Journal of the Society of Arts : Volume XLIX, No. 2527 [‎694r] (13/36)

April 26, 1901.]
JOURNAL OF THE SOCIETY OF ARTS.
425
side of the Isthmus. The Pasiris whom he
mentions have left frequent traces of their
existence along- the coast. Kalama, reached
on the second day from Bagisara, is easily
recognisable in the Khor Khalmat of modern
surveys, and it is here again that we can trace
a very considerable extension of the land sea
wards that would completely have altered the
course of the fleet from the coasting track of
modern days. The island of Karabine, from
which they procured sheep, may very well have
been the projecting headland of Giaban, now
connected by a low sandy waste with the main
land. It could never have been the island of
Astola as conjectured by McCrindle and others.
From Kalama to Kissa (now disappeared) and
Mosarna, along the coast called Karbis (now
Gazban), the course would again be longer
than at present, for there is much recent sand
formation here ; and when we come to Mosarna
itself, after doubling the headland of Jebel
Zarain, we find the harbour completely silted
up. It may be noted that this western bay of
Pasni was probably exactly similar to the
Padizar of Urmara or of Gwadur, and that
there is a general (but not universal) tendency
to shallowing on the western sides of all the
Makran headlands. Here they took the pilot
on board, and after this there was little diffi
culty.
In three more days they made Barna (or
Badara), which answers to Gwadur, where
were palm trees and myrtles, and we need
follow them for the present no further. Colonel
Mockler who was well acquainted with the
Makran coast, but hardly, perhaps, appreciated
all the changes which the coast line has under
gone (neither indeed did I till the surveys were
complete) has traced the course of that historic
fleet with great care. He has pointed out
correctly that two islands (Pola and Karabia)
have disappeared from the eastern neighbour
hood of the Gwadur headland and one (Deren-
brosa) from its western extremity; and he
might have added that yet another is breaking
up, and rapidly disappearing off the headland
of Passabandar, near Gwadur. He has identi
fied Kyiza (or Knidza), the small town built on
an eminence not far from the shore, which
was captured by stratagem, beyond doubt, and
has traced the fleet from point to point with a
careful analysis of all existing records that I
cannot pretend to imitate. We cannot, how
ever,leaveNearkhoswithout a passingreference
to that island on the coast of the Ichthyophagi,
which was sacred to the sun, and which was,
even in those days, enveloped in such a halo
of mystery and tradition that even Arrian
holds Nearkhos up to contempt for expending
“ time and ingenuity in the not very difficult
task of proving the falsehood” of these
‘‘antiquated fables.” I have been to that
island, the island of Astola, and the tales that
were told to Nearkhos are told of it still. There
off the southern face of it, is the “ sail rock,”
the legendary relic of a lost ship which may
well have been the transport which Nearkhos
did undoubtedly lose off itsrocky shores. There,
indeed, I did not find the Nereid of such
fascinating manners and questionable customs
as Nearkhos describes on the authority of the
inhabitants of the coast, but sea urchins and
sea snakes abounded in such numbers as to
make the process of exploration quite sufficiently
exciting; and there were not wanting indica
tions of those later days when the Meds (now
an insignificant fish-eating people scattered in
the coast hamlets) were the dreaded pirates of
the Arabian sea, and used to convey the crews
of the ships they captured to that island, where
they were murdered wholesale. It is curious
that the name given by Nearkhos is Nosala, or
Nuhsala. In these days it is Astola, or more
properly Hashtala, sometimes even called
Haftala. I am unable to determine the
meaning of the termination to which -the
numerals are prefixed. Another name for it is
Sangadip, which is also the mediaeval name for
Ceylon. There can be no doubt about the
identity of this island of sun worship and
historic fable.
We must now turn to Alexander. We left
him near the mouth of the Hingol, then prob
ably four or five miles north of its present
position, and nearer the modern telegraph line.
So far he had almost step by step followed out
the subsequent line of the Indo-Persian tele
graph, and at the Hingol he was not very far
south of it. Near here Leonatus had had his
fight with the Oritae, and Alexander had spent
much time (for it must be remembered that he
started a month before his fleet, and that the
fleet and Lconatus at least joined hands at
this point) in collecting supplies of grain from
the more cultivated districts north, and was
prepared to resume his march along the coast,
true to his general tactical principle of keeping
touch with his ships. But an obstacle pre
sented itself that possibly he had not reckoned
on. The huge barrier of the Malan range,
abutting direct on the sea, stopped his way.
There wasno “ Buzi ’ ’ pass (or goat track) in those
days, such as finally and after infinite difficulty
helped the telegraph line over, though there