the Indus, and
onwards down this great river floated the Persian fleet. Alexander
had no pilots, no local knowledge of the country, but with his
"unquenchable ambition to see the ocean and reach the boundaries of
the world," he sailed on, "ignorant of everything on the way they had
to pass." In vain they asked the natives assembled on the banks how
far distant was the sea; they had never heard of the sea! At last they
found a tide mixing its salt waters with the fresh. Soon a flood-tide
burst upon them, forcing back the current of the river, and scattering
the fleet. The sailors of the tideless Mediterranean knew nothing of
the rise and fall of tides. They were in a state of panic and
consternation. Some tried to push off their ships with long poles,
others tried to row against the incoming tide; prows were dashed
against poops, oars were broken, sterns were bumped, until at last
the sea had flowed over all the level land near the river mouth.

Suddenly a new danger appeared! The tide turned and the sea began to
recede. Further misfortunes now befell the ships. Many were left high
and dry; most of them were damaged in some way or another. Alexander
sent horsemen to the seashore with instructions to watch for the return
of the tide and to ride back in haste so that the fleet might be
prepared.

Thus they got safely out to sea on the next high tide.

Alexander's explorations were now at an end. Leaving Nearchus to
explore the seacoast at the mouth of the Indus, he left the spot near
where the town of Hyderabad now stands, and turned his face toward
the home he was never to reach. We must not linger over his terrible
coast journey through the scorching desert of Beluchistan the billows
of sand, the glare of the barren sea, the awful thirst, the long hungry
marches of forty miles a day under the burning Eastern sun.

[Illustration: A SKETCH-MAP OF ALEXANDER'S CHIEF EXPLORATORY MARCHES
FROM ATHENS TO HYDERABAD AND GAZA. The dotted line shows the course
of Nearchus' voyage down the river Indus, along the northern shores
of the Indian Ocean, and up the Persian Gulf to Babylonia.]

Our story is one of discovery, and we must turn to Nearchus, Admiral
of the fleet, left behind at the mouth of the Indus to explore the
coast to the Persian Gulf, where he was to meet Alexander if possible.
Shortly after the fleet had emerged from the mouth of the Indus a
violent south-west monsoon began to blow and Nearchus was obliged to
see