A General History and Collection of Voyages and Travels - Volume 18 / Historical Sketch of the Progress of Discovery, Navigation, and / Commerce, from the Earliest Records to the Beginning of the Nineteenth / Century, By William Stevenson

by Robert Kerr; William Stevenson

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.