2. Leonnatos, son of Anteas.
3. Lysimakhos, son of Agathoklês.
4. Asklepiodôros, son of Timander.
5. Arkhôn, son of Kleinias.
6. Demonikos, son of Athenaios.
7. Arkhias, son of Anaxidotos.
8. Ophellas, son of Seilênos.
9. Timanthês, son of Pantiadês.
Of Amphipolis.
10. Nearkhos, son of Androtîmos, who wrote a narrative of the voyage.
11. Laomedôn, son of Larikhos.
12. Androsthenês, son of Kallistratos.
Of Oresis.
13. Krateros, son of Alexander.
14. Perdikkas, son of Orontes.
Of Eördaia.
15. Ptolemaios, son of Lagos.
16. Aristonous, son of Peisaios.
Of Pydna.
17. Metrôn, son of Epikharmos.
18. Nikarkhidês, son of Simos.
Of Stymphaia.
19. Attalos, son of Andromenês.
Of Mieza.
20. Peukestas, son of Alexander.
Of Alkomenai.
21. Peithôn, son of Krateuas.
Of Aigai.
22. Leonnatos, son of Antipater.
Of Alôros.
23. Pantoukhos, son of Nikolaös.
Of Beroia.
24. Mylleas, son of Zôilos.
All these were Makedonians.
Greeks,—of Larisa:
25. Mêdios, son of Oxynthemis.
Of Kardia.
26. Eumenês, son of Hierônymos.
Of Kôs.
27. Kritoboulos, son of Plato.
Of Magnêsia.
28. Thoas, son of Mênodôros.
29. Maiander, son of Mandrogenês.
Of Teos.
30. Andrôn, son of Kabêlas.
Of Soloi in Cyprus.
31. Nikokleês, son of Pasikratês.
Of Salamis in Cyprus.
32. Nithaphôn, son of Pnutagoras.
A Persian was also appointed as a Trierarch.
33. Bagoas, son of Pharnoukhês.
The Pilot and Master of Alexander’s own ship was Onêsikritos of
Astypalaia, and the Secretary-General of the fleet Euagoras, the son
of Eukleôn, a Corinthian. Nearkhos, the son of Androtîmos, a Kretan
by birth, but a citizen of Amphipolis on the Strymôn was appointed as
Admiral of the expedition.
When these dispositions had been all completed, Alexander sacrificed to
his ancestral gods, and to such as had been indicated by the oracle;
also to Poseidôn and Amphitritê and the Nêreids, and to Okeanos
himself, and to the River Hydaspês, from which he was setting forth on
his enterprise; and to the Akesinês into which the Hydaspês pours its
stream, and to the Indus which receives both these rivers. He further
celebrated the occasion by holding contests in music and gymnastics,
and by distributing to the whole army, rank by rank, the sacrificial
victims.
XIX. When all the preparations for the voyage had been made, Alexander
ordered Krateros, with a force of horse and foot, to go to one side of
the Hydaspês; while Hephaistiôn commanding a still larger force, which
included 200 elephants, should march in a parallel line on the other
side. Alexander himself had under his immediate command the body of
foot guards called the Hypaspists, and all the archers, and what was
called the companion-cavalry,—a force consisting in all of 8,000 men.
The troops under Krateros and Hephaistiôn marching in advance of the
fleet had received instructions where they were to wait its arrival.
Philip, whom he had appointed satrap of this region, was despatched to
the banks of the Akesinês with another large division, for by this time
he had a following of 120,000 soldiers,[34] including those whom he had
himself led up from the sea-coast, as well as the recruits enlisted by
the agents whom he had deputed to collect an army, when he admitted
to his ranks barbarous tribes of all countries in whatever way they
might be armed. Then weighing anchor, he sailed down the Hydaspês to
its point of junction with the Akesinês. The ships numbered altogether
1800, including the long narrow war galleys, the round-shaped roomy
merchantmen, and the transports for carrying horses and provisions
to feed the army. But how the fleet sailed down the rivers, and what
tribes Alexander conquered in the course of the voyage, and how he
was in danger among the Malli,[35] and how he was wounded in their
country, and how Peukestas and Leonnatos covered him with their shields
when he fell,—all these incidents have been already related in my
other work, that which is written in the Attic dialect.[36] My present
object is to give an account of the coasting voyage which Nearkhos
accomplished with the fleet when starting from the mouths of the Indus
he sailed through the great ocean as far as the Persian Gulf, called by
some the Red Sea.
XX. Nearkhos himself has supplied a narrative of this voyage, which
runs to this effect. Alexander, he informs us, had set his heart on
navigating the whole circuit of the sea which extends from India
to Persia, but the length of the voyage made him hesitate, and the
possibility of the destruction of his fleet, should it be cast on some
desert coast either quite harbourless or too barren to furnish adequate
supplies; in which case a great stain tarnishing the splendour of his
former actions would obliterate all his good fortune. His ambition,
however, to be always doing something new and astonishing prevailed
over all his scruples. Then arose a difficulty as to what commander
he should choose, having genius sufficient for working out his plans,
and a difficulty also with regard to the men on ship-board how he
could overcome their fear, that in being despatched on such a service
they were recklessly sent into open peril. Nearkhos here tells us that
Alexander consulted him on the choice of a commander, and that when the
king had mentioned one man after another, rejecting all, some because
they were not inclined to expose themselves for his sake to danger,
others because they were of a timid temper, others because their only
thought was how to get home, making this and that objection to each
in turn, Nearkhos then proffered his own services in these terms: “I,
then, O king, engage to command the expedition, and, under the divine
protection, will conduct the fleet and the people on board safe into
Persia, if the sea be that way navigable, and the undertaking within
the power of man to perform.” Alexander made a pretence of refusing the
offer, saying that he could not think of exposing any friend of his
to the distresses and hazard of such a voyage, but Nearkhos, so far
from withdrawing his proposal, only persisted the more in pressing its
acceptance upon him. Alexander, it need not be said, warmly appreciated
the promptitude to serve him shown by Nearkhos, and appointed him to be
commander-in-chief of the expedition. When this became known, it had a
great effect in calming the minds of the troops ordered on this service
and on the minds of the sailors, since they felt assured that Alexander
would never have sent forth Nearkhos into palpable danger unless their
lives were to be preserved. At the same time the splendour with which
the ships were equipped, and the enthusiasm of the officers vying with
each other who should collect the best men, and have his complement
most effective, inspired even those who had long hung back with nerve
for the work, and a good hope that success would crown the undertaking.
It added to the cheerfulness pervading the army that Alexander himself
sailed out from both the mouths of the Indus into the open main when
he sacrificed victims to Poseidôn and all the other sea-deities, and
presented gifts of great magnificence to the sea; and so the men
trusting to the immeasurable good fortune which had hitherto attended
all the projects of Alexander, believed there was nothing he might not
dare—nothing but would to him be feasible.
XXI. When the Etesian winds,[37] which continue all the hot season
blowing landward from the sea, making navigation on that coast
impracticable, had subsided, then the expedition started on the voyage
in the year when Kephisidôros was Archon at Athens, on the 20th day of
the month Boëdromion according to the Athenian Kalendar, but as the
Makedonians and Asiatics reckon * * in the 11th year of the reign of
Alexander.[38] Nearkhos, before putting to sea sacrifices to Zeus the
Preserver, and celebrates, as Alexander had done, gymnastic games. Then
clearing out of harbour they end the first day’s voyage by anchoring
in the Indus at a creek called Stoura, where they remain for two days.
The distance of this place from the station they had just left was 100
stadia. On the third day they resumed the voyage, but proceeded no
further than 30 stadia, coming to an anchor at another creek, where the
water was now salt, for the sea when filled with the tide ran up the
creek, and its waters even when the tide receded commingled with the
river. The name of this place was Kaumana. The next day’s course, which
was of 20 stadia only, brought them to Koreatis, where they once more
anchored in the river. When again under weigh their progress was soon
interrupted, for a bar was visible which there obstructed the mouth of
the Indus; and the waves were heard breaking with furious roar upon its
strand which was wild and rugged. Observing, however, that the bar at
a particular part was soft, they made a cutting through this, 5 stadia
long, _at low water_, and on the return of the flood-tide carried the
ships through by the passage thus formed into the open sea.[39] Then
following the winding of the coast they ran a course of 120 stadia, and
reach Krôkala,[40] a sandy island where they anchored and remained all
next day. The country adjoining was inhabited by an Indian race called
the Arabies, whom I have mentioned in my longer work, where it is
stated that they derive their name from the River Arabis, which flows
through their country to the sea, and parts them from the Oreitai.[41]
Weighing from Krôkala they had on their right hand a mountain which
the natives called Eiros, and on their left a flat island almost level
with the sea, and so near the mainland to which it runs parallel that
the intervening channel is extremely narrow. Having quite cleared
this passage they come to anchor in a well-sheltered harbour, which
Nearkhos, finding large and commodious, designated Alexander’s Haven.
This harbour is protected by an island lying about 2 stadia off from
its entrance. It is called Bibakta, and all the country round about
Sangada.[42] The existence of the harbour is due altogether to the
island which opposes a barrier to the violence of the sea. Here heavy
gales blew from seaward for many days without intermission, and
Nearkhos fearing lest the barbarians might, some of them, combine to
attack and plunder the camp, fortified his position with an enclosure
of stones. Here they were obliged to remain for 24 days. The soldiers,
we learn from Nearkhos, caught mussels and oysters, and what is called
the razor-fish, these being all of an extraordinary size as compared
with the sorts found in our own sea.[43] He adds that they had no water
to drink but what was brackish.
XXII. As soon as the monsoon ceased they put again to sea, and having
run fully 60 stadia came to anchor at a sandy beach under shelter of
a desert island that lay near, called Domai.[44] On the shore itself
there was no water, but 20 stadia inland it was procured of good
quality. The following day they proceeded 300 stadia to Saranga, where
they did not arrive till night. They anchored close to the shore, and
found water at a distance of about 8 stadia from it. Weighing from
Saranga they reach Sakala, a desert place, and anchored. On leaving
it they passed two rocks so close to each other that the oar-blades
of the galleys grazed both, and after a course of 300 stadia they
came to anchor at Morontobara.[45] The harbour here was deep and
capacious, and well sheltered all round, and its waters quite tranquil,
but the entrance into it was narrow. In the native language it was
called Women’s Haven, because a woman had been the first sovereign
of the place. They thought it a great achievement to have passed
those two rocks in safety, for when they were passing them the sea
was boisterous and running high. They did not remain in Morontobara,
but sailed the day after their arrival, when they had on their left
hand an island which sheltered them from the sea, and which lay so
near to the mainland that the intervening channel looked as if it
had been artificially formed. Its length from one end to the other
was 70 stadia.[46] The shore was woody and the island throughout
over-grown with trees of every description. They were not able to get
fairly through this passage till towards daybreak, for the sea was
not only rough, but also shoal, the tide being at ebb. They sailed on
continuously, and after a course of 120 stadia anchored at the mouth of
the river Arabis, where there was a spacious and very fine haven.[47]
The water here was not fit for drinking, for the sea ran up the mouths
of the Arabis. Having gone, however, about 40 stadia up the river,
they found a pool from which, having drawn water, they returned to the
fleet. Near the harbour is an island high and bare, but the sea around
it supplied oysters and fish of various kinds.[48] As far as this, the
country was possessed by the Arabies, the last Indian people living in
this direction; and the parts beyond were occupied by the Oreitai.[49]
XXIII. On weighing from the mouths of the Arabia, they coasted the
shores of the Oreitai, and after running 200 stadia reached Pagala,[50]
where there was a surf but nevertheless good anchorage. The crew were
obliged to remain on board, a party, however, being sent on shore to
procure water. They sailed next morning at sunrise, and after a course
of about 430 stadia, reached Kabana[51] in the evening, where they
anchored at some distance from the shore, which was a desert; the
violence of the surf by which the vessels were much tossed preventing
them from landing. While running the last course the fleet had been
caught in a heavy gale blowing from seaward, when two galleys and
a transport foundered. All the men, however, saved themselves by
swimming, as the vessels at the time of the disaster were sailing
close to the shore. They weighed from Kabana about midnight, and
having proceeded 200 stadia arrived at Kôkala, where the vessels _could
not be drawn on shore_, but rode at anchor out at sea. As the men,
however, had suffered severely by confinement on board,[52] and were
very much in want of rest, Nearkhos allowed them to go on shore, where
he formed a camp, fortifying it in the usual manner for protection
against the barbarians. In this part of the country Leonnatos, who
had been commissioned by Alexander to reduce the Oreitai and settle
their affairs, defeated that people and their allies in a great
battle, wherein all the leaders and 6,000 men were slain, the loss of
Leonnatos, being only 15 of his horse, besides a few foot-soldiers, and
_one man of note_ Apollophanês, the satrap of the Gedrosians.[53] A
full account, however, of those transactions is given in my other work,
where it is stated that for this service Leonnatos had a golden crown
placed upon his head by Alexander in presence of the Makedonian army.
Agreeably to orders given by Alexander, corn had been here collected
for the victualling of the vessels, and stores sufficient to last for
10 days were put on board. Here also such ships as had been damaged
during the voyage were repaired, while all the mariners that Nearkhos
considered deficient in fortitude for the enterprise, he consigned to
Leonnatos to be taken on by land, but at the same time he made good his
complement of men by taking in exchange others more efficient from the
troops under Leonnatos.
XXIV. From this place they bore away with a fresh breeze, and having
made good a course of 500 stadia anchored near a winter torrent called
the Tomêros, which at its mouth expanded into an estuary.[54] The
natives lived on the marshy ground near the shore in cabins close
and suffocating. Great was their astonishment when they descried the
fleet approaching, but _they were not without courage_, and collecting
in arms on the shore, drew up in line to attack the strangers when
landing. They carried thick spears about 6 cubits long, not headed
with iron, but what was as good, hardened at the point by fire. Their
number was about 600, and when Nearkhos saw that they stood their
ground prepared to fight, he ordered his vessels to advance, and then
to anchor just within bowshot of the shore, for he had noticed that the
thick spears of the barbarians were adapted only for close fight, and
were by no means formidable as missiles. He then issued his directions:
those men that were lightest equipped, and the most active and best
at swimming were to swim to shore at a given signal: when any one
had swum so far that he could stand in the water he was to wait for
his next neighbour, and not advance against the barbarians until a
file could be formed of three men deep: that done, they were to rush
forward shouting the war-cry. The men selected for this service at
once plunged into the sea, and swimming rapidly touched ground, still
keeping due order, when forming in file, they rushed to the charge,
shouting the war-cry, which was repeated from the ships, whence all
the while arrows and missiles from engines were launched against the
enemy. Then the barbarians terrified by the glittering arms and the
rapidity of the landing, and wounded by the arrows and other missiles,
against which they had no protection, being all but entirely naked,
fled at once without making any attempt at resistance. Some perished in
the ensuing flight, others were taken prisoners, and some escaped to
the mountains. Those they captured had shaggy hair, not only on their
head but all over their body; their nails resembled the claws of wild
beasts, and were used, it would seem, instead of iron for dividing fish
and splitting the softer kinds of wood. Things of a hard consistency
they cut with sharp stones, for iron they had none. As clothing they
wore the skins of wild beasts, and occasionally also the thick skins of
the large sorts of fish.[55]
XXV. After this action they draw the ships on shore and repair all
that had been damaged. On the 6th day they weighed again, and after a
course of 300 stadia reached a place called Malana, the last on the
coast, of the Oreitai.[56] In the interior these people dress like
the Indians, and use similar weapons, but differ from them in their
language and their customs. The length of the coast of the Arabies,
measured from the place whence the expedition had sailed, was about
1,000 stadia, and the extent of the coast of the Oreitai 1,600 stadia.
Nearkhos mentions that as they sailed along the Indian coast (for
the people beyond this are not Indians), their shadows did not fall
in the usual direction, for when they stood out a good way to the
southward, their shadows appeared to turn and fall southward.[57] Those
constellations, moreover, which they had been accustomed to see high
in the heavens, were either not visible at all, or were seen just on
the verge of the horizon, while the Polar constellations which had
formerly been always visible now set and soon afterwards rose again. In
this Nearkhos appears to me to assert nothing improbable, for at Syênê
in Egypt they show a well in which, when the sun is at the Tropic,
there is no shadow at noon. In Meroë also objects project no shadow at
that particular time. Hence it is probable that the shadow is subject
to the same law in India which lies to the south, and more especially
in the Indian ocean, which extends still further to the southward.
XXVI. Next to the Oreitai lies Gedrosia,[58] an inland province
through which Alexander led his army, but this with difficulty, for
the region was so desolate that the troops in the whole course of the
expedition never suffered such direful extremities as on this march.
But all the particulars relating to this I have set down in my larger
work (VI. 22-27). The seaboard below the Gedrosians is occupied by a
people culled the Ikhthyophagi, and along this country the fleet now
pursued its way. Weighing from Malana about the second watch they
ran a course of 600 stadia, and reached Bagisara. Here they found a
commodious harbour, and at a distance of 60 stadia from the sea a small
town called Pasira, whence the people of the neighbourhood were called
Pasirees.[59] Weighing early next morning they had to double a headland
which projected far out into the sea, and was high and precipitous.
Here having dug wells, and got only a small supply of bad water, they
rode at anchor that day because a high surf prevented the vessels
approaching the shore. They left this place next day, and sailed till
they reached Kolta after a course of 200 stadia.[60] Weighing thence
at daybreak they reached Kalama, after a course of 600 stadia, and
there anchored.[61] Near the beach was a village around which grew a
few palm-trees, the dates on which were still green. There was here an
island called Karbinê, distant from the shore about 100 stadia.[62]
The villagers by way of showing their hospitality brought presents
of sheep and fish to Nearkhos, who says that the mutton had a fishy
taste like the flesh of sea birds for the sheep fed on fish, there
being no grass in the place. Next day they proceeded 200 stadia, and
anchored off a shore near which lay a village called Kissa, 30 stadia
inland.[63] That coast was however called Karbis. There they found
little boats such as might belong to miserably poor fishermen, but
the men themselves they saw nothing of, for they had fled when they
observed the ships dropping anchor. No corn was here procurable, but
a few goats had been left, which were seized and put on board, for in
the fleet provisions now ran short. On weighing they doubled a steep
promontory, which projected about 150 stadia into the sea, and then put
into a well-sheltered haven called Mosarna, where they anchored. Here
the natives were fishermen, and here they obtained water.[64]
XXVII. From this place they took on board, Nearkhos says, as pilot of
the fleet, a Gedrosian called Hydrakês, who undertook to conduct them
as far as Karmania.[65] Thenceforth until they reached the Persian
Gulf, the voyage was more practicable, and the names of the stations
more familiar. Departing from Mosarna at night, they sailed 750 stadia,
and reached the coast of Balômon. They touched next at Barna, which
was 400 stadia distant.[66] Here grew many palm trees, and here was
a garden wherein were myrtles and flowers from which the men wove
chaplets for their hair.[67] They saw now for the first time cultivated
trees, and met with natives in a condition above that of mere savages.
Leaving this they followed the winding of the coast, and arrived at
Dendrobosa, where they anchor in the open sea.[68] They weighed from
this about midnight, and after a course of about 400 stadia gained
the haven of Kôphas.[69] The inhabitants were fishermen possessed of
small and wretched boats, which they did not manage with oars fastened
to a row-lock according to the Grecian manner, but with paddles which
they thrust on this side, and on that into the water, like diggers
using a spade. They found at this haven plenty of good water. Weighing
about the first watch they ran 800 stadia, and put into Kyiza, where
was a desert shore with a high surf breaking upon it.[70] They were
accordingly obliged to let the ships ride at anchor and take their meal
on board. Leaving this they ran a course of 500 stadia, and came to
a small town built on an eminence not far from the shore. On turning
his eyes in that direction Nearkhos noticed that the land had some
appearance of being cultivated, and thereupon addressing Arkhias (who
was the son of Anaxidotos of Pella, and sailed in the Commander’s
galley, being a Makedonian of distinction) pointed out to him that
they must take possession of the place, as the inhabitants would not
willingly supply the army with food. It could not however be taken by
assault, a tedious siege would be necessary, and they were already
short of provisions. But the country was one that produced corn as the
thick stubble which they saw covering the fields near the shore clearly
proved. This proposal being approved of by all, he ordered Arkhias to
make a feint of preparing the fleet, all but one ship to sail, while he
himself, pretending to be left behind with that ship, approached the
town as if merely to view it.