CHAPTER XXVI.

ALEXANDER’S MAGNANIMOUS CONDUCT.

Here I have resolved not to pass over in silence the most noble deed

perhaps ever performed by Alexander, which occurred either in this land

or, according to the assertion of some other authors, still earlier,

among the Parapamisadians.[801] The army was continuing its march

through the sand, though the heat of the sun was already scorching,

because it was necessary to reach water before halting. They were far

on the journey, and Alexander himself, though oppressed with thirst,

was nevertheless with great pain and difficulty leading the army on

foot, so that his soldiers, as is usual in such a case, might more

patiently bear their hardships by the equalization of the distress. At

this time some of the light-armed soldiers, starting away from the army

in quest of water, found some collected in a shallow cleft, a small and

mean spring. Collecting this water with difficulty, they came with all

speed to Alexander, as if they were bringing him some great boon. As

soon as they approached the king, they poured the water into a helmet

and carried it to him. He took it, and commending the men who brought

it, immediately poured it upon the ground in the sight of all. As a

result of this action, the entire army was re-invigorated to so great

a degree that any one would have imagined that the water poured away

by Alexander had furnished a draught to every man. This deed beyond

all others I commend as evidence of Alexander’s power of endurance

and self-control, as well as of his skill in managing an army. The

following adventure also occurred to the army in that country. At last

the guides declared that they no longer remembered the way, because

the tracks of it had been rendered invisible by the wind blowing the

sand over them. Moreover, in the deep sand which had been everywhere

reduced to one level, there was nothing by which they could conjecture

the right way, not even the usual trees growing along it, nor any solid

hillock rising up; and they had not practised themselves in making

journeys by the stars at night or by the sun in the daytime, as sailors

do by the constellations of the Bears—the Phoenicians by the Little

Bear, and other men by the Greater Bear.[802] Then at length Alexander

perceived that it was necessary for him to lead the way by declining to

the left; and taking a few horsemen with him he advanced in front of

the army. But when the horses even of these were exhausted by the heat,

he left most of these men behind, and rode away with only five men and

found the sea. Having scraped away the shingle on the sea-beach, he

found water fresh and pure, and then went and fetched the whole army.

For seven days they marched along the sea-coast, supplying themselves

with water from the shore. Thence he led his expedition into the

interior, for now the guides knew the way.