Ἰνδικά 1.5

1.5

(16) Τοῦ δὲ κατὰ τοὺς ποταμοὺς πλήθους καὶ τῆς τῶν ὑδάτων ὑπερβολῆς αἰτίαν φέρουσιν οἱ παρ’ αὐτοῖς φιλόσοφοι καὶ φυσικοὶ τοιαύτην· τῆς Ἰνδικῆς φασι τὰς περικειμένας χώρας, τήν τε Σκυθῶν καὶ Βακτριανῶν, ἔτι δὲ καὶ τῶν Ἀριανῶν, ὑψηλοτέρας εἶναι τῆς Ἰνδικῆς· ὥστε εὐλόγως εἰς τὴν ὑποκειμένην χώραν πανταχόθεν συρρεούσας τὰς λιβάδας ἐκ τοῦ κατ’ ὀλίγον ποιεῖν τοὺς τόπους καθύγρους καὶ γεννᾶν ποταμῶν πλῆθος. (17) Ἴδιον δέ τι συμβαίνει περί τινα τῶν κατὰ τὴν Ἰνδικὴν ποταμῶν τὸν ὀνομαζόμενον Σίλλαν, ῥέοντα δὲ ἔκ τινος ὁμωνύμου κρήνης· ἐπὶ γὰρ τούτου μόνου τῶν ἁπάντων ποταμῶν οὐδὲν τῶν ἐμβαλλομένων εἰς αὐτὸν ἐπιπλεῖ, πάντα δ’ εἰς τὸν βυθὸν καταδύεται παραδόξως. XXXVIII. 18. Τὴν δ’ ὅλην Ἰνδικὴν οὖσαν ὑπερμεγέθη λέγεται κατοικεῖν ἔθνη πολλὰ καὶ παντοδαπὰ, καὶ τούτων μηδὲν ἔχειν τὴν ἐξ ἀρχῆς γένεσιν ἔπηλυν, ἀλλὰ πάντα δοκεῖν ὑπάρχειν αὐτόχθονα, πρὸς δὲ τούτοις μήτε ξενικὴν ἀποικίαν προσδέχεσθαι πώποτε μήτε εἰς ἄλλο ἔθνος ἀπεσταλκέναι. (19) Μυθολογοῦσι δὲ τοὺς ἀρχαιοτάτους ἀνθρώπους τροφαῖς μὲν κεχρῆσθαι τοῖς αὐτομάτως φυομένοις ἐκ τῆς γῆς καρποῖς, ἐσθῆσι δὲ ταῖς δοραῖς τῶν ἐγχωρίων ζῴων, καθάπερ καὶ παρ’ Ἕλλησιν· ὁμοίως δὲ καὶ τῶν τεχνῶν τὰς εὑρέσεις καὶ τῶν ἄλλων τῶν πρὸς βίον χρησίμων ἐκ τοῦ κατ’ ὀλίγον γενέσθαι, τῆς χρείας αὐτῆς ὑφηγουμένης εὐφυεῖ ζῴῳ καὶ συνεργοὺς ἔχοντι πρὸς ἅπαντα χεῖρας καὶ λόγον καὶ ψυχῆς ἀγχίνοιαν. 20. Μυθολογοῦσι δὲ παρὰ τοῖς Ἰνδοῖς οἱ λογιώτατοι περὶ ὧν καθῆκον ἂν εἴη συντόμως διελθεῖν.

Besides these rivers there are a great many others of every description, which permeate the country, and supply water for the nurture of garden vegetables and crops of all sorts. Now to account for the rivers being so numerous, and the supply of water so superabundant, the native philosophers and proficients in natural science advance the following reasons: — They say that the countries which surround India — those of the Skythians and Baktrians, and also of the Aryans — are more elevated than India, so that their waters, agreeably to natural law, flow down together from all sides to the plains beneath, where they gradually saturate the soil with moisture, and generate a multitude of rivers. A peculiarity is found to exist in one of the rivers of India, — that called the Silas, which flows from a fountain bearing the same name. It differs from all other rivers in this respect, — that nothing cast into it will float, but everything, strange to say, sinks down to the bottom.

(38.) It is said that India, being of enormous size when taken as a whole, is peopled by races both numerous and diverse, of which not even one was originally of foreign descent, but all were evidently indigenous; and moreover that India neither received a colony from abroad, nor sent out a colony to any other nation. The legends further inform us that in primitive times the inhabitants subsisted on such fruits as the earth yielded spontaneously, and were clothed with the skins of the beasts found in the country, as was the case with the Greeks; and that, in like manner as with them, the arts and other appliances which improve human life were gradually invented, Necessity herself teaching them to an animal at once docile and furnished not only with hands ready to second all his efforts, but also with reason and a keen intelligence. The men of greatest learning among the Indians tell certain legends, of which it may be proper to give a brief summary. They relate that in the most primitive times, when the people of the country were still living in villages, Dionusos made his appearance coming from the regions lying to the west, and at the head of a considerable army. He over-