XTTT.] HIS ACCOUNT OF THE TIGRIS. 267
(Merv), which like Palmyra was an oasis in the middle of a desert,
and he speaks of that district as being favourable for the growth
of vines1.
The account which Pliny gives of the source and the upper
waters of the Tigris—a subject which seems to
T*1i*» Tigris
have attracted the attention of the ancients—
though the actual facts are much distorted, contains many points
which are suggestive with regard to the features of the country in
that neighbourhood.
"The Tigris," he says, "rises in the district of Greater
Armenia, from a conspicuous source in a level
spot. The name of the place is Elegosine; that course!****
of the river, where its course is slower, Diglito;
from the point where its speed increases, it begins to be called
Tigris from its rapidity, for this is the word for an arrow
among the Medes. It flows into the lake of Aretissa, which
supports whatever heavy substances are brought down into it,
and exhales natron in clouds; it contains but one kind of fish,
and these avoid the current of the river as it passes, and in like
manner the fish from the Tigris do not pass into the lake. The
river is distinguished from it, as it flows along, both by its current
and its colour, and after passing through it, disappears into a
chasm where Mount Taurus meets it, and after flowing under-
ground, bursts out on the farther side at a place called Zoaranda.
The identity of the stream is shewn by objects dropped into it
being carried through. Subsequently it passes through a second
lake called Thospites, and again descends into an underground
passage; after a course of twenty-two miles it reappears near
NymphaeumV
Before we examine this passage further, it may be well to
compare with it the account of the same objects which is given
by Strabo, with whose work Pliny was unacquainted, so that their
testimony is independent. It will not be difficult to discover that
the story as given by the latter of the two writers is an adaptation
of the earlier one, with the amplifications which are usually found
in a later version. Strabo writes thus:—
1 Pliny, 6. 46. * Ibid., 6. 1*7, M&