The Character Of The Commander, And The Regard
His Sovereign Entertained For Him, Removed In A Great Degree The
Apprehension That The Proposed Expedition Was Desperate:
A selection of the
best officers and most effective men was now soon made; and the fleet was
not only supplied with every thing that was necessary, but equipped in a
most splendid manner.
Onesicritus was appointed pilot and master of
Alexander's own ship; and Evagoras was secretary of the fleet. The
officers, including these and Nearchus, amounted to 33; but nearly the
whole of them, as well as the ships which they commanded, proceeded no
farther than the mouth of the Indus. The seamen were natives of Greece, or
the Grecian Islands, Phoenicians, Egyptians, Cyprians, Ionians, &c. The
fleet consisted of 800 ships of war and transports, and about 1200 gallies.
On board of these, one-third of the army, which consisted of 120,000 men,
embarked; the remainder, marching in two divisions, one on the left, the
other on the right of the river.
"The voyage down the river is described rather as a triumphal procession,
than a military progress. The size of the vessels, the conveyance of horses
aboard, the number, and splendour of the equipment, attracted the natives
to be spectators of the pomp. The sound of instruments, the clang of arms,
the commands of the officers, the measured song of the modulators, the
responses of the mariners, the dashing of the oars, and these sounds
frequently reverberated from overhanging shores, are all scenery presented
to our imagination by the historians, and evidently bespeak the language of
those who shared with pride in this scene of triumph and magnificence."
No danger occurred to alarm them or impede their passage, till they arrived
at the junction of the Hydaspes with the Akesines. At this place, the
channel of the river became contracted, though the bulk of water was of
course greatly increased; and from this circumstance, and the rapidity with
which the two rivers unite, there is a considerable current, as well as
strong eddies; and the noise of the rushing and confined waters, is heard
at some distance. This noise astonished or alarmed the seamen so much, that
the rowers ceased to row, and the modulators to direct and encourage them
by their chant, till the commanders inspired them with confidence; and they
plied the oars with their utmost strength in order to stem the current, and
keep the vessels as steady and free from danger as possible. The eddy,
however, caught the gallies, which from their length were more exposed to
it than the ships of war: two of them sank, many more were damaged, while
Alexander's own ship was fortunate enough to find shelter near a projecting
point of land. At the junction of the Akesines with the Indus, Alexander
founded a city; of which, however, no traces at present remain.
On the arrival of Alexander at Pattala, near the head of the Delta of the
Indus, he seems to have projected the formation of a commercial city; and
for this purpose, ordered the adjoining country to be surveyed:
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