§3.2.4αὐτὴ δʼ ἡ Τουρδητανία θαυμαστῶς εὐτυχεῖ· παμφόρου δʼ οὔσης αὐτῆς, ὡσαύτως δὲ καὶ πολυφόρου, διπλασιάζεται τὰ εὐτυχήματα ταῦτα τῷ ἐκκομισμῷ· τὸ γὰρ περιττεῦον τῶν καρπῶν ἀπεμπολεῖται ῥᾳδίως τῷ πλήθει τῶν ναυκληρίων.
Turdetania itself is wonderfully blessed; since it produces all things, and likewise in great abundance, these advantages are doubled by export; for the surplus of the crops is easily sold off because of the multitude of merchant vessels.
ποιοῦσι δὲ τοῦτο οἵ τε ποταμοὶ καὶ αἱ ἀναχύσεις, ὡς εἶπον, ἐμφερεῖς τοῖς ποταμοῖς οὖσαι καὶ ἀναπλεόμεναι παραπλησίως ἐκ θαλάττης οὐ μικροῖς μόνον ἀλλὰ καὶ μεγάλοις σκάφεσιν εἰς τὰς ἐν τῇ μεσογαίᾳ πόλεις.
This is made possible by the rivers and the estuaries, as I have said, which are similar to the rivers and are sailed up in like manner from the sea, not only by small but also by large vessels to the cities in the interior.
ἅπασα γάρ ἐστι πεδιὰς ἡ ὑπὲρ τῆς παραλίας ἐπὶ πολὺ τῆς μεταξὺ τοῦ τε ἱεροῦ ἀκρωτηρίου καὶ στηλῶν.
For the whole region that lies far above the coast between the Sacred Promontory and the Pillars is a plain.
ἐνταῦθα δὲ πολλαχοῦ κοιλάδες εἰς τὴν μεσόγαιαν ἐκ τῆς θαλάττης ἀνέχουσι φάραγξι μετρίαις ἢ καὶ ῥείθροις ἐοικυῖαι ποταμίοις, ἐκτεταμέναι ἐπὶ πολλοὺς σταδίους· ταύτας δὲ πληροῦσιν αἱ τῆς θαλάττης ἐπιβάσεις κατὰ τὰς πλημμυρίδας, ὥστʼ ἀναπλεῖσθαι μηδὲν ἧττον ἢ τοὺς ποταμούς, ἀλλὰ καὶ βέλτιον· τοῖς γὰρ κατάπλοις ἔοικε τοῖς ποταμίοις, ἀντικόπτοντος μὲν οὐδενός, ἐπουρίζοντος δὲ τοῦ πελάγους καθάπερ τοῦ ποταμίου ῥεύματος διὰ τὴν πλημμυρίδα.
And here in many places valleys extend from the sea into the interior, resembling moderate chasms or even river beds, stretching for many stadia; and these are filled by the inflows of the sea during high tides, so that they can be sailed up no less than the rivers, and indeed even better; for the ascent resembles down-river voyages, with nothing opposing, but the open sea, due to the high tide, favoring the voyage like a river current.
αἱ δʼ ἐπιβάσεις μείζους εἰσὶν ἐνταῦθα ἢ ἐν τοῖς ἄλλοις τόποις, ὅτι εἰς πόρον συνωθουμένη στενὸν ἡ θάλαττα ἐκ μεγάλου πελάγους, ὃν ἡ Μαυρουσία ποιεῖ πρὸς τὴν Ἰβηρίαν, ἀνακοπὰς λαμβάνει καὶ φέρεται πρὸς τὰ εἴκοντα μέρη τῆς γῆς εὐπετῶς.
The inflows are larger here than in other places, because the sea, pushed from the great ocean into the narrow passage which Maurusia forms with Iberia, meets with resistance and then flows easily toward the yielding parts of the land.
ἔνιαι μὲν οὖν τῶν τοιούτων κοιλάδων κενοῦνται κατὰ τὰς ἀμπώτεις, τινὰς δʼ οὐ παντάπασιν ἐπιλείπει τὸ ὕδωρ, ἔνιαι δὲ καὶ νήσους ἀπολαμβάνουσιν ἐν ἑαυταῖς.
Now, some of such valleys are emptied during low tides, while in others the water does not altogether fail, and some even enclose islands within themselves.
τοιαῦται μὲν οὖν εἰσιν αἱ ἀναχύσεις αἱ μεταξὺ τοῦ τε ἱεροῦ ἀκρωτηρίου καὶ τῶν στηλῶν, ἐπίδοσιν ἔχουσαι σφοδροτέραν παρὰ τὰς ἐν τοῖς ἄλλοις τόποις· ἡ τοιαύτη δʼ ἐπίδοσις ἔχει μέν τι καὶ πλεονέκτημα πρὸς τὰς χρείας τῶν πλοϊζομένων· πλείους γὰρ καὶ μείζους ποιεῖ τὰς ἀναχύσεις, πολλάκις καὶ ἐπὶ * ὀκτὼ σταδίους ἀναπλεομένας, ὥστε τρόπον τινὰ πᾶσαν πλωτὴν παρέχεται τὴν γῆν καὶ εὐπετῆ πρός τε τὰς ἐξαγωγὰς τῶν φορτίων καὶ τὰς εἰσαγωγάς.
Such, then, are the estuaries between the Sacred Promontory and the Pillars, having a more violent rise than those in other places; and such a rise has a certain advantage for the needs of navigators, for it makes the estuaries more numerous and larger, often navigable even for * eight stadia, so that in a way it renders the whole land accessible by water and easy for both the export and import of cargoes.
ἔχει δέ τι καὶ ὀχληρόν· αἱ γὰρ ἐν τοῖς ποταμοῖς ναυτιλίαι διὰ τὴν σφοδρότητα τῆς πλημμυρίδος ἰσχυρότερον τῇ ῥύσει τῶν ποταμῶν ἀντιπνέουσαν κίνδυνον οὐ μικρὸν τοῖς ναυκληρίοις ἐπιφέρουσι κατακομιζομένοις τε ὁμοίως καὶ ἀνακομιζομένοις.
But it also has something troublesome; for navigation in the rivers, because of the violence of the flood-tide, which blows against the flow of the rivers even more strongly, brings no small danger to shipowners, both when they are going down and when they are going up.
αἱ δὲ ἀμπώτεις ἐν ταῖς ἀναχύσεσίν εἰσι βλαβεραί· ταῖς γὰρ πλημμυρίσιν ἀνὰ λόγον καὶ αὐταὶ παροξύνονται, διά τε τὸ τάχος καὶ ἐπὶ ξηρᾶς πολλάκις ἐγκατέλιπον τὴν ναῦν.
And the ebb-tides in the estuaries are harmful; for they themselves are also intensified in proportion to the flood-tides, and because of their speed they have often left vessels on dry land.
τά τε βοσκήματα εἰς τὰς νήσους διαβαίνοντα τὰς πρὸ τῶν ἀναχύσεων τοτὲ μὲν οὖν καὶ ἐπεκλύσθη τοτὲ δὲ ἀπελήφθη, βιαζόμενα δʼ ἐπανελθεῖν οὐκ ἴσχυσεν ἀλλὰ διεφθάρη· τὰς δὲ βοῦς φασι καὶ τετηρηκυίας τὸ συμβαῖνον περιμένειν τὴν ἀναχώρησιν τῆς θαλάττης καὶ τότε ἀπαίρειν εἰς τὴν ἤπειρον.
And the cattle that cross over to the islands situated before the estuaries are sometimes swept away by the flood and sometimes cut off, and when they are forced to return they have no strength but perish; but they say that the cows, having observed what happens, wait for the retreat of the sea and only then depart for the mainland.