The Early History of India, from 600 B.C. to the Muhammadan Conquest, including the Invasion of Alexander the Great c16.70

c16.70

Nearchos was detained for several days in the river, and, after much difficulty in making a passage for the ships round a bar, which obstructed the mouth of the western branch, ultimately got out to sea.² Contrary winds detained him for twenty-four days in a secure harbour, to which he gave the name of Alexander’s Haven. The coast-line has been changed so much by both accretion and denudation that attempts at detailed identifications of places near the mouth of the river are waste of time, but it is safe to affirm that the haven where Nearchos found shelter was not very far from the modern Karāchī (Kurrachee).¹ The admiral then crept cautiously along the inhospitable coast, his crews often suffering severely from lack of provisions and fresh water. After travelling 100 miles or so (850 *stadia*), the fleet reached the mouth of the river Arabis (the Habb), which formed the boundary between the Arabioi, the last people of Indian descent settled in this direction, and the Oreitai, who occupied an extensive territory to the west of the river.²