Quintus Curtius Rufus, History of Alexander 9.9.27

9.9.27

Rex cum ex eo, quod acciderat, coniectaret post solis ortum statum tempus esse, media nocte, ut aestum occuparet, cum paucis navigiis secundo amne defluxit evectusque os eius CCCC stadia processit in mare tandem voti sui compos. Praesidibusque et maris et locorum dis sacrificio facto ad classem rediit.

The whole of that night had been spent by the king in watching and addressing words of encouragement to his men, when the horsemen came back at full gallop, with the tide following at their heels. It came at first with a gentle current which sufficed to set the ships afloat, but it soon gathered strength enough to set the whole fleet in motion. Then the soldiers and sailors, giving vent to their irrepressible joy at their unexpected deliverance, made the shores and banks resound with their exulting cheers. They asked each other wonderingly wherefrom so vast a sea had suddenly returned, whereto it had retired the day before, what was the nature of this strange element, which at one time was out of harmony with the natural laws of space, but at another was obedient to some fixed laws in respect of time? The king conjecturing from what had happened that the tide would return after sunrise, took advantage of it, and starting at midnight sailed down the river attended by a few ships, and having passed its mouth, advanced into the sea a distance of 400 stadia, and thus at last accomplished the object he had so much at heart. Having then sacrificed to the tutelary gods of the sea and of the places adjacent, he took the way back to his fleet.