Alexander : a history of the origin and growth of the art of war from ...

626 FEARFUL LOSSES.of burden almost all perished, mostly from lack of water, butmany dropped from weakness and were engulfed in the sand.The marches had to be made from water to water, and are saidby Strabo to have been of two hundred, four hundred and sixhundred stades, — twenty-two, forty-four and sixty-six miles,— and yet the progress was no more than ten or twelve milesa day. When they could reach the next water by a nightmarch, they did well enough ; but when the march had to beby day, the suffering was indescribable. The wagons soongot broken up, and much baggage was thrown away. Thesick and weak had to be abandoned. Stragglers were rarelyable to regain the column. On more than one occasion, whenthey camped at the brooks they reached, the sudden overflowsfrom storms in the mountains, which are usual in this country,drowned men and swept away baggage and beasts. Alexanderwas wont to pitch camp a couple of miles away fromwater, so as to prevent both this trouble and overdrinking bythe men.It was here that Alexander, in a time of great scarcity ofwater, when some soldiers had gathered a little supply, andbrought it to him in a helmet, refused to drink, but poured itout on the ground, saying that he would not quench his thirstwhen his men could not.Other authorities place the incident— or a similar one — in the pursuit of Darius. It is also saidthat when the army had lost the way, and the guides couldnot find it, Alexander himself started out with but five companions,and by moving in the direction he knew the seamust be, did actually find it and water near by. Thither hebrought the army, and for a week thereafter they kept alongthe seashore, and then again, when the guides had orientedthemselves, moved inland.Arrived at Paura, Alexander gave the relics of his army arest. Here he found that a number of the viceroys had, of