4oS The Difcowry^ Settlement, and Commerce Book I 
thors have cited front him that is manifestly" fabulous, they a Coafc, and performing what Alexander expected to be 
ought not to prejudice his A tthority in our Opinion, be- performed, his Fleet was every way fufficient, under the 
caufe the Books are not now . octant, from which they cite Care of fo prudent and experienced an Officer as Nearchus , 
them and therefore, it is im joffible for us to judge with who, in the firft place, took care to be perfectly acquainted 
what View he wrote, or in v hat Manner he told them, with his Maker’s Defign, and then fpared no Pains to ac- 
On the Whole, the Advantage of reading fo curious an complifft it intirely. It was for this Reafon that he fo 
Hiftory, in the Words of its onginal Author, is certainly often landed his Troops, tnat he migut be the better ac- 
very confiderable, and may very well juftify both my Pains, quainted witn the Country on the Coaii ol which he failed, 
and the Reader’s Patience % and I make no manner of and be the more able to anfwer any QucftionS' that Alex- 
Doubt, that the Navigation of Alexanders Admiral will 
afford as great Pleafure to the intelligent Perufer, as the 
Adventures of any modern Traveller whatever. 
Befides, he gives the EngfiJ h Reader an Opportunity of 
judging of the Credit and Value of this Performance, the 
only one of its kind that is preferved intire •, which he 
could not have done from any Extraft whatever, much 
lefs from the very lame one ol Purchas , which is as dry 
and infipid as the Voyage of Nearchus is curious and en- 
tertaining, After thefe Refieftions, I hope it will not be 
amifs to add two fliort Obfervations on the Behalf of our Au- 
thor: The firft is, that fome Writers, who cite him, fuch as 
Mela, Pliny , and So linns, are remarkably fond ol Fables •, 
and, therefore, it is very poffible they may relate from 
him Stories that he did not believe, any more than the Tale 
of the Illand of the Sun, for the very inferring of which, 
in his Hiftory, he is Cenfured by Arrian. On the other 
hand, there are fome Authors lo fond of criticizing, that 
they frequently condemn what they do not underftand *, 
and, without doubt, the Geography ol the Antients was 
fo imperfect, that even the befit Writers amongft them 
.were very indifferent Judges ol what might be true or 
falfie in fuch Relations. 
14. It is not only our Curiofity that is gratified by the 
Reading of fuch antient Voyages as thefe, but they add 
likewife very much to our Knowledge, and particularly to 
that foit of Knowledge which is, or ought to be, molt 
fought for, in Collections cf this kind. We learn, lor 
Inftance, from this Voyage of Nearchus, the true State 
and Condition of maritime Affairs at that rime. We 
plainly difeern, that their Veffels drew very little Water, 
that they were managed chiefly by Oars, that they neither 
carried, nor were capable of carrying, any confiderable 
Quantity of Provifions, but that they trufted chiefly for 
thefe, either to Magazines erefted on fhore, or, where thefe 
'were wanting, to what they could obtain by making 
DcTcents. We learn from hence, what Services thefe 
'Veffels were fit for, and for what they were unfit, and, in 
fihort, what they could, and what they could not, per- 
form ; and from hence we are enabled to form a true Judg- 
ment of the Conduct of their Commanders. It is certain, 
that tills feven Months Voyage was initfelf no great Affair, 
and might have been performed with, Eafe in the very 
worft fort of Ships that are now in Ufe : But when, from 
this particular Account, we become perfectly acquainted 
with the manner in which it was performed, we cannot be 
furprifed, either at . the Concern that Alexander was under 
about the Succeis of this Expedition, or the Apprehenfions 
of Nearchus, fmee both of them were very rational. 
In regard to Alexander, it is apparent, that he had but 
a very dark and confufed Idea ol the Nature ol this 
Voyage, when' he thought of fending his Fleet this Way 
into the Perjian Guiph. He judged, agreeable to Truth 
and good Senfe, that fuch a Paffage there was, and that it 
might be prafticable ; but it was impoffible for him, or 
any Man, to forefee the Dangers with which it might be 
attended •, fence it is plain, that if any great Part of thefe 
Coaft s had been either abfolutely uninhabited, or if the 
Inhabitants had been numerous and hardy -enough to have 
prevented his People from landing, they mult have pe- 
riffied •, and the fame thing might have happened, if they 
had met with very high Winds ; or, for a long Space of 
time, a rocky and imprafticable Shore, as appears from 
the Difficulties of that kind with which they actually en- 
countered : And of this Alexander himfelf was fo fenfeble, 
that, upon the News 01 Nearchus and Archias s coming 
to meet him in Carmania, he took it for granted, that 
the Fleet had periffied, and that thefe People had luckily 
made their Efcape. But then, in the midft of thefe Incon- 
yenitneies, we nitift allow, that, with regard to fmveying 
I 
ander might afk about it. 
At the fame time that he did this, he took all the Pre« 
cautions poffible, by fortifying his Camps on fhore, to 
fecure his People from the Effefts of their own Indif- 
cretions, or the bold Attempts of the Barbarians. We 
learn from hence another Advantage that thefe People had ; 
which arofe from every Man’s being both a Soldier, and a 
Seaman, and from the Capacity of their Officers to aft with 
equal Abilities on board, and on ftiore ; all which were of 
the utmoft Confequence in an Expedition of this Nature. 
There could no Comparifon be made, no true Judgment 
formed, of the Merit of the famous Men who are men- 
tioned in thole Days, if we were ignorant of thefe Circum- 
ftances. We muft, in that Cafe, certainly, either fet them 
too high, of too low, in our Efteem ; whereas we have 
it now in our Power to frame as true Notions of their Be- 
haviour, as if they lived in or very near our own Times. 
We can likewife judge exaftly of their Deficiencies, and 
our own Advantages •, we can account in our own Minds 
for the ferhall Progrefs that was made for fo many Ages in 
Difcoveries and Navigation, at the fame time that we read 
of fo many and fo great Fleets ; becaufe we are perfectly 
convinced, that, though their Ships might ferve indif- 
ferently for fighting, and be capable enough of waiting 
Troops backwards and forwards, from one Coaft to an- 
other, yet they were abfolutely unfit for long Voyages, 
and even, in point of Trade, could do very little in Conm 
parifon of ours j becaufe even their largeft Ships were of 
little Burthen. It helps us likewife to account for another 
thing, that might otherwife feem very furprifing •, I mean 
the Number of Ships, that antient Hiftorians tell us, were 
either built or drawn together, in very fliort Spaces ol 
Time, for the Execution of fudden Expeditions : For when 
we are fatisfied, that in thofe Days they called fuch Veffels 
Ships as were not much better than our Long-Boats, the 
Wonder ceafes. Nay, when it is farther laid, that fuch 
Fleets actually performed great Services, we are able to 
underftand that too •, for where the Force on each Side is 
the fame, the Event will be determined in Difputes between 
them, in the fame manner as it would be, if the Force on. 
each Side was to be increafed in equal Proportions. Such 
are the Advantages that refult from the perufing of this 
Voyage : It remains to conneft this Seftion with tne next, 
to ffiew what Benefits they were that Alexander propoied 
therefrom. 
15. The Concern ffiewn by Alexander for this Voyage, 
and the Succefs of it, is, generally fpeaking, referred to his 
Vanity, or his Ambition : Yet, if one confiders it atten- 
tively, it is eafy to perceive, that there muft have been 
fome other Motive. He told Nearchus, when he firft talked 
to him of the Expedition, that he would have undertaken 
it himfelf, but for certain Reafons •, one of which was, that 
he thought it extremely hazardous •, and was apprehenfive, 
if it mifearried, that it might be fatal to his Glory. This 
was reafonable enough ; but it does not by -any means 
prove, that his Vanity only led him to this Expedition. 
The contrary is very evident : He conceived, that this 
Navigation along the Coaft might be ufeful to himfslr i » 
but he beftowed all the Honour of it where it was due v , 
that is, on his Admiral : But it was an ufual Thing with t 
him, to conceal his true Deligns, under the fpecious Cover i 
of aiming at a fuperior Degree of Reputation ; and affign- - 
ing no other Reafon, even for the moft hazardous At- - 
tempts, than that they were for his Glory. But if we : 
look clofely into his Conduft, we fha.il find, that his ruling 1 
Maxim was the Care of keeping what he got •, and this, he c 
knew, could not be done but by a Maritime Force, it is 
true, that he eftablifhed Colonies and Garrifons, from the 
Rivers that run into the Cafpian Sea, to the very Mouth or ■ 
the Indus : But he eafily forefaw, that to fecure thofe G a- 1 
rifonS; 
