CHAPTER XI.
OUR HEADS ARE IN PERIL.
When I returned to the deck, the promontory of Utica (or, as thepoint on the Libyan coast facing Sicily is sometimes called, the Capeof Hermes) was clearly visible.
In honour of our arrival at so important a city we all took extrapains in dressing ourselves. I put on my best kitonet and myembroidered cap; and Hannibal donned his plumed helmet, and wore ahandsome tunic under his cuirass.
We could ere long see not only the cape but the city of Utica itself;and further south, at the other extremity of the bay, a confusedwhite mass, which unquestionably was Carthage. Leaving this on ourleft, we steered due west right into the bay, and having roundedthe headland, coasted for some miles along the low-lying shore thatcontinued all the way to the city, which seemed to rise in gentlegradations from the deep blue waters to where the "bozrah" formedits lofty crown. The red and brown domes of the buildings and thebattlements of the citadel stood out in sharp relief against theazure sky; and the masses of verdure all around the city formed afitting background for the dazzling whiteness of its lime-washedwalls.
Having passed a number of imposing edifices on the island, which isseparated from the mainland by a canal that forms the trade-harbour,we entered the war-port, in the centre of which, high above thecrowds of shipping, rose the massive walls and towers of theAdmiralty palace. I found that there was room for my ships on theleft-hand quay, where I had them laid to, and then in company withHanno I got into a small boat and rowed across the harbour to ajetty, wide and paved, that led from the Admiralty to the mainland,and which, being in connection with all the surrounding quays, isalways thronged with passengers going to and fro upon business at theAdmiralty offices.
From the jetty we passed through a high vaulted gateway, flanked oneither side by a tower, into an outer court-yard. Here the sentinelsasked our names, and sent us on through another lofty gateway, acrossa hall hung with red and yellow tapestry into a long dark lobby, atthe end of which was a half-open gate leading into the large innercourt. We crossed this court, and entered another lobby exactly likethe one we had just quitted; and leaving this, we found ourselves ina low square room with a vaulted roof, whence we passed, by a sidedoor, into a gloomy room with a circular dome. We had, however, stillfarther to go: after ascending three long and very narrow staircaseswe entered an apartment with a lofty dome on the second floor ofone of the towers; but even yet we had not reached our destination.We had now to descend a few steps and pass along a corridor, fromwhich we ascended another staircase, and finally reached a spaciousapartment, circular in shape, well lighted by loop-holes in the wall,and having a handsome vaulted ceiling.
I could observe that we had thus made our way to the left-hand towerof the four which are ranged along the north front of the palace, oneat each end of the building, and one at each side of the gateway,this one commanding a view of the Admiral's private basin, beyondwhich I could see my own vessels lying in the Cothôn.
The apartment was hung with strips of tapestry alternately red andyellow, and the paved floor was covered with mats. The guards who hadushered us all the way from the outer court-yard remained standingat the door, and having given us permission to enter, Hanno and Iadvanced alone towards a window, where, seated in a chair of paintedwood, I recognised old Adonibal, the naval _suffes_, or suffect.
Nearly every one is aware that our Libyan cities are subject to agovernment in many respects similar to that which existed among thechildren of Israel before the time of King Saul; that is, they areruled by suffects, whose office corresponds very nearly to that ofthe "judges." A council, all eligible as suffects, are nominatedby the people, and these from their own number elect two (whom,however, the people reserve to themselves the power of displacing),one to be "naval suffect," entrusted with the control of all maritimematters; the other, popularly called the "sacred suffect," to havethe superintendence of all inland affairs. But it is not so generallyknown that for the last ten years the Libyan suffects have beenappointed without any sanction either of the Kings of Tyre or Sidon.The representatives are chosen independently, subject only to thecondition that no Tyrians are admitted to the office at Utica, whichis essentially a Sidonian colony, and no Sidonian can be elected forCarthage, where it is the Tyrians who have been rearing the new cityaround the ancient Bozrah.
At the time of our visit, Adonibal, the son of Adoniram, had been foreight years the naval suffect, and it was universally acknowledgedthat he wielded his magistracy with a resolute and steady hand.After many years of adventure both by sea and land, he had settledat Utica, where he had carried on his affairs, both in trade andwarfare, with great success. He had led the forces of the cityagainst the Libyans, had made incursions upon the coast of Tarshish,and in a great measure had contributed to the establishment ofMassalia, the city of the Salians, at the mouth of the Rhone, in theland of the Celts. In return for his services, and as a proof of theconfidence they had in his judgment and experience, the people ofUtica elected him their naval suffect, and the way in which the cityand its dependencies prospered under his rule convinced them thattheir choice could not have fallen on a better man.
In the course of my many voyages I had at various times been broughtinto contact with Adonibal, and although I was quite aware that hehad been a daring freebooter, I knew him to be a brave sailor and aclever merchant. It was therefore with much pleasure that I advancedtowards the chair in which the hale old man was seated. Although hehad a flowing white beard, his upper lip was shorn perfectly smoothin the old Chittim fashion; he wore his mariner's cap pressed closelyover his ears; and his nose, slightly redder than of yore, betokenedthat he had more than a slight acquaintance with the luscious produceof Helbon and Berytos.
I bowed, and congratulated him that I found him looking so well.
"Ah!" he said, speaking in a sort of facetious way that had becomehabitual to him, "here's Mago, the Sidonian, the cutest captain thatever took cedar ship to Tarshish! And who is this young man with you?"
I introduced Hanno as my scribe and fellow-townsman.
"And the brave fellows that were with you when you came here before;how are they all?" continued Adonibal, stroking his beard; "Himilcowith his one eye, and Gisgo who had lost his ears, how are they? Andwhat has become of the notable _Gadita_?"
Flattered by the accuracy with which he retained me and my people inhis memory, I replied that they were all well and with me, and thathe had only to turn his head to the window and he would see all myships in the harbour, amongst them the _Gadita_, whose name had beenaltered to the _Cabiros_.
The old man laughed significantly.
"I shall see your ships quite soon enough for your liking," he said;"I shall not lose much time in making my official inspection of them.The _Melkarth_ left here only three days since."
"The _Melkarth_!" I exclaimed in astonishment.
Seeing my amazement he began to jeer me. "An old stager like you!you surprise me very much by trusting yourself here so soon afterBodmilcar."
"Bodmilcar!" I repeated; "surely you must be unaware of how Bodmilcarhas acted!"
"I am only aware of this," he said, his eye twinkling as he spoke;"you and your scribe must lay down your swords and be trotted off tothe dungeons, and the rest of your people will very soon be trottedafter you."
I stood dumb with bewilderment; but Hanno, with whom neither patiencenor reticence were prevailing virtues, laid his hand upon the hilt ofhis sword, and said:--
"This sword was given me by Melek David, and whoever demands itssurrender shall first know the feel of its point in his bosom."
White with passion, the old man started to his feet. In an instanta couple of guards had laid their hands upon the shoulders of myimpetuous scribe.
"Let him alone!" he bawled; "I can defend myself."
Then suddenly controlling his fury, he said very slowly, addressingus both:
"Lay down your swords at once, or by Baal-Peor! within a quarter ofan hour yo
ur heads shall be swinging from the highest battlement ofthis very tower!"
I knew that Adonibal was not a man to swear lightly by his god, andI knew, moreover, that a few heads more or less were a matter of nomoment to him. Seeing, therefore, that he was somewhat calmer, Isummoned all my courage, and said as firmly as I could:
"My lord suffect, you are bound to show justice to all marinersalike; you would not, I am sure, commit a Sidonian captain to thedungeons without giving him a fair hearing."
He had recovered his equanimity sufficiently to resume his banteringtone:
"They have gone for the handcuffs: they will soon be back; butperhaps you will have time to tell me what you want, while they arefetching them. And, really, I am curious to know what defence you canpossibly make for your treachery to Bodmilcar, under whose command,as I see by his letters, you were placed by King Hiram."
"I have but one question to ask," I said; "and if the answer convictsme, why then you may behead me, hang me, or crucify me, as you like.Have you any documents bearing Bodmilcar's seal and signature?"
From a bag that was hanging beside him he drew out a papyrus-roll,which he opened and laid before me.
"There," he said, "is Bodmilcar's deposition, written, signed, andsealed by himself. That convicts you plainly enough, I should think."
"Just the contrary," I replied calmly; "Bodmilcar is caught in hisown trap. Here is our charter-party." And taking the deed from thehands of Hanno, I showed it to the suffect.
"Yes," I continued, "that is the indenture which sets forth thecontract, and you need only glance at it to see that Bodmilcarcovenanted to sail under my command. Why, the very seal with which heratified his deposition was bought with the few coins I gave him torescue him from starvation at Tyre! Let me ask you now, who is thetraitor?"
Adonibal perused the document carefully, and seemed much distressed.In a few moments he rose and said:
"Mago, my friend, I have manifestly misjudged you. Nothing could bemore completely demonstrated than Bodmilcar's faithlessness. Forgiveme my too hasty conclusion. I ought to have known that neitheryou nor your brave companions could ever have been guilty of suchtreachery."
He went on to say that he should be interested in hearing our wholestory, and that he should be only too ready to do us justice. As Idetailed the particulars of Bodmilcar's conduct, he could hardlyrestrain his indignation.
"By Baal-Peor of Berytos!" he said, "if ever Bodmilcar and his crewcome within reach of my clutches, they shall all be crucified withinan hour."
He then addressed himself to Hanno:
"You, sir scribe, seem to have a spirit of your own, notwithstandingyour tender years."
"My lord," replied Hanno, "I should not have been so presumptuous ifMago had not already told me how renowned you were for discriminationand for justice. I felt that there could be nothing to fear from onewho knows so well how to unmask the truth."
"You have a sharp fellow here, Mago," said Adonibal to me, smilingas he spoke; "but, come now, we must all drink wine together. I havemuch to tell about Bodmilcar, and presently I shall hope to see asmany of your people as you please, seated at my own table."
Thanking him for his hospitable offer, I made Hanno write down alist of my officers, which was delivered to one of the guards. Wine,meanwhile, had been brought in, and Adonibal himself handed useach an ivory goblet with a rim of Tarshish silver. While we weredrinking, he observed that he took it for granted we had not come toUtica empty-handed.
"I am quite aware," he said, "that the bulk of your cargo is for KingDavid; but I reckon that you are rather too old a sailor not to bedoing a little business on your own account. What have you got todispose of?"
I told him that I had brought some sulphur and lava-stones, articleswhich always used to command a ready sale in Libya.
"And so they do now," he said; "you will be sure to get a good pricefor them. But what else have you?"
"Well, my lord suffect, you know I have been in three littleskirmishes off Ionia and Sicily. You must naturally suppose I havemanaged to pick up a trifle or two."
"Ha! ha!" he laughed; "you are a genuine Sidonian. Out with it,man!--how many have you got?"
"Sixty-one," I answered; "and fine sturdy fellows they are--as finea lot as one could wish to see. Perhaps the council might like topurchase them. I would take any reasonable sum, and should preferselling them in bulk rather than in separate parcels. I hope therepublic may be induced to take them off my hands."
"Good--good, my friend," said Adonibal; "it is worth consideration.We have had some rough encounters lately with the Libyans, and mustreplace our soldiers. Your Hellenes may be a good investment. UnderPhœnician generals they often do very well in the forts, and ifthey get killed, the loss is not very serious. I think I can arrangeto take the lot. I can put them with a batch of Egyptians that Ibought of Bodmilcar, and send them off in divisions; some intogarrison, some to the works, and some to fell trees. The Egyptiansare good hands at building."
"Do I understand you aright?" I asked, "have you purchased Egyptiansfrom Bodmilcar? There seems no limit to the scoundrel's treachery.Those Egyptians were lent him by Pharaoh to go in pursuit of us.Some of their ships were wrecked off Crete."
"He sold them to me, ships and all," said the Admiralty-lord."They made a pretty good howling at first; but a day or two in thedungeons, and a little low diet, corrected all that, and to-day theyare as quiet as lambs."
I could not help smiling as I realised the adroitness with whichBodmilcar had taken advantage of his allies.
"You may laugh;" said Adonibal, half-amused and half-vexed; "therascal has bamboozled the Egyptians, and outwitted you, crafty oldsalt as you are. Perhaps it may entertain you to learn that he hasgone off with two of my galleys and three hundred Phœnicians."
"Good Ashtoreth!" I exclaimed; "how has he managed that?"
He emptied his wine-cup and went on:
"Three hundred criminals sentenced to transportation in themother-country had been landed here. My prisons were already full,and I resolved at the first opportunity to forward them to the minesat Tarshish. Bodmilcar arrived; I gave him the commission. I lent himtwo galleys, and furnished him with written credentials from myself.But what did the knave do? the curse of Khousor Phtah be on him! hesaw that they were a sturdy set, gave them their freedom, put armsin their hands, and enlisted them into his service. And now they areready to attack you with my galleys as soon as you will give them achance."
"No doubt," I said; "but never mind; I daresay we shall be a matchfor them."
We were interrupted by the arrival of Hannibal and the rest of myofficers, who had received the suffect's invitation.
"Welcome, friends! welcome to you all!" he said; "I ought torecognise some old faces. Aye, there's Hamilcar! I remember him whenhe was a cabin-boy on board my ship. And here, too, here's Himilco,learned in the stars! and if my memory fails me not, no bad judge ofa good cup of Helbon. It is so still, Himilco?"
My pilot professed that he retained his taste both for the astronomyand the wine.
"And you, Gisgo, did you ever find your ears again?"
"Aye, that I did," was the prompt reply; "and here they are, safein my purse. And not only my own, but those of the brute who cutthem off!" And to the amusement of the suffect, Gisgo gave a graphicdescription of his splitting the skull of the Siculian chief.
Adonibal had a kind word for all my men, and promised that he wouldvisit them on board their ships, at which he said that he had beenlooking from his window, and had already formed a favourable opinionof them.
Bread and meat were now laid before us; and while we were sitting attable I asked Adonibal whether amongst the Egyptians that Bodmilcarhad sold him there were not some Hellenes.
"Certainly," he said; "a dozen Phocians."
"A woman and a boy?"
"Yes; both a woman and a boy; but as I had no use for them, Bodmilcarkept them; he had an eunuch to take care of them."
"You saw the eunuch, then?
"
"Yes; and a great lubberly Syrian he was."
"What did he talk about?"
"Why, he seemed to say nothing except to ask how he could get fromhere to Tyre."
"Is he going back?"
"No; Bodmilcar has him, and I do not think he will let him go in ahurry."
When we had finished our repast, some slaves appeared with torches toattend us to our ships. We did not quit the palace the same way aswe had entered, but after descending the staircase to the next lowerfloor of the tower, we passed through a door into the sloping galleryof what is called a "curtain;" into this the quarters of the soldiersopened, the chambers themselves being built in the thickness of theouter wall; we then passed into a vaulted hall, whence a corridorbrought us to the gate of the palace adjacent to the Admiralty-basin.A private barque was waiting to convey us to our ships, where wefound the sailors, who by my orders had not been allowed to leavetheir posts, making all manner of plans for the next day.
The trumpets on the various vessels were soon heard summoning thecrews for the night, and the countless lights in every directiontestified to the crowded condition of the harbour; over these, highand bright, were the lights in the city, while in the east theflickerings from the loop-holes of the Admiralty made the buildinglook more sombre and massive than ever.
In the morning I had everything put in readiness for the admiral'spromised visit, and before noon I saw his twelve-oar issuing from hisprivate quay. As soon as he had mounted the deck of the _Ashtoreth_,he turned and glanced impatiently towards the top of the palace.
"Idiots!" he muttered; "how long they are! when I was young an orderwas executed in half the time."
He had not finished speaking before several men appeared at thesummit of one of the towers and fastened a score of heads along thebattlemented parapet.
"Right at last!" he said; "it ought to have been done a quarter of anhour ago!"
Finding his equanimity restored, I proceeded to show him my cargo,and had the captives brought forward for him to see. Without anyhaggling (for Adonibal was really a generous and large-hearted man)he agreed to pay a liberal price, alike for the sulphur, the lava,and the slaves.
He next made a complete inspection of my ships, and expressed himselfmuch pleased with their construction and arrangements. Eager to makeamends for his rough reception of us on our arrival, he promised methat I should be allowed to put my ships into a dry dock, free ofdues, saying that this would give me an opportunity of examiningthe copper sheathing. He then gave orders for his purchases to beembarked, and for the slaves to be properly guarded, adding that hehimself was going across the bay to settle some disputes that hadarisen amongst the Tyrians. He summoned his officers to accompany himwith their ropes and scourges, and said to me:
"Farewell, for the present, Mago; I see that your men are all longingto get ashore. I was young myself once, and I have not forgotten whatit is to have some shekels burning holes in your pocket."
He made a sign to his attendants, and preceded by his scribe andofficers, re-entered his boat and departed.
Having thus disposed so satisfactorily of my property, I no longerdelayed giving the men the permission that they were anticipating, togo on shore; and with the exception of the few who were of necessitytold off to take charge of the ships, they lost no time in availingthemselves of their liberty.
The Phocians had wrapped their dead comrade in a winding-sheet, andproposed to carry him to a cemetery of which one of my sailors hadtold them. Before they started, I presented Aminocles, as a token ofmy appreciation of his services, with a couple of silver shekels. Hestared at them, quite bewildered.
"Ah!" said I, "I forgot that you barbarians do not know anythingabout coined money; but never mind--the sailors who are going withyou will show you what to do with them. Trust them for that."
Accompanied by Hanno, Hannibal, Chamai, and Bichri, and taking thetwo women. I landed on the principal quay, Himilco and his friendGisgo, with Hasdrubal and Hamilcar, preferring to go in anotherdirection. We all had well-filled purses, and those who had neverbefore seen the famous city, were impatient to inspect its wonders.
Our first resort was to the temple of Ashtoreth. This was at thebasement of one of the forts that protect the entrance to theharbour, and was at a very little distance from the place where ourships were lying; and as neither Bichri, Chamai, nor Abigail wishedto make any offering to the goddess, they waited for us upon thequay, entertained, they said, in watching the numerous vessels goingin and out both of the Cothôn and of the trade-harbour, of which theouter basin was visible from this point.
UTICA. _To face page 187._]
Being built in a fort, the construction of the temple is necessarilyvery simple. Eight unornamented pillars support the roof, and, likethe walls, are stuccoed with yellow ochre; at the further end was arecumbent figure of the goddess, with a golden crescent on her head.From the tariff of sacrifices which was posted up at the entrance Imade my own selection, paying the sum of five shekels; and havingmade my offering, I obtained permission from the governor of thefort, who was an old acquaintance, to take my party on to the terraceupon the roof, whence there was a fine view of the city. Chamai,Bichri, and Abigail joined us there. Looking towards the sea, we hadon our left the Cothôn and the Admiralty palace, and on our rightthe island which had been the original nucleus of the colony, andthe trade-harbour which separated it from the mainland. Landwardsrose the white buildings and terraces of the city, threaded by darkwinding streets, and studded with domes painted red and brown, andculminating towards the south in the massive citadel, the residenceof the sacred suffect. A double line of fortifications encircledthe whole city both by land and sea, and outside this a moat andpalisade, that followed the undulations of the soil, formed a thirdadvanced line of defence; beyond this again stretched the countrywith its rich foliage and yellow crops, amongst which lay imbeddedthe snow-white terraces and brown domes of the country-houses, farms,and cisterns.[34]
[34] The description of Utica is from M. Daux's admirable book, 'Fouilles executées dans le Zeugis et Byzacium.'
The Cothôn at Utica, although not to be compared with the harboursat Tyre and Sidon, is still the finest of any that have yet beenconstructed in our western settlements, and is well adapted to theclimate. It is 480 cubits, or nearly three-quarters of a stadiumsquare, and is capable of holding as many as four hundred ships ofwar; a small dry basin is annexed to it, having a passage flankedby two lofty columns, and leading into the great harbour of thearsenal. On three sides it is bounded by paved quays, twelve cubitswide, which are very little above the level of the water; the fourthside being formed by a strong mole. Behind the quays rises a wall ofrubble-work faced with Maltese stone, in which at regular intervalsare pierced the arched openings that form the entrances to the drydocks. The dry docks, as I had told Hannibal, are sixty in number;they are sixteen cubits high, but as they are only forty cubitslong by twelve broad, they will only hold small vessels like the_Cabiros_, larger ships being sent for repairs into the basin infront of the arsenal. The docks are covered in by a flat pavementwhich forms a second quay as wide as the lower one; upon this, overthe docks, and partitioned symmetrically with them, stands the rangeof magazines and storehouses, fourteen cubits high, of which the flatroofs form a third terrace, which is on a level with the city. Thewhole of these fine edifices are built upon cisterns.
On the innermost side of the harbour the lowest quay is broken in themiddle by the jetty which maintains the same level, and connects thequay with that of the Admiralty; the shore end of it breaks the lineof magazines, and is a wide open space, generally thronged with busycrowds; it terminates in a flight of paved steps that leads up tothe second and third terraces, from the uppermost of which, throughopenings in the embattled wall that encloses the whole, there isdirect access into the city.
The entrance to the Cothôn is defended on one side by the fortresscontaining the temple, and on the other by two more forts connectedby a curtain, and thes
e form the boundary of the mole. The channel,at the mouth, is considerably encroached upon by the towing-quays,which are so broad as only to allow a passage thirty cubits inwidth. The outer basin of the arsenal is defended in a similarmanner by two forts, one of them being at the other extremity ofthe mole; and other forts have been erected, one at each end of theinterior side of the Cothôn, the lower storey of one of them beingappropriated as another temple. A solid embattled wall starts fromthe mole, and after running round the arsenal and its outer basin,joins the city wall at the left-hand fort, while a correspondingwall, pierced by a lofty square opening, flanked by loop-holes,separates the basin from the arsenal. As a connoisseur in suchmatters, Hannibal pronounced the whole to be wonderfully welldevised, and expressed his conviction that, protected as they were bytheir forts and by the wall that was connected with the city wall,the Cothôn and arsenal were capable of resisting the most determinedassault.
The mole itself is a remarkably fine structure. It is built uponpiles, and extends the whole length from the arsenal-basin tothe entrance; it is no less than twenty-four cubits thick, andits massive substance of rubble is pierced by slanting aperturesor air-holes, the effect of which is to rebut the waves and verymaterially to diminish their shock. The noble work does great creditto Adonibal, under whose supervision it was constructed.
The Admiralty palace in the centre is a handsome edifice, consistingof a main building flanked by six circular towers and four bastions.It is a large irregular parallelogram, with one of the round towersat each exterior angle, and having an open court in the middle, uponwhich open all the apartments of the palace, and around which runsa gallery on pillars, supporting two tiers of arches. The two otherround towers are on the sides of the gateway on the north front ofthe palace, which opens on the naval suffect's private landing-place;there is likewise a gateway on the south front, which is protected bywalls pierced with loop-holes and built into the sides of the palace.It was through this gateway that I had myself passed into the outercourt-yard, and from which I had been conducted up one of the twointerior towers, of which only the tops were visible from the spotwhere we were now standing.
After leaving the temple, I conducted my party along the quay to theopen space at the end of the jetty, and then mounting the steps, wepassed through the arches in the enceinte of the Cothôn, thus makingour way towards the city. We passed the baths, and taking a turningto the left, wound our path upwards in the direction of the Bozrah;there, at the base of the plateau on which the citadel is built, isa large square, the common resort of the sailors; under the shadowof the trees was a number of stalls for the sale of food and drink;there was likewise music as well as amusements of various kinds; andat the farther end was a market for the disposal of wild animals,ivory, slaves, and whatever else was the produce of the interior ofLibya. For many hours of the day the place is thronged by people ofevery rank; and musicians, acrobats, men with monkeys, dancers ofboth sexes, hawkers of caps and sandals, singers, vendors of cakes,fruit, and cooling drinks, all press upon the sailor fresh fromhis voyage, and endeavour to attract for themselves a share of theshekels which he is sure to have brought on shore. It had not been myintention to come to this spot, but early association made me almostinvoluntarily turn my steps in this direction.
Everybody seemed bent on pleasure, and it was not long before I sawseveral groups of my own men laughing, shouting, singing and pushingalong in true sailor fashion, jostling their neighbours, and buyingwine and other drinks from every hawker that they met.
Hannibal was breaking out into loud admiration of the life and gaietyof the place, when Hanno drew his attention to a row of heads that,by order of the sacred suffect, had been ranged along the battlementsabove the gate of the Bozrah. Hannibal paid but little heed to theghastly sight, scarcely turning his eyes to look, but proceeded torhapsodise over the difficulty of scaling such fortifications, andto expatiate upon the impregnability of the position, until he wasrecalled by an exclamation of surprise made simultaneously by Bichri,Chamai, and the two women. A huge elephant was being led past by someLibyans.
A HUGE ELEPHANT WAS BEING LED PAST. _To face page 191_]
"What monster have we here?" cried Hannibal, equally astonished.
"Heavens!" exclaimed Bichri; "how many arrows would it take to slaysuch a brute as that?"
"It must be the Behemoth, of which we have heard so much," saidChamai, gazing in amazement.
I explained to them that the animal which had so much excited theirwonder was an elephant; that the great teeth projecting from its jawswere ivory; and that the rope-like appendage to its head, which itwielded so adroitly, was its trunk.
"What a line a herd of those creatures would make on a field ofbattle!" said Hannibal, his thoughts turning as usual to militarytactics; "I cannot imagine how any infantry could hold their groundagainst them; the only thing would be to open their ranks, let thebrutes pass through, and then attack them from behind."
"You are not the first soldier, Hannibal," I answered, "who has hadthe same idea. Some of these animals have already been tamed, andtrained to carry on their backs a tower full of archers. They arebrought from the banks of the Upper Bagradas, and from the forests inthe borders of Tritonis, a lake in the interior of Libya."
Besides the elephant, we saw a hippopotamus, or river horse, and acouple of rhinoceroses, with their big horns. The whole of these werea portion of the tribute (consisting of ivory, tame elephants, andother animals), which had been imposed by the sacred suffect upon thesubjugated Libyans on the Bagradas, and which happened now to be onits transit to the Bozrah.
A well-known voice, harsh and sonorous, at this instant caught myear, and turning round, I saw Jonah towering head and shouldersabove the crowd, and encircled by a group of my sailors, all in roarsof laughter.
"Now, at last," the trumpeter was saying, "I am where I wanted tobe! Now I am in the land of strange beasts! This is the first animalI ever saw in my life with two tails, one behind and one at the endof his nose! I wonder how many onions it would take to season thecarcase of such a brute as that! I wonder, too, how long it wouldtake a fellow to eat it!"
Leaving the sailors to their diversions, we bent our steps towardsthe market, where red-skinned Libyans, with aquiline noses and longplaited hair, were being offered for sale. Entering a tent whereprovisions of all kinds were sold, I ordered some refreshments formyself and my party, and a Syrian slave, who was serving instead ofthe owner, brought us two guinea-fowls, some stewed beans and onions,some olives, bread, and very fair Helbon wine. Hannibal seatedhimself near the stove to feast his eyes upon the wheat-and-honeycakes that were being fried upon the top.
We had not long been in the refreshment-booth before Himilco andGisgo made their appearance; they were followed by a dancing-girl andthree other girls, one playing the flute, and two the tambourine. Thedancing-girl was one of the western Moors; she had a copper-colouredcomplexion, and her hair twisted in coils like so many serpents; hernails and eyebrows were dyed red; her face was tattooed with threeparallel stripes in regular Mahouârin fashion; and on her wristsand ankles she wore rattles that clanked again as she moved. Theflute-player was a native of Barbary, with a fair skin and lighthair, parted over a high, narrow forehead. Both girls were dressedalike in gay skirts, open as high as the knees; in their hair theyhad bodkins, of which the heads were grotesque figures; theirnecklaces and girdles were of glass and enamel; and their earringswere great crosses. The tambourine-players were inconceivably ugly;one of them appeared to belong to the Rasennæ, and the other hadher face so daubed with red and blue paint, and made such hideousgrimaces, that it was idle to speculate upon her nationality.
Himilco was in high spirits; he came up to me and said that he andGisgo had been spending the morning in going from tavern to tavern,and that they had engaged the orchestra, which we now saw, toaccompany them for the day wherever they went, and to entertain themwhile they regaled themselves.
"Poor girls!" said Abigail; "are they obliged to per
form for all thesailors alike?"
"No, indeed," I replied; "they take good care never to perform unlessthey are well paid, and I suppose there is not much hardship in that."
The Libyan had now commenced her performance. We stayed for a fewminutes watching her contortions, and then left the tent.
The first person we met in the square was Hamilcar, carrying a monkey.
"Hamilcar with a monkey!" cried Hannibal. "Where did you get it? Thevery thing I want myself. I want to teach it to fight."
"I should like to have a monkey," said Hanno; "I would teach it todance."
Bichri said he was sure he could make it learn the use of the bow;and Chamai declared it would be capital fun to teach it to makegrimaces, and to mimic the mighty Jonah.
On all hands it was agreed that we must have a monkey on board the_Ashtoreth_.
Hamilcar told them that they would have to go down towards thetrade-harbour, through the square where the rich merchant Hamounresides; and at the corner of the street which leads to the temple ofMoloch they would find a dealer who had a whole cargo to dispose of.
"You will have a choice there," he said; "there are apes of allsorts, all sizes, and all colours. You may have them brown, or red,or grey, or black, or green; with tails or without tails; with longhair, short hair, or no hair; wild or tame; only ask for what youwant, and you will be sure to get it."
On our way down towards the trade-harbour we met Aminocles, quitedrunk. He was being dragged along by a couple of sailors, singing atthe top of their voices. He had learnt only too soon what was theuse, or abuse, of the silver shekels.
We had no trouble in finding the monkey-dealer's, and Hanno, who hadtaken it upon himself to select the most intelligent monkey he couldsee, chose one which appeared to meet with general approval.
"And now what are we to call it?" said Hannibal, who liked everythingto have a name.
"Don't you think," said Hanno, "that it has a very strikingresemblance to old Gebal, the judge at Sidon? Look at it now. Isn'tit like him when he rolls his eyes and scratches his poll, justbefore giving sentence?"
"Exactly!" said Hannibal, "the very facsimile! and Judge Gebal heshall be called!"
We now made our way with our new purchase down to the quay, whencea small boat carried us across the trade-harbour to the oppositeisland, on which are built the handsome residences of the morewealthy inhabitants of the city; for during the last ten years manyof the merchants have amassed considerable fortunes, and abandoningsea-life, have settled down in homes replete with luxury. We walkedto the extremity of the island, and after leaving the two women atthe noble bath-room at the top of the wall above the small basin inwhich the pleasure-boats of the rich inhabitants are kept, we betookourselves to the men's baths, and enjoyed the refreshment of a washand a shave. Rejoined by the women, we rowed across to the nearestpoint of the Cothôn, and paid a visit to the signal-tower; thence wewent on foot to the magnificent gardens that lie between the citadeland the lower town. Here I showed my party the temple of Achmon, andtook them to see the public fountains, the constant resort of bothsexes for lounging and gossip.
Night coming on, we returned to the _Ashtoreth_, on which the lampswere already lighted. Going on board, I found the slave of the manwho had entertained me during my former visit to Utica waiting forme with an invitation from his master to dine with him next day,and I sent a message that we should be pleased to avail ourselvesof his hospitality. During our day's absence my cook had prepared asumptuous repast, which we all thoroughly enjoyed.
The trumpets now sounded the signal for calling in the sailors. Theycame dropping in two or three at a time, all more or less tipsy, andsome of them inclined to be noisy; but so strong was their habit ofsubmission to discipline, that no sooner had they stepped on boardthan they relapsed into their wonted silence, and retired quietly totheir berths. Himilco was among the last to return, and to his creditI feel bound to record that he was quite able to walk across the deckwithout any assistance from his friend Gisgo.