herodotus

53. Fourth is the river Borysthenes, which is both the largest ofthese after the Ister, and also in our opinion the most serviceablenot only of the Scythian rivers but also of all the rivers of theworld besides, excepting only the Nile of Egypt, for to this it is notpossible to compare any other river: of the rest however theBorysthenes is the most serviceable, seeing that it provides bothpastures which are the fairest and the richest for cattle, and fishwhich are better by far and more numerous than those of any otherriver, and also it is the sweetest water to drink, and flows withclear stream, though others beside it are turbid, and along its bankscrops are produced better than elsewhere, while in parts where it isnot sown, grass grows deeper. Moreover at its mouth salt forms ofitself in abundance, and it produces also huge fish without spines,which they call /antacaioi/, to be used for salting, and many otherthings also worthy of wonder. Now as far as the region of theGerrians,[51] to which it is a voyage of forty[52] days, theBorysthenes is known as flowing from the North Wind; but above thisnone can tell through what nations it flows: it is certain howeverthat it runs through desert[53] to the land of the agriculturalScythians; for these Scythians dwell along its banks for a distance often days' sail. Of this river alone and of the Nile I cannot tellwhere the sources are, nor, I think, can any of the Hellenes. When theBorysthenes comes near the sea in its course, the Hypanis mingles withit, running out into the same marsh;[53a] and the space between thesetwo rivers, which is as it were a beak of land,[54] is called thepoint of Hippoles, and in it is placed a temple of the Mother,[55] andopposite the temple upon the river Hypanis are settled theBorysthenites.54. This is that which has to do with these rivers; and after thesethere is a fifth river besides, called Panticapes. This also flows[56]both from the North and from a lake, and in the space between thisriver and the Borysthenes dwell the agricultural Scythians: it runsout into the region of Hylaia, and having passed by this it mingleswith the Borysthenes. 55. Sixth comes the river Hypakyris, whichstarts from a lake, and flowing through the midst of the nomadScythians runs out into the sea by the city of Carkinitis, skirting onits right bank the region of Hylaia and the so-called racecourse ofAchilles. 56. Seventh is the Gerros, which parts off from theBorysthenes near about that part of the country where the Borysthenesceases to be known,--it parts off, I say, in this region and has thesame name which this region itself has, namely Gerros; and as it flowsto the sea it borders the country of the nomad and that of the RoyalScythians, and runs out into the Hypakyris. 57. The eighth is theriver Tanaïs, which starts in its flow at first from a large lake, andruns out into a still larger lake called Maiotis, which is the