Chap. II 
of the East Indie s. 
jn their Perfons and Garbs, that they had not the Jeaft 
Knowledge of them ; but, upon their Inquiry about the 
; King’s Camp, told them, where it was and were then 
for purfuing their Journey : Archias , however, turning to 
Nearchus , told him, that he apprehended thefe People 
. were come in Search of them ; and that, confidering the 
Condition they were in, they might not know them ; which 
Nearchus alfo thinking not unlikely, they inquired of 
: them, whither they were going-, and he received for An- 
swer, that they were going in Search of Nearchus , and 
thofe under his Command : Upon which he replied, I am 
Nearchus , and the Perfon here with me is Archias do 
you conduft us to the Camp, that we may give the King an 
Account of the Fleet. Upon which they immediately took 
. them up in their Carriages, and returned towards the royal 
; Camp. 
Some of the Number, however, being defirous to be- 
come early Meffengers of fuch important Tidings, haftened 
to the Camp, and informed the King, that Nearchus him- 
felf, and Archias, with five more, were at hand but that, 
as to the Army and Fleet, they were able to learn nothing. 
Alexander , from this Account, col! eft ed within himfelf, 
that Nearchus and Archias , with the five Men that attended 
them, had in fome wonderful Manner efcaped the general 
Ruin, but that, as for the reft of his Fleet and Army, 
they were, beyond Queftion, loft and deftrcyed ; the 
Thoughts of which gave him greater Sorrow than the Joy 
i of beholding Nearchus and Archias could overcome. They 
loon after arrived ; and Alexander himfelf could fcarce 
. know them, they were fo overgrown with Hair, looked 
fo ill, and were in fo bad a Drefs, which confirmed the 
Notion he had conceived of the Lofs of the Fleet : He 
i . embraced Nearchus however, and, with many Tears, con- 
gratulated him on his Arrival. 
O 9 
At laft, moderating his Tran fport, he faid. It is true, 
the Sight of you Nearchus , and Archias , who return life 
and found, moderates, in fome meafure, my Concern for 
the Lofs of the Fleet ; but tell me, How did they perifh ? 
.Nearchus, catching the Words out of his Mouth, re- 
plied, the Fleet and Army are fafe, O King ; and we come 
only as Meffengers of the good News. Then Alexander 
burft out again into Tears at this unexpected Account of 
their Safety ; and, with much Struggling, demanded in what 
Port they were. Nearchus informed him, that they were 
at the Mouth of the River Anamis and that he had caufed 
the Ships to be drawn on fhore, in order to their being 
refitted. Now, by the Grecian Jupiter , cried the King, 
• and by the Libyan Ammon, I (wear, this News gives me 
more Joy than the Conqueft of all Afia. He likewife 
f caufed the Prefident of the Province to be difcharged from 
his Confinement. The King, in Gratitude for the Pre- 
■ fervation of his Forces, ordered Sacrifices to be offered to 
Jupiter the Saviour to Hercules, and to Apollo the De- 
liverer from Misfortunes ; as alfo to Neptune, and all the 
Sea-gods : He likewife celebrated new Games, ordered 
pompous Shews, accompanied with Mufic ; in which Ne- 
archus was Chief, all the Army prefenting him with 
Garlands, and with Flowers. When thefe Rejoicings were 
over, die King faid to the Admiral, Henceforward, Ne- 
archus, you fihall never go on any laborious or dangerous 
Service : I will immediately appoint another Admiral, who 
fhall bring the Fleet fafe to Sufa. Not fo, O King, cried 
out Nearchus: To follow and toferve you in every Degree, 
is my Defire, and my Duty : But if, for what is paft, you 
incline to gratify me, let not that be done you fpoke of ; 
but let me rather continue in my Command, till I have 
brought your Ships fafe to Sufa -, nor, after running through 
fo many and great Hardfhips in the Execution of the 
Charge with which you intrufted me, now, when the 
Matter is eafy, and in a manner accomplilhed, let another 
take the Glory of performing it out of my Hands. 
To this Alexander readily affented, and difmiffed him 
again to his Command, widi a fmall Guard, becaufe he 
was now to travel through a Country inhabited by Friends. 
Y et it was not without great Difficulty that Nearchus once 
more reached the Sea Coaft ; for the Barbarians had taken 
up Arms, and poffefied themfelves of all the ftrong Places 
and Paffes in Carmania : For the King had caufed the 
former Governor to be put to Death, and Llepolemus . , 
■'Numb. 28. 
whom he had appointed his Succeffor, was not as yet 
firmly fixed in his Government. Thrice, therefore, in one 
Day, Nearchus, and his Guard, engaged fo many different 
Bodies of Barbarians who attacked them. 
At laft, however, Nearchus fafely, though after ftrugp 
gling with many and great Difficulties, reached the Fleet 
and Army. The firft Thing he did on his Arrival, was 
to facrifice to Jupiter the Saviour, and to celebrate Games. 
Thefe divine Rites thus taken care of, the Fleet weighed 
Anchor, and failed to a defert barren Ifland, and thence to 
another large and well-inhabited Eland, three hundred 
Stadia diftant from the Port they had left. The Name of 
the defert Eland was Organa ; that of the laft- mentioned 
Eland Oaralta : This laft was a fine -Country, abounding 
in Corn and Palm-trees : It was in Length eight hundred 
Stadia, and the Governor of it, whofe Name was Ma- 
zenes, offered, of his own Accord, to accompany Ne- 
archus, and to pilot him to Sufa. In this Eland, it is 
faid, they ffiew the Tomb of Erythras , who firft governed 
this Country, and from whom that Part of the Ocean was 
called the Erythrean , or Red Sea. 
11. They failed from hence two hundred Stadia, when 
Nearchus thought proper to put in with his Fleet at an- 
other Port in the fame Eland, from whence they had the 
Sight of another Eland, about fprty Stadia diftant from 
the great one, which was facred to Neptune, and reported 
to be inacceffible. They failed again about Day-break ; 
but the Sea ebbing lower than iifual, three of their Ships 
were left upon the Strand ; and it was with great Difficulty 
that the reft, getting clear of that rocky Coaft, once more 
gained the open Sea. At the Return of the Tide, how- 
ever, the three Ships before-mentioned floated again, and 
the next Day rejoined the Fleet. Having continued their 
Voyage 400 Stadia, they put into a Port in an Ifiand 
diftant 300 Stadia from the Continent. They weighed 
from thence early in the Morning, and, leaving an unin- 
habited Ifiand, called Pylora, on their Left, they anchored 
before Sidodones , a very fmall City, in want of every thing, 
except Water and Fifh ; for Neceffity, and the Barrennefs 
of their Country, make them likewife Ichthyophagi againft; 
their Wills. 
Thence, having taken in Water only, they proceeded 
to Larfia, a Promontory running out into the Sea, diftant 
from the laft-mentioned Place 300 Stadia. Thence they 
failed 300 Stadia farther, to the Ifiand of Cate a, which is 
defert and marffiy, reported to be lacred to Mercury and 
Venus. Into this Eland, every Year, the Inhabitants of 
the adjacent Coaft have a Cuftom of fending Sheep and 
Goats, which are dedicated to Mercury and Venus, and run 
there wild. This Place belongs to Carmania •, and from 
hence the Province of Perfia Proper begins. The whole 
Length of the Coaft of Carmania is 3800 Stadia ; 
the Carmanians refembling in their Manners and Cuftoms, 
the Perfians their near Neighbours ; are armed in the 
fame way, and make ufe of the fame Methods in carrying 
on their Wars. 
The Fleet, failing from hence, came to llart, on the 
Coaft of Perfia, before which Port there lies a fmall barren 
Ifiand, called Caicandrus : To reach this Port, they failed 
400 Stadia from their former Station. Early the next 
Morning they weighed Anchor, and proceeded to another 
Eland, well inhabited, and on the Coaft of which, as well 
as in the Indian St a, Nearchus affirms, that they fifh for 
Pearl. Having doubled a Promontory upon this Ifiand, 
by failing about forty Stadia, they anchored on the other 
Side. They proceeded next to a certain high Mountain, 
called Ochus , where they found a very fafe and commo- 
dious Port, in which they anchored, the adjacent Coaft 
being well inhabited by Fifhermen.' Weighing from hence, 
after a Paffage of 450 Stadia, they came to Apoftanos , 
where they found abundance of Ships in the Harbour, the 
Town lying about fixty Stadia from the Sea. Thence 
they failed, in the Night, to a Bay, adorned with abun- 
dance of beautiful Villages on its Shore •, and, after coaft- 
ing 400 Stadia, they came to an Anchor at the Foot of an 
high Mountain, covered with Palm, and other Fruit-trees, 
commpn in Greece. Sailing from thence, they paffed 
along a well inhabited Coaft, called Gogana, for the Space 
of 600 Stadia, the Fleet anchoring at the M.outh of a 
5 L ' certain 
* 
