Book 15
2.3
Above the Ichthyophagi is situated Gedrosia,Mekran. a country less exposed to the heat of the sun than India, but more so than the rest of Asia. As it is without fruits and water, except in summer, it is not much better than the country of the Ichthyophagi. But it produces aromatics, particularly nard and myrrh, in such quantity, that the army of Alexander used them on the march for tent coverings and beds; they thus breathed an air full of odours, and at the same time more salubrious.
2.3
The summer was purposely chosen for leaving India, for at that season it rains in Gedrosia, and the rivers and wells are filled, but in winter they fail. The rain falls in the higher parts to the north, and near the mountains: when the rivers swell, the plains near the sea are watered, and the wells are also filled. Alexander sent persons before him into the desert country to dig wells and to prepare stations for himself and his fleet.
2.4
Having separated his forces into three divisions, he set out with one division through Gedrosia, keeping at the utmost from the sea not more than 500 stadia, in order to secure the coast for his fleet; but he frequently approached the sea-side, although the beach was impracticable and rugged. The second division he sent forward under the command of Craterus through the interior, with a view of reducing Ariana, and of proceeding to the same places to which he himself was directing his march. (The third division), the fleet he intrusted to Nearchus and Onesicritus, his master pilot, giving them orders to take up convenient positions in following him, and to sail along the coast parallel to his line of march.
