one league broad and of the extraordinary depth of two hundred cubits,
which flows into the gulf by several mouths, just as the Danube flows
into the Black Sea, or the Nile waters the land of Egypt. It is
called, because of its size, Rio Grande. An immense number of huge
crocodiles live in the waters of this stream, which, as we know,
is the case with the Nile; particularly I, who have ascended and
descended that river on my embassy to the Sultan.[5]

[Note 5: See _De Legatione Babylonica_.]

I hardly know, after reading the writings of many men remarkable for
their knowledge and veracity, what to think of the Nile. It is claimed
that there are really two Niles, which take their rise either in the
Mountains of the Sun or of the Moon, or in the rugged Sierras of
Ethiopia. The waters of these streams, whatever be their source,
modify the nature of the land they traverse. One of the two flows to
the north and empties into the Egyptian Sea: the other empties into
the southern ocean. What conclusion shall we draw? We are not puzzled
by the Nile of Egypt, and the southern Nile has been discovered by the
Portuguese, who, in the course of their amazing expeditions, ventured
beyond the equinoctial line into the country of the negroes, and as
far as Melinde. They affirm that it rises in the Mountains of the
Moon, and that it is another Nile, since crocodiles are seen there,
and crocodiles only live in streams belonging to the basin of the
Nile. The Portuguese have named that river Senegal. It traverses the
country of the negroes, and the country on its northern banks is
admirable, while that on its southern banks is sandy and arid. From
time to time crocodiles are seen.

What shall we now say about this third, or in fact, this fourth Nile?