§17.3.3πλεῖστα δὲ πλάσματα τῇ Λιβυκῇ παραλίᾳ τῇ ἐκτὸς προσεψεύσαντο οἱ συγγραφεῖς ἀρξάμενοι ἀπὸ τοῦ Ὀφέλα περίπλου, περὶ ὧν ἐμνήσθημέν που καὶ πρότερον, καὶ νῦν δὲ λέγομεν, συγγνώμην αἰτούμενοι τῆς τερατολογίας, ἐάν που βιασθῶμεν ἐκπεσεῖν εἴς τι τοιοῦτο, φεύγοντες τὸ πάντα σιγῇ παραπέμπειν καὶ τρόπον τινὰ πηροῦν τὴν ἱστορίαν.
The writers, beginning with the voyage of Ophelas, have falsely added a great many fictions concerning the outer Libyan coast, of which we have indeed made mention somewhere before, and now speak again, asking pardon for the narration of marvels if we should be forced to fall into any such thing, as we avoid passing over everything in silence and in a way mutilating the history.
φασὶ δʼ οὖν τὸν Ἐμπορικὸν κόλπον ἄντρον ἔχειν εἴσω δεχόμενον τὴν θάλατταν ἐν ταῖς πλημμυρίσι μέχρι καὶ ἑπτὰ σταδίων, προκείμενον δὲ τούτου ταπεινὸν καὶ ὁμαλὸν χωρίον ἔχον Ἡρακλέους βωμόν, ὃν οὐκ ἐπικλύζεσθαί φασιν ὑπὸ τῆς πλημμυρίδος.
Now, they say that the Gulf of Emporicus has a cave which receives the sea inside at high tides as far as seven stadia, and before this lies a low and level tract of land having an altar of Hercules, which they say is not overflowed by the tide.
ἓν δὲ δή τι τῶν πλασμάτων νομίζω τοῦτο, ἐγγὺς δὲ τούτῳ τὸ ἐν τοῖς ἑξῆς κόλποις κατοικίας λέγεσθαι παλαιὰς Τυρίων, ἃς ἐρήμους εἶναι νῦν, οὐκ ἐλαττόνων ἢ τριακοσίων πόλεων, ἃς οἱ Φαρούσιοι καὶ οἱ Νιγρῖται ἐξεπόρθησαν· διέχειν δὲ τούτους τῆς Λυγγός φασιν ἡμερῶν τριάκοντα ὁδόν.
This I consider to be one of the fictions, and close to this is the statement that in the succeeding gulfs there are ancient settlements of the Tyrians, now deserted, consisting of no fewer than three hundred cities, which the Pharusians and the Nigritae destroyed; and they say that these people are situated at a distance of thirty days' journey from Lynx.
§17.3.4τὸ μέντοι τὴν Μαυρουσίαν εὐδαίμονα εἶναι χώραν πλὴν ὀλίγης ἐρήμου, καὶ ποταμοῖς τε καὶ λίμναις κεχορηγῆσθαι παρὰ πάντων ὁμολογεῖται.
However, that Maurusia is a fertile country, except for a small desert, and is well supplied with rivers and lakes, is agreed by all.
μεγαλόδενδρός τε καὶ πολύδενδρος ὑπερβαλλόντως ἐστὶ καὶ πάμφορος· τὰς γοῦν μονοξύλους τραπέζας ποικιλωτάτας καὶ μεγίστας ἐκείνη τοῖς Ῥωμαίοις χορηγεῖ.
It is exceedingly large-timbered, thick-wooded, and all-productive; at any rate, it supplies the Romans with the most variegated and largest tables made of a single piece of wood.
τοὺς δὲ ποταμοὺς ἔχειν φασὶ καὶ κροκοδείλους καὶ ἄλλα γένη ζῴων ἐμφερῆ τοῖς ἐν τῷ Νείλῳ· τινὲς δὲ καὶ τὰς τοῦ Νείλου πηγὰς πλησιάζειν οἴονται τοῖς ἄκροις τῆς Μαυρουσίας.
And they say that its rivers contain both crocodiles and other kinds of animals similar to those in the Nile; and some even think that the sources of the Nile are near the extremities of Maurusia.
ἐν ποταμῷ δέ τινι γεννᾶσθαι βδέλλας ἑπταπήχεις, κατατετρημένα ἐχούσας τὰ βραγχία διʼ ὧν ἀναπνέουσι.
And in a certain river, they say, are bred leeches seven cubits long, having perforated gills through which they breathe.
καὶ ταῦτα δὲ λέγουσι περὶ τῆς χώρας ὅτι ἄμπελος φύεται δυσὶν ἀνδράσι τὸ πάχος δυσπερίληπτος, βότρυν πηχυαῖόν πως ἀποδιδοῦσα· βοτάνη τε ὑψηλὴ πᾶσα καὶ λάχανον * νεαρὸν καὶ δρακόντιον, οἱ δὲ τῶν σταφυλίνων καυλοὶ καὶ ἱππομαράθου καὶ σκολύμων δωδεκαπήχεις, τὸ δὲ πάχος παλαιστῶν τεττάρων·
They also say this concerning the country, that a vine grows there which is hard to encircle with the arms of two men, yielding clusters about a cubit long; and all the herbage is tall, and fresh vegetables and dracontium grow there, and the stalks of wild carrots, horse-fennel, and artichokes are twelve cubits long, and four palms in thickness.
καὶ δρακόντων δὲ καὶ ἐλεφάντων καὶ δορκάδων καὶ βουβάλων καὶ τῶν παραπλησίων ζῴων, λεόντων τε καὶ παρδάλεων, παντοδαπὴ τροφὸς ἡ χώρα ἐστί.
The country is also a nurse of all kinds of animals: dragons, elephants, gazelles, wild oxen, and similar beasts, as well as lions and leopards.
φέρει δὲ καὶ γαλᾶς αἰλούροις ἴσας καὶ ὁμοίας πλὴν ὅτι τὰ ῥύγχη προπέπτωκε μᾶλλον, πιθήκων τε πάμπολυ πλῆθος, περὶ ὧν καὶ Ποσειδώνιος εἴρηκεν ὅτι πλέων ἐκ Γαδείρων εἰς τὴν Ἰταλίαν προσενεχθείη τῇ Λιβυκῇ παραλίᾳ καὶ ἴδοι τῶν θηρίων μεστόν τινα τούτων ἁλιτενῆ δρυμόν, τῶν μὲν ἐπὶ τοῖς δένδρεσι τῶν δʼ ἐπὶ γῆς, ἐχόντων ἐνίων καὶ σκύμνους καὶ ἐπεχόντων μαστόν· γελᾶν οὖν ὁρῶν βαρυμάστους, ἐνίους δὲ φαλακρούς, τοὺς δὲ κηλήτας καὶ ἄλλα τοιαῦτα ἐπιφαίνοντας σίνη.
It also produces weasels equal in size and similar to cats, except that their snouts project more, and a great multitude of apes, concerning which Posidonius also says that when sailing from Gadeira to Italy, he was brought near the Libyan coast and saw a certain forest stretching along the sea full of these beasts, some on the trees and others on the ground, and some having young and giving them suck; and he laughed, therefore, on seeing some with heavy breasts, others bald, others with ruptures, and exhibiting other such defects.
§17.3.5̔υπὲρ ταύτης δʼ ἐστὶν ἐπὶ τῇ ἔξω θαλάττῃ ἡ τῶν ἑσπερίων καλουμένων Αἰθιόπων χώρα κακῶς οἰκουμένη τὸ πλέον.
Above this, on the outer sea, is the country of the people called the Western Ethiopians, which is for the most part poorly inhabited.
ἐνταῦθα δὲ καὶ καμηλοπαρδάλεις φησὶν * Ἰφικράτης γεννᾶσθαι καὶ ἐλέφαντας καὶ τοὺς καλουμένους ῥίζεις, οἳ ταυροειδεῖς μέν εἰσι τὴν μορφήν, κατὰ δὲ τὴν δίαιταν καὶ τὸ μέγεθος καὶ τὴν ἀλκὴν τὴν πρὸς μάχην ἐλέφασιν ἐοίκασι·
There, Iphicrates says, are bred both camelopards and elephants, and the animals called rhizes, which are bull-like in form, but in their habits, size, and prowess for battle resemble elephants.
δράκοντάς τε λέγει μεγάλους ὥστε καὶ πόαν ἐπιπεφυκέναι· τοὺς δὲ λέοντας τοῖς πώλοις τῶν ἐλεφάντων ἐπιτίθεσθαι, αἱμάξαντας δὲ φεύγειν ἐπιουσῶν τῶν μητέρων· τὰς δʼ ἐπειδὰν ἴδωσιν ᾑμαγμένους, κτείνειν. ἐπανιόντας δὲ τοὺς λέοντας ἐπὶ τὰ πτώματα νεκροφαγεῖν.
He also speaks of large dragons, so large that even grass grows on them; and says that the lions attack the young of the elephants, and when they have drawn blood, they flee when the mothers approach; and the mothers, when they see them bloodied, kill them; and the lions return to the carcasses and feed on the dead bodies.
Βόγον δὲ τὸν βασιλέα τῶν Μαυρουσίων ἀναβάντα ἐπὶ τοὺς ἑσπερίους Αἰθίοπας καταπέμψαι τῇ γυναικὶ δῶρα καλάμους τοῖς Ἰνδικοῖς ὁμοίους, ὧν ἕκαστον γόνυ χοίνικας χωροῦν ὀκτώ· καὶ ἀσπαράγων δʼ ἐμφερῆ μεγέθη.
And Bogus, the king of the Maurusians, having gone up to the country of the Western Ethiopians, sent to his wife as presents reeds similar to the Indian ones, each joint of which held eight choinikes; and also asparagus of similar large sizes.
§17.3.6εἰς δὲ τὴν ἐντὸς θάλατταν πλέουσιν ἀπὸ Λυγγὸς πόλις ἐστὶ Ζῆλις καὶ * Τίγα, εἶτα τῶν ἑπτὰ ἀδελφῶν μνήματα καὶ τὸ ὑπερκείμενον ὄρος ὄνομα Ἀβίλη πολύθηρον καὶ μεγαλόδενδρον.
To those sailing into the inner sea from Lynx, there is the city of Zelis and Tiga, then the monuments of the Seven Brothers, and the mountain lying above them, named Abily, full of wild beasts and large-timbered.
τοῦ δὲ κατὰ τὰς στήλας πορθμοῦ τὸ μὲν μῆκος λέγεται σταδίων ἑκατὸν εἴκοσι, τὸ δʼ ἐλάχιστον πλάτος κατὰ τὸν Ἐλέφαντα ἑξήκοντα.
The length of the strait at the Pillars is said to be one hundred and twenty stadia, and the minimum width, at the Elephas, sixty.
εἰσπλεύσαντι δʼ ἑξῆς πόλεις τε καὶ ποταμοὶ πλείους μέχρι Μολοχὰθ ποταμοῦ, ὃς ὁρίζει τὴν Μαυρουσίων καὶ τὴν Μασαισυλίων γῆν.
To one sailing in, there are in order several cities and rivers as far as the river Molochath, which defines the land of the Maurusians and that of the Masaesylians.
καλεῖται δὲ καὶ ἄκρα μεγάλη πλησίον τοῦ ποταμοῦ καὶ Μεταγώνιον τόπος ἄνυδρος καὶ λυπρός, σχεδὸν δέ τι καὶ τὸ ὄρος τὸ ἀπὸ τῶν Κώτεων μέχρι δεῦρο παρατείνει·
And a great promontory near the river is also called by this name, and there is Metagonium, a waterless and wretched place; and the mountain extending from the Koteis reaches almost to this point.
μῆκος δὲ τὸ ἀπὸ τῶν Κώτεων ἐπὶ τοὺς ὅρους τοὺς τῶν Μασαισυλίων στάδιοι πεντακισχίλιοι·
The length from the Koteis to the boundaries of the Masaesylians is five thousand stadia.
ἔστι δὲ τὸ Μεταγώνιον κατὰ νέαν που Καρχηδόνα ἐν τῇ περαίᾳ· Τιμοσθένης δʼ οὐκ εὖ κατὰ Μασσαλίαν φησίν· ἔστι δʼ ἐκ Καρχηδόνος νέας δίαρμα εἰς Μεταγώνιον στάδιοι τρισχίλιοι, παράπλους δὲ εἰς Μασσαλίαν ὑπὲρ ἑξακισχιλίων.
Metagonium is situated nearly opposite New Carthage, which is on the opposite coast; but Timosthenes is incorrect in saying that it is opposite Massalia; for the passage from New Carthage to Metagonium is three thousand stadia, while the voyage to Massalia is over six thousand.