AN AFFAIR WITH THE PHOCIANS.
Having entrusted Bodachmon with various commissions, and especially
with the duty of delivering a letter from myself to King Hiram, I
took my leave of him and his companions. In the afternoon, the breeze
being favourable, we resumed our voyage to Italy. In order to pass
between the islands of Cephallenia and Leucas, it was necessary to
deviate somewhat to the north, after which we should have to steer
nearly due east for the south of the great Iapygian gulf.
The _Cabiros_ was about ten stadia ahead, and consequently so far in
advance that she was lost to sight as she rounded the southern cape
of Cephallenia; but she had hardly disappeared beyond the headland,
when it struck me that I could hear her trumpet sounding signals of
distress. Having sounded an alarm, I put my men in readiness for any
emergency, and it was well I did so; for when we had rounded the
promontory far enough to get her within view, we saw her not only
surrounded by nearly twenty large boats of the Hellenes, but the
object towards which some fifty other boats were making their way
with the greatest speed.
[Illustration: UNAWARES IN AN AMBUSH.
_To face page 132._]
The fact was, that while we had been coasting along the east of
the island the enemy had made their way by the west, and thus the
_Cabiros_, rounding the headland, had found herself unawares in an
ambush, which, with her superior sailing power, it would have been
quite easy to escape if there had been any previous warning. As it
was, she was completely taken by surprise; and her tonnage being too
light to allow her to carry a copper beak for attack, she could only
avoid being boarded by the expedient of rapidly making her way round
and round in a circle.
There was not a moment to be lost. The _Dagon_ put on all speed and
made her way direct towards the promiscuous cluster of boats that
was coming up beyond, whilst I hastened to secure the rescue of the
imperilled _Cabiros_.
[Illustration]
The antagonists with which the _Dagon_ had to contend did not appear
to be of a very formidable character. A very cursory glance at the
unmartial appearance of most of the crews, and at the cargoes,
which consisted mainly of agricultural produce and implements, made
it evident that we had come into collision with some convoy of
emigrants. Hannibal had manifestly come to the same conclusion that
there was nothing to cause him any alarm for I noticed that after
having given his men a sign that there was no occasion to draw their
bows, he made a considerable sweep to leeward, and then dashed
furiously in upon the crowded craft.
But my more serious attention was demanded in another quarter. The
adversaries that I had to face were less numerous, but far more
formidable, being all armed men. It was in vain that I hurried
forward with all the speed at my command; before I could get within
two stadia of the _Cabiros_ she was already boarded, and the deck
of the gallant little ship was becoming the scene of a desperate
struggle. From the midst of a whirl of lances I could distinguish
Hamilcar, protecting himself with his shield in one hand, and dealing
tremendous blows with his sword in the other; whilst Gisgo stood
with his back supported by the top of the poop, and had just raised
the battle-axe with which he had cloven the skull of one of his
assailants. To prevent us from rendering any assistance, five or
six large boats advanced towards us to obstruct our progress, and
I could hear the shrill voices of the warriors on board chanting
their exciting war-cry, "Io Pœan! Io Pœan!" A fine-built man,
who seemed to be chief in command, was standing at the prow of the
highest boat; he had a crested helmet; his shield and greaves were
faced with copper, and he was brandishing his long lance like a
maniac. I was about to point him out to Bichri, but he, ever on
the alert, was already upon one knee with his arrow to his bow,
watching his opportunity, and no sooner were we within range than the
bowstring was up to his ear, the arrow whizzed through the air, and
the chief, throwing both hands aloft, fell head foremost into the
water.
"Now, men, now's your time!" I shouted; "down upon the savages! Down
upon them! Quick!"
With a tremendous spurt, the _Ashtoreth_ dashed violently into the
boat, which sank instantly in an eddy of foam, our magnificent
success setting us at liberty to concentrate our attention upon
another boat which was harassing us on the right.
In their eagerness to be ready to climb up into our ship the crew
of this boat had inconsiderately crowded altogether to one side.
Knowing the unscientific build of the Hellenic boats, and how easily
they are overturned when heavily laden, I tacked round suddenly to
the opposite side, and putting on full speed, capsized it without the
slightest difficulty.
But the need, meanwhile, was becoming more and more urgent that we
should reach the _Cabiros_, although she was holding out with a
vigorous defence. I had to manœuvre by taking a long semicircular
sweep to get beyond the reach of the boats around me, but the delay
had its advantage in giving Hannibal opportunity to arrange his men.
He very judiciously placed the archers in the stern, and divided
his remaining force into two companies; one of them under his own
leadership to be prepared to follow him on to the deck of the
_Cabiros_, the other to remain and protect their own ship from being
boarded.
About the _Dagon_ I had little or no anxiety. I could see that she
was not only holding her own, but that by dashing backwards and
forwards amongst the medley of boats around her, she was crushing
or sinking all that she came athwart, and by discharging volleys of
arrows and pots of combustibles, she succeeded in distressing the
men on board to such a degree that we could hear their howlings of
mingled rage and dismay.
Hannibal's instructions to his soldiers were very brief; telling
those whom he left behind that they were to obey Chamai's orders, and
that he trusted them to do their duty, he turned to those under his
own command, and said:
"Soldiers! the fight before you is a fight hand-to-hand; no room for
lances! Draw your swords, stand ready at the prow!"
I gave orders to the rowers to pull steadily ahead; but they had
scarcely laid themselves out to their work, when we fouled two of
the boats which had detached themselves from the others, and were
endeavouring to get alongside of us.
"Quick! to the engines!" I cried; "and, archers, draw your bows!"
In an instant Bichri's men were at the scorpions, and a perfect
torrent of stones, arrows, and combustibles, fell on either hand.
Hannibal's men did not stir from their attitude of readiness, and
Chamai kept his detachment grouped close around the mast, abiding
the time for a charge to be ordered. Bichri's party laid aside their
bows, and drew their knives and swords; and Jonah, laying his trumpet
on the deck, armed himself with the ponderous handspike usually
employed for heaving the anchor, and which two ordinary men could
scarcely carry.
"Come on, Dodanim!" he shouted; "if you can afford a calf for a
little shaking, perhaps you will pay better still if I lay this rod
across your shoulders. I should like a few bullocks and a good skin
of wine. I am quite ready to begin pounding away, like Samson at the
mill."
The time for action had come, and I gave the word of command to push
ahead, straight at the foe. A dash and a crash! and cries of mingled
wrath and consternation rose from beneath our prow as it made its
way in a vortex of foam. We rushed past the first boat, leaving it
hopelessly far astern; we disabled a second that was designing an
attack upon our starboard, and we capsized a third that was coming
on our left; and when our men drew breath after their paroxysm of
exertion we were within half a bowshot of the _Cabiros_. So close
we were, that I could see Hamilcar with his head all bleeding, and
Gisgo, with dishevelled hair, laying about him desperately with his
hatchet, whilst a dozen sailors who had retreated to the stern, were
making a vain effort to repel the invaders, who continued to make
their way on board.
"Help! Mago, help!" shouted Hamilcar, imploringly, as he saw us
drawing near.
"Cheer up, mate!" I replied; "we shall soon be with you."
I made a rapid survey of our position, and having instructed the
helmsman to bear up hard to starboard, I called to the oarsmen:
"Now, men, once again, a good strong pull with might and main; then
ship your oars, and we shall be right alongside!"
So vehemently did they put forth their strength that our prow was
lifted high above the flood, and the impetus given to our speed was
so great that another of the opposing boats was cut clean in two.
In another minute we had gained the side of the _Cabiros_. Hannibal
seized a rope and sprang upon the deck; and followed by his men was
quickly in the midst of the mortal struggle.
I had no time to watch the issue of their intrepid venture. They had
hardly left our deck when I was startled by the urgent voice of Hanno:
"Look, captain! they have us now!"
And turning round I was face to face with a throng of the Hellenes,
who had not only brought their boats into close quarters with the
_Ashtoreth_, but had forced their way on to her stern. Into the
breast of the foremost man, who was rushing towards me with uplifted
lance, I thrust my sword well-nigh to its hilt; and Hanno showed how
well he had profited by the fencing lessons he had had on board; he
parried a blow with his left hand, and almost in the same instant
felled an opponent by driving his weapon into his shoulder with his
right. Sometimes bending himself down, sometimes rearing himself
to his fullest height, Chamai wielded his sword with the most
extraordinary dexterity: three men set upon him at once; one of them
soon reeled and fell heavily at his feet; a second, grasping his
sides in agony, was seen to stagger back amongst his comrades; whilst
the other, putting his head between his hands, cowered down to the
ground, the blood trickling through his fingers.
Bichri also, single-handed, had to engage quite a little group of
antagonists. It seemed a desperate fray; but, strange to tell, he got
the better of them all, and retired triumphant, his blood-stained
sword in one hand, his dagger in the other. Nor did good fortune fail
Himilco; closely pressed as he was by his adversary, he succeeded in
catching him by the throat, and, holding him back firmly against the
mast, he thrust his sword into his heart.
But for rendering effective service no one surpassed the redoubtable
Jonah. Such wholesale slaughter was never seen. Skulls were
fractured; limbs smashed; ribs broken in; back-bones, breast-bones,
collar-bones, shoulder-blades contused, crushed, splintered, as
the ponderous handspike, swinging backwards, forwards, upwards,
downwards, made the very air reverberate.
"Room, I want! give me room!" roared the giant, as he brandished his
enormous weapon; "bring me bullocks, sheep, calves, cakes, wine,
anything, and I'll earn my dinner honestly." And striking out more
furiously than ever he roared again, "Room, room! elbow-room, I say!"
Three or four of the Hellenes now made a simultaneous attack upon
myself. I succeeded in slashing the face of one of them who had
knocked my shield out of my hand with his lance, but in a moment
I felt myself grasped round the throat by another, who forced me
backward, and was about to cut off my head with his scimitar, when
Hanno caught him by the wrist and plunged his sword beneath his
armpit. The two of them came down heavily upon me, and we were all
three rolling on the deck together; a third man darted forward, and
I could see the gleam of a lance as it pointed to Hanno's breast,
when Chamai rushed to the rescue, and dealing a powerful blow, sent
the fellow staggering back. Hanno rose, and placing his foot upon
the dead man's neck found it taxed all his strength to withdraw
the sword with which he had slain him. As I regained my footing, I
caught sight of Chryseis standing near her cabin-door; her hands were
tightly clasped, and her face was deadly pale, but she had not lost
her self-command. Abigail was close beside her; like a true daughter
of Judah, she had seized a sword which she was pointing defiantly
against a soldier who had lost his lance, and who, as though scared
at being challenged by a woman, was cowering behind his shield.
Chamai's keen eye soon discerned what was passing, and followed by
Hanno, he rushed like a wild bull through the crush, knocking down
friends and foes alike, as he made his way to the protection of the
women.
Meanwhile Himilco and fifteen of the sailors, cutlass and hatchet
in hand, forced their way along and grouped themselves close to me.
Telling them that now was their chance, I led them forwards and
succeeded in effectually clearing the whole fore-ship, the Hellenes
stumbling over ropes and rigging in their precipitous retreat. On
reaching the prow I turned, to make the reassuring discovery that
Hanno and Chamai had been equally successful in clearing the stern,
and that they were closing in towards Bichri and his men at the mast,
where they were engaged in repelling a fresh contingent of the enemy.
Above the mass of heads and shields I could see Jonah's handspike
swinging to and fro, and above the confusion of cries and yells I
could hear his sonorous shout of defiance:
"Come on, Dodanim! I am your man. Let me earn my dinner. Come on!
Come on!"
With such determination did Bichri and his supporters beat back the
assailants, that ere long the middle deck was as clear as prow and
stern, and there rose a frantic cheer of triumph. The _Ashtoreth_ was
free from her enemies.
The cry of success was followed by a shout of welcome to the _Dagon_,
which at that moment came dashing up at a prodigious speed, sinking a
boat as it approached, and discharging a volley of arrows amongst the
boats that still persevered in hanging around us.
I now signalled to my helmsman to hold himself ready, and sent my
rowers down the hatchways to their oars; they found some Hellenes
skulking in the hold, but they soon despatched them; and it was
the work of only a few minutes to get clear of the remnant of the
attacking boats, and to bring the _Ashtoreth_ sharply round until
she was in a position on one side of the _Cabiros_ corresponding
with that of the _Dagon_ on the other. Hannibal had returned to us,
and gave us whatever assistance was in his power. Yet another boat
was sunk; and the crews of two more, overwhelmed in terror, leaped
overboard and swam after the fugitives, who, under a shower of
arrows, were making their way off.
No longer called upon to act upon the defensive, we next turned our
attention to the main company of the convoys, of which three already
had been abandoned by their crews and were drifting helplessly on
the waves. As we were steering towards them, I chanced to look
astern, and to my surprise I found that the boat we had in tow was
crowded with armed men, who had evidently got into it with the design
of boarding us, and had not been able to make their escape with
their comrades. I made Bichri come on to the poop with a party of
his bowmen, and he succeeded in hitting one of the Hellenes in the
shoulder just as he was about to sever the tow-rope with his scimitar.
"Lay down your arms!" I shouted in Ionian.
But the man was not daunted. He renewed his effort to cut the rope
asunder, an attempt in which he was foiled by receiving a second
arrow in his throat.
"Shall we shoot them all?" asked Bichri.
"No; wait a bit!" I said; "they look sturdy fellows, and ought to
fetch a good price at Carthage; we may as well do an extra stroke of
business."
Again I called to them to lay down their arms and to surrender, but
they made no sign of submission. One of them hurled his lance at me,
just grazing my shoulder; but another, apparently convinced that the
case was desperate, jumped overboard, and as we were a long distance
out at sea, was probably drowned.
[Illustration: HANNO AND CHRYSEIS BESPEAK THEIR ATTENTION.
_To face page 140._]
Fifteen men still remained, and I made Hanno and Chryseis bespeak
their attention in their own language, and thus succeeded in
bringing them to terms. Hanno, by my instruction, promised them that
their lives should be spared, and that they should be conveyed to a
land where they might earn good pay as soldiers of a king, and have
good treatment besides. After a while they yielded, and laid down
their arms, which were immediately hauled up on deck; and then a rope
was thrown down, and one by one the men, crestfallen and agitated,
climbed on board.
The remainder of our assailants were now flying in complete disorder.
Night was coming on, and to them a voyage in the darkness was
scarcely less terrible than a second battle. Although some of the
boats were quite uninjured, we could see that several of them had
sustained so much damage that they could hardly make any progress,
and that more than one had been set on fire by the combustibles
discharged by the _Dagon_. From the distant shore we could hear the
lamentations of the women bewailing the fate of the drowned and slain.
Hamilcar and Hasdrubal obtained my leave to go in pursuit of the
fugitives, and I told off thirty men under Bichri and Chamai to go
with them. While they were absent I sent some men to take in tow the
two boats that had been abandoned by their crews, and found that they
contained a number of dead bodies, the whole of which I had stripped
and thrown into the sea. The two ships returned very shortly,
bringing three prizes and twenty-two prisoners.
I deferred making any detailed examination of the spoils until the
morrow, and tired as we were, I should have been glad of repose for
myself and my men; but it was absolutely necessary that we should at
once wash the decks, collect the scattered armour, and do something
to repair the disorder inevitable after so hard a conflict. The
corpses of the Hellenes who had been killed and about twelve of the
wounded were thrown overboard. Of our own men, twenty-three had been
wounded and eleven killed; the bodies of these were wrapped in cloth
and laid side by side on the fore-deck, that they might be committed
to the sea in the morning, with the rites and invocations of their
religion.
As the _Dagon_ had sustained less injury than any of our ships, I had
all the captives, including my own fifteen, sent on board her and
fastened securely in the hold.
Our losses were very serious. The _Cabiros_ had eight killed and ten
wounded; the _Dagon_, three killed and seven wounded; making, with
the casualties on my own ship, a total of twenty-three dead, and
forty wounded. Here was a melancholy proof that we had been matched
with no mean opponents; and to confess the truth, their courage and
energy were such, that if they had had any practical notion of naval
tactics, and if their boats had been more manageable, and their
weapons not so ill-adapted for this character of warfare, our chances
of success would have been very small.
Both Hamilcar and Gisgo had sustained serious though by no means
dangerous wounds. Hanno had a gash across his shoulder, Chamai
a lance-cut in the arm, and Himilco a large bruise on the head,
but neither of the three was incapacitated from going on with his
accustomed duty. Our senior seaman, Hadlai, was among the killed.
Jonah had five lance-wounds, which he regarded as mere scratches; and
after he had smeared himself all over with ointment, he declared that
the day's proceedings had not only given him a tremendous appetite,
but had made him desperately thirsty.
It was impossible accurately to estimate the losses of the Hellenes;
but they must have amounted to several hundred; thirty-six dead
bodies had been found lying on the deck of the _Ashtoreth_ alone, and
the _Cabiros_ had thrown overboard thirty-eight more.
We contrived to get some brief repose before morning, but it was
still quite early when under a fair east wind we started again on our
way to Italy. The eight prizes were all taken in tow, and in order
to make our progress more easy I sent a few men into each of them,
either to put up a sail or to work them with oars.
Our ships were hung with black in honour of the dead, and the usual
invocations were made to the gods of the departed. There were several
bullocks amongst the booty we had captured, and I ordered one of
them to be hoisted upon each vessel and slain for a sacrifice. On
board the _Ashtoreth_, Hanno recited the prescribed petitions to
the goddess, and after the slaughter of our beast, the fat and a
portion of the flesh were set apart to be smoked and dried, the
rest being allotted to the funeral feast. The children of Israel,
meanwhile, after their own fashion, were sacrificing a sheep to their
God, El-Adonai. As soon as the sacrifices were finished, I made a
distribution of wine; but before this was allowed to be tasted, the
trumpets were sounded, and the bodies of the dead solemnly committed
to the deep. The black hangings were then removed; and we gathered
together for the general repast. Every one's spirits revived under
the influence of food and drink. Weariness and wounds were soon
forgotten, and the men, one to the other, were cheerfully recounting
their own experiences of the fight.
"Hannibal," I said, "you, as captain of the guard, and your men
under you, have acquitted yourselves admirably and, according to the
covenants of the charter-party, you are entitled to a share of the
spoil."
"For my part," said Hannibal, "I am quite ready to give up all
further claim if I can only have a new set of armour; my cuirass is
terribly battered about, and my helmet has lost both crest and plume.
I have no doubt there is a good suit of Lydian armour on board; let
me have that and I shall ask no more."
"With all my heart!" I answered: "and in addition I shall give you a
flask of fine Sareptan wine."
"Aye, a good thought!" said Himilco; "I, also, shall be only too
happy to dispose of my claim for three skins of Berytos."
Chamai maintained that he must be entitled at least to a bracelet and
a pair of Syrian earrings. "Give them to Abigail," he said, "and I
will cry quits for my share."
"And now, sir scribe," I asked, turning to Hanno, "what shall I do
for you? There are sheep, oxen, armour, wines at your command."
"By Ashtoreth!" he answered; "there is nothing I want. Take my
portion and distribute it amongst the wounded; they need it more than
I."
Struck by this generosity, Hannibal and Chamai shook him heartily by
the hand, and Chryseis showed her approval by the most beaming of
smiles.
One of the pilots came to me, as a deputation from the crew, and
requested that I would sell the whole booty in a lump at the first
opportunity, and let them have their shares in money: meanwhile they
hoped that I should not object to make them an advance of what they
might expect. The fact was that the men knew that Phœnician coin
was current at Utica, Carthage and Gades, and reckoned upon going
ashore and enjoying themselves at all these ports. I saw no reason
for refusing the men what they wanted, and accordingly instructed
Hanno to draw up a list of all the plunder, to every article of which
I appended the price in shekels which I was willing to pay for it.
The priced catalogue was affixed to the mast of each ship for the
sailors' inspection, and as it gave universal satisfaction, I paid
them the amount to which they were severally entitled that very
evening.
Chryseis and Abigail spent the night in administering to the wants of
the wounded.
Next morning, I sent for the prisoners. They had some rations
served out to them, and were brought from the _Dagon_ to the
_Ashtoreth_, looking downhearted and full of mistrust. I enlisted
the services of Hanno as interpreter, and having selected the most
intelligent-looking of the group, had him questioned as to his
nationality and his home.
"We are Hellenes," he said, "of the tribe of the Phocians. We have no
regular home, but we have been in the country round Mount Parnassus.
We left our haunts there at the bidding of Apollo, who told us
to depart, and to seek for other settlements. With our wives and
children we were on our way to join our kinsmen, the Ionians, either
in Epirus or in Corcyra. We were hoping there to find a happy and a
settled residence."
[Illustration]
Great tears stood in his eyes, and his companions in adversity could
not suppress their sobs. I assured him that it was far from my wish
to aggravate their misery, and that I really pitied them in their
misfortune, so that they need not fear any harsh treatment at my
hands.
"If we had been meeting you in regular warfare," he continued,
"we should have fought on to the very death, and would have borne
disaster and defeat without a murmur; but now who shall blame us, if
we weep for our wives and dear ones perished in the waves?"
"But why, then, did you attack us?" I inquired.
"Listen, and you shall hear," he answered: "three days ago, we
fell in with a great Phœnician ship; it was not alone, but was
accompanied by several others. The captain hailed us and asked us to
sell him some provisions: regarding the Phœnicians as all divine,
we were all most ready to oblige them; we sent them oxen, fruit and
corn; my own poor son and many others went besides; but no sooner
had they got the supplies on board, than the pirates hoisted sail
and made away. We had no remedy; there was no hope of recovering our
people or our property; our boats cannot compete with yours in speed.
In our fury we swore that we would be avenged, and vowed we would
attack the first Phœnicians we should see. You were the first. Now
you know all."
"Bodmilcar! by all the gods!" ejaculated Himilco. "It is Bodmilcar
that has involved us in this trouble. To him we owe the death of our
brave Hadlai, and the loss of all our men! Ten thousand curses on
him! Moloch's bitterest curse be on his head!"
Anxious to learn whether this suspicion was well founded, I made
inquiry as to what the Phœnician ship was like, and not only
ascertained that it was large and round and high, but that the men
on board were quite different to the men upon the smaller boats, who
had brown faces, and wore dresses of another shape. These boats, too,
carried the figure of a goose's head at every prow.
"The _Melkarth_ and the Egyptians beyond a doubt!" I cried.
The Phocian looked astonished at my agitation.
I soon recovered my composure, and asked whether there were any men
amongst the captives upon whose courage and discretion he could rely.
He informed me that his own brother was one, and that five of the
others were his cousins; he added, moreover, that the wife of one of
the cousins had been carried off on board the Phœnician ship.
"Call them forward!" I said; and in a few minutes six young men, all
apparently strong and active, stood before me.
"You would like to see your son again?"
"My son!" echoed the man. "Restore my son, and you shall be counted
divine indeed."
I informed him that the Phœnician who had borne him off was my
avowed and mortal enemy. "But serve me with fidelity," I added, "and
you may recover your son even yet."
Turning to Hannibal, I ordered him to provide the seven men with
kitonets and arms, and to take them into his own force; the remainder
I sent to assist the rowers. It would be easy, I knew, to dispose of
them all at Utica or Carthage, where there is a constant demand both
for oarsmen and for mercenaries.
The seven Phocians kissed my hands, and wept for joy; the remainder
went below with lighter hearts than they had brought on board.