At the Rohilla point a dead
whale attracted their attention; it is represented as fifty cubits long,
with a hide a cubit in thickness, beset with shell-fish, probably barnacles
or limpets, and sea-weeds, and attended by dolphins, larger than Nearchus
had been accustomed to see in the Mediterranean Sea. Their arrival at the
Briganza river affords Dr. Vincent an opportunity of conjecturing the
probable draught of a Grecian vessel of fifty oars. At ebb-tide, Arrian
informs us, the vessels were left dry; whereas at high tide they were able
to surmount the breakers and shoals. Modern travellers state that the
flood-tide rises in the upper part of the Gulf of Persia, nine or ten feet:
hence it may be conjectured that the largest vessel in the fleet drew from
six to eight feet water. The next day's sail brought them from the Briganza
to the river Arosis, the boundary river between Persis and Susiana, the
largest of the rivers which Nearchus had met with in the Gulf of Persia.
The province of Persis is described by Nearchus as naturally divided into
three parts. "That division which lies along the side of the Gulf is sandy,
parched, and sterile, bearing little else but palm-trees." To the north and
north-east, across the range of mountains, the country improves
considerably in soil and climate; the herbage is abundant and nutritious;
the meadows well watered; and the vine and every kind of fruit, except the
olive, flourishes.
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