Quintus Curtius Rufus, History of Alexander 9.1.10

9.1.10

Plerique rami instar ingentium stipitum flexi in humum rursus, qua se curvaverant, erigebantur, adeo ut species esset non rami resurgentis, sed arboris ex sua radice generatae.

After crossing a river some distance farther on, he advanced into the interior parts of India. The forests there extended over an almost boundless tract of country, and abounded with umbrageous trees of stateliest growth, that rose to an extraordinary height. Numerous branches, which for size equalled the trunk of ordinary trees, would bend down to the earth, and then shoot straight up again at the point where they bent upward, so that they had more the appearance of a tree growing from its own root than of a bough branching out from its stem. The climate is salubrious, for the dense shade mitigates the violence of the heat, and copious springs supply the land with abundance of water. But here, also, were multitudes of serpents, the scales of which glittered like gold. The poison of these is deadlier than any other, since their bite was wont to prove instantly fatal, until a proper antidote was pointed out by the natives. From thence they passed through deserts to the river Hyarotis, the banks of which were covered with a dense forest, abounding with trees not elsewhere seen, and filled with wild peacocks. Decamping hence, he came to a town that lay not far off. This he captured by a general attack all round the walls, and having received hostages, imposed a tribute upon the inhabitants. He came next to a great city — great at least for that region — and found it not only encompassed with a wall, but further defended by a morass.