Alexander had now seriously to consider what course he should take.  Hitherto his attempt had proved an entire failure.  Should he relinquish it?  To do so would be to acknowledge himself baffled and defeated, to tarnish the prestige which he held so dear, and to cripple the plans that he had formed against Persia.  It was simply impossible that Alexander, being the man he was, should so act.  No—­he must persevere—­he must confront and overcome his difficulties—­he must repair the damages that he had suffered, restore his lost works, and carry them out on a larger scale, and with more skill than before.  He gave orders therefore for an enlargement and alteration of the mole, which he no longer carried across the strait in a direct line, but inclined to the south-west,[14387] so that it might meet the force of the prevalent wind, instead of exposing its flank to the violent gusts.  He also commanded the construction of fresh towers and fresh engines, stronger and more in number than the former ones.[14388] But this alone would not, he felt, be enough.  His designs had been frustrated hitherto solely from the fact that the Tyrians were masters of the sea; and it was plain to him that, so long as this state of things remained unaltered, it was next to impossible that he should succeed.  The great desideratum—­the one condition of success—­was the possession of a powerful fleet.  Such a fleet must be either built or collected.  Leaving therefore the restoration of the mole and the engines to his generals, Alexander went in person to Sidon, and there set himself to gather together as large a fleet as he could.  Most opportunely it happened that, either shortly before Alexander’s arrival or immediately afterwards, the ships of Sidon, Aradus, and Byblus, which had been serving with the Persian naval force in the AEgean, had been required by their respective commanders to proceed homewards, and, to the number of eighty, had sailed into the harbour of Sidon.[14389] The kings had, in fact, deserted the Persian cause on hearing that their cities had submitted to Alexander, and readily placed their respective squadrons at his disposal.  Further contingents were received from other quarters—­from Rhodes ten triremes, from the seaports of Lycia the same number, from Soli and Mallus three, from Macedonia a single penteconter.[14390] The number of the vessels was thus brought up to one hundred and four; but even with such a fleet it would have been rash to engage the Tyrian navy; and Alexander would probably have had to build an additional squadron had he not received, suddenly and unexpectedly, the adhesion of the princes of Cyprus.  Cyprus, being an island, was as yet in no danger, and might have been expected at least to remain neutral until the fate of Tyre was decided; but, for reasons that history has not recorded, the petty kings of the island about this time—­some months after the battle of Issus—­resolved to desert Persia, to detach themselves wholly from Tyre, and to place their navy at the disposal of the Macedonians.[14391] The number of their triremes amounted to 120; and Alexander, having now under his command a fleet of 224 sail, could no longer feel any doubt of being able to wrest the supremacy at sea from the unfortunate Tyrians.