The expedition took its departure from this station on the 3rd of November. It suffered both from stress of weather and from shortness of provisions until it reached Kôkala on the coast of the Oreitai, where it took on board the supplies which had been collected for its use by the exertions of Leonnatos. Here it remained for about 10 days, and by the time of its departure the monsoon had settled in its favour, so that the courses daily accomplished were now of much greater length than formerly. The shores, however, of the Ikhthyophagoi, which succeeded to those of the Oreitai, were so miserably barren and inhospitable that provisions were scarcely procurable, and Nearkhos was apprehensive lest the men, famished and despairing, should desert the ships. Their sufferings were not relieved till they approached the straits, which open into the Persian Gulf. When within the straits, they entered the mouth of the river Anamis (now the Minâb or Ibrahim river), and having landed, formed a dockyard and a camp upon its banks. This place lay in Harmozeia, a most fertile and beautiful district belonging to Karmania. Nearkhos, having here learned that Alexander was not more than a 5 days’ journey from the sea, proceeded into the interior to meet him, and report the safety of the expedition. During his absence the ships were repaired and provisioned, and therefore soon after his return to the camp he gave orders for the resumption of the voyage. The time spent at Harmozeia was one and twenty days. The fleet again under weigh coasted the islands lying at the mouth of the gulf, and then having shaped its course towards the mainland, passed the western shores of Karmania and those of Persis, till it arrived at the mouth of the Sitakos (now the Kara-Agach), where it was again repaired and supplied with provisions, remaining for the same number of days as at the Anamis. One of the next stations at which it touched was Mesembria, which appears to have been situated in the neighbourhood of the modern Bushire. The coast of Persis was difficult to navigate on account of intricate and oozy channels, and of shoals and breakers which frequently extended far out to sea. The coast which succeeded, that of Sousis (from which Persis is separated by the river Arosis or Oroatis, now the Tâb) was equally difficult and dangerous to navigate, and therefore the fleet no longer crept along the shore, but stood out more into the open sea. At the head of the gulf Sousis bends to westward, and here are the mouths of the Tigris and Euphrates, which appear in those days to have entered the sea by separate channels. It was the intention of Nearkhos to have sailed up the former river, but he passed its mouth unawares, and continued sailing westward till he reached Diridôtis (or Terêdon), an emporium in Babylonia, situated on the Pallacopas branch of the Euphrates. From Diridôtis he retraced his course, and entering the mouth of the Tigris sailed up its stream