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ART. IlI.—Remarks on the Voyage and Periplus of Scylax. By 
JamEs BELL, Esa. 
ReEspeEctING the former of these, the voyage of Scylax down the 
Indus from Caspatyrus and Pactya, and his subsequent voyage from 
thence to the head of the Red Sea, and his return by land to Susa, 
agreeably to the orders of his master Darius, we have but a short and 
meagre account, and that solely from Herodotus, who never saw the 
account which Scylax gave of his voyage to Darius, agreeably to 
his instructions, but gave it as he heard it from the Persians ; or, 
in other words, has given merely an oral report of this important 
voyage. Such a wonderful voyage, in the infant state of nautical 
science amongst the Greeks,—a voyage far surpassing that of Near- 
chus in a still more advanced state of maritime knowledge,—is dith- 
cult of belief, and has induced many of the learned moderns, and 
amongst others the learned Dr. Vincent, that luminous annotator 
on the voyage of Nearchus and the Periplus of the Erythrzan Sea, 
to call its authenticity in question ; and, after all, this wonderful 
voyage contributed nothing to the advancement of geographical 
knowledge, or the extension of hydrographical science amongst the 
Greeks. There are difficulties on both sides of the question, and 
at this distance of time it is impossible fully to decide it. The 
voyage was made 508 years before Christ, and 70 years before the 
date of Herodotus’ History ; and as Herodotus propeses to give it 
merely from the report of the Persians, it is possible that he may 
either have given it incorrectly, from his own ignorance of oriental 
geography and hydrography, or have misconceived his information, 
or that he may have received an incorrect report from a people who 
have been always noted for their ignorance of maritime science. 
If these suppositions be allowed, there may have been some truth 
in the story ; but it is impossible to believe it in all the extent 
which the information of Herodotus has assigned it. But it is ne- 
cessary to give the account of the voyage itself from Herodotus, in 
order to discuss the subject a little, and state the difhiculties attend- 
ing the subject, which have induced me to pursue this investiga- 
tion. 
Darius having the conquest of India in view, but ignorant of its 
geography, first resolved, in order to facilitate his conquest of that 
extensive tract, to obtain a proper knowledge of it. For this end 
he employed Scylax, a celebrated Greek navigator, and native of 
Caryanda, a city in Cara. This personage was accordingly dis- 
patched to the Indus, where, by the orders of Darius, he caused a 
fleet to be equipped at Pactya and Caspatyrus, cities on that river, 
and did the same at several other cities on the same stream, as far 
as the borders of Scythia. His orders were to sail down that-river, 
explore all the tracts he possibly could, on both sides, quite down 
to its mouth,—to pass thence into the Southern Ocean, and then 
to steer his course westwards, and so return to Persia. In pursu- 
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