90 AND MIGHT HAVE DONE. 



brink of the empire with the Himalayas on his left, 

 and before him a wide expanse of sand. Beyond that 

 desert was a country which the Persians had never 

 reached. There, a river as mighty as the Indus, 

 took its course towards the sea through a land of 

 surpassing beauty and enormous wealth. There ruled 

 a king who rode on a white elephant and who wore 

 a mail coat composed entirely of precious stone ; whose 

 wives slept on a thousand silken mattresses and a 

 thousand golden beds. The imagination of Alexander 

 was inflamed by these glowing tales. He yearned to 

 discover a new world ; to descend upon a distant and 

 unknown people like a god ; to enter the land of 

 diamonds and rubies, of gleaming and transparent robes 

 ■ — the India of the Indies, the romantic, the half 

 fabulous Bengal. But the soldiers were weary of 

 collecting plunder which they could not carry, and 

 refused to march. Alexander spent three days in his 

 tent in an agony of anger and distress. He established 

 garrisons on the banks of the Indus ; there could be 

 little doubt that some day or other he would resume 

 his lost design. 



There was one country which had sent him no 

 ambassadors. It was Arabia Felix, situated at the 

 mouth of the Red Sea, abounding in forests of those 

 tearful trees which shed a yellow fragrant gum grateful 

 to the gods, burnt in their honour on all the altars of 

 the world. Arabia was also enriched by the monopoly 

 of the trade between Egypt and the coast of Malabar. 

 It was filled with rich cities. It had never paid 

 tribute to the Persians. On the land side it was pro- 

 tected by deserts and by wandering hordes who drank 

 from hidden wells. But it could easily be approached 

 by sea. 



