336 Gracilis ad Aornon. [No. 4. 



after their fall to visit Pesliawur, which had meanwhile surrendered to 

 him, and to go through the eastern Eusufzye country bordering the 

 Indus with the Uparchs of that district. And here he prepares 

 for the expedition against Aornos. Arrian writing several hundred 

 years after the event, and without any authentic map of the country 

 might well be perplexed by conflicting authorities (there being, then, 

 several histories of the expedition) and the order in which events 

 followed, may thus have been somewhat confused. Certainly it 

 seems to me that the Choaspes or Easpla are identified beyond 

 doubt in the Qwur Issup or Issup Qwur river of the Issupzye a 

 name still borne by the eastern branch of the Sohaut Sinde. That 

 the Khoes or Khoe or Khoa (for we nowhere have the nominative 

 case) is the river Nagooman appears highly probable. Khoa is 

 probably the Greek rendering of the word Qwur a river. 



The account given me by a native of the country, of the site of 

 Massagorh strongly coincides with that of Curtius. He describes 

 it as accessible only from the north and as having on the other three 

 sides a scarping of gigantic precipices, and reports it to have 

 stood a siege of many years. It is now deserted. He however, 

 thinks that there is another Massagorh in Bajor. 



With respect to Bajra and Oond as representing Bazira and 

 Oora, the following arguments appear to me strong. Arrian dis- 

 tinctly says* that the Baziroi fled for refuge to Aornos. 



Curtius after relating the capture of Oora says,t " many obscure 

 towns deserted of their inhabitants came into the king's power, 

 whose armed citizens occupied a rock called Aornos." It would be 

 inferred from the passage that Aornos was not far from Oora. 



Now that Aornos was near the river Indus, appears from the 

 following testimony. Arrian makes Alexander pass through the 

 district bordering the Indus in going against Aornos. 



* Kot ravra 01 ev tois Bafrpois cos efxaOov airoyvovres Ta<r<peT€pa7rpayfiara, a/xcpc 

 fxea-as vvtcras ryu iroKiv CKXenrovaiv, ecpvyov 8'es ttjv irtTpav, cos Se Kat 01 a\\ot 

 papfiapoi tirpaTTov. AttoKiitovtcs yap ras iroAeis (rv/xiravr^s, ecpevyov es ttji> 

 TTfTpav ep ttj x 00 ? - Tr ) v kopvov KaXovp.svr\v. Ar. Lib. 4, ch. 28. 



f Malta ignobilia oppida deserta a suis veneie in regis potestatem : quorum 

 incolse armati jietram, Aornon nomine, occupaverunt. Curtius. 



