in the way of obtaining provisions, were considered.  In this state of anxiety, doubt, and expectation, Alexander ordered Nearchus to attend him, and consulted him on the choice of a commander.  “One,” said he, “excuses himself, because he thinks the danger insuperable; others are unfit for the service from timidity; others think of nothing but how to get home; and many I cannot approve for a variety of other reasons.”  “Upon hearing this,” says Nearchus, “I offered myself for the command:  and promised the king, that under the protection of God, I would conduct the fleet safe into the Gulf of Persia, if the sea were navigable, and the undertaking within the power of man to perform.”  The only objection that Alexander made arose from his regard for Nearchus, whom he was unwilling to expose to the dangers of such a voyage; but Nearchus persisting, and the king being convinced that the enterprise, if practicable, would be achieved by the skill, courage, and perseverance of Nearchus, at length yielded.  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.”