At this place, Alexander first came upon the scene of the campaign
referred to in the following letters. Here he meditated the invasion of
India, intending to march to the mouth of the Ganges; but the conquest
of that country was destined for a nation almost unknown in the days of
Alexander, and lying far more remote from it than Greece; and, until the
campaign of 1839 drew our armies to the western side of the Indus, the
Sutlej was alike the boundary of Alexander's conquests to the east, as
of those of England towards the west.
Alexander having prepared his army for this expedition, moved towards
the Indus, taking many strong places on his march. Having crossed that
river, the king of the country offered no resistance, but became the
ally of Alexander, who expected to have found Porus, whose kingdom was
on the other side of the Hydaspes, equally ready to submit. But it
required the utmost skill of Alexander to cross the river, which he
effected, and conquered Porus, after a most severe struggle, with the
loss of his renowned charger, Bucephalus, and he was so pleased at the
magnanimity of Porus that he not only gave him back his kingdom, but
added several small states to it, making him a sincere ally.
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