Histories

After this, they travelled over the desert, towards the west, and crossed a wide sandy region, until after many days they saw trees growing in a plain; when they came to these and were picking the fruit of the trees, they were met by little men of less than common stature, who took them and led them away. The Nasamonians did not know these men's language nor did the escort know the language of the Nasamonians.

The men led them across great marshes, after crossing which they came to a city where all the people were of a stature like that of the guides, and black. A great river ran past this city, from the west towards the rising sun; crocodiles could be seen in it.

This is enough of the story told by Etearchus the Ammonian; except he said that the Nasamonians returned, as the men of Shahhat [21.866,32.833] (inhabited place), Al Jabal al Akhdar, Libya, AfricaCyrene told me, and that the people to whose country they came were all wizards;

as to the river that ran past the city, Etearchus guessed it to be the Nahr an- Nil [31.1,30.166] (river), AfricaNile; and reason proves as much. For the Nahr an- Nil [31.1,30.166] (river), AfricaNile flows from Libya [17,25] (nation), AfricaLibya, right through the middle of it; and as I guess, reasoning about things unknown from visible signs, it rises proportionally as far away as does the Ister.[*](e)k tw=n i)/swn me/trwn is an obscure expression. What Hdt. appears to mean is, that as the Nahr an- Nil [31.1,30.166] (river), AfricaNile (according to him) flows first from W. to E. and then turns northward, so the Danube (river), Europe Danube flows first from W. to E. and then (as he says) from N. to S.; and so the rivers in a manner correspond: one crosses Africa (continent)Africa, the other Europe (continent)Europe.)