14. The great Oasis was one of the spots in the sands of
Libya, watered with springs, and capable of producing wheat,
barley, and palm-trees. It was about three days' journey
from north to south, about half a day in breadth, and at the
distance of about five days' march to the west of Abydus, on
the Nile. See D'Anville, Description de l'Egypte, p. 186,
187, 188. The barren desert which encompasses Oasis (Zosimus
1. v. [c. 9] p. 300) has suggested the idea of comparative
fertility, and even the epithet of the happy island
(Herodot. iii. 26).