αὐτὴ 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. 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. ἅπασα γάρ ἐστι πεδιὰς ἡ ὑπὲρ τῆς παραλίας ἐπὶ πολὺ τῆς μεταξὺ τοῦ τε ἱεροῦ ἀκρωτηρίου καὶ στηλῶν. 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. 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. ἔνιαι μὲν οὖν τῶν τοιούτων κοιλάδων κενοῦνται κατὰ τὰς ἀμπώτεις, τινὰς δʼ οὐ παντάπασιν ἐπιλείπει τὸ ὕδωρ, ἔνιαι δὲ καὶ νήσους ἀπολαμβάνουσιν ἐν ἑαυταῖς. 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. 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. 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. 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.
Turdetania, on the other hand, is marvellously fertile, and abounds in every species of produce. The value of its productions is doubled by means of exportation, the surplus products finding a ready sale amongst the numerous ship-owners. This results from its rivers and estuaries, which, as we have said, resemble rivers, and by which you may sail from the sea to the inland towns, not only in small, but even in large-sized skiffs. For the whole country above the coast, and situated between the Sacred Promontory and the Pillars, consists of an extended plain. Here in many places are hollows running inland from the sea, which resemble moderately-sized ravines or the beds of rivers, and extend for many stadia. These are filled by the approach of the sea at high tide, and may be navigated as easily, or even more so than rivers. They are navigated much the same as rivers the sea, meeting with no obstacle, enters like the flow of a river at flood-tide. The sea comes in here with greater force than in the other places; for being forced from the wide ocean into the narrow strait, formed by the coast of Maurusia and Iberia, it experiences recoils, and thus is borne full into the retiring parts of the land. Some of these shallows are left dry as the tide ebbs, while others are never destitute of water; others again contain islands, of this kind are the estuaries between the Sacred Promontory and the Pillars, where the tide comes in with more violence than at other places. Such a tide is of considerable advantage to sailors, since it makes the estuaries both fuller and more spacious, frequently swelling them to a breadth of eight stadia, so that the whole land, so to speak, is rendered navigable, thus giving wonderful facility both for the export and import of merchandise. Nevertheless there is some inconvenience. For in the navigation of the rivers, the sailors run considerable danger both in ascending and descending, owing to the violence with which the flood-tide encounters the current of the stream as it flows down. The ebb-tides are likewise the cause of much damage in these estuaries, for resulting as they do from the same cause as the flood-tides, they are frequently so rapid as to leave the vessel on dry land; and herds in passing over to the islands that are in these estuaries are sometimes drowned [in the passage] and sometimes surprised in the islands, and endeavouring to cross back again to the continent, are unable, and perish in the attempt. They say that certain of the cattle, having narrowly observed what takes place, wait till the sea has retired, and then cross over to the main-land.
καταμαθόντες δʼ οὖν τὴν φύσιν τῶν τόπων οἱ ἄνθρωποι καὶ τὰς ἀναχύσεις ὁμοίως ὑπουργεῖν τοῖς ποταμοῖς δυναμένας πόλεις ἔκτισαν ἐπʼ αὐτῶν καὶ ἄλλας κατοικίας, καθάπερ ἐπὶ τῶν ποταμῶν· τούτων δʼ ἐστὶν ἥ τε Ἄστα καὶ Νάβρισσα καὶ Ὄνοβα καὶ Ὀσσόνοβα καὶ Μαίνοβα καὶ ἄλλαι πλείους. προσλαμβάνουσι δὲ καὶ διώρυγες ἔσθʼ ὅπου γεγονυῖαι τῷ πολλαχόθεν εἶναι καὶ πολλαχόσε τὴν κομιδὴν καὶ πρὸς ἀλλήλους καὶ πρὸς τοὺς ἔξω. καὶ αἱ σύρροιαι δὲ ὡσαύτως ὠφελοῦσι κατὰ τὰς ἐπὶ πολὺ πλήμας διαχεομένας ἐπὶ τῶν διειργόντων ἰσθμῶν τοὺς πόρους καὶ πλωτοὺς ἀπεργαζομένας, ὥστε πορθμεύεσθαι καὶ ἐκ τῶν ποταμῶν εἰς τὰς ἀναχύσεις κἀκεῖθεν δεῦρο. ἅπασα δʼ ἡ ἐμπορία πρὸς τὴν Ἰταλίαν ἐστὶ καὶ τὴν Ῥώμην, ἔχουσα τὸν πλοῦν μέχρι τῶν στηλῶν ἀγαθὸν (πλὴν εἴ τίς ἐστι περὶ τὸν πορθμὸν δυσκολία) καὶ τὸν πελάγιον τὸν ἐν τῇ καθʼ ἡμᾶς θαλάττῃ. διὰ γὰρ εὐδίου κλίματος οἱ δρόμοι συντελοῦνται καὶ μάλιστα τῷ πελαγίζοντι· τοῦτο δὲ πρόσφορόν ἐστι ταῖς ἐμπορικαῖς ὁλκάσιν. ἔχουσι δὲ καὶ οἱ ἄνεμοι τάξιν οἱ πελάγιοι· πρόσεστι δὲ καὶ ἡ νῦν εἰρήνη, τῶν λῃστηρίων καταλυθέντων, ὥσθʼ ἡ σύμπασα ὑπάρχει ῥᾳστώνη τοῖς πλοϊζομένοις. ἴδιον δέ τί φησι Ποσειδώνιος τηρῆσαι κατὰ τὸν ἀνάπλουν τὸν ἐκ τῆς Ἰβηρίας, ὅτι οἱ εὖροι κατʼ ἐκεῖνο τὸ πέλαγος ἕως τοῦ Σαρδῴου κόλπου πνέοιεν ἐτησίαι· διὸ καὶ τρισὶ μησὶν εἰς Ἰταλίαν κατᾶραι μόλις παραδιενεχθεὶς περί τε τὰς Γυμνησίας νήσους καὶ περὶ Σαρδόνα καὶ τὰ ἄλλα ἀπαντικρὺ τούτων μέρη τῆς Λιβύης.
The men [of the country], being well acquainted with the nature of these places, and that the estuaries would very well answer the same purpose as rivers, founded cities and other settlements along them the same as along rivers. Of this number are Asta, Nebrissa, Onoba, Ossonoba, Maenoba, besides many others. The canals which have been cut in various directions are also found useful in the traffic which is carried on between place and place, both amongst the people themselves and with foreigners. The conflux of water at the flood-tides is also valuable, as rendering navigable the isthmuses which separate the different pieces of water, thus making it possible to ferry over from the rivers into the estuaries, and from the estuaries into the rivers. Their trade is wholly carried on with Italy and Rome. The navigation is excellent as far as the Pillars, (excepting perhaps some little difficulties at the Strait,) and equally so on the Mediterranean, where the voyages are very calm, especially to those who keep the high seas. This is a great advantage to merchant-vessels. The winds on the high seas blow regularly; and peace reigns there now, the pirates having been put down, so that in every respect the voyage is facile. Posidonius tells us he observed the singular phenomenon in his journey from Iberia, that in this sea, as far as the Gulf of Sardinia, the south-east winds blow periodically. And on this account he strove in vain for three whole months to reach Italy, being driven about by the winds against the Gymnesian islands, Sardinia, and the opposite coasts of Libya.
Ἐξάγεται δʼ ἐκ τῆς Τουρδητανίας σῖτός τε καὶ οἶνος πολὺς καὶ ἔλαιον οὐ πολὺ μόνον ἀλλὰ καὶ κάλλιστον· καὶ κηρὸς δὲ καὶ μέλι καὶ πίττα ἐξάγεται καὶ κόκκος πολλὴ καὶ μίλτος οὐ χείρων τῆς Σινωπικῆς γῆς. τά τε ναυπήγια συνιστᾶσιν αὐτόθι ἐξ ἐπιχωρίας ὕλης, ἅλες τε ὀρυκτοὶ παρʼ αὐτοῖς εἰσι καὶ ποταμῶν ἁλμυρῶν ῥεύματα οὐκ ὀλίγα· οὐκ ὀλίγη δὲ οὐδὲ ἐκ τῶν ὄψων ταριχεία οὐκ ἔνθεν μόνον ἀλλὰ καὶ ἐκ τῆς ἄλλης τῆς ἐκτὸς στηλῶν παραλίας, οὐ χείρων τῆς Ποντικῆς. πολλὴ δὲ καὶ ἐσθὴς πρότερον ἤρχετο, νῦν δὲ ἔρια μᾶλλον τῶν κοραξῶν. καὶ ὑπερβολή τίς ἐστι τοῦ κάλλους· ταλαντιαίους γοῦν ὠνοῦνται τοὺς κριοὺς εἰς τὰς ὀχείας. ὑπερβολὴ δὲ καὶ τῶν λεπτῶν ὑφασμάτων, ἅπερ οἱ Σαλτιγῖται κατασκευάζουσιν. ἄφθονος δὲ καὶ βοσκημάτων εὐπορία παντοίων καὶ κυνηγεσίων. τῶν δʼ ὀλεθρίων θηρίων σπάνις πλὴν τῶν γεωρύχων λαγιδέων, οὓς ἔνιοι λεβηρίδας προσαγορεύουσι· λυμαίνονται γὰρ καὶ φυτὰ καὶ σπέρματα ῥιζοφαγοῦντες· καὶ τοῦτο συμβαίνει καθʼ ὅλην τὴν Ἰβηρίαν σχεδόν τι, διατείνει δὲ καὶ μέχρι Μασσαλίας, ὀχλεῖ δὲ καὶ τὰς νήσους. οἱ δὲ τὰς Γυμνησίας οἰκοῦντες λέγονται πρεσβεύσασθαί ποτε πρὸς Ῥωμαίους κατὰ χώρας αἴτησιν· ἐκβάλλεσθαι γὰρ ὑπὸ τῶν ζῴων τούτων, ἀντέχειν μὴ δυνάμενοι διὰ τὸ πλῆθος. πρὸς μὲν οὖν τὸν τοσοῦτον ἴσως πόλεμον, ὃς οὐκ ἀεὶ συμβαίνει, φορᾷ δέ τινι λοιμικῇ καθάπερ ὄφεων καὶ μυῶν τῶν ἀρουραίων, χρεία τῆς τοσαύτης ἐπικουρίας, πρὸς δὲ τὸ μέτριον ἐξεύρηνται πλείους θῆραι· καὶ δὴ καὶ γαλᾶς ἀγρίας ἃς ἡ Λιβύη φέρει τρέφουσιν ἐπίτηδες, ἃς φιμώσαντες παριᾶσιν εἰς τὰς ὀπάς· αἱ δʼ ἐξέλκουσιν ἔξω τοῖς ὄνυξιν οὓς ἂν καταλάβωσιν, ἢ φεύγειν ἀναγκάζουσιν εἰς τὴν ἐπιφάνειαν, ἐκπεσόντας δὲ θηρεύουσιν οἱ ἐφεστῶτες. τὴν δὲ ἀφθονίαν τῶν ἐκκομιζομένων ἐκ τῆς Τουρδητανίας ἐμφανίζει τὸ μέγεθος καὶ τὸ πλῆθος τῶν ναυκληρίων· ὁλκάδες γὰρ μέγισται παρὰ τούτων πλέουσιν εἰς Δικαιάρχειαν καὶ τὰ Ὤστια τῆς Ῥώμης ἐπίνειον· τὸ δὲ πλῆθος μικροῦ δεῖν ἐνάμιλλον τοῖς Λιβυκοῖς.
Large quantities of corn and wine are exported from Turdetania, besides much oil, which is of the first quality; also wax, honey, pitch, large quantities of the kermes-berry, and vermilion not inferior to that of Sinope. The country furnishes the timber for their shipbuilding. They have likewise mineral salt, and not a few salt streams. A considerable quantity of salted fish is exported, not only from hence, but also from the remainder of the coast beyond the Pillars, equal to that of Pontus. Formerly they exported large quantities of garments, but they now send the [unmanufactured] wool, which is superior even to that of the Coraxi, and remarkable for its beauty. Rams for the purpose of covering fetch a talent. The stuffs manufactured by the Saltiatae are of incomparable texture. There is a super-abundance of cattle, and a great variety of game: while, on the other hand, of destructive animals there are scarcely any, with the exception of certain little hares which burrow in the ground, and are called by some leberides. These creatures destroy both seeds and trees by gnawing their roots. They are met with throughout almost the whole of Iberia, and extend to Marseilles, infesting likewise the islands. It is said that formerly the inhabitants of the Gymnesian islands sent a deputation to the Romans soliciting that a new land might be given them, as they were quite driven out of their country by these animals, being no longer able to stand against their vast multitudes. It is possible that people should be obliged to have recourse to such an expedient for help in waging war in so great an extremity, which however but seldom happens, and is a plague produced by some pestilential state of the atmosphere, which at other times has produced serpents and rats in like abundance; but for the ordinary increase of these little hares, many ways of hunting have been devised, amongst others by wild cats from Africa, trained for the purpose. Having muzzled these, they turn them into the holes, when they either drag out the animals they find there with their claws, or compel them to fly to the surface of the earth, where they are taken by people standing by for that purpose. The large amount of the exports from Turdetania is evinced by the size and number of their ships. Merchant-vessels of the greatest size sail thence to Dicaearchia and Ostia, a Roman port; they are in number nearly equal to those which arrive from Libya.
τοιαύτης δὲ τῆς μεσογαίας οὔσης τῆς ἐν τῇ Τουρδητανίᾳ, καὶ τὴν παράλιον ἐνάμιλλον εὕροι τις ἂν τοῖς ἐκ θαλάττης ἀγαθοῖς· τά τε γὰρ ὀστρεώδη πάντα καὶ κογχοειδῆ καὶ τοῖς πλήθεσιν ὑπερβάλλει καὶ τοῖς μεγέθεσι καθόλου κατὰ τὴν ἔξω θάλατταν πᾶσαν, ἐνταῦθα δὲ διαφερόντως, ἅτε καὶ τῶν πλημμυρίδων καὶ τῶν ἀμπώτεων ἐνταῦθα αὐξομένων, ἃς εἰκὸς αἰτίας εἶναι καὶ τοῦ πλήθους καὶ τοῦ μεγέθους διὰ τὴν γυμνασίαν. ὡς δʼ αὕτως ἔχει καὶ περὶ τῶν κητέων ἁπάντων, ὀρύγων τε καὶ φαλαινῶν καὶ φυσητήρων, ὧν ἀναφυσησάντων φαίνεταί τις νεφώδους ὄψις κίονος τοῖς πόρρωθεν ἀφορῶσι· καὶ οἱ γόγγροι δὲ ἀποθηριοῦνται πολὺ τῶν παρʼ ἡμῖν ὑπερβεβλημένοι κατὰ τὸ μέγεθος, καὶ αἱ σμύραιναι καὶ ἄλλα πλείω τῶν τοιούτων ὄψων. ἐν δὲ Καρτηίᾳ κήρυκας δεκακοτύλους καὶ πορφύρας φασίν· ἐν δὲ τοῖς ἐξωτέροις τόποις καὶ μείζους ὀγδοήκοντα μνῶν τὴν σμύραιναν καὶ τὸν γόγγρον, ταλαντιαῖον δὲ τὸν πολύποδα, διπήχεις δὲ τὰς τευθίδας καὶ τὰ παραπλήσια. πολὺς δὲ καὶ ὁ θύννος συνελαύνεται δεῦρο ἀπὸ τῆς ἄλλης τῆς ἔξωθεν παραλίας πίων καὶ παχύς. τρέφεται δὲ βαλάνῳ δρυΐνῃ φυομένῃ κατὰ τῆς θαλάττης χαμαιζήλῳ τινὶ παντάπασιν, ἁδρότατον δʼ ἐκφερούσῃ καρπόν· ἥπερ καὶ ἐν τῇ γῇ φύεται πολλὴ κατὰ τὴν Ἰβηρίαν, ῥίζας μὲν ἔχουσα μεγάλας ὡς ἂν τελείας δρυός, ἐξαιρομένη δὲ θάμνου ταπεινῆς ἧττον· τοσοῦτον δʼ ἐκφέρει καρπὸν ὥστε μετὰ τὴν ἀκμὴν πλήρη τὴν παραλίαν εἶναι τήν τε ἐντὸς καὶ τὴν ἐκτὸς στηλῶν, ἣν ἐκβάλλουσιν αἱ πλῆμαι· ἡ δʼ ἐντὸς στηλῶν ἐλάττων ἀεὶ καὶ μᾶλλον εὑρίσκεται. λέγει δʼ ὁ Πολύβιος καὶ μέχρι τῆς Λατίνης ἐκπίπτειν τὴν βάλανον ταύτην, εἰ μὴ ἄρα (φησί) καὶ ἡ Σαρδὼ φέρει καὶ ἡ πλησιόχωρος ταύτῃ. καὶ οἱ θύννοι δʼ ὅσῳ πλέον συνεγγίζουσι ταῖς στήλαις ἔξωθεν φερόμενοι, τοσῷδʼ ἰσχναίνονται πλέον τῆς τροφῆς ἐπιλειπούσης· εἶναί τε παρὰ θαλάττιον ὗν τὸ ζῷον τοῦτο· ἥδεσθαι γὰρ τῇ βαλάνῳ καὶ πιαίνεσθαι διαφερόντως ὑπʼ αὐτῆς, φορᾶς τε τῆς βαλάνου γενομένης φορὰν καὶ τῶν θύννων εἶναι.
Such is the wealth of the inland part of Turdetania, and its maritime portions are found fully to equal it in the richness of their sea-productions. In fact, oysters and every variety of shell-fish, remarkable both for their number and size, are found along the whole of the exterior sea, but here in particular. It is probable that the flow and ebb tides, which are particularly strong here, contribute both to their quantity and size, on count of the great number of pools and standing waters which they form. The same is the case with regard to all kinds of cetacea, narwhals, whales, and physeteri, which when they blow [up the water from their snouts] appear to observers from a distance to resemble a cloud shaped like a column. The congers are quite monstrous, far surpassing in size those of our [sea]; so are the lampreys, and many other fish of the same kind. It is said that in Carteia there are kerukae and cuttle-fish which would contain as much as ten cotylae. In the parts more exterior there are lampreys and congers weighing 80 minae, and polypesa talent, also teuthidae two cubits in length, with other fish in proportion. Shoals of rich fat thunny are driven hither from the sea-coast beyond. They feed on the fruit of a species of stunted oak, which grows at the bottom of the sea, and produces very large acorns. The same oaks grow in large numbers throughout the land of Iberia, their roots are of the same size as those of the full-grown oak, although the tree itself never attains the height of a low shrub. So great is the quantity of fruit which it produces, that at the season when they are ripe, the whole coast on either side of the Pillars is covered with acorns which have been thrown up by the tides: the quantity however is always less on this side the Pillars [than on the other]. Polybius states that these acorns are ejected [by the sea] as far as [the shores of] Latium, unless, he adds, Sardo and the neighbouring districts also produce them. The thunny-fish become gradually thinner, owing to the failure of their food, as they approach the Pillars from the outer sea. This fish, in fact, may be regarded as a kind of sea-hog, being fond of the acorn, and growing marvellously fat upon it; and whenever acorns are abundant, thunny-fish are abundant likewise.
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