χειμῶνος δʼ ἄνομβρα εἶναι.
This very thing is also said by Nearchus, but concerning the summer rains he does not agree, but says that it rains on the plains in summer, and that they are rainless in winter.
λέγουσι δʼ ἀμφότεροι καὶ τὰς ἀναβάσεις τῶν ποταμῶν.
Both, however, speak of the rise of the rivers.
ὁ μέν γε Νέαρχος τοῦ Ἀκεσίνου πλησίον στρατοπεδεύοντάς φησιν ἀναγκασθῆναι μεταλαβεῖν τόπον ἄλλον ὑπερδέξιον κατὰ τὴν ἀνάβασιν, γενέσθαι δὲ τοῦτο κατὰ θερινὰς τροπάς.
Nearchus says that when they were encamped near the Acesines, they were forced to change to another higher place because of the rise, and that this happened about the summer solstice.
ὁ δʼ Ἀριστόβουλος καὶ μέτρα τῆς ἀναβάσεως ἐκτίθεται τετταράκοντα πήχεις, ὧν τοὺς μὲν εἴκοσιν ὑπὲρ τὸ προϋπάρχον βάθος πληροῦν μέχρι χείλους τὸ ῥεῖθρον, τοῖς δʼ εἴκοσιν ὑπέρχυσιν εἶναι εἰς τὰ πεδία.
Aristobulus, on his part, sets forth the measure of the rise as forty cubits, of which twenty cubits fill the channel to the brim above its previous depth, while the other twenty are the overflow into the plains.
ὁμολογοῦσι δὲ καὶ διότι συμβαίνει νησίζειν τὰς πόλεις ἐπάνω χωμάτων ἱδρυμένας, καθάπερ καὶ ἐν Αἰγύπτῳ καὶ Αἰθιοπίᾳ· μετὰ δὲ ἀρκτοῦρον παύεσθαι τὴν πλήμμυραν ἀποβαίνοντος τοῦ ὕδατος·
They also agree that the cities, being built on mounds, become islands, just as in Egypt and Ethiopia; and after Arcturus the flood ceases as the water subsides.
ἔτι δʼ ἡμίψυκτον σπείρεσθαι τὴν γῆν ὑπὸ τοῦ τυχόντος ὀρύκτου χαραχθεῖσαν, καὶ ὅμως φύεσθαι τὸν καρπὸν τέλειον καὶ καλόν.
Furthermore, the land, while still half-dry, is sown after being scratched by any chance digger, and yet produces its crop perfect and beautiful.
τὴν δʼ ὄρυζάν φησιν ὁ Ἀριστόβουλος ἑστάναι ἐν ὕδατι κλειστῷ, πρασιὰς δʼ εἶναι τὰς ἐχούσας αὐτήν· ὕψος δὲ τοῦ φυτοῦ τετράπηχυ πολύσταχύ τε καὶ πολύκαρπον· θερίζεσθαι δὲ περὶ δύσιν πληιάδος καὶ πτίσσεσθαι ὡς τὰς ζειάς·
Aristobulus says that rice stands in closed water, and that the beds containing it are dyked; the height of the plant is four cubits, with many ears and much grain; and it is harvested about the setting of the Pleiades, and is threshed like spelt.
φύεσθαι δὲ καὶ ἐν τῇ Βακτριανῇ καὶ Βαβυλωνίᾳ καὶ Σουσίδι· καὶ ἡ κάτω δὲ Συρία φύει.
It also grows in Bactriana, Babylonia, and Susis; and Lower Syria also produces it.
Μέγιλλος δὲ τὴν ὄρυζαν σπείρεσθαι μὲν πρὸ τῶν ὄμβρων φησίν, ἀρδείας δὲ καὶ φυτείας δεῖσθαι ἀπὸ τῶν κλειστῶν ποτιζομένην ὑδάτων.
Megillus, however, says that rice is sown before the rains, and needs irrigation and planting, being watered from closed pools.
περὶ δὲ τοῦ βοσμόρου φησὶν Ὀνησίκριτος διότι σῖτός ἐστι μικρότερος τοῦ πυροῦ, γεννᾶται δʼ ἐν ταῖς μεσοποταμίαις, φρύγεται δʼ ἐπὰν ἀλοηθῇ, προομνύντων μὴ ἀποίσειν ἄπυρον ἐκ τῆς ἅλω τοῦ μὴ ἐξάγεσθαι σπέρμα.
And concerning bosmoron, Onesicritus says that it is a grain smaller than wheat, and is produced in the lands between the rivers, and is parched after it is threshed, those who thresh it taking an oath not to carry it away unparched from the threshing-floor, in order that the seed may not be exported.