CHAPTER II.

HISTORICAL SKETCH OF THE PROGRESS OF DISCOVERY AND COMMERCIAL ENTERPRIZE,

FROM THE AGE OF HERODOTUS TO THE DEATH OF ALEXANDER THE GREAT, B.C. 324.

From the scanty materials respecting the Phoenicians, with which we are

supplied by ancient history, it is evident that they founded several

colonies, either for the purpose of commerce, or, induced by other motives,

in different parts of Africa. Of these colonies, the most celebrated was

that of Carthage: a state which maintained an arduous contest with Rome,

during the period when the martial ardour and enterprize of that city was

most strenuously supported by the stern purity of republican virtue, which

more than once drove it to the brink of ruin, and which ultimately fell,

rather through the vice of its own constitution and government, and the

jealousies and quarrels of its own citizens, and through the operation of

extraneous circumstances, over which it could have no controul, than from

the fair and unassisted power of its adversary.

The era of the foundation of Carthage is unknown. According to some

writers, it was built so early as 1233 years before Christ; but the more

general, as well as more probable opinion, assigns it a much later

foundation--about 818 years before the Christian era. If this opinion be

correct, Rome and Carthage were founded nearly about the same period. The

circumstances which led to and accompanied the foundation of Carthage,

though related with circumstantial fulness by the ancient poets, are by no

means accurately know to authentic history.

The situation of Carthage was peculiarly favourable to commerce and

maritime enterprize; in the centre of the Mediterranean; in reach of the

east as well as of the west; the most fertile, and most highly cultivated

and civilized part of Africa in her immediate vicinity. Carthage itself was

built at the bottom of a gulph, on a peninsula, which was about forty-five

miles in circumference; and its strength and security were further aided by

the isthmus which connected this peninsula to the main land, as it was

little more than three miles broad; by a projection of land on the west

side, which was only half a stadium in breadth; and by a lake or morass

which lay on the opposite side: this projection, which ran out considerably

into the sea, was naturally strong by the rocks with which it was covered,

and was rendered still stronger by art. In one point only had this

projection been neglected; this was an angle, which from the foundation of

the city had been overlooked, advancing into the sea towards the western

continent, as far as the harbours, which lay on the same side of the city.

There were two harbours, so placed and constructed as to communicate with

each other. They had one entrance, seventy feet in breadth, which was shut

up and secured by strong chains stretched across it. One of these harbours

was exclusively set apart for merchant ships; and in its vicinity were to

be found every thing necessary for the accommodation of the seamen. In the

middle of the other harbour was an island called Cothon; though, according

to some writers, this was the name of the harbour itself. The word Cothon,

we are informed by Festus, (and his etymology is confirmed by Bochart and

Buxtorf,) signifies, in the oriental languages, a port not formed by

nature, but the result of labour and art. The second harbour, as well as

the island in it, seems to have been intended principally, if not

exclusively, for ships of war; and it was so capacious, that of these it

would contain 220. This harbour and island were lined with docks and sheds,

which received the ships, when it was necessary to repair them, or protect

them from the effects of the weather. On the key were built extensive

ranges of wharfs, magazines, and storehouses, filled with all the requisite

materials to fit out the ships of war. This harbour seems to have been

decorated with some taste, and at some expence; so that both it and the

island, viewed at a distance, appeared like two extensive and magnificent

galleries. The admiral's palace, which commanded a view of the mouth of the

harbour and of the sea, was also a building of considerable taste. Each

harbour had its particular entrance into the city: a double wall separated

them so effectually, that the merchant vessels, when they entered their own

harbour, could not see the ships of war; and though the admiral, from his

palace, could perceive whatever was doing at sea, it was impossible that

from the sea any thing in the inward harbour could be perceived.

Nor were these advantages, though numerous and great, the only ones which

Carthage enjoyed as a maritime city; for its situation was so admirably

chosen, and that situation so skilfully rendered subservient to the grand

object of the government and citizens, that even in case the accidents of

war should destroy or dispossess them of one of their harbours, they had it

in their power, in a great measure, to replace the loss. This was

exemplified in a striking and effective manner at the time when Scipio

blocked up the old port; for the Carthaginians, in a very short time, built

a new one, the traces and remains of which were plainly visible so late as

the period when Dr. Shaw visited this part of Africa.

Carthage, at a comparatively early period of its history, possessed a very

large extent of sea coast, though in it there were but few harbours fitted

for commerce. The boundaries of the Carthaginian dominions on the west were

the Philænorum Aræ, so called from two brothers of this name, who were

buried in the sand at this place, in consequence of a dispute between the

Carthaginians and the Cyreneans, respecting the boundaries of their

respective countries. On the other, or western side, the Carthaginian

dominions extended as far as the Pillars of Hercules, a distance, according

to Polybius, of 16,000 stadia, or 2000 miles; but, according to the more

accurate observations of Dr. Shaw, only 1420 geographical miles.

Next to Carthage itself, the city of Utica was most celebrated as a place

of commerce: it lay a short distance to the west of Carthage, and on the

same bay. It had a large and convenient harbour; and after the destruction

of Carthage, it became the metropolis of Africa Propria. Neapolis was also

a place of considerable trade, especially with Sicily, from which the

distance was so short, that the voyage could be performed in two days and a

night. Hippo was a frontier town on the side of Numidia; though Strabo

says, there were two of the same name in Africa Propria. The Carthaginian

Hippo had a port, arsenal, storehouses, and citadel: it lay between a large

lake and the sea. We have already noticed the etymological meaning of the

word Cothon: that this meaning is accurate may be inferred from the word

being applied to several artificial harbours in the Carthaginian dominion,

besides that of Cartilage itself: it was applied to the port of Adrumetum,

a large city built on a promontory,--and to the port of Thapsus, a maritime

town, situated on a kind of isthmus, between the sea and a lake. The

artificial nature, of this latter harbour is placed beyond all doubt, as

there is still remaining a great part of it built on frames: the materials

are composed of mortar and small pebbles, so strongly and closely cemented,

that they have the appearance, as well as durability, of solid rock. It is

singular, that in the dominions of Carthage, extending, as we have seen,

upwards of 1400 miles along the shores of the Mediterranean, there should

be no river of any magnitude or importance for commerce: the Bagrada and

the Catada alone are noticed by ancient historians, and both of these were

insignificant streams.

Having thus pointed out the natural advantages for commerce possessed by

the Carthaginians, we shall next proceed to notice such of their laws, and

such parts of their political institutions, and features of their

character, as either indicated their bias for commerce, or tended to

strengthen it. The monarchical government of Carthage was not of long

continuance; it afterwards became republican, though the exact form of the

republic is not certainly known. As late as the time of Aristotle, there

seems to have been such a complete and practical counterpoise of the powers

in which the supreme authority was vested, that, according to him, there

had been no instance from the foundation of the city, of any popular

commotions sufficient to disturb its tranquillity; nor, on the other hand,

of any tyrant, who had been able to destroy its liberty. This sagacious

philosopher foresaw the circumstance which would destroy the constitution

of Carthage; for when there was a disagreement between the two branches of

the legislature, the suffetes and the senate, the question in dispute was

referred to the people, and their resolve became the law. Till the second

and third wars between Rome and Carthage, no fatal effects resulted from

this principle of the constitution; but during these, the people were

frequently called upon to exercise their dangerous authority and

privileges; the senate yielded to them; cabals and factions took place

among those who were anxious to please, for the purpose of guiding the

people; rash measures were adopted, the councils and the power of Carthage

became distracted and weak, and its ruin was precipitated and completed.

But though to this defect in the constitution of Carthage its ruin may

partly be ascribed, there can be little doubt that commerce flourished by

means of the popular form of its government. Commerce was the pursuit of

all ranks and classes, as well as the main concern and object of the

government The most eminent persons in the state for power, talents, birth,

and riches, applied themselves to it with as much ardour and perseverance

as the meanest citizens; and this similarity and equality of pursuit, as it

sprang in some measure from the republican equality of the constitution, so

also it tended to preserve it.

The notices which we possess respecting the political institutions of the

Carthaginians are very scanty, and are almost entirely derived from

Aristotle: according to him they had a custom, which must at once have

relieved the state from those whom it could not well support, and have

tended to enlarge the sphere of their commercial enterprize. They sent, as

occasion required, colonies to different parts, and these colonies, keeping

up their connection with the mother country, not only drew off her

superabundant trade, but also supplied her with many articles she could not

otherwise have procured at so easy and cheap a rate.

The fertility and high state of cultivation of those parts of Africa which

adjoined Carthage, has already been alluded to; and their exports consisted

either of the produce of those parts, or of their own manufactures. Of the

former there were all kinds of provisions; wax, oil, honey, skins, fruits,

&c.; their principal manufactures were cables, especially those fit for

large vessels, made of the shrub _spartum_; all other kinds of naval

stores; dressed leather; the particular dye or colour, called from them

punic, the preparation of which seems not to be known; toys, &c. &c. From

Egypt they imported flax, papyrus, &c.; from the Red Sea, spices, drugs,

perfumes, gold, pearls, &c.; from the countries on the Levant, silk stuffs,

scarlet and purple dyes, &c.; and from the west of Europe their principal

imports seem to have been iron, lead, tin, and the other useful metals.

Such was the commerce by sea, as far as the imperfect notices on this

subject, by the ancient historians, instruct us: but they also carried on a

considerable and lucrative commerce by land, especially with the Persians

and Ethiopians. The caravans of these nations generally resorted to

Carthage; the rarest and most esteemed articles which they brought were

carbuncles, which, by means of this traffic, became so plenty in this city,

that they were generally known by the appellation of Carthaginian gems. The

mode of selling by auction seems to have been practised by this nation; at

least there are passages in the ancient authors, particularly one in

Polybius, which would naturally lead to the conclusion, that in the sale of

their merchandize, the Carthaginians employed a person to name and describe

their various kinds and qualities, and also a clerk to note down the price

at which they were sold. Their mode of trafficking with rude nations,

unaccustomed to commerce, as described by Herodotus, strongly resembles

that which has been often adopted by our navigators, when they arrive on

the coast of a savage people. According to this historian, the

Carthaginians trafficked with the Lybians, who inhabited the western coast

of Africa, in the following manner: having conducted their vessels into

some harbour or creek, they landed the merchandize which they meant to

exchange or dispose of, and placed it in such a manner and situation, as

exposed it to the view of the inhabitants, and at the same time indicated

the purpose for which it was thus exposed. They afterwards lighted a fire

of such materials as caused a great smoke; this attracted the Lybians to

the spot, who laid down such a quantity of gold as they deemed an adequate

price for the merchandize, and then retired. The Carthaginians next

approached and examined the gold: if they deemed it sufficient, they took

it away, and left the merchandize; if they did not, they left both. In the

latter event, the Lybians again returned, and added to the quantity of

gold; and this, if necessary, was repeated, till the Carthaginians, by

taking it away, shewed that in their judgment it was an adequate price for

their goods. During the whole of this transaction, no intercourse or words

passed, nor did the Carthaginians even touch the gold, nor the Lybians the

merchandize, till the former took away the gold.

The earliest notice we possess of a commercial alliance formed by the

Carthaginians, fixes it a very few years before the birth of Herodotus: it

was concluded between them and the Romans about the year 503 before Christ.

The Carthaginians were the first nation the Romans were connected with out

of Italy. Polybius informs us, that in his time (about 140 years before

Christ) this treaty, written in the old language of Rome, then nearly

unintelligible, was extant on the base of a column, and he has given a

translation of it: the terms of peace between the Carthaginians and their

allies, and the Romans and their allies, were to the following purport. The

latter agreed not to sail beyond the fair promontory, (which lay, according

to our historian, a very short distance to the north of Carthage,) unless

they were driven beyond it by stress of weather, or by an enemy's vessel.

In case they were obliged to land, or were shipwrecked, they were not to

take or purchase any thing, except what they might need, to repair their

ships, or for the purpose of sacrifice. And in no case, or under no

pretext, were they to remain on shore above five days. The Roman merchants

were not to pay any higher, or other duty, than what was allowed by law to

the common crier and his clerk, already noticed, who, it appears from this

treaty, were bound to make a return to government of all the goods that

were bought or sold in Africa and Sardinia. It was moreover provided, that

if the Romans should visit any places in Sicily, subject to the

Carthaginians, they should be civilly treated, and have justice done them

in every respect. On the other hand, the Carthaginians bound themselves not

to interfere with any of the Italian allies, or subjects of the Romans; nor

build any fort in their territory. Such were the principal articles in this

commercial treaty; from it, it appears, that so early as the year 503

before Christ, the first year after the expulsion of the Tarquins, and

twenty-eight years before the invasion of Greece by Xerxes, the

Carthaginians were in possession of Sardinia, and part of Sicily;--that

they were also acquainted with, and had visited the coasts of Italy; and

there are expressions in the treaty, which render it highly probable that

the Carthaginians had, before this period, attempted to establish, either

for commerce or conquest, colonies and forts in Italy: it is also evident

that they were acquainted with the art of fortification.

Though it will carry us rather out of chronological order, it may be proper

to notice in this place a second treaty of commerce between the

Carthaginians and Romans, which was entered into about 333 years before

Christ, during the consulship of Valerius Corvus, and Popilius Laenas. The

Carthaginians came to Rome for the purpose of concluding this treaty: it

differed in some particulars from the former, and was to the following

effect. The Romans and their allies were to possess the friendship of the

people of Carthage, the Tyrians, and the inhabitants of Utica, provided

they carried on no hostilities against them, and did not trade beyond the

fair promontory, Mastica and Tarseium. In case the Carthaginians should

take any town in Italy, not under the jurisdiction of the Romans, they

might plunder it, but after that they were to give it up to the Romans. Any

captives taken in Italy, who in any Roman port should be challenged by the

Romans as belonging to any state in amity with Rome, were to be immediately

restored. The Romans, in case they put into the harbours of the

Carthaginians, or their allies, to take in water or other necessaries, were

not to be molested or injured; but they were not to carry on any commerce

in Africa or Sardinia; nor even land on those coasts, except to purchase

necessaries, and refit their ships: in such cases, only five days were

allowed them, at the expiration of which they were to depart. But, in the

towns of Sicily belonging to the Carthaginians, and even in the city of

Carthage itself, the Romans were permitted to trade, enjoying the same

rights and privileges as the Carthaginians; and, on the other hand, the

Carthaginians were to be allowed to traffic in Rome on terms equally

favourable.

It is not our intention, because it would be totally foreign to the object

and nature of this work, to give a history of Carthage; but only to notice

such events and transactions, supplied by its history, as are illustrative

of the commercial enterprise of by far the most enterprising commercial

nation of antiquity. In conformity to this plan, we shall briefly notice

their first establishment in Spain, as it was from the mines of this

country that they drew great wealth, and thus were enabled, not only to

equip formidable fleets and armies, but also to extend their traffic very

considerably.

The city of Cadiz, was founded by the Phoenicians, as well as Carthage; and

as there was a close connection between most of the Phoenician colonies, it

is probable that some time before the Carthaginians established themselves

in Spain, they traded with the people of Cadiz: at any rate it is certain,

that when the latter were hard pressed by the Spaniards, they applied to

the Carthaginians for assistance: this was readily given, and being

effectual, the Carthaginians embraced the opportunity, and the pretext thus

afforded for establishing themselves in the part of Spain adjoining Cadiz.

It is singular, however, that though the Carthaginians were in possession

of Majorca and Minorca from so remote an antiquity, "that their first

arrival there is prior to every thing related of them by any historian now

extant," yet they do not seem to have established themselves on the main

land of Spain till they assisted the people of Cadiz. With respect to the

other foreign possessions of the Carthaginians, we have already seen that,

at the period of their first treaty with the Romans, they occupied Sardinia

and part of Sicily; and there are several passages in the ancient

historians, particularly in Herodotus, which render it highly probable that

they had establishments in Corsica about the same time. Malta and its

dependent islands were first peopled by the Phoenicians, and seem

afterwards to have fallen into the possession of the Carthaginians.

Of the particular voyages undertaken by the Carthaginians, for the purpose

either of discovery or of commercial enterprise, we possess little

information; as, however, these topics are most particularly within the

scope of our work, it will be indispensable to detail all the information

relating to them which can be collected. The voyages of Hamilcar or

Himilco, as he is called by some historians, and of Hanno, are the most

celebrated, or, rather, to speak more accurately, the only voyages of the

Carthaginians of which we possess any details, either with regard to their

object or consequences. Himilco, who was on officer in the navy of

Carthage, was sent by the senate to explore the western coasts of Europe: a

journal of his voyage, and an account of his discoveries, were, according

to the custom of the nation, inscribed in the Carthaginian annals. But the

only information respecting them which we now possess, is derived from the

writings of the Latin poet Rufus Festus Avienus. This poet flourished under

Theodosius, A.D. 450, translated the Phænomena of Aratus, and Dionysius's

Description of the World, and also wrote an original poem, on the sea

coasts. In the last he mentions Himilco, and intimates that he saw the

original journal of his voyage in the Carthaginian annals. According to the

account of Festus, the voyage of Himilco lasted four months, or rather he

sailed for the space of four months, towards the north, and arrived at the

isles Ostrymnides and the coast of Albion. In the extracts given by Avienus

from the journal of Himilco, frequent mention is made of lead and tin, and

of ships cased with leather (or, more probably, entirely made of that

material, like the coracles still used by the Greenlanders, and even in

Wales, for crossing small rivers). In these parts, he adds, the East Rymni

lived, with whom the people of Tartessus and Carthage traded: we have given

this appellation to the inhabitants of the isles Ostrymnides, because in

the first part of the latter word, the Teutonic word, OEst, distinctly

appears.

Hanno was sent by the senate to explore the western coast of Africa, and to

establish Carthaginian colonies wherever he might deem it expedient or

advantageous. He sailed from Carthage with a fleet of 60 vessels, each

rowed with 50 oars, and had besides, a convoy containing 30,000 persons of

both sexes. He wrote a relation of his voyage, a fragment of a Greek

version of which is still remaining, and has lately been illustrated by the

learning and ingenuity of Dr. Falconer of Bath: his voyage is also cited by

Aristotle, Pomponius Mela, and Pliny. The era at which it was performed,

and the extent of the voyage, have given rise to much discussion. Isaac

Vossius fixes the date of it prior to the age of Homer: Vossius the father,

subsequent to it: Wesseling doubts whether it was even prior to Herodotus.

Campomanes fixes it about the 93d Olympiad: and Mr. Dodwell somewhere

between the 92d and the 129th Olympiad. According to Pliny, Hanno and

Himilco were contemporaries; the latter author mentions the commentaries of

Hanno, but in such a manner as if he had not seen, and did not believe

them.

With respect to the extent of his voyage along the western coast of Africa,

some modern writers assert, without any authority, that he doubled the Cape

of Good Hope: this assertion is made in direct unqualified terms by Mickle

the translator of the Lusiad. Other writers limit the extent of his

navigation to Cape Nun; while, according to other geographers, he sailed as

far as Cape Three Points, on the coast of Guinea. That there should be any

doubt on the subject appears surprising; for, as Dr. Vincent very justly

remarks, we have Hanno's own authority to prove that he never was within 40

degrees of the Cape.

That the Carthaginians, before the voyage of Hanno, had discovered the

Canary Islands, is rendered highly probable, from the accounts of Diodorus

Siculus, and Aristotle: the former mentions a large, beautiful, and fertile

island, to which the Carthaginians, in the event of any overwhelming

disorder, had determined to remove their government; and Aristotle relates

that they were attracted to a beautiful island in such numbers, that the

senate were obliged to forbid any further emigration to it on pain of

death.

The voyages of the Carthaginians were, from the situation of their

territory, and the imperfect state of geography and navigation at that

period, usually confined to the Mediterranean and to the western shores of

Africa and Europe; but several years antecedent to the date usually

assigned to the voyages of Himilco and Hanno, a voyage of discovery is said

to have been accomplished by the king of a nation little given to maritime

affairs. We allude to the voyage of Scylax, undertaken at the command of

Darius the son of Hystaspes, about 550 years before Christ. There are

several circumstances respecting this voyage which deserve attention or

examination; the person who performed it, is said by Herodotus, (from whom

we derive all our information on the subject), to have been a native of

Caryandria, or at least an inhabitant of Asia Minor: he was therefore most

probably a Greek: he was a geographer and mathematician of some eminence,

and by some writers is supposed to have first invented geographical tables.

According to Herodotus, Darius, after his Scythian expedition, in order to

facilitate his design of conquest in the direction of India, resolved, in

the first place, to make a discovery of that part of the world. For this

purpose he built and fitted out a fleet at Cespatyrus, a city on the Indus,

towards the upper part of the navigable course of that river. The ships, of

course, first sailed to the mouth of the Indus, and during their passage

the country on each side was explored. The directions given to Scylax were,

after he entered the ocean, to steer to the westward, and thus return to

Persia. Accordingly, he is said to have coasted from the mouth of the Indus

to the Straits of Babelmandel, where he entered the Red Sea; and on the

30th month from his first embarking he landed at Egypt, at the same place

from which Necho, king of that country, had despatched the Phoenicians to

circumnavigate Africa. From Egypt, Scylax returned to Susa, where he gave

Darius a full account of his expedition.

The reality of this voyage, or at least the accuracy of some of the

particulars it records, has been doubted. Scylax describes the course of

the Indus to the east; whereas it runs to the south-west. It is also worthy

of remark, that as Darius, before the voyage of Scylax, was master of the

Attock, Peukeli, and Multan, he needed no information respecting the route

to India, as every conqueror has followed this very obvious and easy route.

Dr. Vincent also objects to the authority of this voyage, or rather to the

track assigned to it: "I cannot believe," he observes, "from the state of

navigation in that age, that Scylax could perform a voyage round India,

from which the bravest of Alexander's navigators shrunk, or that men who

had explored the desert coast of Gadrosia, should be less daring than an

experienced native of Caryandria. They returned with amazement from the

sight of Mussenden and Ras-al-had, while Scylax succeeded without a

difficulty upon record. But the obstacles to such a voyage are numerous;

first, whether Pactzia be Peukeli, and Caspatyrus, Multan: secondly, if

Darius were master of Multan, whether he could send a ship or a fleet down

the sea, through tribes, where Alexander fought his way at every step:

thirdly, whether Scylax had any knowledge of the Indian Ocean, the coast,

or the monsoon: fourthly, if the coast of Gadrosia were friendly, which is

doubtful, whether he could proceed along the coast of Arabia, which must be

hostile from port to port: these and a variety of other difficulties which

Nearchus experienced, from famine, from want of water, from the

construction of his ships, and from the manners of the natives, must induce

an incredulity in regard to the Persian account, whatever respect we may

have to the fidelity of Herodotus."

Such are the objections urged by Dr. Vincent to the authority of this

voyage. In some of the particular objections there may be considerable

force; but with respect to the general ones, from the manners or hostility

of the natives inhabiting the coasts along which the voyage was performed,

they apply equally to the voyages of the Carthaginians along the western

coasts of Africa and Europe, and indeed to all the voyages of discovery, or

distant voyages of the ancients. It may be added, that according to Strabo,

Posidonius disbelieved the whole history of Scylax. In the Geographi

Minores of Hudson, a voyage ascribed to Scylax is published; but great

doubts are justly entertained on the subject of its authenticity. Dodwell

is decidedly against it. The Baron de Sainte Croix, in a dissertation read

before the Academy of Inscriptions, defends the work which bears the name

of Scylax as genuine. Dr. Vincent states one strong objection to its

authenticity: mention is made in it of Dardanus, Rhetium, and Illium, in

the Troad; whereas there is great doubt whether Rhetium was in existence in

the time of the real Scylax: besides, it is remarkable that nothing is said

respecting India in the treatise now extant. That the original and genuine

work described India is, however, undoubted, on the authority of Aristotle,

who mentions that there was such a person as Scylax, that he had been in

India, and that his account of that country was extant in his (Aristotle's)

time.

In fact, the work which we possess under the name of Scylax, is evidently a

collection of the itineraries of ancient navigators: it may have been drawn

up by the Scylax whom Darius employed, though, if that were the case, it is

very extraordinary he should not have included the journal of his own

voyage; or his name, as that of a celebrated geographer may have been put

to it; or there may have been another geographer of that name. The

collection is evidently imperfect; what is extant contains the coasts of

the Palus Maeotis, the Euxine, the Archipelago, the Adriatic, and all the

Mediterranean, with the west coast of Africa, as far as the isle of Cerne,

which he asserts to be the limit of the Carthaginian navigation and

commerce in that direction. The sea, according to him, is not navigable

further to the south than this island, on account of the thick weeds with

which it was covered. The mention of this impediment is adduced by

D'Anville to prove the reality of the Carthaginian voyages to the south: it

is not, indeed, true, that the sea is impassable on account of these weeds

to modern navigators, but it is easy to conceive that the timidity and

inexperience of the ancients, as well as the imperfect construction of

their vessels, would prevent them from proceeding further south, when they

met with such a singular obstacle. If a ship has not _much way_ through the

water, these weeds will impede her course. It has been very justly

remarked, that if the latitude where these weeds commence was accurately

determined, it would fix exactly the extent of the voyages of the

Carthaginians in this direction. The weed alluded to is probably the fucus

natans, or gulf-weed.

Hitherto the knowledge that the ancients possessed of the habitable world,

had not been collected by any writer, and is to be gathered entirely from

short, vague, and evidently imperfect narrations, scattered throughout a

great number of authors. Herodotus has been celebrated as the father of

history; he may with equal justice be styled the father of geographical

knowledge: he flourished about 474 years before Christ. In dwelling upon

the advances to geographical knowledge which have been derived from him, it

will be proper and satisfactory, before we explain the extent and nature of

them, to give an account of the sources from which he derived his

information; those were his own travels, and the narrations or journals of

other travellers. A great portion of the vigour of his life seems to have

been spent in travelling; the oppressive tyranny of Lygdamis over

Halicarnassus, his native country, first induced or compelled him to

travel; whether he had not also imbibed a portion of the commercial

activity and enterprize which distinguished his countrymen, is not known,

but is highly probable. We are not informed whether his fortune were such

as to enable him, without entering into commercial speculations, to support

the expences of his travels; it is evident, however, from the extent of his

travels, as well as from the various, accurate, and, in many cases, most

important information, which he acquired, that these expences must have

been very considerable. From his work it is certain that he was endowed

with that faculty of eliciting the truth from fabulous, imperfect, or

contradictory evidence, at all times so necessary to a traveller, and

indispensably so at the period when he travelled, and in most of the

countries where his enquiries and his researches were carried on. His great

and characteristic merit consists in freeing his mind from the opinions

which must have previously occupied it;--in trusting entirely either to

what e himself saw, or to what he learned from the best authority;--always,

however, bringing the information acquired in this latter mode to the test

of his own observation and good sense. It is from the united action and

guidance of these two qualifications--individual observation and experience

gained by most patient and diligent research and enquiry on the spot, and a

high degree of perspicacity, strength of intellect, and good sense,

separating the truth from the fable of all he learnt from the observation

and experience of others, that Herodotus has justly acquired so high degree

of reputation, and that in almost every instance modern travellers find

themselves anticipated by him, even on points in which such a coincidence

was the least likely.

His travels embraced a variety of countries. The Greek colonies in the

Black Sea were visited by him: he measured the extent of that sea, from the

Bosphorus to the mouth of the river Phasis, at the eastern extremity. All

that track of country which lies between the Borysthenes and the Hypanis,

and the shores of the Palus Maeotis, he diligently explored. With respect

to the Caspian, his information affords a striking proof of his accuracy,

even when gained, as it was in this instance, from the accounts of others.

He describes it expressly as a sea by itself, unconnected with any other:

its length, he adds, is as much as a vessel with oars can navigate in

fifteen days: its greatest breadth as much as such a vessel can navigate in

eight days. It may be added, as a curious proof and illustration of the

decline of geographical knowledge, or, at least, of the want of confidence

placed in the authority of Herodotus by subsequent ancient geographers,

that Strabo, Pomponius Mela, and Pliny, represent the Caspian Sea as a bay,

communicating with the great Northern Ocean; and that even Arrian, who, in

respect to care and accuracy, bears no slight resemblance to Herodotus, and

for some time resided as governor of Cappadocia, asserts that there was a

communication between the Caspian Sea and the Eastern Ocean.

But to return from this digression to the geographical knowledge of

Herodotus, as derived from his own travels, he visited Babylon and Susa,

and while there, or perhaps in excursions from those places, made himself

well acquainted with the Persian empire. The whole of Egypt was most

diligently and thoroughly explored by him, as well as the Grecian colonies

planted at Cyrene, in Lybia. He traced the course of the river Ister, from

its mouth nearly as far as its source. The extent of his travels in Greece

is not accurately known; but his description of the Straits of Thermopylae

is evidently the result of his own observation. All these countries,

together with a portion of the south of Italy, were visited by him. The

information which his history conveys respecting other parts of the world

was derived from others: in most cases, it would seem, from personal

enquiries and conversation with them, so that he had an opportunity of

rendering the information thus acquired much more complete, as well as

satisfactory, than it would have been if it had been derived from their

journals.

Herodotus trusted principally or entirely to the information he received,

with respect to the interior of Africa and the north of Europe, and Asia to

the east of Persia. While he was in Egypt he seems to have been

particularly inquisitive and interested respecting the caravans which

travelled into the interior of Africa; and regarding their equipment,

route, destination, and object, he has collected a deal of curious and

instructive information. On the authority of Etearchus, king of the

Ammonians, he relates a journey into the interior of Africa, undertaken by

five inhabitants of the country near the Gulf of Libya; and, in this

journey, there is good reason to believe that the river Niger is accurately

described, at least as far as regards the direction of its course.

It is evident from the introduction to his third book that the Greek

merchants of his time were eminently distinguished for their courage,

industry, and abilities; that in pursuit of commercial advantages they

visited very remote and barbarous countries in the north-eastern parts of

Europe, and the adjacent parts of Asia; and that the Scythians permitted

the Greek merchants of the Euxine to penetrate farther to the east and

north "than we can trace their progress by the light of modern

information." To them Herodotus was much indebted for the geographical

knowledge which he displays of those parts of the world; and it is by no

means improbable that the spirit of commercial enterprize which invited the

Greek merchants on the Euxine to penetrate among the barbarous nations of

the north-east, also led them far to the east and south-east; and that from

them, as well as from his personal enquiries, while at Babylon and Susa,

Herodotus derived much of the information with which he has favoured us

respecting the country on the Indus, and the borders of Cashmere and

Arabia. Having thus pointed out the sources from which Herodotus derived

his geographical knowledge, we shall now sketch the limits of that

knowledge, as well as mention in what respects he yielded to the fabulous

and absurd notions of his contemporaries.

He fails most in endeavouring to give a general and combined idea of the

earth; even where his separate sketches are clear and accurate, when united

they lose both their accuracy and clearness. He seems to doubt whether he

should divide the world into three parts; and at last, having admitted such

a division, he makes the rivers Phasis and Araxes, and the Caspian Sea, the

boundaries between Europe and Asia; and to Europe he assigns an extent

greater than Asia and Libya taken together. His knowledge of the west of

Europe was very imperfect: in some part he fixes the Cassiterides, from

which the Phoenicians derived their tin. The Phoenician colony of Gadez was

known to him. His geography extended to the greater part of Poland and

European Russia. Such appear to have been its limits with respect to

Europe; and such the general notion he entertained of this quarter of the

world. As to Asia, he believed that a fleet sent by Darius had

circumnavigated it from the Indus to the confines of Egypt; but though his

general idea of it was thus erroneous, he possessed accurate information

respecting it from the confines of Europe to the Indus. Of the countries to

the east of that river, as well as of the whole of the north and southern

parts of it, he was completely ignorant. He particularly notices that the

Eastern Ethiopians, or Indians, differ from those of Africa by their long

hair, as opposed to the woolly head of the African. In his account of India

he interweaves much that is fabulous; but in the same manner as modern

discoveries in geography have confirmed many things in Herodotus which were

deemed errors in his geography, so it has been ascertained that even his

fables have, in most instances, a foundation in fact. With regard to

Africa, his knowledge of Egypt, and of the country to the north of it,

seems to have been very accurate, and more minute and satisfactory than his

knowledge of any other part of the world. It is highly probable that he was

acquainted with the course of the western branch of the Nile, as far as the

11th degree of latitude. He certainly knew the real course of the Niger. On

the east coast of Africa he was well acquainted with the shores of the

Arabian Gulph; but though he sometimes mentions Carthage, and describes the

traffic carried on, without the intervention of language, between the

Carthaginians and a nation beyond the Pillars of Hercules, which we nave

already mentioned in treating of the commerce of the Carthaginians, yet he

seems to have been unacquainted with any point between Carthage and the

Pillars of Hercules.

In the history of Herodotus, there is an account of a map constructed by

Aristagoras, tyrant of Miletus, when he proposed to Cleomenes, king of

Sparta, to attack Darius, king of Persia, at Susa; from this account, the

vague, imperfect, and erroneous ideas entertained in his time of the

relative situations and distances of places, as well as of the extremely

rude and feeble advances which had been made towards the construction of

maps, may be inferred. Major Rennell, in his Illustrations of Herodotus,

has endeavoured to ascertain from his history the parallel and meridian of

Halicarnassus, the birth-place of the historian. According to him, they

intersect at right angles over that town, cutting the 37th degree of north

latitude, and the 45-1/2 of east longitude, from the Fortunate Islands.

For a considerable period after the time of Herodotus, the ancients seem to

have been nearly stationary in their knowledge of the world. About 368

years before Christ, Eudoxus, of Cnidus, whose desire of studying astronomy

induced him to visit Egypt, Asia, and Italy, who first attempted to explain

the planetary motions, and who is said to have discovered the inclination

of the moon's orbit, and the retrograde motion of her nodes, is celebrated

as having first applied geographical observations to astronomy; but he does

not appear to have directed his researches or his conjectures towards the

figure or the circumference of the earth, or the distances or relative

situations of any places on its surface.

Nearly about the same period that Eudoxus died Aristotle flourished. This

great philosopher, collecting and combining into one system of geographical

knowledge the discoveries and observations of all who had preceded him,

stamped on them a dignity and value they had not before possessed, as well

as rendered them less liable to be forgotten or misapplied: he inferred the

sphericity of the earth from the observations of travellers, that the stars

seen in Greece were not visible in Cyprus or Egypt; and thus established

the fundamental principle of all geography. But though this science, in its

most important branch, derived much benefit from his powerful mind, yet it

was not advanced in its details. He supposed the coasts of Spain not very

distant from those of India; and he even embraced a modified notion of

Homer's Ocean River, which had been ridiculed and rejected by Herodotus;

for he describes the habitable earth as a great oval island, surrounded by

the ocean, terminated on the west by the river Tartessius, (supposed to be

the Guadelquiver,) on the east by the Indus, and on the north by Albion and

Ierne, of which islands his ideas were necessarily very vague and

imperfect. In some other respects, however, his knowledge was more

accurate: he coincides with Herodotus in his description of the Caspian

Sea, and expressly states that it ought to be called a great lake, not a

sea. A short period before Aristotle flourished, that branch of geography

which relates to the temperature of different climates, and other

circumstances affecting health, was investigated with considerable

diligence, ingenuity, and success, by the celebrated physician Hippocrates.

In the course of his journeys, with this object in view, he seems to have

followed the plan and the route of Herodotus, and sometimes to have even

penetrated farther than he did.

Pytheas, of Marseilles, lived a short time before Alexander the Great: he

is celebrated for his knowledge in astronomy, mathematics, philosophy, and

geography, and for the ardour and perseverance with which either a strong

desire for information, or the characteristic commercial spirit of his

townspeople, or both united, carried him forward in the path of maritime

discovery. The additions, however, which he made to geography as a science,

or to the sciences intimately connected with it, are more palpable and

undisputed, than the extent and discoveries of his voyages.

He was the first who established a distinction of climate by the length of

days and nights: and he is said to have discovered the dependence of the

tides upon the position of the moon, affirming that the flood-tide depended

on the increase of the moon, and the ebb on its decrease. By means of a

gnomon he observed, at the summer solstice at Marseilles, that the length

of the shadow was to the height of the gnomon as 120 to 41-1/5; or, in

other words, that the obliquity of the ecliptic was 23:50. He relates, that

in the country which he reached in his voyage to the north, the sun, at the

time of the summer solstice, touched the northern part of the horizon: he

pointed out three stars near the pole, with which the north star formed a

square; and within this square, he fixed the true place of the pole.

According to Strabo, he considered the island of Thule as the most western

part of the then known world, and reckoned his longitude from thence.

With respect to the extent and discoveries of his voyage to the north,

there is great difference of opinion. The veracity of Pytheas is utterly

denied by Strabo and Polybius, and is strongly suspected by Dr. Vincent: on

the other hand, it has found able supporters in D'Anville, Huet, Gessner,

Murray of Goettingen, Gosselin, and Malte Brun; and in our opinion, though

it may not be easy to ascertain what was really the country which be

reached in his voyage, and though some of the particulars he mentions may

be fabulous, or irreconcileable with one another, yet it seems carrying

scepticism too far to reject, on these accounts, his voyage as altogether a

fiction.

The account is, that Pytheas departed from Marseilles, coasted Spain,

France, and the east or north-east side of Britain, as far as its northern

extremity. Taking his departure from this, he continued his voyage, as he

says, to the north, or perhaps to the north-east; and after six days'

navigation, he arrived at a land called Thule, which he states to be 46,300

stadia from the equator. So far there is nothing improbable or

inconsistent; but when he adds, that being there at the summer solstice, he

saw the sun touching the northern point of the horizon, and at the same

time asserts that the day and night were each of six months' continuance,

there is a palpable contradiction: and when he adds, that millet was

cultivated in the north of this country, and wheat in the south, and that

honey abounded, he mentions productions utterly incompatible with his

description of the climate and latitude.

As, however, this voyage forms an important epoch in the history of

discovery, it may be proper to endeavour to ascertain what country the

Thule of Pytheas really was. We have already observed, that the day's sail

of an ancient vessel was 500 stadia, or 50 miles; supposing the largest

stadia of 666-2/3 equal to one degree of the equator, if the vessel sailed

during the night as well as day, the course run was, on an average, 1000

stadia, or 100 miles. Now, as the voyage from the extremity of Britain to

Thule was of course not a coasting voyage, and as the nights in that

latitude, at the season of the year when the voyage was made, were very

short, (Pytheas says the night was reduced to two or three hours) we must

suppose that he sailed night as well as day; and consequently, that in six

days he had sailed 600 miles, either directly north or to east or west of

the north, for his exact course cannot well be made out.

What country lies 600 miles to the north or the north-east of the extremity

of Britain? None exactly in this direction: if, however, we suppose that

Pytheas could not fix exactly the point of the compass which he steered, (a

supposition by no means improbable, considering the ignorance of the

ancients,) and that his course tended to the west of the north, 600 miles

would bring him nearly to Greenland. There were, however, other stadia

besides those by which we computed the day's sail of the ancients; and

though the stadia we have taken are more generally alluded to by the

ancients, yet it may be proper to ascertain what results will be produced

if the other stadia are supposed to have been used in this instance. The

stadia we have already founded our calculations upon will bring us to the

latitude of 69° 27': the latitude of the southernmost point of Greenland is

very nearly 70°. But the description given by Pytheas of the productions of

the country by no means coincides with Greenland. At the same time, other

parts of his description agree with this country; particularly when he

says, that there the sea, the earth, and the air, seem to be confounded in

one element. In the south of Greenland the longest day is two months which

does not coincide with Pytheas' account; though this, as we have already

pointed out, is contradictory with itself.

Let us now consider what will be the result if we suppose that a different

stadia were employed: the next in point of extent to that on which we have

already founded our conjectures, (there being 700 equal to one degree of

the equator) will bring him to the latitude of 66° 8'; the latitude of the

northernmost part of Iceland is 66° 30', coinciding with this result as

nearly as possible. The description of the climate agrees with Pytheas'

description; but not his account of the length of the day, nor of the

productions of the country. Of the third kind of stadia, 833-1/3 were equal

to one degree of the equator; calculating that 1000 of these were sailed

during a day and night's voyage, Pytheas would arrive in the latitude of

55° 34', at the end of six days. This, however, is absolutely at variance

with the fact, that he took his departure from the northernmost point of

Britain, and would in fact bring him back from it to the entrance of the

Frith of Forth. It is supposed, however, that this is the real latitude;

but that the west coast of Jutland is the country at which he arrived. But

this obliges us to believe that his course from the northern extremity of

Britain, instead of being north or north-east, or indeed at all to the

north, was in fact south-west; a supposition which cannot be admitted,

unless we imagine that the ancients were totally ignorant of the course

which they steered. On the other hand, Pytheas' description of the

productions of Thule agrees with Jutland; the culture of millet in the

north, and of wheat in the south, and the abundance of honey: there is

also, about a degree to the north of the latitude of 55° 34', a part of the

coast still denominated Thyland; and in the ancient language of

Scandinavia, Thiuland. The account of Pytheas, that near Thule, the sea,

air, and earth, seemed to be confounded in one element, is supposed by

Malte Brun to allude to the sandy downs of Jutland, whose hills shift with

the wind; the marshes, covered with a crust of sand, concealing from the

traveller the gulf beneath, and the fogs of a peculiarly dense nature which

frequently occur. We must confess, however, that the course having been

north, or north-east, or north-west, for this latitude of course may be

allowed in consideration of the ignorance or want of accuracy of the

ancients, never can have brought Pytheas to a country lying to the

south-west of the extremity of Britain.

We are not assisted in finding out the truth, if, instead of founding our

calculations and conjectures on the distance sailed in the six days, we

take for their basis the distance which Pytheas states Thule to be from the

equator. This distance, we have already mentioned, was 46,300 stadia;

which, according as the different kinds of stadia are calculated upon, will

give respectively the latitude of the south of Greenland, of the north of

Iceland, or of the west coast of Jutland; or, in other words, the limit of

Pytheas' voyage will be determined to be in the same latitude, whether we

ascertain it by the average length of the day and night's sail of the

vessels of the ancients, or by the distance from the equator which he

assigns to Thule. It may be proper to state, that there is a district on

the coast of Norway, between the latitudes of 60° and 62°, called Thele, or

Thelemarle. Ptolemy supposes this to have been the Thule of Pytheas, Pliny

places it within three degrees of the pole, Eratosthenes under the polar

circle. The Thule discovered by Agricola, and described by Tacitus, is

evidently either the Orkney or the Shetland Islands.

It may appear presumptuous as well as useless, after this display of the

difficulties attending the question, to offer any new conjecture; and many

of our renders may deem it a point of very minor importance, and already

discussed at too great length. It is obvious, from the detail into which we

have entered, that no country exists in the latitude which must be assigned

to it, whether we fix that latitude by Pytheas' statement of the distance

of Thule from the equator, or by the space sailed over in six days, the

productions of which at all agree with those mentioned by Pytheas. On the

other hand, we cannot suppose that his course was south-west, and not at

all to the north, which must have been the case, if the country at which he

arrived in sailing from the northern extremity of Britain, was Jutland. The

object must, therefore, be to find out a country the productions of which

correspond with those mentioned by Pytheas; for, with regard to those, he

could not be mistaken: and a country certainly not the least to the south

of the northern part of Britain. As it is impossible that he could have

reached the pole, what he states respecting the day and night being each

six months long must be rejected; and his other account of the length of

the day, deduced from his own observation of the sun, at the time of the

summer solstice, touching the northern point of the horizon, must be

received. If we suppose that this was the limit of the sun's course in that

direction (which, from his statement, must be inferred), this will give us

a length of day of about twenty hours, corresponding to about sixty-two

degrees of north latitude. The next point to be ascertained is the latitude

of his departure from the coast of Britain. There seems no good reason to

believe, what all the hypothesis we have examined assume, that Pytheas

sailed along the whole of the east coast of Britain: on the other hand, it

seems more likely, that having passed over from the coast of France to the

coast of Britain, he traced the latter to its most eastern point, that is,

the coast of Norfolk near Yarmouth; from which place, the coast taking a

sudden and great bend to the west, it is probable that Pytheas, whose

object evidently was to sail as far north as he could, would leave the

coast and stretch out into the open sea. Sailing on a north course, or

rather with a little inclination to the east of the north, would bring him

to the entrance of the Baltic. We have already conceived it probable that

the country he describes lay in the latitude of about 62°, and six days'

sail from the coast of Norfolk would bring him nearly into this latitude,

supposing he entered the Baltic. The next point relates to the productions

of the country: millet, wheat, and honey, are much more the characteristic

productions of the countries lying on the Gulf of Finland, than they are of

Jutland; and Pytheas' account of the climate also agrees better with the

climate of this part of the Baltic, than with that of Jutland.

That Pythias visited the Baltic, though perhaps the Thule he mentions did

not lie in this sea, is evident from the following extract from his

journal, given by Pliny:--"On the shores of a certain bay called

Mentonomon, live a people called Guttoni: and at the distance of a day's

voyage from them, is the island Abalus (called by Timæus, Baltea). Upon

this the waves threw the amber, which is a coagulated matter cast up by the

sea: they use it for firing, instead of wood, and also sell it to the

neighbouring Teutones." The inhabitants on the coast of the Baltic, near

the Frish or Curish Sea (which is probably the bay Pytheas describes) are

called in the Lithuanian language, Guddai: and so late as the period of the

Crusades, the spot where amber is found was called Wittland, or Whiteland;

in Lithuanian, Baltika. From these circumstances, as well as from the name

_Baltea_ given by Timaeus to the island mentioned by Pytheas, as the place

where amber is cast up by the waves, there appears no doubt that Pytheas

was in the Baltic Sea, though his island of Thule might not be there. As

amber was in great repute, even so early as the time of Homer, who

describes it as being used to adorn the golden collars, it is highly

probable that Pytheas was induced to enter the Baltic for the purpose of

obtaining it: in what manner, or through whose means, the Greeks obtained

it in Homer's time, is not known.

After all, the question is involved in very great obscurity; and the

circumstance not the most probable, or reconcileable with a country even

not further north than Jutland is, that, in the age of Pytheas, the

inhabitants should have been so far advanced in knowledge and civilization,

as to have cultivated any species of grain.

Till the age of Herodotus the light of history is comparatively feeble and

broken; and where it does shine with more steadiness and brilliancy, its

rays are directed almost exclusively on the warlike operations of mankind.

Occasionally, indeed, we incidentally learn some new particulars respecting

the knowledge of the ancients in geography: but these particulars, as must

be obvious from the preceding part of this volume, are ascertained only

after considerable difficulty; and when ascertained, are for the most part

meagre, if not obscure. In the history of Herodotus, we, for the first

time, are able to trace the exact state and progress of geographical

knowledge; and from his time, our means of tracing it become more

accessible, as well as productive of more satisfactory results. Within one

hundred years after this historian flourished, geography derived great

advantages and improvement from a circumstance which, at first view, would

have been deemed adverse to the extension of any branch of science: we

allude to the conquests of Alexander the Great. This monarch seems to have

been actuated by a desire to be honoured as the patron of science, nearly

as strong as the desire to be known to posterity as the conquerer of the

world: the facilities he afforded to Aristotle in drawing up his natural

history, by sending him all the uncommon animals with which his travels and

his conquests supplied him, is a striking proof of this. With respect to

his endeavours to extend geographical knowledge,--this was so intimately

connected with his plans of conquest, that it may appear to be ascribing to

him a more honourable motive than influenced him, if we consider the

improvement that geography received through his means as wholly unconnected

with his character as a conquerer: that it was so, in some measure, however

is certain; for along with him he took several geographers, who were

directed and enabled to make observations both on the coasts and the

interior of the countries through which they passed; and from their

observations and discoveries, a new and improved geography of Asia was

framed. Besides, the books that till his time were shut up in the archives

of Babylon and Tyre were transferred to Alexandria; and thus the

astronomical and hydrographical observations of the Phoenicians and

Chaldeans, becoming accessible to the Greek philosophers, supplied them

with the means of founding their geographical knowledge on the sure basis

of mathematical science, of which it had hitherto been destitute.

The grand maxim of Alexander in his conquests was, to regard them as

permanent, and as annexing to his empire provinces which were to form as

essential parts of it as Macedonia itself. Influenced by this consideration

and design, he did not lay waste the countries he conquered, as had been

done in the invasions of Persia, by Cimon the Athenian and the

Lacedemonians: on the contrary, the people, and their religion, manners,

and laws were protected. The utmost order and regularity were observed; and

it is a striking fact, "that his measures were taken with such prudence,

that during eight years' absence at the extremity of the East, no revolt of

consequence occurred; and his settlement of Egypt was so judicious, as to

serve as a model to the Romans in the administration of that province at

the distance of three centuries."

The voyage of Nearchus from Nicea on the Hydaspes, till he arrived in the

vicinity of Susa (which we shall afterwards more particularly describe);

the projected voyage, the object of which was to attempt the

circumnavigation of Arabia; the survey of the western side of the Gulf of

Persia, by Archias, Androsthenes, and Hiero, of which unfortunately we do

not possess the details; the projected establishment of a direct commercial

intercourse between India and Alexandria; and the foundation of this city,

which gave a new turn and a strong impulse to commerce, as will be more

particularly shown afterwards;--are but a few of the benefits geography and

commerce received from Alexander, or would have received, had not his plans

been frustrated by his sudden and early death at the age of 33.

We have the direct testimony of Patrocles, that Alexander was not content

with vague and general information, nor relied on the testimony of others

where he could observe and judge for himself; and in all cases in which he

derived his information from others, he was particularly careful to select

those who knew the country best, and to make them commit their intelligence

to writing. By these means, united to the reports of those whom he employed

to survey his conquests, "all the native commodities which to this day form

the staple of the East Indian commerce, were fully known to the

Macedonians." The principal castes in India, the principles of the Bramins,

the devotion of widows to the flames, the description of the banyan-tree,

and a great variety of other particulars, sufficiently prove that the

Macedonians were actuated by a thirst after knowledge, as well as a spirit

of conquest; and illustrate as well as justify the observation made to

Alexander by the Bramin mandarin, "You are the only man whom I ever found

curious in the investigation of philosophy at the head of an army."

When Alexander invaded India, he found commerce flourishing greatly in many

parts of it, particularly in what are supposed to be the present Multan,

Attock, and the Panjob. He every where took advantage of this commerce, not

by plundering and thus destroying it for the purpose of filling his

coffers, but by nourishing and increasing it, and thus at once benefitting

himself and the inhabitants who wore engaged in it. By means of the

commerce in which the natives of the Panjob were engaged on the Indus,

Alexander procured the fleet with which he sailed down that river. This

fleet is supposed to have consisted of eight hundred vessels, only thirty

of which were ships of war, the remainder being such as were usually

employed in the commerce of the Indus. Even before he reached this river,

he had built vessels which he had sent down the Kophenes to Taxila. By the

completion of his campaign at the sources of the Indus, and by his march

and voyage down the course of that river, he had traced and defined the

eastern boundary of his conquests: the line of his march from the

Hellespont till the final defeat of Darius, and his pursuit of that

monarch, had put him in possession of tolerably accurate knowledge of the

northern and western boundaries; the southern provinces alone remained to

be explored: they had indeed submitted to his arms; but they were still,

for all the purposes of government and commerce, unknown.

"To obtain the information necessary for the objects they had in view, he

ordered Craterus, with the elephants and heavy baggage, to penetrate

through the centre of the empire, while he personally undertook the more

arduous task of penetrating the desert of Gadrosia, and providing for the

preservation of the fleet. A glance over the map will show that the route

of the army eastward, and the double route by which it returned, intersect

the whole empire by three lines, almost from the Tigris to the Indus:

Craterus joined the division under Alexander in the Karmania; and when

Nearchus, after the completion of his voyage, came up the Posityris to

Susa, the three routes through the different provinces, and the navigation

along the coast, might be said to complete the survey of the empire."

The two divisions of his army were accompanied on their return to Susa by

Beton and Diognetus, who seem to have united the character and duties of

soldiers and men of science; or, perhaps, were like the quarter-masters-

general of our armies. It appears from Strabo and Pliny, in whose time the

surveys drawn by Beton and Diognetus were extant, that they reduced the

provinces through which they passed, as well as the marches of the army, to

actual measurement; and thus, the distances being accurately set down, and

journals faithfully kept, the principles of geographical science, next in

importance and utility to astronomical observations, were established. The

journals of Beton and Diognetus, the voyage of Nearchus, and the works of

Ptolemy, afterwards king of Egypt, and Aristobulus, who accompanied

Alexander in his expedition and wrote his life, all prove that the

authority or the example of the sovereign influenced the pursuits of his

officers and attendants; and it is highly to the credit of their diligence

and accuracy, that every increase of geographical knowledge tends to

confirm what they relate respecting the general appearance and features of

the countries they traversed, as well as the position of cities, rivers,

and mountains.

Alexander appears to have projected or anticipated an intercourse between

India and the western provinces of his dominions in Egypt, not only by land

but by sea: for this latter purpose he founded two cities on the Hydaspes

and one on the Axesimes, both navigable rivers, which fall into the Indus.

And this also, most probably, was one reason for his careful survey of the

navigation of the Indus itself. When he returned to Susa, he surveyed the

course of the Tigris and Euphrates. The navigation near the mouths of those

rivers was obstructed by cataracts, occasioned by walls built across them

by the ancient monarchs of Persia, in order to prevent their subjects from

defiling themselves by sailing on the ocean[4]: these obstructions he gave

directions to be removed. Had he lived, therefore, the commodites of India

would have been conveyed from the Persian Gulf into the interior provinces

of his Asiatic dominions, and to Alexandria by the Arabian Gulf.

To conclude in the words of Dr. Vincent: "The Macedonians obtained a

knowledge both of the Indus and the Ganges: they heard that the seat of

empire was, where it always has been, on the Ganges or Indus: they acquired

intelligence of all the grand and leading features of Indian manners,

policy, and religion [and he might have added, accurate information

respecting the geography of the western parts of that country]: they

discovered all this by penetrating through countries, where, possibly, no

Greek had previously set his foot; and they explored the passage by sea

which first opened the commercial intercourse with India to the Greeks and

Romans, through the medium of Egypt and the Red Sea, and finally to the

Europeans, by the Cape of Good Hope." When we reflect on the character and

state of the Macedonians, prior to the reign of Alexander, and the

condition into which they sunk after his death, we shall, perhaps, not

hesitate to acknowledge that Alexander infused his own soul into them; and

that history, ancient or modern, does not exhibit any similiar instance of

such powerful individual influence on the character and fate of a nation.

Alexander himself has always been honoured by conquerors, and is known to

mankind only, as the first of conquerors; but if military renown and

achievements had not, unfortunately for mankind, been more prized than they

deserved, and, on this account, the records of them been carefully

preserved, while the records of peaceful transactions were neglected and

lost, we should probably have received the full details of all that

Alexander did for geographical science and commerce; and in that case his

character would have been as highly prized by the philosopher and the

friend of humanity, civilization, and knowledge, as it is by the powerful

and ambitious.

Fortunately the details of one of the geographical and commercial

expeditions undertaken by order of Alexander are still extant; we allude to

the voyage of Nearchus. Of this voyage we are now to speak; and as it is

curious and important, not merely on account of the geographical knowledge

it conveys, but also from the insight it gives us into the commercial

transactions of the countries which he visited, we shall give rather a full

abstract of it, availing ourselves of the light which has been thrown upon

it by the learned and judicious researches of Dr. Vincent.

It was on the banks of the Hyphasis, the modern Beyah, that Alexander's

army mutinied, and refused to proceed any farther eastward. In consequence

of this insurmountable obstacle to his plans, he resolved to return to the

Hydaspes, and carry into execution his design of sailing down it into the

Indus, and thence by the ocean to the Persian Gulf. He had previously given

orders to his officers, when he had left the Hydaspes to collect, build,

and equip a sufficient number of vessels for this enterprise; and they had

been so diligent and successful, that on his return he found a numerous

fleet assembled. Nearchus was appointed to command the fleet: but Alexander

himself resolved to accompany it to the mouth of the river.

On the 23d of October, 327 years before Christ, the fleet sailed from

Nicoea, on the Hydaspes, a city built by Alexander on the scite of the

battle in which he defeated Porus. The importance which he attached to this

expedition, as well as his anxiety respecting its skilful conduct and final

issue, are strongly painted by Arrian, to whom we are indebted for the

journal of Nearchus. Alexander at first did not know whom to trust with the

management of the expedition, or who would undertake it. when the length of

the voyage, the difficulties and dangers of a barren and unknown coast, the

want of harbours, and the obstacles in the way of obtaining provisions,

were considered. In this state of anxiety, doubt, and expectation,

Alexander ordered Nearchus to attend him, and consulted him on the choice

of a commander. "One," said he, "excuses himself, because he thinks the

danger insuperable; others are unfit for the service from timidity; others

think of nothing but how to get home; and many I cannot approve for a

variety of other reasons." "Upon hearing this," says Nearchus, "I offered

myself for the command: and promised the king, that under the protection of

God, I would conduct the fleet safe into the Gulf of Persia, if the sea

were navigable, and the undertaking within the power of man to perform."

The only objection that Alexander made arose from his regard for Nearchus,

whom he was unwilling to expose to the dangers of such a voyage; but

Nearchus persisting, and the king being convinced that the enterprise, if

practicable, would be achieved by the skill, courage, and perseverance of

Nearchus, at length yielded. The character of the commander, and the regard

his sovereign entertained for him, removed in a great degree the

apprehension that the proposed expedition was desperate: a selection of the

best officers and most effective men was now soon made; and the fleet was

not only supplied with every thing that was necessary, but equipped in a

most splendid manner. Onesicritus was appointed pilot and master of

Alexander's own ship; and Evagoras was secretary of the fleet. The

officers, including these and Nearchus, amounted to 33; but nearly the

whole of them, as well as the ships which they commanded, proceeded no

farther than the mouth of the Indus. The seamen were natives of Greece, or

the Grecian Islands, Phoenicians, Egyptians, Cyprians, Ionians, &c. The

fleet consisted of 800 ships of war and transports, and about 1200 gallies.

On board of these, one-third of the army, which consisted of 120,000 men,

embarked; the remainder, marching in two divisions, one on the left, the

other on the right of the river.

"The voyage down the river is described rather as a triumphal procession,

than a military progress. The size of the vessels, the conveyance of horses

aboard, the number, and splendour of the equipment, attracted the natives

to be spectators of the pomp. The sound of instruments, the clang of arms,

the commands of the officers, the measured song of the modulators, the

responses of the mariners, the dashing of the oars, and these sounds

frequently reverberated from overhanging shores, are all scenery presented

to our imagination by the historians, and evidently bespeak the language of

those who shared with pride in this scene of triumph and magnificence."

No danger occurred to alarm them or impede their passage, till they arrived

at the junction of the Hydaspes with the Akesines. At this place, the

channel of the river became contracted, though the bulk of water was of

course greatly increased; and from this circumstance, and the rapidity with

which the two rivers unite, there is a considerable current, as well as

strong eddies; and the noise of the rushing and confined waters, is heard

at some distance. This noise astonished or alarmed the seamen so much, that

the rowers ceased to row, and the modulators to direct and encourage them

by their chant, till the commanders inspired them with confidence; and they

plied the oars with their utmost strength in order to stem the current, and

keep the vessels as steady and free from danger as possible. The eddy,

however, caught the gallies, which from their length were more exposed to

it than the ships of war: two of them sank, many more were damaged, while

Alexander's own ship was fortunate enough to find shelter near a projecting

point of land. At the junction of the Akesines with the Indus, Alexander

founded a city; of which, however, no traces at present remain.

On the arrival of Alexander at Pattala, near the head of the Delta of the

Indus, he seems to have projected the formation of a commercial city; and

for this purpose, ordered the adjoining country to be surveyed: his next

object was to sail down the western branch of the river. With this view he

left Pattala with all his gallies, some of his half-decked vessels, and his

quickest sailing transports, ordering at the same time a small part of his

army to attend his fleet. Considerable difficulties arose, and some loss

was sustained from his not being able to procure a native pilot, and from

the swell in the river, occasioned by a violent wind blowing contrary to

the stream. He was at length compelled to seize some of the natives, and

make them act as pilots. When they arrived near the confluence of the Indus

with the sea, another storm arose; and as this also blew up the river,

while they were sailing down with the current and the tide, there was

considerable agitation in the water. The Macedonians were alarmed, and by

the advice of their pilots ran into one of the creeks of the river for

shelter: at low tide, the vessels being left aground, the sharp-built

gallies were much injured.

The astonishment of the Macedonians was greatly excited when they saw the

waters of the river and of the sea ebb and flow. It is well known, that in

the Mediterranean the tides are scarcely perceptible. The flux and reflux

of the Euripus, a narrow strait which separates the island of Euboea from

the coast of Beotia, could give them no idea of the regularity of the

tides; for this flux and reflux continued for eighteen or nineteen days,

and was uncommonly unsettled the rest of the month. Besides, the tides at

the mouth of the Indus, and on the adjacent coast, are very high, and flow

in with very great force and rapidity; and are known in India, in the Bay

of Fundy, and in most other places where this phenomenon occurs, by the

name of the Bore; and at the mouth of the Severn, by the name of Hygre, or

Eagre. Herodotus indeed, mentions, that in the Red Sea there was a regular

ebb and flow of the sea every day; but as Dr. Robertson very justly

observes, "among the ancients there occur instances of inattention to

facts, related by respectable authors, which appear surprising in modern

times." Even so late as the time of Caesar, a spring tide in Britain, which

occasioned great damage to his fleet, created great surprize, and is

mentioned as a phenomenon with which he and his soldiers were unacquainted.

Soon after Alexander had repaired the damage that his fleet had sustained,

he surveyed two islands lying at the west mouth of the Indus; and

afterwards leaving the river entirely, entered the ocean, either for the

purpose of ascertaining himself whether it were actually navigable, or, as

Arrian conjectures, in order to gratify his vanity by having it recorded,

that he had navigated the Indian Ocean.

Having accomplished this object, he returned to Pattala, where he had

directed a naval arsenal to be formed, intending to station a fleet at this

place. The eastern branch of the Indus was yet unexplored. In order, that

an accurate knowledge of it might be gained, Alexander resolved to explore

it himself: accordingly, he sailed from Pattala till he arrived at a large

bay or lake, which probably, however, was only a number of the smaller

branches of the Indus, overflowing their banks. The passage from this place

to the ocean, he ascertained to be more open and convenient than that by

the western branch. He does not seem, however, to have advanced into the

ocean by it; but having landed, and proceeded along the coast, in the

direction of Guzerat and Malabar, three days' march, making observations on

the country, and directing wells to be sunk, he re-embarked, and returned

to the head of the bay. Here he again manifested his design of establishing

a permanent station, by ordering a fort to be built, a naval yard and docks

to be formed, and leaving a garrison and provisions for four months.

Before the final departure of Alexander with his convoy from Pattala, he

directed Nearchus to assume the entire command of the fleet, and to sail as

soon as the season would permit. Twelve months, within a few days, elapsed

between the departure of the fleet from Nicaea, and the sailing of Nearchus

from the Indus; the former having taken place, as we have already observed,

on the 23d of October, in the year 327 before Christ, and the latter on the

2d of October, in the year 326 B.C. Only about nine months, however, had

elapsed in the actual navigation of the Indus and its tributary streams;

and even this period, which to us appears very long, was considerably

extended by the operations of the army of Alexander, as well as by the slow

sailing of such a large fleet as he conducted.

In consequence, it is supposed, of the prevalence of the north-east

monsoon, Nearchus, after having reached the ocean (which, however, he could

not effect till he had cut a passage for his fleet through a sand bank or

bar at the mouth of the Indus), was obliged to lie in a harbour which he

called Port Alexander, and near which he erected a fort on the 3d of

November; about which time we know that the monsoon changes. Nearchus again

set sail. About the 8th of this month he reached the river Arabis, having

coasted along among rocks and islands, the passage between which was narrow

and difficult. The distance between this river and the Indus is nearly

eighty miles, and the fleet had occupied almost forty days in completing

the navigation of this space. During the greater part of this time, they

were very scantily supplied with provisions, and seem, indeed, to have

depended principally on the shell-fish found on the coast. Soon after

leaving the mouth of the Arabis, they were obliged, by the nature of the

shore and the violence of the wind, to remain on board their ships for two

nights; a very unusual as well as inconvenient and uncomfortable

circumstance for the ancients. We have already described their ships as

either having no deck, or only a kind of half-deck, below which the cables

were coiled. Under this deck there might be accommodation for part of the

crew; but in cases where all were obliged to remain on board at night, the

confinement must have been extremely irksome, as well as prejudicial to

their health. At the end of these two days, they were enabled to land and

refresh themselves; and here they were joined by Leonatus, one of

Alexander's generals, who had been despatched with some troops to watch and

protect their movements, as far on their course as was practicable. He

brought a supply of provisions, which had become very necessary. On leaving

this place, their progress became much more rapid than it had been before,

owing probably to the wind having become more regularly and permanently

favourable.

As it is our intention, in giving this short abstract of the voyage of

Nearchus, to select only such particulars as illustrate the mode of

navigation practised among the ancients--the progress of discovery, or the

state of commerce,--we shall pass over every topic or fact not connected

with these. We cannot, however, refrain from giving an account of the

transactions of the fleet at the river Tomerus, when it arrived on the 21st

of November, fifty days after it left the Indus; as on reading it, our

readers will be immediately struck with the truth of Dr. Vincent's

observation, that it bears a very strong resemblance to the landing of a

party from the Endeavour, in New Zealand, under protection of the ship's

guns. We make use of Dr. Vincent's translation, or rather abstract:--

"At the Tomerus the inhabitants were found living on the low ground near

the sea, in cabins which seemed calculated rather to suffocate their

inhabitants than to protect them from the weather; and yet these wretched

people were not without courage. Upon sight of the fleet approaching, they

collected in arms on the shore, and drew up in order to attack the

strangers on their landing. Their arms were spears, not headed with iron,

but hardened in the fire, nine feet long; and their number about 600.

Nearchus ordered his vessels to lay their heads towards the shore, within

the distance of bow-shot; for the enemy had no missile weapons but their

spears. He likewise brought his engines to bear upon them, (for such it

appears he had on board,) and then directed his light-armed troops, with

those who were the most active and the best swimmers, to be ready for

commencing the attack. On a signal given, they were to plunge into the sea:

the first man who touched ground was to be the point at which the line was

to be formed, and was not to advance till joined by the others, and the

file could be ranged three deep. These orders were exactly obeyed; the men

threw themselves out of the ships, swam forward, and formed themselves in

the water, under cover of the engines. As soon as they were in order, they

advanced upon the enemy with a shout, which was repeated from the ships.

Little opposition was experienced; for the natives, struck with the novelty

of the attack, and the glittering of the armour, fled without resistance.

Some escaped to the mountains, a few were killed, and a considerable number

made prisoners. They were a savage race, shaggy on the body as well as the

head, and with nails so long and of such strength, that they served them as

instruments to divide their food, (which consisted, indeed, almost wholly

of fish,) and to separate even wood of the softer kind. Whether this

circumstance originated from design, or want of implements to pare their

nails, did not appear; but if there was occasion, to divide harder

substances, they substituted stones sharpened, instead of iron, for iron

they had none. Their dress consisted of the skins of beasts, and some of

the larger kinds of fish."

Along the coast of the Icthyophagi, extending from Malan to Cape Jaser, a

distance, by the course of the fleet, of nearly 625 miles, Nearchus was so

much favoured by the winds and by the straightness of the coast, that his

progress was sometimes nearly 60 miles a day. In every other respect,

however, this portion of the voyage was very unfortunate and calamitous.

Alexander, aware that on this coast, which furnished nothing but fish, his

fleet would be in distress for provisions, and that this distress would be

greatly augmented by the scarcity of water which also prevailed here, had

endeavoured to advance into this desolate tract, to survey the harbours,

sink wells, and collect provisions. But the nature of the country rendered

this impracticable; and his army became so straightened for corn

themselves, that a supply of it, which he intended for the fleet, and on

which he had affixed his own seal, was seized by the men whom he had

ordered to protect and escort it to the coast. At last he was obliged to

give up all attempts of relieving Nearchus; and after struggling 60 days

with want of water,--during which period, if he himself had not, at the

head of a few horse, pushed on to the coast, and there obtained a supply,

by opening the sands, his whole army must have perished,--he with great

difficulty reached the capital of this desert country. Nearchus, thus left

to himself, was indebted to the natives for the means of discovering water,

by opening the sands, as the king had done; but to the Greeks, who regarded

the want of bread as famine, even when its place was supplied by meat, the

fish the natives offered them was no relief.

We have already remarked, that the real character of Alexander will be much

elevated in the opinion of men of humanity and philosophers, if the

particulars we possess of his endeavours to improve the condition of those

he conquered, and to advance the interests of science, scanty and imperfect

as they are, were more attentively considered, and had not been neglected

and overlooked in the glare of his military achievements. His march through

the deserts of Gadrosia has been ascribed solely to vanity; but this

imputation will be removed, and must give way to a more worthy impression

of his motives on this occasion, when it is stated, that it was part of the

great design which he had formed of opening a communication between his

European dominions and India by sea; and that as the accomplishment of this

design mainly depended on the success of the expedition committed to

Nearchus, it was a paramount object with him to assist the fleet, which he

thrice attempted, even in the midst of his own distress in the deserts.

On their arrival at the river Kalama, which is supposed to be the Churmut,

60 days after their departure from the Indus, they at length obtained from

the natives some sheep; but the flesh of it, as well as the fowls which

they obtained, had a very fishy taste--the sheep, fowls, and inhabitants,

all feeding on fish, there being no herbage or trees of any kind, except a

few palm-trees. On the next day, having doubled a cape, they anchored in a

harbour called Mosarna, where they found a pilot, who undertook to conduct

the fleet to the Gulf of Persia. It would appear from Arrian, that the

intercourse between this place and the Gulf was frequent, the voyage less

dangerous, and the harbours on the coast better known. Owing to these

favourable circumstances, the skill of the pilot, and the breeze which blew

from the land during the night, their course was more rapid; and they

sailed by night as well as day. The coast, however, still continued barren,

and the inhabitants unable to supply them with any thing but fish till they

arrived at Barna on the 64th day: here the inhabitants were more civilized;

they had gardens producing fruit-trees, flowers, myrtle, &c., with which

the Greek sailors formed garlands to adorn their hair.

On the 69th day, December 9., they arrived at a small town, the name of

which is not given; nor is it possible to fix its scite. What occurred here

we shall give in the words of Dr. Vincent:--

"When the fleet reached this place, it was totally without bread or grain

of any kind; and Nearchus, from the appearance of stubble in the

neighbourhood, conceived hopes of a supply, if he could find means of

obtaining it; but he perceived that he could not take the place by assault,

and a siege the situation he was in rendered impracticable. He concerted

matters, therefore, with Archias, and ordered him to make a feint of

preparing the fleet to sail; while he himself, with a single vessel,

pretending to be left behind, approached the town in a friendly manner, and

was received hospitably by the inhabitants. They came out to receive him

upon his landing, and presented him with baked fish, (the first instance of

cookery he had yet seen on the coast,) accompanied with cakes and dates.

These he accepted with proper acknowledgments, and informed them he wished

for permission to see the town: this request was granted without suspicion;

but no sooner had he entered, than he ordered two of his archers to take

post at the gate, and then mounting the wall contiguous, with two more and

his interpreter, he made the signal for Archias, who was now under weigh to

advance. The natives instantly ran to their arms; but Nearchus having taken

an advantageous position, made a momentary defence till Archias was close

at the gate, ordering his interpreter to proclaim at the same time, that if

they wished their city to be preserved from pillage, they must deliver up

their corn, and all the provisions which the place afforded. These terms

were not rejected, for the gate was open, and Archias ready to enter: he

took charge of this post immediately with the force which attended him; and

Nearchus sent proper officers to examine such stores as were in the place,

promising the inhabitants that, if they acted ingenuously, they should

suffer no other injury. Their stores were immediately produced, consisting

of a kind of meal, or paste made of fish, in great plenty, with a small

quantity of wheat and barley. This, however insufficient for his wants,

Nearchus received: and abstaining from farther oppression, returned on

board with his supply."

The provisions he obtained here, notwithstanding the consumption of them

was protracted by occasionally landing and cutting off the tender shoots of

the head of the wild palm-tree, were so completely exhausted in the course

of a few days, that Nearchus was obliged to prevent his men from landing,

under the apprehension, that though the coast was barren, their distress on

board would have induced them not to return. At length, on the 14th of

December, on the seventy-fourth day of their departure, they reached a more

fertile and hospitable shore, and were enabled to procure a very small

supply of provisions, consisting principally of corn, dried dates, and the

flesh of seven camels. Nearchus mentions the latter evidently to point out

the extreme distress to which they were reduced. As it is evident that this

supply would be soon exhausted, we are not surprised that Nearchus, in

order to reach a better cultivated district, should urge on his course as

rapidly as possible; and accordingly we find, that he sailed at a greater

rate in this part of his voyage than he ever had done before. Having sailed

day and night without intermission, in which time he passed a distance of

nearly sixty-nine miles, he at length doubled the cape, which formed the

boundary of the barren coast of the Icthyophagi, and arrived in the

district of Karmania. At Badis, the first town in this district, which they

reached on the 17th of December, after a voyage of 77 days, they were

supplied with corn, wine, and every kind of fruit, except olives, the

inhabitants being not only able but willing to relieve their wants.

The length of the coast of the Icthyophagi is about 462 miles; and, as

Nearchus was twenty-one days on this coast, the average rate of sailing

must have been twenty-one miles a day. The whole distance, from the Indus

to the cape which formed the boundary of Karmania, is about 625 miles: this

distance Nearchus was above seventy days in sailing. It must be

recollected, however, that when he first set out the monsoon was adverse,

and that for twenty-four days he lay in harbour: making the proper

deductions for these circumstances, he was not at sea more than forty days

with a favourable wind; which gives rather more than fifteen miles a day.

The Houghton East Indiaman made the same run in thirteen days; and, on her

return, was only five days from Gomeroon to Scindy Bay.

The manners of the wretched inhabitants have occasionally been already

noticed; but Nearchus dwells upon some further particulars, which, from

their conformity with modern information, are worthy of remark. Their

ordinary support is fish, as the name of Icthyophagi, or fish-eaters,

implies; but why they are for this reason specified as a separate tribe

from the Gadrosians, who live inland, does not appear. Ptolomy considers

all this coast as Karmania, quite to Mosarna; and whether Gadrosia is a

part of that province, or a province itself, is a matter of no importance;

but the coast must have received the name Nearchus gives it from Nearchus

himself; for it is Greek, and he is the first Greek who explored it. It

may, perhaps, be a translation of a native name, and such translations the

Greeks indulged in sometimes to the prejudice of geography. "But these

people, though they live on fish, are few of them fishermen, for their

barks are few, and those few very mean and unfit for the service. The fish

they obtain they owe to the flux and reflux of the tide, for they extend a

net upon the shore, supported by stakes of more than 200 yards in length,

within which, at the tide of ebb, the fish are confined, and settle in the

pits or in equalities of the sand, either made for this purpose or

accidental. The greater quantity consists of small fish; but many large

ones are also caught, which they search for in the pits, and extract with

nets. Their nets are composed of the bark or fibres of the palm, which they

twine into a cord, and form like the nets of other countries. The fish is

generally eaten raw, just as it is taken out of the water, at least such as

are small and penetrable; but the larger sort, and those of more solid

texture, they expose to the sun, and pound them to a paste for store: this

they use instead of meal or bread, or form them into a sort of cakes or

frumenty. The very cattle live on dried fish, for there is neither grass

nor pasture on the coast. Oysters, crabs, and shell-fish, are caught in

plenty; and though this circumstance is specified twice only in the early

part of the voyage, there is little doubt but these formed the principal

support of the people during their navigation. Salt is here the production

of nature, by which we are to understand, that the power of the sun in this

latitude, is sufficient for exhalation and crystallization, without the

additional aid of fire; and from this salt they formed an extract which

they used as the Greeks use oil. The country, for the most part, is so

desolate, that the natives have no addition to their fish but dates: in

some few places a small quantity of grain is sown; and there bread is their

viand of luxury, and fish stands in the rank of bread. The generality of

the people live in cabins, small and stifling: the better sort only have

houses constructed with the bones of whales, for whales are frequently

thrown upon the coast; and, when the flesh is rotted off, they take the

bones, making planks and doors of such as are flat, and beams or rafters of

the ribs or jaw-bones; and many of these monsters are found fifty yards in

length." Strabo confirms the report of Arrian, and adds, that "the

vertebræ, or socket bones, of the back, are formed into mortars, in which

they pound their fish, and mix it up into a paste, with the addition of a

little meal."--(Vincent's Nearchus, p. 265.)

Dr. Vincent, in this passage, does not seem to be aware that no whale was

ever found nearly so long as fifty yards, and that half that length is the

more common size of the largest whales, even in seas more suitable to their

nature and growth. That the animal which Nearchus himself saw was a whale,

there can be little doubt: while he was off Kyiza, the seamen were

extremely surprised, and not a little alarmed, at perceiving the sea

agitated and thrown up, as Arrian expresses it, as if it were forcibly

lifted up by a whirlwind. The pilot informed them that it was occasioned by

the whales blowing; this information, however, does not seem to have

quieted their fears: they ceased rowing, the oars dropped from their hands,

and Nearchus found himself under the necessity of exerting all his presence

of mind and authority to recall them to their duty. He gave directions to

steer towards the place where the sea was lifted up: in their advance the

crew shouted all together, dashed the water with their oars, and sounded

their trumpets. The whales were intimidated, sunk on the near approach of

the vessels, and, though they rose again astern, and renewed their blowing,

they now excited no alarm.

The Gulf of Persia, which Nearchus was now about to enter, comprehends the

coasts of Karmania, Persis, and Susiana. Nothing important occurred till

the vessels arrived off Cape Mussenden in Karmania, where they anchored: at

this place Nearchus and Onesicritus differed in opinion relative to the

further prosecution of the voyage; the latter wished to explore this cape,

and extend the voyage to the Gulf of Arabia. The reason he assigned was,

that they knew more of this gulf, than of the Gulf of Persia; and that, as

Alexander was master of Egypt, in the former gulf they would meet with more

assistance than in the latter. Nearchus, on the contrary, insisted that

Alexander's plan in directing, this voyage should be exactly pursued: this

plan was, to obtain a knowledge of the coast, with such harbours, bays, and

islands, as might occur in the course of the voyage; "to ascertain whether

there were any towns bordering on the ocean, and whether the country was

habitable or desert." The opinion of Nearchus prevailed, and the voyage was

pursued according to its original course and purpose.

As Nearchus had reason to believe that the army of Alexander was at no

great distance, he resolved to land, form a naval camp, and to advance

himself into the interior, that he might ascertain this point. Accordingly,

on the 20th of December, the 80th day after his departure, he formed a camp

near the river Anamis; and having secured his ships, proceeded in search of

Alexander. The first intelligence of their sovereign, however, seems to

have been obtained accidentally. The crew of Nearchus were strolling up the

country, when some of them met with a man whose dress and language

instantly discovered that he was a Greek: the joy of meeting with a

countryman was greatly heightened when he informed them that the army which

he had lately left, was encamped at no great distance, and that the

governor of the province was on the spot. As soon as Nearchus learnt the

exact situation of the army, he hastened towards it; but the governor,

eager to communicate to Alexander intelligence of his fleet, anticipated

him. Alexander was exceedingly pleased; but when several days elapsed, and

Nearchus did not arrive, he began to doubt the truth of what the governor

had told him, and at last ordered him to be imprisoned.

[Illustration]

In the mean time Nearchus was prosecuting his journey along with Archias

and five or six others, when he fortunately fell in with a party from the

army, which had been sent out with horses and carriages for his

accommodation. The admiral and his attendants, from their appearance, might

have passed unnoticed. Their hair long and neglected, their garments

decayed, their countenance pale and weather-worn, and their persons

emaciated by famine and fatigue, scarcely raised the attention of the

friends they had encountered. They were Greeks, however; and if Greeks, it

was natural to inquire after the army, and where it was now encamped. An

answer was given to their inquiry; but still they were neither recognized

by the party, nor was any question asked in return. Just as they were

separating from each other, "Assuredly," says Archias, "this must be a

party sent out for our relief, for on what other account can they be

wandering about the desert? There is nothing strange in their passing us

without notice, for our very appearance is a disguise. Let us address them

once more, and inform them who we are, and learn from them on what service

they are at present employed." Nearchus approved of this advice, and

approaching them again, inquired which way they were directing their

course. "We are in search of Nearchus and his people," replied the officer:

"And I am Nearchus," said the admiral; "and this is Archias. Take us under

your conduct, and we will ourselves report our history to the king." They

were accordingly placed in the carriages, and conducted towards the army

without delay. While they were upon their progress, some of the horsemen,

impatient to carry the news of this happy event, set off to the camp to

inform the king, that Nearchus and Archias were arrived with five or six of

his people; but of the rest they had no intelligence. This suggested to

Alexander that perhaps these only were preserved, and that the rest of the

people had perished, either by famine or shipwreck; nor did he feel so much

pleasure in the preservation of the few, as distress for the loss of the

remainder. During this interval, Nearchus and his attendants arrived. It

was not without difficulty that the king discovered who they were, under

the disguise of their appearance; and this circumstance contributed to

confirm him in his mistake, imagining that both their persons and their

dress bespoke ship wreck, and the destruction of the fleet. He held out his

hand, however, to Nearchus, and led him aside from his guards and

attendants without being able to utter a word. As soon as they were alone,

he burst into tears, and continued weeping for a considerable time; till,

at length recovering in some degree his composure,--"Nearchus," says he, "I

feel some satisfaction in finding that you and Archias have escaped; but

tell me where and in what manner did my fleet and my people perish?" "Your

fleet," replied Nearchus, "are all safe,--your people are safe; and we are

come to bring you the account of their preservation." Tears, but from a

different source, now fell much faster from his eyes. "Where then are my

ships?" says he. "At the Anamis," replied Nearchus; "all safe on shore, and

preparing for the completion of their voyage." "By the Lybian Ammon and

Jupiter of Greece, I swear to you," rejoined the king, "I am more happy at

receiving this intelligence, than in being conqueror of all Asia; for I

should have considered the loss of my fleet and the failure of this

expedition, as a counterbalance to all the glory I have acquired." Such was

the reception of the admiral; while the governor, who was the first bearer

of the glad tidings, was still in bonds: upon the sight of Nearchus, he

fell at his feet, and implored his intercession. It may be well imagined

that his pardon was as readily granted as it was asked.--(Vincent's

Nearchus, p. 312.)

Sacrifices, games, and a festival ensued; and when these were ended,

Alexander told Nearchus that he would expose him to no further hazard, but

despatch another to carry the fleet to Susa. "I am bound to obey you,"

replied the admiral, "as my king, and I take a pleasure in my obedience;

but if you, wish to gratify me in return, suffer me to retain my command,

till I have completed the expedition. I shall feel it as an injustice, if,

after having struggled through all the difficulties of the voyage, another

shall finish the remainder almost without an effort, and yet reap the

honour of completing what I have begun." Alexander yielded to this just

request, and about the end of the year Nearchus rejoined his fleet.

By the 6th of January, B.C. 345, he reached the island of Kataia, which

forms the boundary between Karmania and Persis. The length of the former

coast is rather more than three hundred miles: the time occupied by

Nearchus in this part of his voyage was about twelve days. He arrived at

Badis, the first station in Karmania, on the 7th of December; at Anamis on

the 10th; here he remained three days. His journey to the camp, stay there,

return, and preparations for again sailing, may have occupied fifteen days.

Three hundred miles in twelve days is at the rate of twenty-five miles a

day.

Hitherto the voyage of Nearchus has afforded no information respecting the

commerce of the ancients. The coasts along which he sailed were either

barren and thinly inhabited by a miserable and ignorant people, or if more

fertile and better cultivated, Nearchus' attention and interest were too

keenly occupied about the safety of himself and his companions, to gather

much information of a commercial nature. The remainder of his voyage,

however, affords a few notices on this subject; and to these we shall

attend.

In the island of Schitwar, on the eastern side of the Gulf of Persia,

Nearchus found the inhabitants engaged in a pearl fishery: at present

pearls are not taken on this side of the Gulf. At the Rohilla point a dead

whale attracted their attention; it is represented as fifty cubits long,

with a hide a cubit in thickness, beset with shell-fish, probably barnacles

or limpets, and sea-weeds, and attended by dolphins, larger than Nearchus

had been accustomed to see in the Mediterranean Sea. Their arrival at the

Briganza river affords Dr. Vincent an opportunity of conjecturing the

probable draught of a Grecian vessel of fifty oars. At ebb-tide, Arrian

informs us, the vessels were left dry; whereas at high tide they were able

to surmount the breakers and shoals. Modern travellers state that the

flood-tide rises in the upper part of the Gulf of Persia, nine or ten feet:

hence it may be conjectured that the largest vessel in the fleet drew from

six to eight feet water. The next day's sail brought them from the Briganza

to the river Arosis, the boundary river between Persis and Susiana, the

largest of the rivers which Nearchus had met with in the Gulf of Persia.

The province of Persis is described by Nearchus as naturally divided into

three parts. "That division which lies along the side of the Gulf is sandy,

parched, and sterile, bearing little else but palm-trees." To the north and

north-east, across the range of mountains, the country improves

considerably in soil and climate; the herbage is abundant and nutritious;

the meadows well watered; and the vine and every kind of fruit, except the

olive, flourishes. This part of the province is adorned by the parks and

gardens of the kings and nobles; the rivers flow from lakes of pure water,

abounding in water-fowl of all descriptions; horses and cattle feed on the

rich pastures, while in the woods there is abundance of animals for the

chace. To this the third division of Persis forms a striking contrast. This

lies farther north, a mountainous district, wild and rugged, inhabited by

barbarous tribes: the climate is so cold, that the tops of the mountains

are constantly covered with snow.

The coast of Susiana, along which Nearchus was now about to sail, he

represents as difficult and dangerous, from the number of shoals with which

it was lined. As he was informed that it would not be easy to procure water

while he was crossing the mouths of the streams which divide the Delta, he

took in a supply for five days before he left the Arosis. On account of the

shoals which stretch a considerable way out to sea, they could not approach

the coast, and were consequently obliged to anchor at night, and sleep on

board. In order to pass this dangerous coast with the least risk, they

formed a line by single ships, each following in order, through a channel

marked by stakes; in the same manner, Arrian remarks, as the passage

between Leukas and Akarnania in Greece, except that at Leukas there is a

firm sand, so that a ship takes no damage, if she runs ashore: whereas in

this passage there was deep mud on both sides, in which a vessel grounding

stuck fast; and if her crew endeavoured to get her off by going overboard,

they sunk above the middle in the mud. The extent of this difficult passage

was thirty-seven miles, at the end of which Nearchus came to an anchor at a

distance from the coast. Their course next day was in deep water, which

continued till they arrived, after sailing a day and a half, at a village

at the mouth of the Euphrates: at this village there was a mart for the

importation of the incenses of Arabia. Here Nearchus learnt that Alexander

was marching to Susa; this intelligence determined him to return back, to

sail up the Pasi-Tigris, and join him near that city. At Aginis he entered

the Pasi-Tigris, but he proceeded only about nine miles to a village which

he describes as populous and flourishing; here he determined to wait, till

he received further information respecting the exact route of the army. He

soon learnt that Alexander with his troops was at a bridge which he had

constructed over the Pasi-Tigris, at the distance of about one hundred and

twenty miles: at this place Nearchus joined him. Alexander embraced

Nearchus with the warmth of a friend; and his reception from all ranks was

equally gratifying and honourable. Whenever he appeared in the camp, he was

saluted with acclamations: sacrifices, games, and every other kind of

festivity celebrated the success of his enterprize. Nearly five months had

been occupied in performing the voyage from the mouth of the Indus--a

voyage which a modern vessel could perform in the course of three weeks.

Immediately after the junction of the fleet and army, Alexander crossed the

Pasi-Tigris, and proceeded to Susa: here he distributed rewards and honours

among his followers for their long, arduous, faithful, and triumphant

services. Those officers who had served as guards of Alexander's person

received crowns of gold; and the same present was made to Nearchus as

admiral, and to Onesicritus as navigator of the fleet.

We have already mentioned that Alexander projected the circumnavigation of

Arabia to the Red Sea, in order to complete the communication between India

and Egypt, and through Egypt with Europe. Nearchus was selected for this

enterprize; its execution, however, was prevented by the death of

Alexander. That he was extremely anxious for its completion, is evident

from the personal trouble he took in the preparations for it, and in the

necessary preliminary measures. In order that he might himself take a view

of the Gulf of Persia, he embarked on board a division of his fleet, and

sailed down the same stream which Nearchus had sailed up. At the head of

the Delta, the vessels which had suffered most in Nearchus' voyages were

directed to proceed with the troops they had on board, through a canal

which runs into the Tigris, Alexander himself proceeding with the lightest

and best sailing vessels through the Delta to the sea.

Soon after his return to Opis, where the mutiny of his troops took place,

Alexander gave another proof of his attention to maritime affairs; for he

despatched Heraclides into Hyrcania, with orders to cut timber and prepare

a fleet for the purpose of exploring the Caspian Sea--an attempt which,

like that of the projected voyage of Nearchus up the Arabian Gulf, was

prevented by Alexander's death. In the mean time Nearchus had been

collecting the vessels that were destined for his expedition; they were

assembled at Babylon: to this city also were brought from Phoenicia

forty-seven vessels which had been taken to pieces, and so conveyed over

land to Thapsacus. Two of these were of five banks, three of four, twelve

of three, and thirty rowed with fifteen oars on a side. Others likewise

were ordered to be built on the spot of cypress, the only wood which

Babyloni afforded; while mariners were collected from Phoenicia, and a dock

was directed to be cut capable of containing one thousand vessels, with

buildings and arsenals in proportion to the establishment. To accomplish

this extensive design, Alexander had sent one of his officers to Phoenicia

with 500 talents (about 106,830_l_.) to buy slaves fit for the oar, and

hire mariners. These preparations were so extensive, that it seems highly

probable that Alexander meant to conquer Arabia, as well as explore the

navigation of the Arabian Gulf; and indeed his plan and policy always were

to unite conquest with discovery. As soon as he had put these preparations

in a proper train, he again embarked, and sailed down the Euphrates as far

as Pallacopas. The immediate object of this voyage is not exactly known. As

the Euphrates flows over the adjacent country at certain seasons, the

Persian monarchs had cut a canal at Pallacopas, which diverted its

superfluous waters into a lake, where they were employed to flood the land.

This and similar canals had been long neglected; but as Alexander seems to

have fixed on Babylon as the future capital of his empire, it was necessary

to restore the canals to their original utility, in order that the ground

on both sides of the Euphrates might be drained or flooded at the proper

season. This may have been the only object of Alexander's voyage, or it may

have been connected with the projected voyage of Nearchus. It is certain,

however, that by his directions the principal canal was much improved;

indeed it was in reality cut in a more convenient and suitable place; for

the soil where it had been originally cut was soft and spongy, so that much

labour and time were required to restore the waters to their course, and

secure its mouth in a safe and firm manner. A little lower down, the soil

was much more suitable, being strong and rocky; here then Alexander ordered

the opening of the canal to be made: he afterwards entered it with his

fleet, and surveyed the whole extent of the lake with which it

communicated. On the Arabian side of the Gulf, he ordered a city to be

built: immediately afterwards he returned to Babylon, where he died.

In the mean time, and while Nearchus was at Babylon, three vessels were

sent down the Arabian side of the Gulf, to collect such information as

might be useful to him in his projected voyage. One was commanded by

Archias, who proceeded as far as Tylos, or Bahrein, the centre of the

modern pearl fishery. A short distance from the mouth of the Euphrates,

Archias discovered two islands; on one of which a breed of goats and sheep

was preserved, which were never killed, except for the purpose of

sacrifice. The second vessel sailed a little way round the coast of Arabia.

The third, which was commanded by Hiero of Soli, went much farther than

either of the other two, for it doubled Cape Mussendoon, sailed down the

coast below Moscat, and came in sight of Cape Ras-el-hed: this cape he was

afraid to double. On his return he reported that Arabia was much more

extensive than had been imagined. None of these vessels proceeded so far as

to be of much service to Nearchus, or to carry into effect the grand object

of Alexander: for his instructions to Hiero in particular were, to

circumnavigate Arabia; to go up the Red Sea; and reach the Bay of

Hieropolis, on the coast of Egypt. All these vessels were small, having

only fifty oars, and therefore not well calculated for such a long and

hazardous navigation.

At the time when Alexander was seized with the illness which occasioned his

death, Nearchus was ready to sail, and he himself, with the army, was to

accompany him as far as was practicable, in the same manner as he had done

from the Indus to the Tigris: two days before the fever commenced, he gave

a grand entertainment to Nearchus and his officers.

Only a very few circumstances regarding Nearchus are known after the death

of Alexander: he was made governor of Lycia and Pamphylia, and seems to

have attached himself to the fortunes of Antigonus. Along with him, he

crossed the mountains of Loristan, when he marched out of Susiana, after

his combat with Eumenes. In this retreat he commanded the light-armed

troops, and was ordered in advance, to drive the Cosseams from their passes

in the mountains. When Antigonus deemed it necessary to march into Lesser

Asia, to oppose the progress of Cassander, he left his son Demetrius, with

part of his army, in Syria; and as that prince was not above 22 years old,

he appointed him several advisers, of whom Nearchus was one. It is by no

means improbable that the instructions or the advice of Nearchus may have

induced Demetrius to survey with great care the lake of Asphaltes, and to

form a computation of the profit of the bitumen which it afforded, and of

the balm which grew in the adjacent country, and may have contributed to

his love for and skill in ship-building; for after he was declared king of

Macedonia, he built a fleet of five hundred gallies, several of which had

fourteen, fifteen, and sixteen benches of oars. We are informed that they

were all built by the particular contrivance of Demetrius himself, and that

the ablest artizans, without his directions, were unable to construct such

vessels, which united the pomp and splendour of royal ships to the strength

and conveniences of ordinary ships of war. The period and circumstances of

the death of Nearchus are not known. Dr. Vincent supposes that he may have

lost his life at the battle of Ipsus, where Antigonus fell: or, after the

battle, by command of the four kings who obtained the victory. Previous to

his grand expedition, it appears that he was a native of Crete, and

enrolled a citizen of Amphipolis, it is supposed, at the time when Philip

intended to form there a mart for his conquests in Thrace. He soon

afterwards came to the court of Philip, by whom he and some others were

banished, because he thought them too much attached to the interests of

Alexander in the family dissensions which arose on the secession of

Olympias, and some secret transactions of Alexander in regard to a marriage

with a daughter of a satrap of Caria. On the death of Philip, Nearchus was

recalled, and rewarded for his sufferings by the favour of his sovereign.

[4] The object of these dykes is supposed by Niebuhr to have been

very different: be observes that they were constructed for the purpose

of keeping up the waters to inundate the contiguous level: he found

these dykes both in the Euphrates and Tigris. And Tavernier mentions

one, 120 feet high, in the fall between Mosul and the great Zab.