CESTRUS
CESTRUS (
Κέστρος), a river of Pamphylia, which rises in the mountains of Selge (Strab. p. 571).
The course of the Cestrus is between that of the Catarrhactes and of the Eurymedon; and it is east of the Catarrhactes.
It was navigable up to Perge, 60 stadia from its mouth (p. 667).
The river is also mentioned by Mela as a navigable river (i; 14). The Cestrus is 300 ft. wide at the mouth, and 15 ft. deep within the bar, which extends across the mouth, and “so shallow as to be impassable to boats that draw more than one foot of water.” The swell from the sea meeting the stream generally produces a violent surf. (Beaufort,
Karamania, p. 142.)
It must have been more open in ancient times, according to Strabo and Mela. No modern name is given to this river by Beaufort. Leake (
Asia Minor, p. 194) names it the
Ak-su, apparently on the authority of Koehler, and Fellows (
Asia Minor, p. 194) gives it the same name.
[
G.L]
