Page:Ancient India as described by Megasthenês and Arrian.djvu/160

 141 fronting the sunrise, ‡ receives also itself nineteen rivers, of which the most famous are the Hydaspes, which has four tributaries; the Cantabra,§ which has three ; the Acesines and the Hypasis, which are both navigable ; but nevertheless, having no very great supply of water, it is nowhere broader than fifty stadia, or deeper than fifteen paces, || It forms an extremely large island, which is called Prasiane, and a smaller one, called Pata1e.¶ Its stream, which is navigable, by the lowest estimates, for 1240 miles, turns westward as if following more or less closely the course of the sun, and then falls into the ocean. The measure of the coast line from the mouth of the Ganges to this river I shall set down as it is generally given, though none of the computations agree with each other. From the mouth of the Ganges to Cape Calingon and the town of Dandagula* 625 miles ;†

'‡' The real sources of the Indus were unknown to the Greeks. The principal stream rises to the north of the Kailâsa mountain (which figures in Hindu mythology as the mansion of the gods and Siva's paradise) in lat. 32°, long. 81° 30', at an elevation of about 20,000 feet. '§' The Chandrabhâga or Akesinês, now the Chenâb. '||' For remarks on the tributaries of the Indus see Notes on Arrian, chap, iv., — ''Ind. Ant.'' vol. V. pp. 331-333. '¶' See ''Ind. Ant.'' vol. Y. p. 330. Yule identifies the former of these with the area enclosed by the Nara from above Rohri to Haidarâbâd, and the delta of the Indus. — ''Ed. Ind, Ant.'' '*' v.1. Dandaguda. Cape Kalingon is identified by Yule as Point Godâvari.— Ed. ''Ind. Ant.'' '†' "Both the distance and the name point to the great port town of Coringa, as the promontory of Coringon, which is situated on a projecting point of land at the