Book excerpt: Excerpt from Translations and Reprints From the Original Sources of European History, Vol. 6: The Early Germans I. Germany proper is separated from the Gauls, the Rhaetians and the Pannonians by the Rhine and the Danube, from the Sarmatians and Dacians partly by the mountains, partly by their mutual fears. The ocean washes its other boundaries, forming deep bays and embracing large islands where various tribes and their kings have become known to us through the disclosures of recent war. The Rhine takes its rise in the steep and inaccessible fastnesses of the Rhaetian Alps, and, bending slightly to the west, flows into the northern ocean. The Danube, pouring down from the gently sloping ridge of Mount Abnoba, passes the borders of many nations, and finally forces its way through six outlets into the Black Sea; a seventh channel is swallowed up by the marshes. About the Publisher Forgotten Books publishes hundreds of thousands of rare and classic books. Find more at www.forgottenbooks.com This book is a reproduction of an important historical work. Forgotten Books uses state-of-the-art technology to digitally reconstruct the work, preserving the original format whilst repairing imperfections present in the aged copy. In rare cases, an imperfection in the original, such as a blemish or missing page, may be replicated in our edition. We do, however, repair the vast majority of imperfections successfully; any imperfections that remain are intentionally left to preserve the state of such historical works.