Note 3662 — BOOK V. AN ACCOUNT OF COUNTRIES, NATIONS, SEAS, TOWNS, HAVENS, MOUNTAINS, RIVERS, DISTANCES, AND PEOPLES WHO NOW EXIST OR FORMERLY EXISTED.

This is an exaggeration, though it is the fact that many heavy substances, which in ordinary water would sink immediately, will float on the surface of this lake. It has been suggested, that the story here mentioned arose from the circumstance of the name of ‘bulls,’ or ‘cows,’ having been applied by the ancient Nabatæi to the large masses of asphaltum which floated on its surface.