The histories of Herodotus;

Il6 HERODOTUS—BOOK II, EUTERPE [91-93
his mother: they add that by his
nastic games in honour of him.
order they instituted gym-
The Egyptians who dwell above the morasses observe all
these customs; but those who live in the morasses have the
same customs as the rest of the Egyptians, and as in other
things, so in this, that each man has but one wife, like the
Greeks. But to obtain food more easily, they have the follow-
the river is full, and has made the
When ing inventions :
plains like a sea, great numbers of lilies, which the Egyptians
call lotus, spring up in the water : these they gather and
dry in the sun ; then having pounded the middle of the lotus,
which resembles a poppy, they make bread of it and bake it.
The root also of this lotus is fit for food, and is tolerably sweet
and is round, and of the size of an apple. There are also other
lilies, like roses, that grow in the river, the fruit of which is
contained in a separate pod, that springs up from the root
in form very like a wasp's nest ; in this there are many berries
fit to be eaten, of the size of an olive stone, and they are eaten
both fresh and dried. The byblus, which is an annual plant,
when they have pulled it up in the fens, they cut off the top
of it and put to some other uses, but the lower part that is
left, to the length of a cubit, they eat and sell. Those who
are anxious to eat the byblus dressed in the most delicate
manner, stew it in a hot pan and then eat it. Some of them
live entirely on fish, which they catch, and gut, and dry in the
sun, and then eat them dried.
Fishes that are gregarious are seldom found in the rivers,
but being bred in the lakes, they proceed as follows : When
the desire of engendering comes upon them, they swim out
in shoals to the sea; the males lead the way, scattering the
sperm ; and the females following swallow it, and are thus
impregnated. When they find themselves full in the sea,
they swim back, each to their accustomed haunts ; however,
the males no longer take the lead, but this is done by females
they, leading the way in shoals, do as the males did before;
for they scatter their spawn by degrees, and the males following
devour them ; but from the spawn that escapes and
are not devoured, the fish that grow up are engendered. Any
of these fish that happen to be taken in their passage toward
the sea are found bruised on the left side of the head; but
those that are taken on their return are bruised on the right
and this proceeds from the following cause : they swim out
to the sea, keeping close to the land on the left side, and when
they swim back again they keep to the same shore, hugging
it and touching it as much as possible, for fear of losing their
; : ;