herodotus

is above[20] the Ombricans, the river Carpis and another river, theAlpis, flow also towards the North Wind and run into it; for the Isterflows in fact through the whole of Europe, beginning in the land ofthe Keltoi, who after the Kynesians dwell furthest towards the sunsettingof all the peoples of Europe; and thus flowing through allEurope it falls into the sea by the side of Scythia. 50. So then it isbecause these which have been named and many others join their waterstogether, that Ister becomes the greatest of rivers; since if wecompare the single streams, the Nile is superior in volume of water;for into this no river or spring flows, to contribute to its volume.And the Ister flows at an equal level always both in summer and inwinter for some such cause as this, as I suppose:--in winter it is ofthe natural size, or becomes only a little larger than its nature,seeing that this land receives very little rain in winter, butconstantly has snow; whereas in summer the snow which fell in thewinter, in quantity abundant, melts and runs from all parts into theIster. This snow of which I speak, running into the river helps toswell its volume, and with it also many and violent showers of rain,for it rains during the summer: and thus the waters which mingle withthe Ister are more copious in summer than they are in winter by aboutas much as the water which the Sun draws to himself in summer exceedsthat which he draws in winter; and by the setting of these thingsagainst one another there is produced a balance; so that the river isseen to be of equal volume always.51. One, I say, of the rivers which the Scythians have is the Ister;and after it the Tyras, which starts from the North and begins itscourse from a large lake which is the boundary between the land of theScythians and that of the Neuroi. At its mouth are settled thoseHellenes who are called Tyritai. 52. The third river is the Hypanis,which starts from Scythia and flows from a great lake round which feedwhite wild horses; and this lake is rightly called "Mother ofHypanis." From this then the river Hypanis takes its rise and for adistance of five days' sail it flows shallow and with sweet waterstill;[49] but from this point on towards the sea for four days' sailit is very bitter, for there flows into it the water of a bitterspring, which is so exceedingly bitter that, small as it is, itchanges the water of the Hypanis by mingling with it, though that is ariver to which few are equal in greatness. This spring is on theborder between the lands of the agricultural Scythians and of theAlazonians, and the name of the spring and of the place from which itflows is in Scythian Exampaios, and in the Hellenic tongue HieraiHodoi.[50] Now the Tyras and the Hypanis approach one another in theirwindings in the land of the Alazonians, but after this each turns offand widens the space between them as they flow.