17. And in many places there are fountains, some of which are good for drinking, and have a vinous flavour; as for instance, one in Paphlagonia, which they say the natives come to for the express purpose of drinking. Some, again, are salt, with a rather bitter flavour; as some among the Sicani in Sicily. And in the Carthaginian dominions there is a fountain on which there is something which floats resembling oil, but darker in colour, which they skim off and make into balls, and use for their sheep and cattle; and in other districts, too, there are fountains of a greasy nature,--like the one in Asia concerning which Alexander wrote a letter, saying that he had found a fountain of oil. And of waters which are warm by nature some are sweet, as that at Ægæ in Cilicia, and that at Pagasæ, and that at Larissa in the Troas, and that near Magnesia, and that in Melos, and that in Lipara, and that in Prusa,--the Prusa, I mean, near Mount Olympus in Mysia,--which is called the Royal fountain. But that in Asia near Tralles, and those near the river Characometes, and near the city of Mysia, are so oily that those who bathe in them have no need of oil. And there is a similar fountain in the village of Dascylum. There is also one at Carura of an exceeding dryness and heat: and there is another near Menoscome, which is a village in Phrygia, of a rougher and a more nitrous quality; as there is too in a village in Phrygia, called The Lion's Village. And there is a spring near Dorylæum, which is very delicious to drink; but those which are at Baiæ or Baium, a harbour in Italy, are utterly undrinkable. 18. I myself weighed the water which comes from the fountain called Pirene in Corinth, and found it lighter than any other water in Greece. For I did not believe Antiphanes the comic writer, who says that in many respects Attica is superior to all other districts, and also that it has the best water of any; for he says:-- _A._ Have you remark'd, my friend, That none can with this favour'd land contend In honey, loaves, and figs? _B._ Aye, figs indeed! _A._ In myrtles, perfumes, wools, in choicest breed Of cattle, and in cheese; and on what ground Can fountains like the Attic springs be found? Eubulus, the writer of comedies, somewhere or other says that Chæremon the tragedian called water the body of the river:-- But when we pass'd the folds, and cross'd the water, The river's lucid body, all our troops In the pure crystal bathed their weary limbs.