In the island of Schitwar, on the eastern side of the Gulf of Persia, Nearchus found the inhabitants engaged in a pearl fishery: at present pearls are not taken on this side of the Gulf. 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. This part of the province is adorned by the parks and gardens of the kings and nobles; the rivers flow from lakes of pure water, abounding in water-fowl of all descriptions; horses and cattle feed on the rich pastures, while in the woods there is abundance of animals for the chace. To this the third division of Persis forms a striking contrast. This lies farther north, a mountainous district, wild and rugged, inhabited by barbarous tribes: the climate is so cold, that the tops of the mountains are constantly covered with snow.