Res Gestae

But the river, flowing through the regions of Aethiopia, and going under various names, which many nations have given it in its course over the earth, swelling with its rich flood, comes to the cataracts, which are steep rocks, from which it plunges headlong rather than flows; for which reason the Ati, who formerly lived nearby, since their hearing was impaired by the continual roar, were forced to change their abode to a quieter spot.

Flowing more gently from there, through seven

Rising, then, in the quarter which has been mentioned, it passes from the marshes[*](Ammianus seems to accept King Juba’s opinion; cf. section 8, above.) as far as the cataracts and forms many islands, some of which (it is said) extend over such wide-spread spaces that the stream hardly leaves each of them behind on the third day.

Of these two are famous, namely Meroë and Delta, the latter clearly so-called from the form of the triangular letter.[*](Greek δ (inverted on our maps).) But when the sun has begun to ride through the sign of the Crab, the river increases until it passes into the Balance[*](That is, from the summer solstice until the autumnal equinox.) ; then, flowing at high water for a hundred days, the river becomes smaller, and as the weight of its waters decreases, it shows the plains that before were navigable for boats now suitable for riders on horseback.

However, too great a rise of the Nile is as harmful to the crops as too small a one is unfruitful. For if it soaks the land for too long a time with an excess of water, it delays the cultivation of the fields; but if the rise is too small, it threatens a bad harvest. No landowner has ever wished for a higher rise than sixteen cubits. But if there is a more moderate rise, seeds sown on a

Egypt abounds also in many animals, some of which are terrestrial, some aquatic; and there are others which live both on land and in the water, and hence are called amphibious. And on the dry plains roebucks feed and antelopes and spinturnicia,[*](A kind of monkey.) laughable for their utter ugliness, and other monsters, which it is not worth while to enumerate.

Now among aquatic animals crocodiles abound everywhere in that region, a destructive four-footed monster, a curse to the land, accustomed to both elements. It has no tongue, and moves only its upper jaw; its teeth are arranged like those of a comb, and whatever it meets it persistently attacks with destructive bites. It produces its young from eggs resembling those of geese.

And, if besides the claws with which it is armed it also had thumbs, its strength would be great enough to overturn even ships; for it sometimes attains a length of eighteen cubits. At night it remains quiet in the water; in the daytime it suns itself on land, trusting to its hide, which is so strong that its mail-clad back can hardly be pierced by the bolts of artillery.

Now, savage as these same beasts always are, during the seven festal days on which the priests at Memphis celebrate the birthday of the Nile, as if by a kind of military truce they lay aside all their

Besides those that lose their lives through accident, some are destroyed by creatures resembling dolphins, which are found in that same river and with sawlike dorsal fins tear the crocodiles’ soft bellies; and others die in the following manner.

The trochilus, a little bird, as it looks for bits of food, flutters and plays about the crocodile as it lies outstretched, and pleasantly tickling its cheeks, makes its way as far as its throat. Seeing this going on, a water rat, a kind of ichneumon, enters the opening of the crocodile’s mouth, to which the bird has shown the way, and after lacerating its belly and tearing its vitals to pieces, forces its way out.[*](As a matter of fact, the ichneumon destroys only the eggs of the crocodile; cf. Diod. Sic. i. 35, 7; Solinus, 32, 25, agrees with Ammianus, and in 32, 26, tells of the destruction of crocodiles by dolphins with sharp dorsal fins.)

Yet daring as this monster is towards those who run from it, when it sees that it has a daring opponent it is most timorous. It has sharper sight when on land, and during the four winter months it is said to take no food.