572 Note on the Passes into Hindoostan [No. 126. 



after Alexander, but some time still before the monsoon had pro- 

 perly changed: he was in consequence compelled to make for the 

 coast and disembark, and so consumed all his provisions by the time 

 he reached the country of the Oritse in Mekran. Here, however, Alex- 

 ander had left a depot under Leonatus, prior to striking off from the 

 coast to skirt the arid desert of Gedroos. From the borders of the 

 Oritae to the capital of Gedroos, called by Arrian " Pura," Alexan- 

 der's march was one of sixty days, with always a very scanty supply of 

 water, and that generally brackish. Pura is probably the Bun poor 

 of modern maps, which is in the same longitude with the Hamoon, or 

 sea in which the Helmund terminates. Here Alexander remained 

 some time to refresh, and receiving a convoy from Lower Persia, re- 

 newed his march through Karmania, (Kurman,) meeting every where, 

 as he approached the limits of civilization, both welcome and abun- 

 dance. Either at or near Kurman he met Craterus, who had safely 

 brought back the heavy baggage and bulk of the army by the Bolan 

 Pass and by Kandahar, but by what route from Seistan, is no where 

 mentioned. 



The expedition ended by Alexander's return to Persepolis or Pasar- 

 gada, near Shiraz, with a light division, while he sent Hephsestion to 

 skirt the coast and relieve Nearchus. The united army of Alexander 

 reached Susa about the end of February 325 b. c, just five years from 

 the period of its march from Ecbatana in pursuit of Darius, and five 

 and a half from the date of the victory of Gaugamela or Arbela. 



It is difficult to account for the apparent facility with which Alex- 

 ander carried his large armies over tracts now deemed impassable for 

 more than caravans. We must allow something for the habit of dealing as 

 slaves with the entire population of a city or province reduced after resis- 

 tance in arms. This gave means of transport over mountains, such as 

 are not commanded in the. strategic operations of the present day. 

 But, after making every allowance for the free command and use of 

 the persons and properties of the entire population subdued, the traverse 

 of the deserts would not have been possible, if in those days they had 

 been in the same condition as they are at present found. Their ex- 

 istence is identified, but their dimensions were then probably much 

 smaller, for it is consistent with the experience of modern philosophy, 

 that sandy deserts progressively increase in size, as well through the ear- 



