Page:History of India Vol 2.djvu/109

Rh halt was made for two days to allow the rear-guard under the command of Philippos to come up, and that general, on his arrival, was directed to convert his force into an advance-guard and proceed along the bank of the river.

On the fifth day after leaving the halting-place, the fleet arrived at the first river confluence, where the Hydaspes met the greater stream of the Akesines. The channel where the waters of the two rivers then met was so very narrow that dangerous whirlpools were formed, and much disorder was occasioned in the fleet. Two of the war-ships were sunk with the greater part of their crews, and the vessel which carried Alexander was in imminent danger of sharing the same fate. By dint of great exertion on the part of the king and all concerned, the bulk of the fleet was ultimately brought to a safe anchorage under the shelter of a headland, and the necessary steps were taken to repair the damage suffered.

It is impossible to determine the spot where these exciting incidents occurred. The confluence of the two rivers at Timmu (N. lat. 31° 10') now takes place quietly, and presents none of the peculiarities to which Arrian and Curtius devote so much vivid description. All that can be said is that in Alexander's time the confluence must have been situated much farther to the north.

Our exact knowledge of the courses of the rivers in the Panjab and Sind begins only from the date of the Arab invasion in 712, more than a thousand