No More Learning

I call upon you to witness
how innocent I am of the crime of which I am accused. Receive me
propitiously, who am now preparing to undergo a voluntary death,
unable to support any longer the cruel and unrelenting attacks of
adverse fortune;--but may your speedy vengeance overtake that worker
of evil, the accursed and adulterous Arsace; the disappointment of
whose profligate designs upon Theagenes has urged her thus to wreak
her fury upon me. " This appeal, and these protestations, caused a
murmur in the assembly. Some said the matter ought to undergo a
further examination--some wished to hinder, others advanced to prevent
her mounting the pile: but she put them all aside, and ascended it
intrepidly.

She placed herself in the midst of it, and remained for a considerable
time unhurt, the flames playing harmlessly around her, rather
than approaching her; not injuring her in the least--but receding
whithersoever she turned herself; so that their only effect seemed to
be to give light and splendour to her charms; as she lay like a bride
upon a fiery nuptial couch.

She shifted herself from one side of the pile to another, marvelling as
much as any one else, at what happened, and seeking for destruction,
but still without effect; for the fire ever retreated, and seemed
to shun her approach. The executioners on their part were not idle,
but threw on more fuel (Arsace by signs inciting them), dry wood,
and reeds, and every thing that was likely to raise and feed the
flame; yet all was to no purpose; and now a murmur growing into a
tumult, began to run through the assembly: they cried out--"This is
a divine interposition! --the maiden is unjustly accused! --she is
surely innocent! "--and advancing towards the pile, they drove away the
ministers of justice, Thyamis, whom the uproar had roused from his
retirement, now appearing at their head, and calling on the people
for assistance. They were eager to deliver Chariclea, but durst not
approach too near. They earnestly desired her, therefore, to come down
herself from the pile; for there could be no danger in passing through
the flames, to one who appeared even to be untouched by them. Chariclea
seeing and hearing this, and believing too that some divinity was
really interposing to preserve her, deemed that she ought not to appear
ungrateful, or reject the mercy, and leapt lightly from the pile: at
which sight the whole city raised a sudden shout of wonder, joy, and
thanksgiving to the gods.

Arsace, too, beheld this prodigy with astonishment, but with very
different sensations. She could not contain her rage. She left the
ramparts, hurried through a postern gate, attended by her guards and
the Persian nobles, and herself laid violent hands on Chariclea.
Casting a furious glance at the people--"Are ye not ashamed," she
cried, "to assist in withdrawing from punishment a wretched creature
detected in the very fact of poisoning, and confessing it? Do ye not
consider, that while shewing a blameable compassion to this wicked
woman, ye are putting yourselves in opposition to the laws of the
Persians--to the judges, the peers, the viceroys, and to the Great
King himself. The fact of her not burning has perhaps moved you, and
ye attribute it to the interposition of the gods, not considering that
this yet more fully proves her guilt. Such is her knowledge of charms,
and witchcraft, that she is enabled to resist even the force of fire.
Come all of you to-morrow to the examination which shall be held in
public, and you shall not only hear her confess her crimes herself,
but shall find her convicted also by her accomplices whom I have in
custody. "

She then commanded Chariclea to be led away, still keeping her hold
upon her neck, and ordering her guards to disperse the crowd, who were
with difficulty prevented from interfering for her rescue; but who at
length gave way, partly suspecting her to be a sorceress, and partly
through awe of the person, and dreading the power, of Arsace.

Chariclea then was again committed to the custody of Euphrates; again
thrown into prison, and reserved for a second trial, and a second
sentence; rejoicing however amidst her troubles, that she should once
more have an opportunity of seeing, and conversing with, Theagenes;
for Arsace, out of a refinement of cruelty, had ordered them to be
confined in one dungeon, that each might be a spectator of the other's
sufferings; for she well knew that a tender heart is much more hurt by
the pains of those it loves than by its own. In this instance, however,
her savage mind was disappointed; and what she meant as a punishment
turned out a consolation. They took a melancholy pleasure in suffering
for each other, and in suffering equally. Had a greater share of
torments been inflicted upon either, the other would have been jealous,
and thought his love defrauded--moreover they were now together--they
could converse with, comfort, and encourage one another to bear their
calamities with fortitude, and to resist courageously every trial that
might endanger their purity or fidelity. They passed the greatest part
of the night in speaking on such topics, as might indeed be expected
from a pair, whose whole delight was in their mutual conversation, and
who despaired of ever passing another night together again.

At length they came to the miraculous event which happened at the pyre.
Theagenes attributed it to the benevolence of the gods, who were angry
at the injustice of Arsace, and who pitied Chariclea's innocence and
piety. She herself was in doubt whether to thank or complain of heaven.
The manifest interposition of the gods at the place of execution, was a
mark of their kindness and protection; but to be preserved from death,
only to be plunged afresh in new and unceasing troubles, was rather a
sign of their having incurred, and still continuing under, the divine
displeasure: unless indeed, it were some wonder-working method of the
deity delighting to plunge them into the deepest misery, in order to
show its power of saving them when their condition appeared desperate.

She was going on in a complaining style, when Theagenes stopped her,
bidding her speak more reverently, nor to scrutinize the conduct of
the Deity. Suddenly she exclaimed,--"May the gods be propitious to us,
for I just now call to mind a dream, (or rather waking vision), which
I had last night, and which the unexpected sight of you again, and
the various matters which we have since talked of, had driven from my
memory. The vision was this:--The beatified Calasiris appeared to me
(whether in reality or in idea, I am not certain) and repeated these
lines, for the words fell into verse;

'Wearing Pantarbè, fear not flames, fair maid,
Fate, to whom nought is hard, shall bring thee aid. '"[14]

Theagenes on his part appeared suddenly like one under supernatural
impulse, for springing forwards, as far as his fetters would permit
him, he exclaimed---"The gods be gracious to us! recollection makes me
also a poet; I had, myself, a like vision. Calasiris, or some deity in
his shape, appeared to me, and addressed me in these lines:

'From Arsace, the morrow sees thee free--
To Ethiopia with the virgin flee. '[15]

"Now, I readily comprehend the meaning of the oracle which is given to
me. By Ethiopia, is signified the dark abode of those who dwell under
the earth--by the virgin, Proserpine--by freedom, my release from this
wretched body: but I do not so readily understand that which relates to
you--there appears to be a contradiction in it. The name of Pantarbè
means 'all fear,' and yet from it you are promised assistance. "

"My dearest Theagenes," replied Chariclea, "you have been so accustomed
to misfortunes that you use yourself to interpret every thing in
its worst sense--the mind of man so readily takes a colour from
its circumstances. The oracles appear to me to admit of much more
favourable meaning. The virgin, instead of Proserpine, means perhaps
me, with whom you are to escape to Ethiopia, my country, after you
shall have been delivered from the prisons of Arsace. How all this is
to be brought about is not very apparent, but it is not incredible.
Every thing is possible to the gods; and they who have favoured us with
this prediction, will watch over its accomplishment. The prophecy which
relates to me, so far from being obscure, is, as you see, fulfilled;
and I am, contrary to all expectation, alive, and unhurt, at least by
the flames: I was hitherto ignorant that I carried the cause of my
preservation about me, but now I fancy that I understand the words.
I took particular care at the time of my trial, as indeed I had been
wont to do before, to have the jewels which were exposed with me, bound
closely about my body, concealing them under my garments--in case I
should escape, they would help to support my life--if I were doomed to
suffer, they would adorn my funeral. Among these, which consist of
costly necklaces, and Indian and Ethiopian jewels, there is a ring,
given by my father to my mother when they were betrothed: within the
bezil is a stone called Pantarbè; it is inscribed with sacred letters,
and endowed with mystic virtues, from whence, as I conjecture, it
obtains the power to preserve those who wear it from the force of fire.
This, therefore, most probably, and the good pleasure of the gods, is
what has preserved me. I remember too, that our friend, Calasiris, (now
in happiness,) told me that something of this virtue was hinted at in
the writing inscribed on the fillet which was exposed with me, and
which I always wear round my waist. "

"What you say," replied Theagenes, "may perhaps be true--what has
happened seems to confirm your conjecture: but what Pantarbè will
deliver us from the dangers which threaten us to-morrow? This stone,
though it preserves from fire, does not confer immortality, and the
wicked Arsace will find out some other, and new kind of punishment. How
do I wish that she would involve us both in the same sentence, that one
and the same hour might end our troubles! I should not esteem such a
departure death, but repose and ease to our manifold miseries. "

"Be not so cast down," said Chariclea, "the oracle promises us another
Pantarbè. Let us trust in the gods, so will our deliverance be more
grateful; or, if we be doomed to die, piety will soften and sanctify
our sufferings. "

In such conversations were the unfortunate lovers employed; each more
solicitous for the fate which awaited the other, than for his own. They
vowed to be faithful, and love one another till death; and beguiled
the melancholy moments in these, which they thought would be their
last, protestations. Meanwhile Bagoas and his troop of horse arrived
at Memphis, in the middle of the night, while every one was buried in
sleep. And when they had, without tumult, roused the guards, and made
known who they were, they were admitted and entered into the court of
the Viceroy's palace. Bagoas caused his men to surround the building,
that he might be prepared, in case of meeting with any resistance; and
he himself gaining admission by a crazy postern gate, and commanding
silence to the person there, hastened, with ease, from his knowledge
of the place, to the apartments of Euphrates, the moon affording a
little light. Euphrates was in bed; but being roused by the noise made
at his door, started up, and called out "Who is there? " "It is I," said
Bagoas; "make no noise, but order a light to be brought. "--The other
ordered a boy, who slept in his chamber, to bring a light, but to take
care not to awaken any one else.

When the light came, and the boy had retired, Euphrates began--"What
new calamity does this sudden and unexpected appearance of yours
announce? "--"There is no need," returned the other, "of many words;
take and read this letter. Recognise the seal of Oroondates, and obey
his commands, this very night, with secrecy and expedition: Make use of
the soldiers whom I have brought with me, that you may give the less
alarm. I leave you to judge for yourself whether you will or will not
first disclose the business to Arsace. "

Euphrates took the letters, and perused them both. "This," says he,
"will be a fresh blow to my mistress, and she needs no additional
affliction; for she was yesterday seized with a sudden disorder, as if
by a stroke from heaven, and she now lies in a burning fever, and is in
the utmost danger of her life. As for these letters, I would not show
them to her at present, even were she in good health, for I know that
she would sooner die herself, and involve us in the same destruction,
than part with these young people. You are arrived just in time to
save them. Come then forthwith--receive those whom you seek--take them
away--use them kindly yourself, and endeavour to procure for them
the same treatment from others. Their situation may well excite your
compassion; for I have been obliged, much against my will, but at
the inexorable command of Arsace, to inflict upon them a variety of
punishments and tortures. They seem, besides, to be well born, and, to
judge from their habitual conduct, possessed of discretion and good
sense. " And so saying, he rose and conducted Bagoas to the prison, who,
as soon as he saw the young captives, pale and exhausted as they were
with their sufferings, he could not help being wonderfully struck with
their form and beauty. They, concluding that this unseasonable visit
announced their fate, and that Bagoas was come to lead one of them, at
least, to trial and execution, were at first rather agitated; but soon
recovering an air of cheerfulness, they appeared pleased rather than
grieved.

Euphrates advanced; and as he was preparing to loose their fetters from
the wooden block, Theagenes exclaimed, "Accursed Arsace! She hopes to
conceal her abominable actions in darkness and obscurity. But let her
know that the eye of justice is most piercing; that it will bring to
light her most secret crimes and display her wickedness in the face of
the sun. But do you, ministers of her cruelty, execute her commands.
Grant us, however, one last and only favour: whether we be doomed to
die by fire, by water, or by the sword, let us suffer together, and end
our wretched being by one and the same kind of death. " Chariclea joined
in this supplication. The eunuchs, who understood what they said, shed
tears, and brought them out in chains as they were.

When they had left the palace, Euphrates remained where he was; and
Bagoas, ordering his followers to take off all their fetters, except
such as were just necessary to prevent an escape, placed them on
horseback, surrounded with his troop, and took, with all expedition,
the road to Thebes.

They rode all that night, and the next day till nine o'clock, when,
being spent with want of sleep, and exposed to the summer rays of
an Egyptian sun, Chariclea particularly, unused to this kind of
travelling, being nearly exhausted with fatigue, they resolved,
at last, to make a halt, to breathe their horses, and to refresh
themselves. They chose for this purpose an elevated and projecting
place on the banks of the Nile, where the river, turning from its
direct course, and winding into a semicircle, forms a spot something
resembling the gulf of Epirus, which, being kept continually moist,
abounded in grass and herbage proper for their beasts. Here, too,
were peach trees, sycamores, and others which love to grow in the
neighbourhood of the Nile, these over-arched and afforded them a
pleasant shade. Bagoas availed himself of their shelter instead of
tents, and here he took some refreshment, inviting Theagenes and
Chariclea to partake of his repast. They refused at first; he pressed
them; and when they replied that it was needless for those who were
going to execution to trouble themselves about nourishment, he told
them they were much mistaken if they thought their lives in any danger;
for he was not leading them to death, but to the viceroy Oroondates.

The meridian heat of the sun had now passed; it was no longer vertical,
but its beams struck upon them laterally. Bagoas thereupon prepared
to pursue his march, when a courier arrived with great precipitation,
himself out of breath, and his horse dropping with sweat, and ready to
sink under him with fatigue. As soon as he had spoken a word to Bagoas
in private, he remained in silence. The eunuch fixing for some time his
eyes on the ground, with a serious and reflecting air, at last said,
"Rejoice, strangers! You are revenged of your enemy. Arsace is no more.
As soon as she heard that you were gone away with me, she strangled
herself, and has prevented an inflicted, by a voluntary, death; for
her crimes have been such, that she had no hope of escaping the just
resentment of Oroondates and the sentence of the Great King, and must
either have lost her life, or have spent the remainder of it in infamy
and confinement. Be of good cheer, then; fear nothing; I know your
innocence, and your persecutor is removed. "

Bagoas said this as he stood near them, with difficulty expressing
himself in the Greek tongue, and using many uncouth words; but he spoke
with sincerity of heart, for he rejoiced at the death of Arsace, whose
dissolute manners and tyrannical disposition he abominated; and he
wished to comfort and encourage the young people; he thought moreover
that he should recommend himself to Oroondates by a very acceptable
service, by preserving for him this young man, who would throw into
the shade all the rest of his attendants; and by presenting him with a
maiden worthy in every respect to supply the place of Arsace.

Theagenes and Chariclea, too, rejoiced at this intelligence. They
adored the justice of the gods; and felt that, after this sudden and
deserved end of their enemy, they should not feel their misfortunes,
however severe--so welcome is death to some if only it be shared in
by their foes. Evening now approached. A refreshing breeze sprang up,
and invited them to continue their journey. They travelled all that
night, and part of the next morning, making all possible expedition to
Thebes, in hopes of finding Oroondates there. In this hope, however,
Bagoas was disappointed. Before he arrived at that city, a courier met
him, and informed him that Oroondates had set out for Syene, leaving
the strictest orders to his officers to collect every man, even from
the garrisons, and march them after him to that place; for the greatest
apprehensions were entertained that the town would be taken before the
satrap could arrive to its succour, the Ethiopian army having appeared
at its gates before any intelligence was received that it was in
motion. Bagoas, therefore, turned out of the road to Thebes, and took
that of Syene.

When he came near the place, he fell in with a troop of Ethiopians, who
had been sent out to scour the country, and to ascertain the safety
of the roads for the march of their own army. Overtaken by night, and
ignorant of the ground, they had concealed themselves behind some
bushes (in obedience to the orders given them), watching for the
passing by of any prey which they might seize, and also providing for
their own security. At break of day they perceived the approach of
Bagoas and his company. They despised the smallness of their number,
but let them all pass by, in order to assure themselves that there
was no greater force behind; and then suddenly rushing from their
concealment in the marsh, they pursued and attacked them with a great
shout.

Bagoas and his men, astonished at the sudden noise and assault, seeing
from their colour that they were Ethiopians, and from their number
(which amounted to near a thousand light-armed men), that resistance
was vain, did not await their approach, but took to flight. They
retreated at first with some degree of order, to avoid the appearance
of a complete rout. The enemy detached after them a band of two hundred
Troglodites. The Troglodites are a pastoral nation, on the borders of
Arabia, of great natural agility, which they increase by exercise. [16]
They are unused to heavy armour, but, with slings and missile weapons,
endeavour to make an impression upon the enemy at a distance, from
whom, if they find them superior, they immediately retreat. The enemy
do not take the trouble to pursue them, knowing them to be swift as
the wind, and given to hide themselves in caverns, which they make
their habitations. They, though on foot, soon overtook Bagoas and his
flying squadron, and making use of their slings, wounded some of them
from afar, yet, on their facing about, did not await their assault, but
retreated headlong to their own comrades.

The Persians seeing this, and perceiving the smallness of their number,
ventured to attack them; and having easily repulsed them for a space,
turned again, and putting spurs to their horses, continued their flight
with slackened rein and with the utmost speed. Some, deserting the main
body, and hurrying to a bend in the Nile, hid themselves under its
banks. The horse of Bagoas fell with him; one of his legs was fractured
with the fall, and being unable to move, he was taken prisoner.

Theagenes and Chariclea, too, were made captives. They thought it
dishonourable to desert Bagoas, who had shown them much kindness, and
from whom they hoped more in future. They kept, therefore, by his side,
dismounting from their horses, and voluntarily offered themselves to
the enemy; Theagenes saying to Chariclea, "This explains my dream:
these are the Ethiopians into whose lands we are fated to go: let us
give ourselves up into their hands, and await an uncertain fortune with
them, rather than expose ourselves to manifest danger with Oroondates. "

Chariclea thought she could now perceive herself to be led on by the
hand of destiny: a secret hope of better fortune began to insinuate
itself into her bosom, and she could not help considering those who
attacked them as friends rather than enemies; but not venturing
to disclose her presages to Theagenes, she contented herself with
expressing her consent to his advice.

When the Ethiopians approached, and observed Bagoas, from his features,
to be a eunuch, and incapable of resistance, and the others unarmed
and in chains, but of extraordinary grace and beauty, they inquired
who they were. They made use of an Egyptian interpreter, whom they
carried with them, who understood besides a little Persian, concluding
that the prisoners spoke one or other of these tongues; for experience
had taught them that a body detached as spies and scouts ought always
to have some one with them who naturally speaks or understands the
language of the country which they are sent to reconnoitre.

Theagenes, who, from his long residence in the land, had acquired
something of the Egyptian tongue, replied, that the eunuch was one
of the chief officers of the Persian viceroy; that he himself and
Chariclea were Grecians by birth, taken prisoners, first by the
Persians, and now voluntary captives to the Ethiopians, as they hoped,
under better auspices.

The enemy determined to spare their lives, and to deliver them, as
the first fruits of victory, to their sovereign, looking upon them
as amongst the most valuable possessions of the satrap; eunuchs are
reckoned as the eyes and ears of a Persian court, having neither
children nor connexions to turn aside their fidelity, they are wholly
attached to the person and service of their master;[17] their young
prisoners, too, appeared to them to be the most beautiful persons they
had ever seen, and promised to be conspicuous ornaments to the royal
household. They mounted them, therefore, upon horses, and carried them
along with them, though the accident of Bagoas, and the fetters of the
others, prevented their travelling very fast.

Here, then, was a kind of prologue to another drama:--just before they
were prisoners in a foreign land, and on the verge of being brought out
to a public and ignominious execution; now they were being carried, or
rather escorted, though in captive guise, by those destined, ere long,
to be their subjects. Such was their present situation.



[Footnote 1: See Book II. and Book III. ]

[Footnote 2: μηχαναῖς τειχoμάχοις. ]

[Footnote 3: ὧν ἐις τὴν σύλληψιν ἐμὲ κληρονόμον ὁ πατὴρ κατελέλοιπεν. ]

[Footnote 4:

. . . . "Nihil est audacius illis
Deprensis; iram atque animos a crimine sumunt. "
Juv. VI. 284.
]
[Footnote 5:

"Hoc volo, sic jubeo, stat pro ratione voluntas. "
Juv. VI. 223.
]
[Footnote 6:

"ὀφθαλμὸς φιλίας πρόξενος· καὶ τὸ σύνηθες τῆς κοινωνίας. "
Achilles Tatius, Β. i.
]

[Footnote 7: oὕτως ὑπτίως προσιοῦσα. ]

[Footnote 8:

"Segnius irritant animos demissa per aurem
Quam quæ sunt oculis subjecta fidelibus, et quæ
Ipse sibi tradit spectator. "---Hor. A. P. 180.
]

[Footnote 9:

"Cuncta ferit dum cuncta timet; desævit in omnes,
Ut se posse putent; nec bellua tetrior ulla
Quam servi rabies in libera terga furentes
Agnoscit gemitus, et pœnæ parcere nescit
Quam subiit, dominique memor quem verberat odit. "
Claudian in Eutrop. i. 108.
]

[Footnote 10:

"Justum et tenacem propositi virum.
. . . . . .
Non vultus instantis tyranni
Mente quatit solida. "--Hor. III. Od. iii. 1.
]

[Footnote 11: ῥίψωμίν ἄγκυραν. ]

[Footnote 12: "Thy wish was father, Harry, to that
thought. "--Shakespeare. ]

[Footnote 13: Plutarch thus describes the punishment of poisoners among
the Persians. --"Poisoners are put to death, by the Persian laws, in the
following manner. The head of the criminal is laid upon a flat stone,
the executioner with another stone beats and pounds his head, until
both head and face are entirely crushed. "]

[Footnote 14:

Παντάρζην φορέουσα πυρὸς μὴ τάρζει ἐρώην
'Ρηῑδιώς μόιραις καὶ τ'αδόκητα πέλει.
]

[Footnote 15:

Αἰθιόπον εἰς γᾶιαν ἀφίξεαι ἄμμιγα κόυρη
Δεσμών Άρτακέων αὔριον ἐκπροφυγών.
]

[Footnote 16: Herodotus gives the same account of the swiftness of this
race, and mentions their subsisting upon snakes, lizards, and other
reptiles, adding, that their language resembles the shrill cry of a
bat; they are the modern Tibboos. --See Herod. iv. 183, Blakesley's
Edit. ]

[Footnote 17: See Xen. Cyrop. vii. 5. 60. ]




BOOK IX.


Syene was now closely blockaded, and on every side, as with a net,
invested by the Ethiopian army.

Oroondates, as soon as he was informed of the design and sudden
approach of the enemy (who, having passed the cataracts, were pressing
towards the place), using the utmost diligence and expedition, had
contrived to throw himself into the city before their arrival; and
after planting his engines and artillery upon the walls, awaited the
attack, and made every preparation for a vigorous defence.

Hydaspes, the king of Ethiopia, though he was deceived in the hope
of surprising the town before they had any notice of his approach,
invested it, however, on all sides, and surrounding it with a line of
circumvallation, made for the present no attack, but sat down quietly
before it, filling and exhausting the plains of Syene with myriads
of men, beasts, and cattle. Here the party which has been mentioned
brought their captives into his presence.

He was delighted at the sight of the young people; his soul, by a
secret prescient movement, of which he knew not the cause, inclining
towards his children. He thought this too an omen of victory, and
joyfully exclaimed--"See! the gods, as our first spoils, deliver up
to us our enemies in bonds. Let these then, as our first captives, be
carefully preserved for our triumphant sacrifices to be offered, as the
customs of Ethiopia require, to the gods of our country, when we shall
have subdued our foes.
" And having praised and rewarded the captors,
he sent them, together with their prisoners, to the rear of the army,
ordering the latter to be kept under a guard (many of whom understood
their language), to be treated, attended, and provided for in the most
careful and splendid manner, and especially to be preserved from all
contamination, as destined to be sacred victims. He directed their
iron chains to be taken off, and fetters of gold to be put on in their
room--for this metal is used by the Ethiopians in the way in which
other nations use iron. His commands were obeyed; and the lovers, when
they saw their first chains taken off, began to entertain hopes of
liberty, which were soon crushed by the appearance and application of
the golden ones.

Theagenes could not forbear smiling, and exclaimed--"Here is, indeed,
a splendid mutation of fortune; the goddess is very kind to us, and
changes our iron for gold: enriched by our fetters, we are become
prisoners of high price. "

Chariclea smiled at this sally, and tried to keep up his spirits,
insisting that the more favourable predictions of the gods were
beginning to be fulfilled, and endeavouring to soothe his mind with
better hopes.

Hydaspes, who had flattered himself that he should take Syene at his
first appearance, without opposition, being very nearly repulsed by the
garrison, defending themselves bravely, irritated besides by insulting
speeches, determined no longer to continue the blockade, by which, the
city might at last be taken, to the destruction of some and the escape
of others: but, by a new and unusual way of assault, to involve the
town, and its defenders, in one common and universal ruin.

His plan of attack was this: he described a circle round the walls,
which he divided into portions of ten cubits each, assigning ten men to
every division, and ordering them to dig a wide and deep ditch. They
dug it accordingly, while others, with the earth they threw out, raised
a mound or wall parallel with, and nearly equal in height, to that of
the place which they were besieging. The garrison made no attempt to
hinder these operations--the besieging army was so numerous, that they
durst not venture on a sally--and the works were carried on at such a
distance from the walls, as to be out of the reach of their missile
weapons.

When he had completed this part of his plan, with wonderful dispatch,
owing to the multitude of men employed in it, and the diligence with
which he urged on their labours, he proceeded to execute another work.
He left a part of the circle, to the space of about fifty feet, plain
and unfilled up. From each extremity of the ditch above described, he
extended a long mound down to the Nile, raising it higher and higher
as it approached the river. It had the appearance of two long walls,
preserving all the way the breadth of fifty feet.

When he had carried on his lines so that they joined the river, he cut
a passage for it, and poured its waters into the channel, which he had
provided for them. They, rushing from higher into lower ground, and
from the vast width of the Nile into the narrow channel, and confined
by the mounds on each side, thundered through the passage and channel
with a noise and impetuosity that might be heard at a great distance.

The fearful sight and sound struck the ears and met the eyes of the
astonished inhabitants of Syene. They saw the alarming circumstances in
which they were, and that the view of the besiegers was, to overwhelm
them with the waters. The trenches which surrounded, and the inundation
which was now fast approaching, prevented their escaping out of the
city, and it was impossible for them to remain long in it, without the
extremest danger; they took measures, therefore, as well as they were
able, for their own protection.

In the first place, they filled up and secured every opening and
crevice in the gates with pitch and tow; then they propped and
strengthened the walls with earth, stones, and wood, heaping up against
them anything which was at hand. Every one was employed; women,
children, and old men; for no age, no sex, ever refuses labour when it
is for the preservation of their lives. They who were best able to bear
fatigue were employed in digging a subterraneous and narrow passage,
from the city to the enemy's mound, which work was thus conducted:

They first sunk a shaft near the walls, to the depth of five cubits;
and when they had dug it below the foundations, they carried their mine
on forwards towards the bulwarks with which they were inclosed, working
by torchlight; those who were behind receiving, in regular order, the
earth thrown out from those who were before, and depositing it at
length in a vacant place in the city, formerly occupied by gardens,
where they raised it into a heap.

Their intention in these operations, was to give some vent and outlet
to the waters, in case they should reach the city; but the approach
of the calamities which threatened them was too speedy for their
endeavours to prevent it. The Nile, rolling through the channel which
had been prepared for it, soon reached the trench, overflowed it
everywhere, and formed a lake of the whole space between the dyke and
the walls; so that an inland town seemed like an island in the midst of
the sea, beaten and dashed against on all sides by the waves.

At first, and for the space of a day, the strength of the walls
resisted; but the continued pressure of the waters, which were now
raised to a great height, and penetrated deeply into an earth black and
slimy, which was cleft in many places, from the summer's heat, sensibly
undermined the walls; the bottom yielded to the pressure of the top,
and wherever, owing to the fissures in the ground, a settlement took
place, there the walls began to totter in several places, menacing a
downfall, while they who should have defended the towers were driven
from their stations by the oscillation.

Towards evening a considerable portion of the wall between the towers
fell down; not so much, however, as to be even with the ground, and
afford a passage to the waters, for it was still about five cubits
above them; but now the danger of an inundation was imminent and most
alarming.

At this sight a general cry of horror and dismay arose in the city,
which might be heard even in the enemy's camp--the wretched inhabitants
stretched out their hands to the gods, in whom only they had hope,
and besought Oroondates to send deputies with offers of submission to
Hydaspes. He, reduced to be the slave of Fortune, unwillingly listened
to their entreaties; but he was entirely surrounded with water, and
it being out of his power to send an officer to the enemy, he was
reduced by necessity to this contrivance--he wrote down the purport
of their wishes, tied it to a stone, and endeavoured, by means of a
sling, to make it serve the purpose of a messenger by traversing the
waters; but his design was disappointed; the stone fell short, and
dropped into the water before it reached the other side. He repeated
the experiment several times. The archers and slingers strained every
nerve to accomplish that upon which they thought their safety and
life depended; but still without success. At length, stretching out
their hands to the enemy, who stood on their works spectators of their
distress, the miserable citizens implored their compassion by the most
piteous gestures, and endeavoured to signify what was meant by their
ineffectual stones and arrows--now clasping their hands together, and
holding them forwards in a suppliant manner--now putting their arms
behind their backs, in token that they submitted to servitude.

Hydaspes understood their signs, and was ready to receive their
submission--for great minds are easily inclined to clemency by the
sight of a prostrate enemy--but he was desirous first to make trial of
their intentions.

He had already prepared some river-craft, which floating down the Nile,
were drawn up near the mound: he chose ten of these, and filling them
with archers, he ordered them what to say to the Persians, and sent
them towards the city. They set out well prepared to defend themselves,
in case the enemy should attempt anything against them.

This passage of a vessel, from wall to wall, presented a novel
sight--mariners sailing over an inland country and cultivated plains:
war, which is wont to produce strange spectacles, seldom, perhaps,
afforded a more uncommon one than this--a navy proceeding against a
town, and sailors, in boats, engaged with soldiers upon the walls.

Those in the city observed the boats making for the part of the
wall which had fallen down, and their spirits being sunk with their
misfortunes, surrounded as they were with perils, they began to suspect
and dread the designs of those who were coming for their preservation:
for, in such extremity of danger, everything is a cause of suspicion
and of fear. [1] They began, therefore, to cast their darts and to shoot
their arrows towards those who were in the boats: for men, who despair
of safety, think even the shortest delay of destruction as so much
gained. They flung their weapons, however, in such a manner as not to
inflict wounds, but only to hinder the approach of the enemy.

The Ethiopians returned the attack more in earnest, not knowing the
intentions of the Persians: they wounded several of those who were upon
the ramparts, some of whom tumbled over into the water. The engagement
was proceeding with greater warmth, one party endeavouring merely to
repulse; the other to attack, when an old man, of great authority
among the Syenæans, who stood upon the wall, thus addressed his
fellow-citizens:

"Infatuated men! your distresses seems to have taken away your senses.
You have encouraged and besought the Ethiopians to come to your
assistance; and now, when they are, beyond all your hopes, arrived,
you do everything in your power to drive them away again. If they come
with friendly intentions, and bring conditions of peace, they are your
preservers; if they have hostile designs, you need not fear their
landing; we are so numerous, that we shall easily overpower them. But
if we were to destroy all these, what would it avail us, surrounded as
we are by such a cloud of enemies both by land and water? Let us then
receive them, and see what is their business here. "

This speech was received with approbation, both by the people and the
Viceroy; and withdrawing from the breached portion of the wall, they
stood motionless with their arms.

When the space between the walls was thus cleared, the inhabitants
signed to the Ethiopians that they might freely approach: they
advanced, therefore, and when near enough, they from their boats
addressed the besieged multitude as follows:

"Persians! and inhabitants of Syene! Hydaspes, King of the Eastern and
Western Ethiopia, and now your sovereign also, knows how to subdue his
enemies, and to spare those who supplicate his mercy--the one belongs
to valour, the other to humanity: the merit of the former belongs
chiefly to his soldiers; that of the latter is entirely his own.
Your safety or destruction is now in his hands; but since you throw
yourselves on his compassion, he releases you from the impending and
unavoidable dangers which encompass you. He does not himself name the
conditions of your deliverance, but leaves them to you to propose;
he has no desire to tyrannize over justice--he wishes to treat the
fortunes of men with equity. "

To this address the inhabitants of Syene replied,--"That they threw
themselves, their wives and children, upon the mercy of the Ethiopian
prince, and were ready to surrender their city (if they were spared),
which was now in such sore distress, that unless some god, or Hydaspes
himself, very speedily interposed, there were no hopes of its
preservation. "

Oroondates added,--"That he was ready to yield up, and put into their
hands, both the cause of the war, and its prizes--the city of Philœ,
and the emerald mines: in return, he required that neither he nor his
soldiers should be made prisoners of war, but that Hydaspes, as a
crowning act of generosity, would permit them to retire to Elephantine
upon condition of their doing injury to no one: as to himself, it was
indifferent to him whether he laid down his life now, or perished
hereafter, by the sentence of his master, for having lost his army; the
latter alternative would indeed be the worst, for now he would undergo
a common, and possibly, an easy kind of death; in the other case, he
would have to suffer the refinements of cruelty and torture. He also
requested them to receive two of his Persians into their boats, that
they might proceed to Elephantine, professing that if they found the
garrison of that city disposed to surrender to the Ethiopians, he would
no longer delay to follow their example. "

The delegates complied with his request; took the Persians on board,
returned to the camp, and informed Hydaspes of the result of their
embassy.

Hydaspes smiled at the infatuation of Oroondates, who was insisting
upon terms, while his very existence hung upon another's will. "It
would be foolish, however," said he, "to let so many suffer for the
stupidity of one. " Accordingly he permitted those whom the Viceroy had
sent to proceed to Elephantine; little regarding whether the troops
there yielded or resisted. He ordered his men to close up the breach
which they had made in the banks of the Nile, and to make another in
those of the mound or wall; so that the river being prevented from
flowing in at one opening and the stagnant water retiring apace out of
the other, the space between his camp and Syene might soon be dry, and
practicable for his soldiers to march over.

His commands were executed. His men made a beginning of the work, but
night coming on deferred its completion till the next day. Meantime
they who were in the city omitted nothing which might contribute to
their preservation, not despairing of preservation, though it appeared
almost beyond hope.

Some carried on their mine, which they now supposed must approach near
the enemy's mound; having computed, as well as they could, by means of
a rope, the interval between that and their own walls. Others repaired
the wall which had fallen down, working by torchlight, readily finding
materials from the stones which had fallen inwards. They had, as they
thought, tolerably well secured themselves for the present; but were
destined to have a new alarm; in the middle of the night, a portion
of the mound, in that part where the enemy had been digging on the
preceding day, suddenly gave way. This was caused either by the earth
which formed the foundation being moist and porous, or by the mining
party having sapped the ground above them, or by the ever-increasing
body of water widening the narrow breach, or perhaps it might be
ascribed to divine interposition. So tremendous was the noise and the
report, that the besiegers and besieged, though ignorant of the cause,
imagined a great part of the city wall to have been carried away;
but the Ethiopians, feeling themselves safe in their tents, deferred
satisfying their curiosity till the morning.

The inhabitants of Syene, on the contrary, were, with reason, more
solicitous; they immediately examined every portion of their walls, and
each finding all safe in his own vicinity, concluded that the accident
had happened in some other part. The approach of daylight cleared up
all their doubts; the breach in the mound, and the retreat of the
waters, being then visible.

And now the Ethiopians dammed up the breach in the river's bank, by
fixing planks, supported by strong wooden piles, strengthening them
still more with a quantity of earth and fascines, taken partly from the
banks and partly brought in boats, thousands labouring at the work. In
this way the water was got rid of. The space, however, between the camp
and the town was, as yet, by no means passable, being very deep in mud
and dirt; and though it was in some places apparently dry ground, the
surface was thin, and treacherous for the feet either of horses or men.

Thus passed two or three days. The Syenæans opened their gates, and
the Ethiopians discontinued all hostile movements; the truce, however,
was carried on without any intercourse between the parties. Guards on
either side were discontinued; and they in the city gave themselves up
to pleasure and enjoyment.

It happened that this was the season for celebrating the overflowing
of the Nile; a very solemn festival among the Egyptians. It falls out
about the time of the summer solstice, when the river first begins to
swell, and is observed with great devotion throughout the country; for
the Egyptians deify the Nile, making him one of their principal gods;
and equalling him to heaven; because they say, that without clouds
or rain he annually waters and fertilizes their fields; this is the
opinion of the vulgar. They consider it a proof of his divinity, that
the union of moist and dry being the principal cause of animal life,
he supplies the former, the earth the latter quality (admitting also
the existence of other elements. ) These opinions are promulgated among
the vulgar, but they who have been initiated in the mysteries, call
the earth Isis,[2] the river Osiris, substituting words for things.
The goddess, they say, rejoices when the god makes his appearance upon
the plains, and grieves proportionably when he is absent, feeling
indignation against his enemy, Typho. [3]

The cause of this is, I imagine, that men skilled in divine and human
knowledge, have not chosen to disclose to the vulgar the hidden
significations contained under these natural appearances, but veil them
under fables; being however ready to reveal them in a proper place,
and with due ceremonies, to those who are desirous and worthy of being
initiated. [4] So much I may be allowed to say with permission of the
deity, preserving a reverential silence as to what relates to more
mystic matters.

I return now to the course of my story. The inhabitants of Syene
were employed in celebrating their festival with sacrifices and other
ceremonies; their bodies, indeed, worn with labour and suffering,
but their minds filled with devotion towards their deity, whom they
honoured as best their present circumstances would permit.

Oroondates, taking the opportunity of the dead of night, when the
citizens, after their fatigues and rejoicings, were plunged in sleep,
and having beforehand secretly acquainted his Persian soldiers with his
intentions, and appointed them the particular hour and gate at which
they were to assemble, led them out of their quarters.

An order had been issued to every corporal[5] to leave the horses and
beasts of burden behind, that they might have no impediment on their
march, nor give any intimation of their design, by the tumult which the
mustering them would cause. Orders were given to take their arms alone,
and, together with them, a beam or plank.

As soon as they were assembled at the appointed gate, they proceeded
to lay their planks across the mud, (close to one another) which were
successively passed from hand to hand, by those behind, to those in
front. They passed over them, as by a bridge, and the whole body
reached, without accident, the firm land.

They found the Ethiopians sleeping in security, without watch or
guard; and passing by them unperceived Oroondates led his men with all
possible speed to Elephantine. He was readily received into the city
by means of the two Persians whom he had sent before, and who, having
watched, night after night, caused the gates to be opened upon the
concerted watch-word being given.

When day began to dawn, the inhabitants of Syene were aware of the
flight of their defenders. Every one missed the Persian whom he had
lodged in his house, and the sight of the planks laid over the mud,
confirmed them in their suspicions, and explained the manner of it.
They were thrown into great consternation at this discovery; expecting,
with reason, a severe punishment, as for a second offence, fearing
they should be thought to have abused the clemency of their conqueror,
and to have connived at the escape of the Persians. They determined
therefore, after some consultation, to go out of the city in a body,
to deliver themselves up to Hydaspes, to attest their innocence with
oaths, and implore his mercy. Collecting together then all ranks and
ages, with the air of suppliants, they marched in procession, over
the bridge of planks. Some carried boughs of trees, others tapers and
torches, the sacred ensigns and images of their gods preceding them as
messengers of peace.

When they approached the camp of the Ethiopians, they fell down on
their knees, raising, as with one consent, a plaintive and mournful
cry; and deprecating, by the most humble gestures, the victor's wrath.

They laid their infants on the ground before them, seemingly leaving
them to wander whither chance might lead; intending to pacify the wrath
of the Ethiopians by the sight of their innocent and guiltless age.
The poor children, frightened at the behaviour and outcries of their
parents, crept (some of them) towards the adverse army; and with their
tottering steps and wailing voices, presented an affecting scene,
Fortune, as it were, converting them into instruments of supplication.

Hydaspes observing this uncommon spectacle, and conceiving that they
were reiterating their former entreaties and imploring pardon for their
crime, sent to know what they meant, and why they came alone, and
without the Persians.

They related all which had happened--the flight of the Persians, their
own entire ignorance of it,--the festival they had been celebrating,
and the opportunity secretly taken by the garrison to leave them,
when they were buried in sleep, after their feastings and fatigues;
although, had they been awake, and had they seen them, it would have
been out of their power, unarmed as they were, to hinder the retreat of
men in arms.

Hydaspes from this relation suspected, as was really the case, that
Oroondates had some secret design and stratagem against him; summoning
the Egyptian priests therefore, and for the sake of greater solemnity,
adoring the images of the gods which they carried with them, he
inquired if they could give him any further information about the
Persians. He asked whither they were gone, and what were their hopes
and intentions. They replied, "That they were ignorant of their
schemes; but supposed them to be gone to Elephantine," where the
principal part of the army was assembled, Oroondates placing his chief
confidence in his barbed cavalry. They concluded by beseeching him, if
he had conceived any resentment against them to lay it aside, and to
enter their city, as if it were his own.

Hydaspes did not choose to make his entry for the present, but sent two
troops of soldiers to search every place where he suspected an ambush
might be laid; if they found nothing of that sort, destining them as a
garrison for the city. He dismissed the inhabitants of it with kindness
and gracious promises, and drew out his army ready to receive the
attack of the Persians, should they advance; or, to march against them
himself if they delayed.

His troops were hardly formed in order of march when his scouts
informed him that the Persians were advancing towards him to give
battle: Oroondates had assembled an army at Elephantine, just at the
time when as we have seen, he was forced, by the sudden approach of
the Ethiopians, to throw himself into Syene with a few troops; being
then reduced to imminent danger by the contrivance of Hydaspes; he
secured the preservation of the place, and his own safety, by a method
which stamped him with the deepest perfidy. The two Persians sent to
Elephantine, under pretence of inquiring on what terms the troops there
were willing to submit, were really dispatched with a view of informing
him whether they were ready and disposed to resist and fight, if by any
means he could escape, and put himself at their head.

He now proceeded to put into practice his treacherous intent, for upon
his arrival at Elephantine, finding them in such a disposition as he
could wish, he led them out without delay, and proceeded with all
expedition against the enemy; relying chiefly for success on the hope
that by the rapidity of his movements he should surprise them while
unprepared. He was now in sight, attracting every eye by the Persian
pomp of his host; the whole plain glistening as he moved along, with
gold and silver armour. The rays of the rising sun falling directly
upon the advancing Persians, shed an indiscribable brightness to the
most distant parts, their own armour flashing back a rival brightness.

The right wing was composed of native Medes and Persians--the heavy
armed in front--behind them the archers, unincumbered with defensive
arms, that they might with more ease and readiness perform their
evolutions, protected by those who were before them. The Egyptians,
the Africans, and all the auxiliaries were in the left wing. To these
likewise were assigned a band of light troops, slingers and archers,
who were ordered to make sallies, and to discharge their weapons
from the flanks. Oroondates himself was in the centre, splendidly
accoutred and mounted on a scythed chariot. [6] He was surrounded on
either side by a body of troops, and in front were the barbed cavalry,
his confidence in whom had principally induced him to hazard an
engagement. These are the most warlike in the Persian service, and are
always first opposed, like a firm wall, to the enemy. The following is
the description of their armour--A man, picked out for strength and
stature, puts on a helmet which fits his head and face exactly, like
a mask; covered completely down to the neck with this, except a small
opening left for the eyes, in his right hand he brandishes a long
spear--his left remains at liberty to guide the reins--a scimitar is
suspended at his side; and not his breast alone, but his whole body
also, is sheathed in mail, which is composed of a number of square
separate plates of brass or steel, a span in length, fitting over each
other at each of the four sides, and hooked or sewn together beneath,
the upper lapping over the under; the side of each over that next to
it in order. Thus the whole body is inclosed in an imbricated scaly
tunic, which fits it closely, yet by contraction and expansion allows
ample play for all the limbs. It is sleeved, and reaches from neck to
knee,[7] the only part left unarmed being under the cuishes, necessity
for the seat on horseback so requiring. The greave extends from the
feet to the knee, and is connected with the coat. This defence is
sufficient to turn aside all darts, and to resist the stroke of any
weapon. The horse is as well protected as his rider; greaves cover
his legs, and a frontal[8] confines his head. From his back to his
belly, on either side, hangs a sheet of the mail, which I have been
describing, which guards his body, while its looseness does not impede
his motions.

Thus accoutred and as it were fitted[9] into his armour, this ponderous
soldier sits his horse, unable to mount himself on account of his
weight, but lifted on by another. When the time for charging arrives,
giving the reins, and setting spurs to his horse, he is carried
with all his force against the enemy, wearing the appearance of a
hammer-wrought statue, or of an iron man. His long and pointed spear
extends far before him, and is sustained by a rest at the horse's neck,
the butt being fixed in another at his croupe. Thus the spear does not
give way in the conflict, but assists the hand of the horseman, who has
merely to direct the weapon, which pressing onwards with mighty power
pierces every obstacle, sometimes transfixing and bearing off by its
impulse two men at once.

With such a force of cavalry and in such order, Oroondates marched
against the enemy, keeping the river still behind him, to prevent his
being surrounded by the Ethiopians, who far exceeded him in number.
Hydaspes, on the other hand, advanced to meet him. He opposed, to
the Medes and Persians in the right wing, his forces from Meröe, who
were well accoutred, and accustomed to close fighting. The swift and
light-armed Troglodites, who were good archers, and the inhabitants of
the cinnamon region,[10] he drew up to give employment to those posted
on the left. In opposition to the centre, boasting as they did of their
barbed cavalry, he placed himself, with the tower-bearing elephants,
the Blemmyæ, and the Seres, giving them instructions what they were to
do when they came to engage. Both armies now approached near, and gave
the signal for battle; the Persians with trumpets, the Ethiopians with
drums and gongs. Oroondates, cheering on his men, charged with his body
of horse. Hydaspes ordered his troops to advance very slowly, that they
might not leave their elephants, and that the enemy's cavalry, having
a longer course to take, might become exhausted before the conflict.
When the Blemmyæ saw them within reach of a spear's cast, the horsemen
urging on their horses for the charge, they proceeded to execute their
monarch's instructions.

Leaving the Seres to guard the elephants, they sprang out of the ranks,
and advanced swiftly towards the enemy. The Persians thought they had
lost their senses, seeing a few foot presume to oppose themselves to so
numerous and so formidable a body of horse. These latter galloped on
all the faster, glad to take advantage of their rashness, and confident
that they should sweep them away at the first onset. But the Blemmyæ,
when now the phalanx had almost reached them, and they were all but
touched by their spears, on a sudden, at a signal, threw themselves on
one knee, and thrust their heads and backs under the horses, running no
danger by this attempt, but that of being trampled on: this manœuvre
was quite unexpected, many of the horses they wounded in the belly
as they passed, so that they no longer obeyed the bridle, but became
furious, and threw their riders; whom, as they lay like logs, the
Blemmyæ pierced in the only vulnerable part, the Persian cuirassier
being incapable of moving without help.

Those whose horses were not wounded proceeded to charge the Seres, who
at their approach retired behind the elephants, as behind a wall or
bulwark. Here an almost total slaughter of the cavalry took place. For
the horses of the Persians, as soon as the sudden retreat of the Seres
had discovered these enormous beasts, astonished at their unusual and
formidable appearance, either turned short round and galloped off,
or fell back upon the rest, so that the whole body was thrown into
confusion. They who were stationed in the towers upon the elephants
(six in number, two on either side, except towards the beast's hind
quarters), discharged their arrows as from a bulwark, so continuously
and with such true aim, that they appeared to the Persians like a cloud.

Fighting upon unequal terms against mailed warriors, and depending
upon their skill in archery, so unfailing was their aim at the sight
holes[11] of the enemy, that you might see many galloping in confusion
through the throng, with arrows projecting from their eyes.

Some, carried away by the unruliness of their horses to the elephants,
were either trampled under foot or attacked by the Seres and the
Blemmyæ, who rushing out as from an ambush, wounded some, and pulled
others from their horses, in the melée. They who escaped unhurt
retreated in disorder, not having done the smallest injury to the
elephants: for these beasts are armed with mail when led out to battle,
and have, besides, a natural defence in a hard and rugged skin, which
will resist and turn the point of any spear.

Oroondates, when he saw the remainder routed, set the example of a
shameful flight; and descending from his chariot, and mounting a
Nysæan horse,[12] galloped from the field. The Egyptians and Africans
in the left wing were ignorant of this, and continued still bravely
fighting, receiving, however, more injury than they inflicted, which
they bore with great fortitude and perseverance; for the inhabitants of
the cinnamon region, who were opposed to them, pressed and confounded
them by the irregularity and activity of their attacks, flying as the
Egyptians advanced, and discharging their arrows[13] backward as they
fled. When the Africans retreated, they attacked them, galling them
on all the flanks, either with slings or little poisoned[14] arrows.
These they fixed around their turbans, the feathers next their heads,
the points radiating outwards; and drawing them thence as from a
quiver, they, after taking a sudden spring forward, shot them against
the enemy, their own bodies being naked, and their only clothing
this crown of arrows. These arrows require no iron point; they take
a serpent's back bone, about a foot and a half in length, and after
straightening it, sharpen the end into a natural point, which may
perhaps account for the origin of the word arrow. [15]

The Egyptians resisted a long time, defending themselves from the
darts by interlocking shields--being naturally patient, and bravely
prodigal of their lives, not merely for pay but glory; perhaps, too,
dreading the punishment of runaways. But when they heard that the
barbed cavalry, the strength and right hand[16] of their army, was
defeated--that the viceroy had left the field, and that the Medes and
Persians, the flower of their foot, having done little against, and
suffered much from, those to whom they were opposed, had followed his
example, they likewise, at last, gave up the contest, turned about,
and retreated. Hydaspes, from an elephant's back, as from a watch
tower, was spectator of his victory; which when he saw decided, he sent
messengers after the pursuers, to stop the slaughter, and to order them
to take as many prisoners as they could, and particularly, were it
possible, Oroondates.

Success crowned his wishes, for the Ethiopians extending their numerous
lines to a great length on each side, and curving the extremities till
they surrounded the Persians, left them no way to escape but to the
river. Thus the stratagem which Oroondates had devised against the
enemy they found turned against themselves, multitudes being forced
into the river by the horses and scythed chariots, and the confusion
of the crowd. The viceroy had never reflected, that by having the
river in his rear he was cutting off his own means of escape. He was
taken prisoner with Achæmenes the son of Cybele. This latter informed
of what had happened at Memphis, and dreading the resentment of
Oroondates, for having made an accusation against Arsace which he was
not able to prove, (the witnesses who would have enabled him to do so
being removed,) endeavoured to slay his master in the tumult. He did
not, however, give him a mortal wound, and the attempt was instantly
revenged, for he was transfixed with an arrow by an Ethiopian, who
watched, as he had been commanded, over the safety of the viceroy; and
who saw, with indignation, the treacherous attempt of one, who, having
escaped the enemy, took the opportunity presented by fortune, to wreak
his revenge against his commander.

Oroondates was brought before Hydaspes, faint and bleeding; but
his wound was soon staunched by the remedies applied, the king
being resolved, if possible, to save him, and himself giving him
encouragement.

"Friend," said he, "I grant your life. I hold it honourable to overcome
my enemies by my arms while they resist; and by my good offices when
they are fallen: but why have you shewn such perfidy towards me? "

"Towards you, I own," replied the Persian, "I have been perfidious; but
to my master I have been faithful. "--"As vanquished, then," replied
Hydaspes, "what punishment, think you, that you deserve? "--"The
same," returned the other, "which my master would inflict upon one of
your captains who had fallen into his power, after having proved his
fidelity to you. "--"If your master," replied the Ethiopian, "were truly
royal, and not a tyrant, he would praise and reward him; and excite the
emulation of his own people, by commending the good qualities of an
enemy: but it seems to me, good sir, that you praise your fidelity at
the expence of your prudence, after having adventured yourself against
so many myriads of my troops. "--"Perhaps," replied Oroondates, "in
regard to myself, I have not been so imprudent as may at first appear.
I knew the disposition of my sovereign--to punish cowards, rather than
to reward the brave. I determined therefore to hazard every thing,
and trust to Fortune, who sometimes affords unexpected and improbable
successes in war. If I failed and escaped with life, I should at least
have it to say, that nothing in my power had been left untried. "

Hydaspes, after listening to his words, praised him, sent him to Syene,
ordered his physicians to attend him, and all possible care to be taken
of him. He himself soon after made his public entry into the city, with
the flower of his army. The inhabitants of all ranks and ages went out
in procession to meet him, strewed crowns and flowers[17] of the Nile,
in his path, greeting him with songs of victory.

He entered the city on an elephant, as on a triumphal chariot, and
immediately turned his thoughts to holy matters and thanksgivings
to the gods. He made inquiries concerning everything worthy of his
curiosity, particularly about the origin of the feasts of the Nile.
They shewed him a tank which served as a nilometer, like that which
is at Memphis, lined with polished stone, and marked with degrees at
the interval of every cubit. The water flows into it under ground, and
the height to which it rises in the tank, shews the general excess, or
deficiency, of the inundation, according as the degrees are covered or
left bare. They shewed him dials, which, at a certain season of the
year, cast no shade at noon; for, at the summer solstice, the sun is
vertical at Syene, and darts its rays perpendicularly down, so that the
water,[18] at the bottom of the deepest wells, is light.

This, however, raised no great astonishment in Hydaspes; for the
same phenomenon happens at the Ethiopian Meröe. The people of Syene
loudly praised their festival and extolled the Nile, calling it Horus
(the year), the fertilizer of their plains--the preserver of Upper
Egypt--the father, and, in a manner, the creator of the Lower--as it
brings annually new soil into it, and is from thence, possibly, called
Nile,[19] by the Greeks.

It points out, they said, the annual vicissitudes of time--summer by
the increase, and autumn by the retiring of its waters--spring by
the flowers which grow on it, and by the breeding of the crocodiles.
The Nile then, is, they say, nothing else but the year, its very
appellation confirming this, since the numeral letters which compose
its name, amount to 365 units, the number of days which make up the
year. [20] They extolled also its peculiar plants and flowers, and
animals, and added a thousand other encomiums. "All these praises,"
said Hydaspes, "belong more to Ethiopia, than to Egypt. If you esteem
this river as the father of waters, and exalt it to the rank of a
deity, Ethiopia ought surely to be worshipped, which is the mother of
your god? "

"We do worship it," replied the priests, "both on many other accounts,
and because it has sent you to us, as a preserver and a god. " After
recommending them to be less lavish in their praises, he retired to
a tent which had been prepared for him, and devoted the rest of the
day to ease and refreshment. He entertained, at his own table, his
principal officers, and the priests of Syene, and encouraged all ranks
to make merry. The inhabitants of Syene furnished herds of oxen, flocks
of sheep, goats and swine, together with store of wine, partly by way
of gift, partly for sale. The next day he mounted a lofty seat; and,
ordering the spoil to be brought out, which had been collected in the
city, and on the field of battle, distributed it amongst his army, in
such proportions as he thought their merit deserved. When the soldier
appeared who took Oroondates, "Ask what you please," said the king. --"I
have no occasion to ask anything," he replied. "If you will allow me
to keep what I have already taken from the Viceroy, I am sufficiently
rewarded for having made him prisoner, and preserved him alive,
according to your commands. " And with this he shewed a sword belt, a
scimitar richly jewelled of great value, and worth many talents; so
that many cried out, it was a gift too precious for a private man, a
treasure worthy of a monarch's acceptance. Hydaspes smilingly replied--

"What can be more kingly than that my magnanimity should be superior
to this man's avarice? Besides, the captor has a right to the personal
spoils of his prisoner. Let him then, receive as a gift from me, what
he might easily have taken to himself, without my knowledge.