BOOK VI. xxxii. 145-148 



water, using the tide. But those travelhng by water 

 from the kingdom of Parthia come to the village 

 of Teredon below the confluence of the Euphrates 

 and the Tigris ; the left bank of the river is occupied 

 by the Chaklaeans and the right bank by the Scenitae 

 tribe of nomads. Some report that two other towns 

 at long distances apart are also passed on the voyage 

 down the Tigris, Barbatia and then Dumatha, the 

 latter said to be ten days' voyage from Petra. Our 

 merchants say that the king of the Characeni also 

 rules over Apamea, a town situated at the con- 

 fluence of the overflow of the Euphrates with the 

 Tigris ; and that consequently when the Parthians 

 threaten an invasion they are prevented by the 

 construction of dams across the river, which cause 

 the country to be flooded. 



We \vi\\ now describe the coast from Charax The Persim 

 onward, which was first explored for King Epiphanes. ^"abianside. 

 There is the place where the mouth of the Euphrates 

 formerly was, a salt-water stream; Cape Caldone; 

 an estuary more resembUng a whirlpool than open 

 sea, stretching 50 miles along the coast ; the river 

 Achenum ; 100 miles of desert, extending as far as 

 Icarus Island ; Capeus Bay, on which dwell the 

 Gaulopes and the Gattaei ; the Bay of Gerra and the 

 town of that name, which measures five miles round 

 and has towers made of squared blocks of salt. 

 Fifty miles inland is the Attene district ; and opposite 

 to it and the same number of miles distant from the 

 coast is the island of Tyros," extremely famous for 

 its numerous pearls, with a town of the same name, 

 and next another smaller island 12^ miles away 

 from the cape of Tyros. It is reported that beyond 

 Tyros some large islands are in view which have 



449 



