Alexander, on learning this, set out for Bazira, but as he knew that some of the barbarians of the neighbouring country were going to steal unobserved into the city of Ora, having been sent by Abisares[49] for this very purpose, he directed his march first to that city. He then sent orders to Koinos to fortify some strong position as a basis of operations against the city of the Bazirians, and to leave in it a sufficient garrison to prevent the inhabitants from going into the country around for provisions without fear of danger. He was then to join Alexander with the remainder of his troops. When the men of Bazira saw Koinos departing with the bulk of his troops they regarded the Macedonians who remained, as contemptible antagonists, and sallied out into the plain to attack them. A sharp conflict ensued in which 500 of the barbarians were slain, and upwards of 70 taken prisoners. The rest fled together into the city and were more rigorously than ever debarred all access to the country by the garrison of the fort. The siege of Ora did not cost Alexander much labour, for he captured the place at the first assault, and got possession of all the elephants which had been left therein. _Chapter XXVIII.—Bazira captured—Alexander marches to the rock Aornos_ When the inhabitants of Bazira heard that Ora had fallen, they regarded their case as desperate, and at the dead of night fled from their city to the Rock, as all the other barbarians were doing, for, having left their cities, they were fleeing to the rock in that land called Aornos;[50] for this is a mighty mass of rock in that part of the country, and a report is current concerning it that even Heraklês, the son of Zeus, had found it to be impregnable. Now whether the Theban, or the Tyrian, or the Egyptian Heraklês penetrated so far as to the Indians[51] I can neither positively affirm nor deny, but I incline to think that he did not penetrate so far; for we know how common it is for men when speaking of things that are difficult to magnify the difficulty by declaring that it would baffle even Heraklês himself. And in the case of this rock my own conviction is that Heraklês was mentioned to make the story of its capture all the more wonderful. The rock is said to have had a circuit of about 200 stadia, and at its lowest elevation a height of eleven stadia.[52] It was ascended by a single path cut by the hand of man, yet difficult. On the summit of the rock there was, it is also said, plenty of pure water which gushed out from a copious spring. There was timber besides, and as much good arable land as required for its cultivation the labour of a thousand men. [Illustration: FIG. 8.—THE TYRIAN HERAKLÊS.]