flying from the cold weather which comes on in the region of Scythia come regularly to these parts for wintering:  if then it snowed ever so little in that land through which the Nile flows and in which it has its rise, none of these things would take place, as necessity compels us to admit.  As for him who talked about the Ocean, he carried his tale into the region of the unknown, and so he need not be refuted; since I for my part know of no river Ocean existing, but I think that Homer or one of the poets who were before him invented the name and introduced it into his verse.

If however after I have found fault with the opinions proposed, I am bound to declare an opinion of my own about the matters which are in doubt, I will tell what to my mind is the reason why the Nile increases in the summer.  In the winter season the Sun, being driven away from his former path through the heaven by the stormy winds, comes to the upper parts of Libya.  If one would set forth the matter in the shortest way, all has now been said; for whatever region this god approaches most and stands directly above, this it may reasonably be supposed is most in want of water, and its native streams of rivers are dried up most.  However, to set it forth at greater length, thus it is:—­the Sun passing in his course by the upper parts of Libya, does thus, that is to say, since at all times the air in those parts is clear and the country is warm, because there are no cold winds, in passing through it the Sun does just as he was wont to do in the summer, when going through the midst of the heaven, that is he draws to himself the water, and having drawn it he drives it away to the upper parts of the country, and the winds take it up and scattering it abroad melt it into rain; so it is natural that the winds which blow from this region, namely the South and South-west Winds, should be much the most rainy of all the winds.  I think however that the Sun does not send away from himself all the water of the Nile of each year, but that also he lets some remain behind with himself.  Then when the winter becomes milder, the Sun returns back again to the midst of the heaven, and from that time onwards he draws equally from all rivers; but in the meantime they flow in large volume, since water of rain mingles with them in great quantity, because their country receives rain then and is filled with torrent streams.  In summer however they are weak, since not only the showers of rain fail them, but also they are drawn by the Sun.  The Nile however, alone of all rivers, not having rain and being drawn by the Sun, naturally flows during this time of winter in much less than its proper volume, that is much less than in summer; for then it is drawn equally with all the other waters, but in winter it bears the burden alone.  Thus I suppose the Sun to be the cause of these things.  He also is the cause in my opinion that the air in these parts is dry, since he makes it so by scorching up his path through the heaven:  thus summer prevails