Note 383 — Chapter LX · —The account of the battle with Pôros, as given by Alexander himself—Alexander’s noble treatment of Pôros

“When the Greek writers tell us that the district between the Hydaspes and the Hyphasis alone contained 5000 cities (!), none of which was less than that of Cos (Strabo, xv. p. 686), and that the dominions of Pôros, which were confined between the Hydaspes and the Acesines—a tract not more than 40 miles in width—contained 300 cities (id. p. 698), it is evident that the Greeks were misled by the exaggerated reports so common with all Orientals, and which were greedily swallowed by the historians of Alexander with a view of magnifying the exploits of the great conqueror.”—Bunbury, Hist. of Anc. Geog. I. p. 453.