178 Remarks on the Voyage and Periplus of Scylaz. 
ance of his instructions, Scylax sailed with his fleet from the dis- 
trict of Pactya and city of Caspaytrus, down the river eastward to . 
the sea, and then altering his course to the west, sailed from the 
mouth of the Indus to the Straits of Bab-al- mandab, and then en- 
tered the Red Sea, and landed, after a voyage of 30 months, at the 
same place whence N echo, about a century previous, had. dispatch- 
ed the Phcenicians to circumnavigate Africa. We are then in- 
formed that Scylax returned from Egypt to Susa, where he gave 
his master, Derius, an account of his voyage and discoveries, and 
how he had explored the country on both sides of the Indus. We 
are then finally told, that Darius, in consequence of the report of 
Scylax, crossed the Indus with a large army, and conquered. all 
that vast country. . 
If this voyage be authentic, it is the most extraordinary one on 
record, after that of the Pheenicians who by Necho’s orders cir- 
cumnavigated Africa, that was ever performed by the ancients, and 
compared with which, that of Nearchus sinks into nothing. It is. 
clear, from this account of Herodotus, that the Indus was then the 
eastern boundary of the Persian empire, and that. Darius was master 
of the country on its western bank, as otherwise, Scylax could never 
have equipped a fleet at. Pactya ‘and Caspaytrus, if these places 
were not at that time within. the limits of Persian domination. 
If Pactya be the Peucelaotis of Alexander’s historians, and -be 
to the north of Attock, then Scylax*must have sailed from its high- 
est navigable point all the way to the sea, an inland voyage of 1000: 
British miles, exclusive of the sinuosities of the stream, whereas 
the fleet of Alexander sailed down the Hydaspes, and did not.enter 
the Indus till after its confluence with the Punjnud, or the five 
rivers, amuch shorter course. It is also clear from Herodotus, that 
Darius first sent Scylax to explore India, and then conquered ‘it ; 
whereas Alexander did the reverse, first conquering it, and: then 
exploring it with a fleet and army, fighting all the way as he went. 
down the Hydaspes, the Acesines, and the main stream. If Da- 
rius was not master of the Punjnub till after the voyage of Scylax, 
the wonder is how the natives permitted him to sail down the 
stream without opposition, when it required the combined strength 
of a fleet, and a numerous, well-appointed army, to enable Alex- 
ander to accomplish his purpose, in spite of the hostile tribes. who 
opposed him at every step. The account implies also that. Darius. 
was then master only of a small portion of India on the western 
bank ; for Scylax was ordered to explore both sides of. the river, 
and there was no necessity for this, if Darius possessed: all the 
country on the western side, for that would have been already 
known to Darius as a part of his empire. If Darius was master of. 
the eastern shere of the Indus previous to that voyage, what need 
was there of accomplishing what had been done already 3 > There 
was no need, at any rate, of sending a fleet down the Indus, in or- 
der to know the route to India, as every conqueror has followed 
nearly the same route from Cabul to Attock, and from the latter 
