Book 10
' Fixed with the Universe. And, Roman, thou,
1
' In thirsting thus to know the source of Nile,
' Dost as the Pharian and Persian kings
' And those of Macedon; nor any age
' Refused the secret, but the place prevailed
' Remote by nature. Greatest of the kings
' By Memphis worshipped, Alexander grudged The historians state that Alexander made an expedition to the temple of Jupiter Hammon and consulted the oracle. Jupiter assisted his march, and an army of crows pointed out the path (Plutarch). It is, however, stated, in a note in Langhorne's edition, that Maximus Tyrius informs us that the object of the journey was the discovery of the sources of the Nile.
' To Nile its mystery, and to furthest earth
' Sent chosen Ethiops whom the crimson zone
' Stayed in their further march, while flowed his stream
' Warm at their feet. Sesostris Sesostris, the great king, does not appear to have pushed his conquests to the west of Europe. westward far
' Reached, to the ends of earth; and necks of kings
' Bent 'neath his chariot yoke: but of the springs
' Which fill your rivers, Rhone and Po, he drank,
'Not of the fount of Nile. Cambyses king
'In madman quest led forth his host to where
'The long-lived races dwell: then famine struck,
'Ate of his dead See Herodotus, III., 17. These Ethiopian races were supposed to live to the age of 120 years, drinking milk, and eating boiled flesh. On Cambyses's march his starving troops cast lots by tens for the one man who was to be eaten. and, Nile unknown, returned.
No lying rumour of thy hidden source
'Has e'er made mention; wheresoe'er thou art
'Yet art thou sought, nor yet has nation claimed
'In pride of place thy river as its own.
' Yet shall I tell, so far as has the god,
' Who veils thy fountain, given me to know,
'Thy progress. Daring to upraise thy banks
''Gainst fiery Cancer's heat, thou tak'st thy rise
'Beneath the zenith: straight towards the north
'And mid Bootes flowing; to the couch
'Bending, or to the risings, of the sun
'In sinuous bends alternate; just alike
'To Araby's peoples and to Libyan sands.
'By Seres The Seres are, of course, the Chinese. The ancients seem to have thought that the Nile came from the east. But it is possible that there was another tribe of this name dwelling in Africa. first beheld, yet know they not
Whence art thou come; and with no native stream
Strik'st thou the Ethiop fields. Nor knows the world
'To whom it owes thee. Nature ne'er revealed
'Thy secret origin, removed afar.
'Nor did she wish thee to be seen of men
' While still a tiny rivulet, but preferred
' Their wonder to their knowledge. Where the sun
' Stays at his limit, dost thou rise in flood
