The breadth of the country is the length of the Indus, reckoned from the Paropamisus as far as the mouths of that river, and amounts to 12,000, or according to others to 13,000, stadia. The length, beginning from the Caspian Gates, as it is laid down in Asiatic Stathmi,[423] is estimated in two different ways. From the Caspian Gates to Alexandreia among the Arii[424] through Parthia is one and the same road. Then a road leads in a straight line through Bactriana, and over the pass of the mountain to Ortospana,[425] to the meeting of the three roads from Bactra, which is among the Paropamisadæ. The other branch turns off a little from Aria towards the south to Prophthasia in Drangiana; then the remainder leads as far as the confines of India and of the Indus; so that the road through the Drangæ and the Arachoti is longer, the whole amounting to 15,300 stadia. But if we deduct 1300 stadia, we shall have the remainder as the length of the country in a straight line, namely, 14,000 stadia; for the length of the coast is not much less, although some persons increase this sum by adding to the 10,000 stadia Carmania, which is reckoned at 6000 stadia. For they seem to reckon it either together with the gulfs, or together with the Carmanian coast within the Persian Gulf. The name also of Ariana is extended so as to include some part of Persia, Media, and the north of Bactria and Sogdiana; for these nations speak nearly the same language.[426]
9. The order in which these nations are disposed is as follows. Along the Indus are the Paropamisadæ, above whom lies the mountain Paropamisus; then towards the south are the Arachoti; then next to these towards the south, the Gedroseni, together with other tribes who occupy the sea-coast; the Indus runs parallel along the breadth of these tracts. The Indians occupy [in part][427] some of the countries situated along the Indus, which formerly belonged to the Persians: Alexander deprived the Ariani of them, and established there settlements of his own. But Seleucus Nicator gave them to Sandrocottus in consequence of a marriage contract, and received in return five hundred elephants.
The Arii are situated on the west, by the side of the Paropamisadæ and the Drangæ[428] by the Arachoti and Gedrosii. The Arii are situated by the side of the Drangæ both on the north and west, and nearly encompass them. Bactriana adjoins Aria on the north, and the Paropamisadæ, through whose territory Alexander passed when he crossed the Caucasus on his way to Bactra. Towards the west, next to the Arii, are the Parthians, and the parts about the Caspian Gates. Towards the south of Parthia is the desert of Carmania; then follows the remainder of Carmania and Gedrosia.
10. We shall better understand the position of the places about the above-mentioned mountainous tract, if we further examine the route which Alexander took from the Parthian territory to Bactriana, when he was in pursuit of Bessus. He came first to Ariana, next to the Drangæ, where he put to death Philotas, the son of Parmenio, having detected his traitorous intentions. He despatched persons to Ecbatana[429] also to put the father to death as an accomplice in the conspiracy. It is said that these persons performed in eleven days, upon dromedaries, a journey of 30 or 40 days, and executed their business.
The Drangæ resemble the Persians in all other respects in their mode of life, except that they have little wine. Tin is found in the country.[430]
Alexander next went from the Drangæ to the Euergetæ,[431] (to whom Cyrus gave this name,) and to the Arachoti; then through the territory of the Paropamisadæ at the setting of the Pleiad.[432] It is a mountainous country, and at that time was covered with snow, so that the march was performed with difficulty. The numerous villages, however, on their march, which were well provided with everything except oil, afforded relief in their distress. On their left hand were the summits of the mountains.
The southern parts of the Paropamisus belong to India and Ariana; the northern parts towards the west belong to Bactriana [towards the east to Sogdiana * *[433] Bactrian barbarians]. Having wintered there, with India above to the right hand, and having founded a city, he crossed the summits of the mountains into Bactriana. The road was bare of everything except a few trees of the bushy terminthus;[434] the army was driven from want of food to eat the flesh of the beasts of burthen, and that in a raw state for want of firewood; but silphium grew in great abundance, which promoted the digestion of this raw food. Fifteen days after founding the city and leaving winter quarters, he came to Adrapsa[435] (Darapsa?), a city of Bactriana.
11. Chaarene is situated somewhere about this part of the country bordering upon India. This, of all the places subject to the Parthians, lies nearest to India. It is distant 10,000 or 9000 stadia[436] from Bactriana,[437] through the country of the Arachoti, and the above-mentioned mountainous tract. Craterus traversed this country, subjugating those who refused to submit, and hastened with the greatest expedition to form a junction with the king. Nearly about the same time both armies, consisting of infantry, entered Carmania together, and at a short interval afterwards Nearchus sailed with his fleet into the Persian Gulf, having undergone great danger and distress from wandering in his course, and among other causes, from great whales.
12. It is probable that those who sailed in the expedition greatly exaggerated many circumstances; yet their statements prove the sufferings to which they were exposed, and that their apprehensions were greater than the real danger. That which alarmed them the most was the magnitude of the whales, which occasioned great commotion in the sea from their numbers; their blowing was attended with so great a darkness, that the sailors could not see where they stood. But when the pilots informed the sailors, who were terrified at the sight and ignorant of the cause, that they were animals which might easily be driven away by the sound of a trumpet, and by loud noises, Nearchus impelled the vessels with violence in the direction of the impediment, and at the same time frightened the animals with the sound of trumpets. The whales dived, and again rose at the prow of the vessels, so as to give the appearance of a naval combat; but they soon made off.
13. Those who now sail to India speak of the size of these animals and their mode of appearance, but as coming neither in bodies nor frequently, yet as repulsed by shouts and by the sound of trumpets. They affirm that they do not approach the land, but that the bones of those which die, bared of flesh, are readily thrown up by the waves, and supply the Ichthyophagi with the above-mentioned material for the construction of their cabins. According to Nearchus, the size of these animals is three and twenty orguiæ in length.[438]