That evening Beric had a long talk with Aska and four or five
men from the coast accustomed to the building of large boats. The
matter would be easy enough, they said, as the boats would not be
required to withstand the strain of the sea, and needed only to be
put together with flat bottoms and sides. With so large a number
of men they could hew down trees of suitable size, and thin them
down until they obtained a plank from each. They would then be
fastened together by strong pegs and dried moss driven in between
the crevices. Pitch, however, would be required to stop up the
seams, and of this they had none.
"Then," Beric said, "we must make some pitch. There is no great
difficulty about that. There are plenty of fir trees growing near
the edges of the swamps, and from the roots of these we can get
tar."
The men were all acquainted with the process, which was a simple
one. A deep hole was dug in the ground. The bottom of this was
lined with clay, hollowed out into a sort of bowl. The hole was then
filled with the roots of fir closely packed together. When it was
full a fire was lit above it. As soon as this had made its way
down earth was piled over it and beaten down hard, a small orifice
being left in the centre. In this way the wood was slowly converted
into charcoal, and the resin and tar, as they oosed out under the
heat, trickled down into the bowl of clay at the bottom. As little
or no smoke escaped after the fire was first lighted, the work
could be carried on without fear of attracting the attention of
any bodies of the enemy who might be searching the country.
Two months passed. By the end of that time the intrenchment on the
river bank had been made so strong that it could resist any attack
save by a very large body of men. That on the island had also been
completed, and strong banks thrown up at the only three points
where a landing could be effected from boats.
The swamps had been thoroughly explored in the neighbourhood, and
another island discovered, and on this three hundred men had been
established, while four hundred remained on the great island, and
as many in the camp on the river. There were over a thousand women
and children distributed among the three stations. Three hundred
men had laboured incessantly at the boats, and these were now
finished. While all this work had been going on considerable numbers
of fish and wildfowl had been obtained by barter from the Fenmen,
with whom they had before had dealings, and from other communities
living among the swamps to the north. Many of the Iceni, who came
from the marshy districts of the eastern rivers, were also accustomed
to fishing and fowling, and, as soon as the work on the defences
was finished and the tortuous channels through the swamps became
known to them, they began to lay nets, woven by the women, across
the streams, and to make decoys and snares of all sorts for the
wildfowl.
The framework for many coracles had been woven of withies by
the women, and the skins of all the cattle killed were utilized
as coverings, so that by the end of the two months they had quite
a fleet of little craft of this kind. As fast as the larger boats
were finished they were used for carrying cattle to the islands,
and a large quantity of swine were also taken over.
During this time the Romans had traversed the whole country of the
Iceni. The hamlets were fired, and all persons who fell into their
hands put to death; but the number of these was comparatively small,
as the greater part of the population had either moved north or
taken to the woods, which were so extensive that comparatively few
of the fugitives were killed by the search parties of the Romans.
From the few prisoners that the Romans took they heard reports
that many of the Iceni had taken refuge in the swamps, and several
strong bodies had moved along the edge of the marsh country without
attempting to penetrate it.
Aska and Beric had agreed that so long as they were undisturbed they
would remain quiet, confining themselves to their borders, except
when they sent parties to search for cattle in the woods or to
gather up grain that might have escaped destruction in the hamlets,
and that they would avoid any collision with the Romans until their
present vigilance abated or they attempted to plant settlers in
their neighbourhood.
Circumstances, however, defeated this intention. They learned from
the Fenmen that numerous fugitives had taken refuge in the southern
swamps, and that these sallying out had fallen upon parties of
Romans near Huntingdon, and had cut them to pieces. The Romans had
in consequence sent a considerable force to avenge this attack.
These had penetrated some distance into the swamps, but had there
been attacked and driven back with much slaughter. But a fortnight
later a legion had marched to Huntingdon, and crossing the river
there had established a camp opposite, which they called Godmancastra,
and, having collected a number of natives from the west, were
engaged in building boats in which they intended to penetrate the
swamp country and root out the fugitives.
"It was sure to come sooner or later," Aska said to Beric. "Nor
should we wish it otherwise. We came here not to pass our lives as
lurking fugitives, but to gather a force and avenge ourselves on
the Romans. If you like I will go up the river and see our friends
there, and ascertain their strength and means of resistance. Would
it be well, think you, to tell them of our strong place here and
offer to send our boats to bring them down, so that we may make a
great stand here?"
"No, I think not," Beric said. "Nothing would suit the Romans better
than to catch us all together, so as to destroy us at one blow. We
know that in the west they stormed the intrenchments of Cassivellaunus,
and that no native fort has ever withstood their assault. I should
say that it ought to be a war of small fights. We should attack
them constantly, enticing them into the deepest parts of the morass,
and falling upon them at spots where our activity will avail against
their heavily weighted men. We should pour volleys of arrows into
their boats as they pass along through the narrow creeks, show
ourselves at points where the ground is firm enough for them to
land, and then falling back to deep morasses tempt them to pursue
us there, and then turn upon them. We should give them no rest night
or day, and wear them out with constant fighting and watching. The
fens are broad and long, stretching from Huntingdon to the sea;
and if they are contested foot by foot, we may tire out even the
power of Rome."
"You are right, Beric; but at any rate it will be well to see how
our brethren are prepared. They may have no boats, and may urgently
need help."
"I quite agree with you, and I think it would be as well for you
to go. You could offer to bring all their women and children to our
islands here, and then we would send down a strong force to help
them. We should begin to contest strongly the Roman advance from
the very first."
Accordingly Aska started up the Ouse in one of the large boats with
twelve men to pole it along, and three days afterwards returned
with the news that there were some two thousand men with twice that
many women and children scattered among the upper swamps.
"They have only a few small boats," he said, "and are in sore
straits for provisions. They drove at first a good many cattle
in with them, but most of these were lost in the morasses, and as
there have been bodies of horse moving about near Huntingdon, they
have not been able to venture out as we have done to drive in more."
"Have they any chief with them?" Beric asked.
"None of any importance. All the men are fugitives from the battle,
who were joined on their way north by the women of the villages.
They are broken up into groups, and have no leader to form any
general plan. I spoke to the principal men among them, and told
them that we had strongly fortified several places here, had built
a fleet of boats, and were prepared for warfare; they will all
gladly accept you as their leader. They urgently prayed that we
would send our boats down for the women and children, and I promised
them that you would do so, and would also send down some provisions
for the fighting men."
The next morning the twenty large boats, each carrying thirty men
and a supply of meat and grain, started up the river, Beric himself
going with them, and taking Boduoc as his lieutenant. Aska remained
in command at the river fort, where the force was maintained at
its full strength, the boat party being drawn entirely from the two
islands. Four miles below Huntingdon they landed at a spot where
the greater part of the Iceni there were gathered. Fires were at
once lighted, and a portion of the meat cooked, for the fugitives
were weak with hunger. As soon as this was satisfied, orders were
issued for half the women and children to be brought in.
These were crowded into the boats, which, in charge of four men in
each, then dropped down the stream, Beric having given orders that
the boats were to return as soon as the women were landed on the
island. He spent the next two days in traversing the swamps in a
coracle, ascertaining where there was firm ground, and where the
morasses were impassable. He learned all the particulars he could
gather about the exact position of the Roman camp, and the spot
where the boats were being constructed--the Iceni were already
familiar with several paths leading out of the morasses in that
neighbourhood--and then drew out a plan for an attack upon the
Romans.
He had brought with him half the Sarci who had retired with him
from the battle. These he would himself command. A force of four
hundred men, led by Boduoc, were to travel by different paths
through the swamp; they were then to unite and to march round the
Roman camp, and attack it suddenly on three sides at once.
The camp was in the form of a horseshoe, and its ends resting on
the river, and it was here that the boats were being built. Beric
himself with his own hundred men and fifty others were to embark
in four boats. As soon as they were fairly beyond the swamp, they
were to land on the Huntingdon side, and to tow their boats along
until within two or three hundred yards of the Roman camp, when
they were to await the sound of Boduoc's horn. Boduoc's instructions
were that he was to attack the camp fiercely on all sides. The Roman
sentries were known to be so vigilant that there was but slight
prospect of his entering the camp by surprise, or of his being
able to scale the palisades at the top of the bank of earth. The
attack, however, was to be made as if in earnest, and was to be
maintained until Beric's horn gave the signal for them to draw off,
when they were to break up into parties as before, and to retire
into the heart of the swamp by the paths by which they had left
it.
The most absolute silence was to be observed until the challenge
of the Roman sentries showed that they were discovered, when they
were to raise their war shouts to the utmost so as to alarm and
confuse the enemy.
The night was a dark one and a strong wind was blowing, so that
Beric's party reached their station unheard by the sentries on
the walls of the camp. It was an hour before they heard a distant
shout, followed instantly by the winding of a horn, and the loud
war cry of the Iceni. At the same moment the trumpets in the Roman
intrenchments sounded, and immediately a tumult of confused shouting
arose around and within the camp. Beric remained quiet for five
minutes till the roar of battle was at its highest, and he knew
that the attention of the Romans would be entirely occupied with
the attack. Then the boats were again towed along until opposite
the centre of the horseshoe; the men took their places in them
again and poled them across the river.
The fifty men who accompanied the Sarci carried bundles of rushes
dipped in pitch, and in each boat were burning brands which had been
covered with raw hides to prevent the light being seen. They were
nearly across the river when some sentries there, whose attention
had hitherto been directed entirely to the walls, suddenly shouted
an alarm. As soon as the boats touched the shore, Beric and his
men leapt out, passed through the half built boats and the piles
of timber collected beside them, and formed up to repel an attack.
At the same moment the others lighted their bundles of rushes at the
brands, and jumping ashore set fire to the boats and wood piles.
Astonished at this outburst of flame within their camp, while
engaged in defending the walls from the desperate attacks of the
Iceni, the Romans hesitated, and then some of them came running
down to meet the unexpected attack.
But the Sarci had already pressed quickly on, followed by some of
the torch bearers, and were in the midst of the Roman tents before
the legionaries gathered in sufficient force to meet them. The
torches were applied to the tents, and fanned by the breeze, the
flames spread rapidly from one to another. Beric blew the signal
for retreat, and his men in a solid body, with their spears outward,
fell back. The Romans, as they arrived at the spot, rushed furiously
upon them; but discipline was this time on the side of the Sarci,
who beat off all attacks till they reached the river bank. Then in
good order they took their places in the boats, Beric with a small
body covering the movement till the last; then they made a rush
to the boats; the men, standing with their poles ready, instantly
pushed the craft into the stream, and in two minutes they were safe
on the other side.
The boats and piles of timber were already blazing fiercely, while
the Roman camp, in the centre of the intrenchment, was in a mass of
flames, lighting up the helmets and armour of the soldiers ranged
along the wall, and engaged in repelling the attacks of the Iceni.
As soon as the Sarci were across, they leapt ashore and towed the
boat along by the bank. A few arrows fell among them, but as soon
as they had pushed off from the shore most of the Romans had run
back to aid in the defence of the walls. Beric's horn now gave the
signal that the work was done, and in a short time the shouts of
the Iceni began to subside, the din of the battle grew fainter,
and in a few minutes all was quiet round the Roman camp.
There was great rejoicing when the parties of the Iceni met again
in the swamp. They had struck a blow that would greatly inconvenience
the Romans for some time, would retard their attack, and show them
that the spirit of the Britons was still high. The loss of the
Iceni had been very small, only some five or six of Beric's party
had fallen, and twenty or thirty of the assailants of the wall; they
believed that the Romans had suffered much more, for they could be
seen above their defences by the light of the flames behind them,
while the Iceni were in darkness. Thus the darts and javelins of
the defenders had been cast almost at random, while they themselves
had been conspicuous marks for the missiles of the assailants.
In Beric's eyes the most important point of the encounter was
that it had given confidence to the fugitives, had taught them the
advantage of fighting with a plan, and of acting methodically and
in order. There was a consultation next morning. Beric pointed out
to the leaders that although it was necessary sometimes with an
important object in view to take the offensive, they must as a rule
stand on the defensive, and depend upon the depth of their morasses
and their knowledge of the paths across them to baffle the attempts
of the Romans to penetrate.
"I should recommend," he said, "that you break up into parties of
fifteens and twenties, and scatter widely over the Fen country, and
yet be near enough to each other to hear the sound of the horn.
Each party must learn every foot of the ground and water in the
neighbourhood round them. In that way you will be able to assemble
when you hear the signal announcing the coming of the Romans, you
will know the paths by which you can attack or retreat, and the
spots where you can make your way across, but where the Romans
cannot follow you. Each party must earn its sustenance by fishing
and fowling; and in making up your parties, there should be two or
three men in each accustomed to this work. Each party must provide
itself with coracles; I will send up a boat load of hides. Beyond
that you must search for cattle and swine in the woods, when
by sending spies on shore you find there are no parties of Romans
about.
"The parties nearest to Huntingdon should be always vigilant, and
day and night keep men at the edge of the swamp to watch the doings
of the Romans, and should send notice to me every day or two as
to what the enemy are doing, and when they are likely to advance.
Should they come suddenly, remember that it is of no use to try
to oppose their passage down the river. Their boats will be far
stronger than ours, and we should but throw away our lives by fighting
them there. They may go right down to the sea if they please, but
directly they land or attempt to thrust their boats up the channels
through the swamp, then every foot must be contested. They must
be shot down from the bushes, enticed into swamps, and overwhelmed
with missiles. Let each man make himself a powerful bow and a great
sheath of arrows pointed with flints or flakes of stone, which must
be fetched from the dry land, although even without these they will
fly straight enough if shot from the bushes at a few yards' distance.
"Let the men practice with these, and remember that they must aim
at the legs of the Romans. It is useless to shoot at either shields
or armour. Besides, let each man make himself a spear, strong,
heavy, and fully eighteen feet long, with the point hardened in
the fire, and rely upon these rather than upon your swords to check
their progress. Whenever you find broad paths of firm ground across
the swamps, cut down trees and bushes to form stout barriers.
"Make friends with the Fenmen. Be liberal to them with gifts, and
do not attempt to plant parties near them, for this would disturb
their wildfowl and lead to jealousy and quarrels. However well you
may learn the swamps, they know them better, and were they hostile
might lead the Romans into our midst. In some parts you may not
find dry land on which to build huts; in that case choose spots
where the trees are stout, lash saplings between these and build
your huts upon them so as to be three or four feet above the wet
soil. Some of my people who know the swamps by the eastern rivers
tell me that this is the best way to avoid the fen fevers."
Having seen that everything was arranged, Beric and his party
returned to their camp. For some time the reports from the upper
river stated that the Romans were doing little beyond sending out
strong parties to cut timber. Then came the news that a whole legion
had arrived, and that small forts containing some two hundred men
each were being erected, three or four miles apart, on both sides
of the Fen.
"That shows that all resistance must have ceased elsewhere," Aska
said, "or they would never be able to spare so great a force as a
legion and a half against us. I suppose that these forts are being
built to prevent our obtaining cattle, and that they hope to starve
us out. They will hardly succeed in that, for the rivers and channels
swarm with fish, and now that winter is coming on they will abound
with wildfowl."
"I am afraid of the winter," Beric said, "for then they will be
able to traverse the swamps, where now they would sink over their
heads."
"Unless the frosts are very severe, Beric, the ground will not
harden much, for every foot is covered with trees and bushes. As
to grain we can do without it, but we shall be able to fetch some
at least down from the north. Indeed, it would need ten legions to
form a line along both sides of the Fen country right down to the
sea and to pen us in completely."
By this time the Iceni had become familiar with the channels through
the swamps for long distances from their fastness, and had even
established a trade with the people lying to the northwest of the
Fen country. They learnt that the Romans boasted they had well nigh
annihilated the Trinobantes and Iceni; but that towards the other
tribes that had taken part in the great rising they had shown more
leniency, though some of their principal towns had been destroyed
and the inhabitants put to the sword.
A month later a fleet of boats laden with Roman soldiers started
from Huntingdon and proceeded down the Ouse. Dead silence reigned
round them, and although they proceeded nearly to the sea they saw
no signs of a foe, and so turning they rowed back to Huntingdon.
But in their absence the Iceni had not been idle. The spies from the
swamps had discovered when the expedition was preparing to start,
and had found too that a strong body of troops was to march along
the edges of the swamps in order to cut off the Iceni should they
endeavour to make their escape.
The alarm had been sounded from post to post, and in accordance
with the orders of Beric the whole of the fighting men at once
began to move south, some in boats, some in their little coracles,
which were able to thread their way through the network of channels.
The night after the Romans started, the whole of the fighting force
of the Britons was gathered in the southern swamps, and two hours
before daybreak issued out. Some five hundred, led by Aska, followed
the western bank of the river towards Huntingdon, which had for the
time been converted into a Roman city, inhabited by the artisans
who had constructed the boats and the settlers who supplied the
army; it had been garrisoned by five hundred legionaries, of whom
three hundred had gone away in the boats.
The main body advanced against the Roman camp on the opposite bank,
in which, as their spies had learnt, three hundred men had been
left as a garrison. By Beric's orders a great number of ladders
had been constructed. As upon the previous occasion the camp was
surrounded before they advanced against it, and when the first
shout of a sentry showed that they were discovered Beric's horn gave
the signal, and with a mighty shout the Britons rushed on from all
sides. Dashing down the ditch, and climbing the steep bank behind
it the Iceni planted their ladders against the palisade, and swarming
over it poured into the camp before the Romans had time to gather
to oppose them. Beric had led his own band of two hundred trained
men against the point where the wall of the camp touched the river,
and as soon as they were over formed them up and led them in a
compact body against the Romans.
In spite of the suddenness of the attack, the discipline of the
legionaries was unshaken, and as soon as their officers found that
the walls were already lost they formed their men in a solid body
to resist the attack. Before Beric with his band reached the spot
the Romans were already engaged in a fierce struggle with the
Britons, who poured volleys of darts and arrows among them, and
desperately strove, sword in hand, to break their solid formation.
This they were unable to do, until Beric's band six deep with their
hedge of spears before them came up, and with a loud shout threw
themselves upon the Romans. The weight and impetus of the charge
was irresistible. The Roman cohort was broken, and a deadly hand
to hand struggle commenced. But here the numbers and the greatly
superior height and strength of the Britons were decisive, and
before many minutes had passed the last Roman had been cut down,
the scene of the battle being lighted up by the flames of Huntingdon.
A shout of triumph from the Britons announced that all resistance
had ceased. Beric at once blew his horn, and, as had been previously
arranged, four hundred of the island men immediately started under
Boduoc to oppose the garrison at the nearest fort, should they
meet these hastening to the assistance of their comrades. Then
a systematic search for plunder commenced. One of the storehouses
was emptied of its contents and fired, and by its light the arms
and armour of the Roman soldiers were collected, the huts and tents
rifled of everything of value, the storehouses emptied of their
stores of grain and provisions, and of the tools that had been used
for the building of boats. Everything that could be of use to the
defenders was taken, and fire was then applied to the buildings and
tents. Morning broke before this was accomplished, and laden down
with spoil the Iceni returned to their swamps, Boduoc's and Aska's
parties rejoining them there.
The former had met the Romans hurrying from the nearest fort to
aid the garrison of the camp. Beric's orders had been that Boduoc
was if possible to avoid a fight, as in the open the discipline of
the Romans would probably prevail over British valour. The Iceni,
therefore, set up a great shouting in front and in the rear of the
Romans, shooting their missiles among them, and being unable in the
dark to perceive the number of their assailants, and fearful that
they had fallen into an ambush, the Romans fell back to their fort.
Aska's party had also returned laden with plunder, and as soon as
the whole were united a division of this was made. The provisions,
clothing, and arms were divided equally among the men, while the
stores of rope, metal, canvas, and other articles that would be
useful to the community were set aside to be taken to the island.
Thither also the shields, armour, and helmets of the Roman soldiers
were to be conveyed, to be broken up and melted into spear and
arrow heads.
As the Roman boats returned two days later from their useless
passage down the river, they were astonished and enraged by outbursts
of mocking laughter from the tangle of bushes fringing the river.
Not a foe was to be seen, but for miles these sounds of derisive
laughter assailed them from both sides of the stream. The veterans
ground their teeth with rage, and would have rowed towards the
banks had not their officers, believing that it was the intention
of the Britons to induce them to land, and then to lead them into
an ambush, ordered them to keep on their way. On passing beyond the
region of the swamp a cry of dismay burst from the crowded boats,
as it was perceived that the town of Huntingdon had entirely
disappeared. As they neared the camp, however, the sight of numerous
sentries on the walls relieved them of part of their anxiety; but
upon landing they learnt the whole truth, that the five hundred
Roman soldiers in the camp and at Huntingdon had fallen to a man,
and that the whole of the stores collected had been carried away
or destroyed.
The news had been sent rapidly along the chain of forts on either
side of the swamp, and fifty men from each had been despatched to
repair and reoccupy the camp, which was now held by a thousand men,
who had already begun to repair the palisades that had been fired
by the Britons.
This disaster at once depressed and infuriated the Roman soldiers,
while it showed to the general commanding them that the task
he had been appointed to perform was vastly more serious than he
had expected. Already, as he had traversed mile after mile of the
silent river, he had been impressed with the enormous difficulty
there would be in penetrating the pathless morasses, extending as
he knew in some places thirty or forty miles in width. The proof
now afforded of the numbers, determination, and courage of the men
lurking there still further impressed him with the gravity of the
undertaking. Messengers were at once sent off to Suetonius, who
was at Camalodunum, which he was occupied in rebuilding, to inform
him of the reverse, and to ask for orders, and the general with
five hundred men immediately set out for the camp of Godman.
Suetonius at once proceeded to examine for himself the extent of
the Fen country, riding with a body of horsemen along the eastern
boundary as far as the sea, and then, returning to the camp,
followed up the western margin until he again reached the sea. He
saw at once that the whole of the Roman army in Britain would be
insufficient to guard so extensive a line, and that it would be
hopeless to endeavour to starve out men who could at all times make
raids over the country around them. The first step to be taken must
be to endeavour to circumscribe their limits. Orders were at once
sent to the British tribes in south and midlands to send all their
available men, and as these arrived they were set to work to clear
away by axe and fire the trees and bush on the eastern side of the
river Ouse.
As soon as the intentions of the Romans were understood, the British
camp at the junction of the rivers was abandoned, as with so large
a force of workmen the Romans could have made wide roads up to it,
and although it might have resisted for some time, it must eventually
fall, while the Romans, by sending their flotilla of boats down,
could cut off the retreat of the garrison. For two months thirty
thousand workmen laboured under the eyes of strong parties of Roman
soldiers, and the work of denuding the swamps east of the Ouse was
accomplished.
Winter had now set in, but the season was a wet one, and although
the Romans made repeated attempts to fire the brushwood from the
south and west, they failed to do so. Severe frost accompanied by
heavy snow set in late, and as soon as the ground was hard enough
the Romans entered the swamps near Huntingdon, and began their
advance northwards. The Britons were expecting them, and the whole
of their fighting force had gathered to oppose them. Beric and
Aska set them to work as soon as the Roman army crossed the river
and marched north, and as the Romans advanced slowly and carefully
through the tangled bushes, they heard a strange confused noise
far ahead of them, and after marching for two miles came upon a
channel, where the ice had been broken into fragments.
They at once set to work to cut down bushes and form them into
faggots to fill up the gaps, but as they approached the channel
with these they were assailed by volleys of arrows from the bushes
on the opposite side. The light armed troops were brought up, and
the work of damming the channel at a dozen points, was covered by
a shower of javelins and arrows. The Britons, however, had during
the past month made shields of strong wicker work of Roman pattern,
but long enough to cover them from the eyes down to the ankles,
and the wicker work was protected by a double coating of ox hide.
Boys collected the javelins as fast as they were thrown, and
handed them to the men. As soon as the road across the channel was
completed the Romans poured over, believing that now they should
scatter their invisible foes; but they were mistaken, for the Britons
with levelled spears, their bodies covered with their bucklers,
burst down upon them as they crossed, while a storm of darts and
javelins poured in from behind the fighting line.
Again and again they were driven back, until after suffering great
loss they made good their footing at several points, when, at
the sound of a horn, resistance at once ceased, and the Britons
disappeared as if by magic. Advancing cautiously the Romans found
that the ice in all the channels had been broken up, and they were
soon involved in a perfect network of sluggish streams. Across these
the Britons had felled trees to form bridges for their retreat,
and these they dragged after them as soon as they crossed. Every
one of these streams was desperately defended, and as the line of
swamp grew wider the Roman front became more and more scattered.
Late in the afternoon a sudden and furious attack was made upon
them from the rear, Beric having taken a strong force round their
flank. Numbers of the Romans were killed before they could assemble
to make head against the attack, and as soon as they did so their
assailants as usual drew off. After a long day's fighting the
Romans had gained scarce a mile from the point where resistance had
commenced, and this at a cost of over three hundred men. Suetonius
himself had commanded the attack, and when the troops halted for
the night at the edge of an unusually wide channel, he felt that
the task he had undertaken was beyond his powers. He summoned the
commanders of the two legions to the hut that had been hastily
raised for him.
"What think you?" he asked. "This is a warfare even more terrible
than that we waged with the Goths in their forests. This Beric, who
is their leader, has indeed profited by the lessons he learned at
Camalodunum. No Roman general could have handled his men better.
He is full of resources, and we did not reckon upon his breaking
up the ice upon all these channels. If we have had so much trouble
in forcing our way where the swamps are but two miles across, and
that with a frost to help us, the task will be a terrible one when
we get into the heart of the morasses, where they are twenty miles
wide. Yet we cannot leave them untouched. There would never be peace
and quiet as long as these bands, under so enterprising a leader,
remained unsubdued. Can you think of any other plan by which we
may advance with less loss?"
The two officers were silent. "The resistance may weaken," one said
after a long pause. "We have learnt from the natives that they have
not in all much above three thousand fighting men, and they must
have lost as heavily as we have."
Suetonius shook his head. "I marked as we advanced," he said, "that
there was not one British corpse to four Romans. We shoot at random,
while they from their bushes can see us, and even when they charge
us our archers can aid but little, seeing that the fighting takes
place among the bushes. However, we will press on for a time. The
natives behind us must clear the ground as fast as we advance, and
every foot gained is gained for good."
Three times during the night the British attacked the Romans, once
by passing up the river in their coracles and landing behind them,
once by marching out into the country round their left flank,
and once by pouring out through cross channels in their boats and
landing in front. All night, too, their shouts kept the Romans
awake in expectation of attack.
For four days the fighting continued, and the Romans, at the cost
of over a thousand men, won their way eight miles farther. By the
end of that time they were utterly exhausted with toil and want of
sleep; the swamps each day became wider, and the channels larger
and deeper. Then the Roman leaders agreed that no more could be
done. Twelve miles had been won and cleared, but this was the mere
tongue of the Fenland, and to add to their difficulties that day
the weather had suddenly changed, and in the evening rain set in.
It was therefore determined to retreat while the ground was yet
hard, and having lighted their fires, and left a party to keep
these burning and to deceive the British, the Romans drew off and
marched away, bearing to the left so as to get out on to the plain,
and to leave the ground, encumbered with the sharp stumps of the
bushes and its network of channels, behind them as soon as possible.