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.
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