[Pramāṇa](https://indike.org/pramana/) › [Foreign](https://indike.org/pramana/inf) › [Latin](https://indike.org/pramana/inf.la) › [Principate (31 BCE – 300 CE)](https://indike.org/pramana/inf.la.imperial) › [Naturalis historia](https://indike.org/pramana/inf.la.imperial.pliny-elder) › 6.99 # Naturalis historia 6.99 Naturalis historia 6.99 - **Language:** Latin ### [6.99](https://indike.org/pramana/inf.la.imperial.pliny-elder.6.99) insula Athotadrus, item Gauratae, in quibus Gyani gens; flumen Hyperis in medio sinu Persico, onerariarum navium capax, flumen Sitioganus, quo Pasargadas septimo die navigatur, flumen navigabile Phristimus, insula sine nomine, flumen Granis modicarum navium — per Susianen fluit, dextra eius accolunt Dexi montani, qui bitumen perficiunt —, flumen Zarotis, ostio difficili nisi peritis, insulae duae parvae; inde vadosa navigatio, palustri similis, per euripos tamen quosdam peragitur; > the cause of which, however, has not been ascertained. Next to these is the nation of the Ori, and then the Hyctanis, a river of Carmania, with an excellent harbour at its mouth, and producing gold; at this spot the writers state that for the first time they caught sight of the Great Bear. The star Arcturus too, they tell us, was not to be seen here every night, and never, when it was seen, during the whole of it. Up to this spot extended the empire of the Achæmenidæ, and in these districts are to be found mines of copper, iron, arsenic, and red lead. They next came to the Promontory of Carmania, from which the distance across to the opposite coast, where the Macæ, a nation of Arabia, dwell, is fifty miles; and then to three islands, of which that of Oracla is alone inhabited, being the only one supplied with fresh water; it is distant from the mainland twenty-five miles; quite in the Gulf, and facing Persia, there are four other islands. About these islands sea-serpents were seen swimming towards them, twenty cubits in length, which struck the fleet with great alarm. They then came to the island of Athothradus, and those called the Gauratæ, upon which dwells the nation of the Gyani; the river Hyperis, which discharges itself midway into the Persian Gulf, and is navigable for merchant ships; the river Sitiogagus, from which to Pasargadæ is seven days' sail; a navigable river known as the Phristimus, and an island without a name; > — John Bostock & Henry Thomas Riley 1855, The Natural History of Pliny > and then the river Granis, navigable for vessels of small burden, and flowing through Susiane; the Deximontani, a people who manufacture bitumen, dwell on its right bank. The river Zarotis comes next, difficult of entrance at its mouth, except by those who are well acquainted with it; and then two small islands; after which the fleet sailed through shallows which looked very much like a marsh, but were rendered navigable by certain channels which had been cut there. They then arrived at the mouth of the Euphrates, and from thence passed into a lake which is formed by the rivers Eulæus and Tigris, in the vicinity of Charax, after which they arrived at Susa, on the river Tigris. Here, after a voyage of three months, they found Alexander celebra- ting a festival, seven months after he had left them at Patale. Such was the voyage performed by the fleet of Alexander. In later times it has been considered a well-ascertained fact that the voyage from Syagrus, the Promontory of Arabia, to Patale, reckoned at thirteen hundred and thirty-five miles, can be performed most advantageously with the aid of a westerly wind, which is there known by the name of Hippalus. > — John Bostock & Henry Thomas Riley 1855, The Natural History of Pliny - [Previous: 6.98](https://indike.org/pramana/inf.la.imperial.pliny-elder.6.98) - [Next: 6.100](https://indike.org/pramana/inf.la.imperial.pliny-elder.6.100) - [Up: 6](https://indike.org/pramana/inf.la.imperial.pliny-elder.6) ## Translations (1) - [The Natural History of Pliny](https://indike.org/pramana/inf.la.imperial.pliny-elder~en-bostock-riley.6.26.2) — John Bostock & Henry Thomas Riley 1855, English --- Source: [https://indike.org/pramana/inf.la.imperial.pliny-elder.6.99](https://indike.org/pramana/inf.la.imperial.pliny-elder.6.99) · Pramāṇa