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.