Page:The geography of Strabo (1854) Volume 1.djvu/228

This page has been proofread, but needs to be validated.
214
STRABO.
CASAUB. 142.

The eye is also delighted with groves and gardens, which in this district are met with in the highest perfection. As far as Ispalis, which is a distance of not less than 500 stadia, the river is navigable for ships[1] of considerable size; but for the cities higher up, as far as Ilipas, smaller vessels are employed, and thence to Corduba river-boats. These are now constructed of planks joined together, but they were formerly made out of a single trunk. Above this to Castlon the river is no longer navigable. A chain of mountains, rich in metal, runs parallel to the Guadalquiver,[p 1] approaching the river sometimes more, sometimes less, towards the north.

There is much silver found in the parts about Ilipas and Sisapo, both in that which is called the old town and the new. There are copper and gold about the Cotinæ.[2] These mountains are on the left as you sail up the river; on the right there is a vast and elevated plain fertile, full of large trees, and containing excellent pasturage. The Guadiana[p 2] is likewise navigable, but not for vessels equally large, nor yet so far up. It is also bordered by mountains containing metal, and extends as far as the Tagus. Districts which contain metals must, of necessity, be rugged and poor,[3] as indeed are those adjoining Carpetania, and still more those next the Keltiberians. The same is the case with Bæturia, the plains of which, bordering on the Guadiana, are arid.

4. Turdetania, on the other hand, is marvellously fertile, and abounds in every species of produce. The value of its productions is doubled by means of exportation, the surplus products finding a ready sale amongst the numerous ship-owners. This results from its rivers and estuaries, which, as we have said, resemble rivers, and by which you may sail from the sea to the inland towns, not only in small, but even in large-sized skiffs. For the whole country above the coast, and situated between the Sacred Promontory[p 3] and the Pillars, consists of an extended plain. Here in many places are hollows running inland from the sea, which resemble moderately-sized ravines or the beds of rivers, and extend

  1. ↑ Strabo uses ὸλκάσιν ἀξιολόγοις, but the English hulk would not bear the same import in this place as the Greek.
  2. ↑ Cotillas, or perhaps Constantina near Almaden.
  3. ↑ Experience does not seem to warrant this conclusion.
  1. ↑ Bætis.
  2. ↑ Anas.
  3. ↑ Cape St. Vincent.
This article is issued from Wikisource. The text is available under Creative Commons Attribution-Share Alike 4.0 unless otherwise noted. Additional terms may apply for the media files.