Page:History of merchant shipping and ancient commerce (Volume 1).djvu/191

 had assembled a numerous fleet, consisting of two thousand vessels, according to Strabo, or, according to Arrian, of about eight hundred boats, thirty-one of which were ships of war, and the rest such as were usually employed in the navigation of the river. But, whichever number be right—and with the dense population of the Panjâbâb earlier?], the larger one, comprehending anything and everything that could float, is doubtless possible—it is certain, if we except that of Xerxes, that this flotilla was one of the largest which had as yet, at least within historical times, been got together.

It is very likely that, by his eight hundred, Arrian may have meant only those employed for transports and fighting vessels, not deeming it worth while to reckon up every small craft Alexander may have pressed into his service. Moreover, Strabo has remarked that in the neighbourhood of Nicæa, whence the army embarked, there was an abundant supply of fir, pine, cedar, and of other timber, fit for the construction of boats and barges; while Arrian further records the fact that Alexander, before he himself had reached the Indus, had already caused a number of vessels to be built in the country of the Assacani (the Afghâns), and to be sent down the Kophen (or river of Kâbul) to Taxila (Manykyala). It was, probably, during the preparation of this great fleet that Alexander obtained his most valuable information about the state of inner or further India, both with regard to the commerce of the country, and to the different places with which the natives traded. Many of the natives, too, embarked with him, either for the purpose of conducting the fleet, or with a view to