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.
XXVIII. When he approached the walls the inhabitants came out to meet him, bringing a present of tunny-fish broiled in pans (the first instance of cookery among the Ikhthyophagi, although these were the very last of them), accompanied with small cakes and dates. He accepted their offering with the proper acknowledgments, but said he wished to see their town, which he was accordingly allowed to enter. No sooner was he within the gates than he ordered two of his archers to seize the portal by which they had entered, while he himself with two attendants and his interpreter mounting the wall hard by, made the preconcerted signal, on seeing which the troops under Arkhias were to perform the service assigned to them. The Makedonians, on seeing the signal, immediately ran their ships towards land, and without loss of time jumped into the sea. The barbarians, alarmed at these proceedings, flew to arms. Upon this Nearkhos ordered his interpreter to proclaim that if they wished their city to be preserved from pillage they must supply his army with provisions. They replied that they had none, and proceeded to attack the wall, but were repulsed by the archers with Nearkhos, who assailed them with arrows from the summit of the wall. Accordingly, when they saw that their city was taken, and on the point of being pillaged, they at once begged Nearkhos to take whatever corn they had, and to depart without destroying the place. Nearkhos upon this orders Arkhias to possess himself of the gates and the ramparts adjoining, and sends at the same time officers to see what stores were available, and whether these would be all honestly given up. The stores were produced, consisting of a kind of meal made from fish roasted, and a little wheat and barley, for the chief diet of these people was fish with bread added as a relish. The troops having appropriated these supplies returned to the fleet, which then hauled off to a cape in the neighbourhood called Bagia, which the natives regarded as sacred to the sun.[71]
XXIX. They weighed from this cape about midnight, and having made good a course of 1,000 stadia, put into Talmena, where they found a harbour with good anchorage.[72] They sailed thence to Kanasis, a deserted town 400 stadia distant, where they find a well ready-dug and wild palm-trees.[73] These they cut down, using the tender heads to support life since provisions had again run scarce. They sailed all day and all night suffering great distress from hunger, and then came to an anchor off a desolate coast. Nearkhos fearing lest the men, if they landed, would in despair desert the fleet, ordered the ships to be moved to a distance from shore. Weighing from this they ran a course of 850 stadia, and came to anchor at Kanate, a place with an open beach and some water-courses.[74] Weighing again, and making 800 stadia, they reach Taoi, where they drop anchor.[75] The place contained some small and wretched villages, which were deserted by the inhabitants upon the approach of the fleet. Here the men found a little food and dates of the palm-tree, beside seven camels left by the villagers which were killed for food. Weighing thence about daybreak they ran a course of 300 stadia, and came to anchor at Dagasira, where the people were nomadic.[76] Weighing again they sailed all night and all day without intermission, and having thus accomplished a course of 1,100 stadia, left behind them the nation of the Ikhthyophagi, on whose shores they had suffered such severe privations. They could not approach the beach on account of the heavy surf, but rode at anchor out at sea. In navigating the Ikhthyophagi coast the distance traversed was not much short of 10,000 stadia. The people, as their name imports, live upon fish. Few of them, however, are fishermen, and what fish they obtain they owe mostly to the tide at whose reflux they catch them with nets made for this purpose. These nets are generally about 2 stadia long, and are composed of the bark (or fibres) of the palm, which they twine into cord in the same way as the fibres of flax are twined. When the sea recedes, hardly any fish are found among the dry sands, but they abound in the depressions of the surface where the water still remains. The fish are for the most part small, though some are caught of a considerable size, these being taken in the nets. The more delicate kinds they eat raw as soon as they are taken out of the water. The large and coarser kinds they dry in the sun, and when properly dried grind into a sort of meal from which they make bread. This meal is sometimes also used to bake cakes with. The cattle as well as their masters fare on dried fish, for the country has no pastures, and hardly even a blade of grass. In most parts crabs, oysters and mussels add to the means of subsistence. Natural salt is found in the country, * * * from these they make oil.[77] Certain of their communities inhabit deserts where not a tree grows, and where there are not even wild fruits. Fish is their sole means of subsistence. In some few places, however, they sow with grain some patches of land, and eat the produce as a viand of luxury along with the fish which forms the staple of their diet. The better class of the population in building their houses use, instead of wood, the bones of whales stranded on the coast, the broadest bones being employed in the framework of the doors. Poor people, and these are the great majority, construct their dwellings with the backbones of fish.[78]
XXX. Whales of enormous size frequent the outer ocean, besides other fish larger than those found in the Mediterranean. Nearkhos relates that when they were bearing away from Kyiza, the sea early in the morning was observed to be blown up into the air as if by the force of a whirlwind. The men greatly alarmed enquired of the pilots the nature and cause of this phenomenon, and were informed that it proceeded from the blowing of the whales as they sported in the sea. This report did not quiet their alarm, and through astonishment they let the oars drop from their hands. Nearkhos, however, recalled them to duty, and encouraged them by his presence, ordering the prows of those vessels that were near him to be turned as in a sea-fight towards the creatures as they approached, while the rowers were just then to shout as loud as they could the alala, and swell the noise by dashing the water rapidly with the oars. The men thus encouraged on seeing the preconcerted signal advanced to action. Then, as they approached the monsters, they shouted the alala as loud as they could bawl, sounded the trumpets, and dashed the water noisily with the oars. Thereupon the whales, which were seen ahead, plunged down terror-struck into the depths, and soon after rose astern, when they vigorously continued their blowing. The men by loud acclamations expressed their joy at this unexpected deliverance, the credit of which they gave to Nearkhos, who had shown such admirable fortitude and judgment.
We learn further, that on many parts of the coast whales are occasionally stranded, being left in shallow water at ebb-tide, and thus prevented from escaping back to sea, and that they are sometimes also cast ashore by violent storms. Thus perishing, their flesh rots away, and gradually drops off till the bones are left bare. These are used by the natives in the construction of their huts, the larger ribs making suitable bearing beams, and the smaller serving for rafters. The jaw-bones make arches for the door-ways, for whales are sometimes five and twenty orguiæ (fathoms) in length.[79]
XXXI. When they were sailing along the Ikhthyophagi coast, they were told about an island which was said to be about 100 stadia distant from the mainland, and uninhabited. Its name was Nosala, and it was according to the local tradition sacred to the sun. No one willingly visited this island, and if any one was carried to it unawares, he was never more seen. Nearkhos states that a transport of his fleet, manned with an Egyptian crew, disappeared not far from this island, and that the pilots accounted for their disappearance by saying that they must have landed on the island in ignorance of the danger which they would thereby incur. Nearkhos, however, sent a galley of 30 oars to sail round the island, instructing the men not to land, but to approach as near as they could to the shore, and hail the men, shouting out the name of the captain or any other name they had not forgotten. No one answered to the call, and Nearkhos says that he then sailed in person to the island, and compelled his company much against their will to go on shore. He too landed, and showed that the story about the island was nothing but an empty fable. Concerning this same island he heard also another story, which ran to this effect: it had been at one time the residence of one of the Nereids, whose name, he says, he could not learn. It was her wont to have intercourse with any man who visited the island, changing him thereafter into a fish, and casting him into the sea. The sun, however, being displeased with the Nereid, ordered her to remove from the island. She agreed to do this, and seek a home elsewhere, but stipulated that she should be cured of her malady. To this condition the sun assented, and then the Nereid, taking pity upon the men whom she had transformed into fish, restored them to their human shape. These men were the progenitors of the Ikhthyophagi, the line of succession remaining unbroken down to the time of Alexander. Now, for my part I have no praise to bestow on Nearkhos for expending so much time and ingenuity on the not very difficult task of proving the falsehood of these stories, for, to take up antiquated fables merely with a view to prove their falsehood, I can only regard as a contemptible piece of folly.[80]