382 H. G. Raverty —The Mihrau of Sind and its Tributaries. [Ex. No. 
melts into the plain towards the Chin-ab, in the south-west extremity 
of the Multan district. 
“safely,” according to one authority, and “ Hari-ki-pattan, below which along the 
line of the present course of the Satlej the altars must have been,” according to 
the other authority, is only ninety-four miles as the crow flies ! 
Now respecting these altars, Curtius states that Alexander having constructed 
his fleet on the Hydaspes [Bihat] he, in eight days, sailed down and reached the 
confluence of that river with the Acesines [Ohin-ab], after stating in another place, 
that, for the convenience of his troops, he went about 400 stadia daily. This 
would be rather less than 50 miles, consequently, in eight days he would have gone 
some 400 miles. But let us see how great a distance he must have been from the 
lowest possible point that we know of for the junction of the Bihat with the 
Chin-ab. According to that computation he must have set out from the alpine 
Panj-ab, some 50 miles above the present town of Jihlam, and certainly, a part 
where timber could easily and conveniently have been obtained. 
Having reached the confluence of the two rivers —about which more in its 
proper place— Alexander is said to have crossed the Hydaspes [really, as the context 
shows, the united rivers, close to the confluence], and to have passed through tracts 
of desert [waste, not necessarily desert], and came to the river Hydraotes [the 
Pawl], which he likewise crossed, and reached the river Hyphasis [the right bank 
of the Biah]. This, too, he proposed to cross, “ which undertaking,” Curtius 
says, “ was difficult, not only by reason of its great breadth, but also on account 
of the many rocks that lay scattered up and down it” 
Is there a single rock to be found in the whole bed of the Biah, or anywhere 
in the vicinity of that river for one hundred and seventy-five miles or more “above 
the Pak Pattan,” or for an hundred miles above “ Kasur and Bazidpur? ” Except 
the Kiranah hills, there is neither a rock nor a stone from one end to the other, 
save near the hills to the north. 
On the west bank of the Hyphasis (in the Bari Do-abahl Alexander’s troops 
mutinied and refused to cross or to proceed farther. He directed that twelve 
altars of square stone should be erected, to remain as monuments of his expedi¬ 
tion ; and in order to deceive and impose on people hereafter, ordered beds to be 
left there of much larger size than the ordinary stature of men, and the fortifica¬ 
tions to be increased accordingly. 
Where was stone to be found for this purpose between the Pak Pattan and 
Kasur F He might, however, have obtained stone from the hills, but he could not 
put rocks in the river bed. 
Then Curtius says, that, this having been done, he marched back by the same 
way as he came, and encamped along the river Acesines. 
In the “ Life of Alexander the Great,” previously quoted, it is stated, that 
“ The Acesines (the modern Chun-ab) was then crossed, but the channel, as describ¬ 
ed by Ptolemy, the son of Lagos, was nearly a mile broad. * # * Alexander 
then led his army across the Hydraotes (the modern Iravati or Ravee), and heard 
that a warlike nation, called Cathaians had roused two other independent tribes to 
arms, and were preparing to receive him under the walls of a strong city called 
Sangala.” Sangala, however, lies in the middle of the Raqhin-ab Do-abah at pre¬ 
sent, that is, a considerable distance before reaching the Hydraotes. The Macedo¬ 
nians arrived before Sangala on the evening of the third day after crossing the 
