“Hard by, an island in the stormy main
    Lies close to Egypt, Pharos is its name.”

As soon as he woke, he proceeded to Pharos, which then was an island near the Canopic mouth of the Nile, though at the present day so much earth has been deposited by the river that it is joined to the mainland.  When he saw the great advantages possessed by this place, which is a long strip of land, stretching between the sea and a large inland lake, with a large harbour at the end of it, he at once said that Homer, besides his other admirable qualities, was a splendid architect, and gave orders to his workmen to mark out a site for a city suitable to such a situation.  There was no chalk or white earth, with which it is usual to mark the course of the walls, but they took barley-groats, and marked out a semicircular line with them upon the black earth, dividing it into equal segments by lines radiating from the centre, so that it looked like a Macedonian cloak, of which the walls formed the outer fringe.  While the king was looking with satisfaction at the plan of the new city, suddenly from the lake and the river, innumerable aquatic birds of every kind flew like great clouds to the spot, and devoured all the barley.  This omen greatly disturbed Alexander; however, the soothsayers bade him take courage, and interpreted it to mean that the place would become a very rich and populous city.  Upon this he ordered the workmen at once to begin to build, while he himself started to visit the shrine and oracle of Zeus Ammon.  This journey is tedious and difficult, and dangerous also, because the way lies over a waterless desert, where the traveller is exposed to violent storms of sand whenever the south wind blows.  It was here that fifty thousand men of the army of Cambyses are said to have been overwhelmed by the sand, which rolled upon them in huge billows until they were completely ingulfed.  All these perils were present to all men’s minds, but it was hard to turn Alexander away from any project upon which he had once set his heart.  The invariable good fortune which he had enjoyed confirmed his self-will, and his pride would not allow him to confess himself vanquished either by human enemies or natural obstacles.

XXVII.  During his journey, the signal assistance which he received from the gods in all his difficulties was more remarkable and more generally believed than the oracular response which he is said to have received, although these portents made men more inclined to believe in the oracle.  In the first place, plentiful showers were sent, which quite dissipated any fears which the expedition had entertained about suffering from thirst, while the rain cooled the sand and thus tempered the hot air of the desert to a pleasant warmth.  Next, when the guides lost their way, and all were wandering helplessly, birds appeared who guided them on the right path, flying before them and encouraging them to march, and waiting for those of them who fell behind wearied.  “We are even assured by Kallisthones that, at night, the birds by their cries recalled stragglers, and kept all on the direct road.