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SALAMMBO 
 
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 7 S ALA M M WO • 
 
 _G U S T A V E FLAUBERT 
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 ENGLIJftlE 
 
 M. FRENCH SHELDON. 
 
 SAXON & CO., 
 
 23 Bouverie Street, Fleet Street, LONDON, 
 and Tribune Building, NEW YORK. 
 
 MDCCCLXXXVI. 
 
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 Copyright 1885, 
 
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 HENRY S. WELLCOME. 
 
 All rights reserved* 
 
 
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TO MY FRIEND 
 
 HENRY M. STANLEY, 
 
 THE GREAT EXPLORER, WHO FOUND PR. LIVINGSTONE : 
 
 FIRST CIRCUMNAVIGATED THE GREAT LAKES OF CENTRAL AFRICA ; 
 
 FIRST REVEALED THE EXTREME SOUTHERN SOURCES OF THE NILE ; 
 
 FIRST TRACED THE CONGO TO THE SEA, 
 
 AND CREATED THE CONGO FREE STATE, WHICH IS DESTINED SOME DAN 
 
 o! rRIVAL ANCIENT PHOENICIA! 
 
 TO HIM WHOSE EXALTED NOBLE ATTRIBUTES AS MAX AND FRIEND EXCEL, 
 
 IF POSSIBLE, THE GREATNESS OF HIS FAME J 
 
 IT IS MY HONOIR AND 1'LEASIRE TO DEDICATE THE 
 
 TRANSLATION OF S A LAMM Bo. 
 
 M. FRENCH SHELDON. 
 London, 1885. 
 
CONTENTS. 
 
 I. The Feast 
 
 II. At Sicca 
 
 III. Salammbo 
 
 IV. Under the Walls of Carthage 
 V. Tanit .... 
 
 VI. Hanno .... 
 
 VII. Hamilcar Barca 
 
 VIII. The Battle of the Macar 
 
 IX. The Campaign . 
 
 X. The Serpent . 
 
 XI. In the Tent . 
 
 XII. The Aqueduct 
 
 XIII. Moloch . 
 
 XIV. The Defile of the Battle-Axe 
 
 XV. Matho .... 
 
 PAGE 
 
 I 
 
 26 
 
 55 
 
 66 
 
 9i 
 112 
 
 140 
 192 
 218 
 
 239 
 256 
 
 282 
 
 309 
 
 358 
 409 
 
INTRODUCTION. 
 
 The French man of genius whose masterpiece is now for the 
 first time presented in English to the attention of the Anglo- 
 Saxon world was thirty-six years of age before he had pub- 
 lished anything, and had attained the ripe age of forty-one 
 when Salammbd made its appearance. Gustave Flaubert was 
 born in the old town of Rouen, in Xormandy, on the 12th of 
 December, 1821. Both his father and his brother were noted 
 physicians and surgeons, a fact which probably prompted 
 Sainte-Beuve, when he came to criticise and to praise Gustave 
 Flaubert, to remark that the author handled his pen as others 
 handled the scalpel. The father was for more than thirty 
 years chief surgeon of the Hotel Dieu in Rouen, and was the 
 author of many valuable treatises on medical science. The 
 son Gustave, who had a passionate admiration for his elder 
 brother, had determined to study medicine ; but he soon per- 
 ceived, says an acute biographer, that the observation of the 
 phenomena of the moral order was better suited to his cha- 
 racter, and he abruptly closed his scientific studies and turned 
 to literature. 
 
 There are few instances in letters of a career so tardily 
 begun ripening so quickly into renown, or concentrating into 
 a few years so many excitements, struggles, debates, and vic- 
 tories. As soon as he had taken his great resolve, Flaubert 
 
 C 
 
X INTRODUCTION. 
 
 devoted his entire life and his phenomenal energy and persist- 
 ence to the art which he had chosen to pursue. His life was. 
 thenceforward a consecration. The changes and the battles 
 of 1848 did not affect him. He seems, to the very close of his 
 life, save when the anguish of the war of 1870-71 wrested 
 from him some outbursts of patriotic wrath, to have remained 
 a stranger to political strife, and to have felt a kind of con- 
 tempt for it. When he was at the height of his glory, he 
 went one evening into Imperial society, where he met the 
 highest dignitaries of the land. He returned home quite dis- 
 gusted, and recorded his disgust in a letter written the next 
 morning to a friend, in which letter he said : " The evening 
 was filled with platitudes and nonsense. These people actually 
 talked of nothing else but M. de Bismarck and the Luxem- 
 burg." 
 
 In 1849, while France was still tremulous from the shock 
 of the recent explosion, Flaubert set out on a journey up 
 the Nile, through Egypt and Nubia, along the borders of the 
 Red Sea, into Palestine and Syria, into Cyprus and Rhodes ; 
 then to Asia Minor, Turkey in Europe, and Greece, all the 
 while accompanied by his faithful and amiable friend, M. 
 Maxime Du Camp, who still survives him, and who has left 
 us a noble and impressive monograph of the great author. 
 All these years the talent, which had been of slow and subtle 
 development, was crystallising ; the minute and careful obser- 
 vation for which Flaubert was so noted among his friends, 
 was destined to bear splendid fruit in the masterly pages of 
 Salammbo. Flaubert was a thorough convert to the idea 
 that every material thing the description of which is per- 
 manent in literature must have been seen, grappled with, 
 handled, lived ; and out of this intense conviction was distilled 
 the alembic of his style : out of it came the immortality of 
 his best work. 
 
 These years of travel were merry and happy as well as pro- 
 fitable, and they were studded with picturesque adventures,. 
 
INTRODUCTION. XI 
 
 which Lamartine would h;ive woven into a dozen fascinating 
 volumes, but which Flaubert sternly compressed into the 
 great volume of his experience, keeping the combined 
 education and remembrances for the atmosphere of the 
 work which he meant to make abiding. Maxime Du Camp 
 has given us many charming accounts of Flaubert's wander- 
 ings among the hills of Greece ; his frolics at Corinth 
 or in the plain of Argolis ; his fantastical pilgrimage to the 
 fountain between Argos and Xauplia, where Juno went 
 each year in search of new youth and beauty ; and his furi- 
 ous digging in Mycenae before Dr. Schliemann had been 
 able to undertake his excavations. Those critics who 
 unadvisedly attacked Flaubert after the publication of 
 Salammbd, as to the depth and extent of his archaeological 
 studies, might have acted with more caution had they known 
 how, during those years of travel, Flaubert read, investigated, 
 unearthed, and ransacked in museums, and with what 
 earnestness he verified even the smallest details which were 
 to be of use to him in his future work. At Pompeii, at 
 Rome, in Sicily, tracked by gendarmes, arrested by suspicious 
 inhabitants and haled before country justices, Flaubert 
 continued his researches. " The police followed us," says 
 Maxime Du Camp, " into the trenches of Herculaneum and 
 on to the rocks of Cape Misenum.' 3 To his long wanderings 
 in Phoenicia, in I860, is due much of the subtle charm which 
 exhales from the pages of Salammbo, in which the author 
 has resurrected for us the life of that ancient world w T here 
 the Hebrew fugitives from Egypt, the dauntless merchant- 
 warriors, were supreme until the final triumph of that Rome 
 which they had defied with the arrogance of success for so 
 long a time. 
 
 After his return to France, Flaubert settled down in the 
 parental home at Croisset, near Rouen ; "and," says M. Du 
 Camp, " as in the Orient he had been homesick for Nor- 
 mandy, so in Normandy he was homesick for the Orient. 
 
 c2 
 
Xll INTRODUCTION. 
 
 Poor great man ! whose mind was always grasping after that 
 which was past, and always regretting and never enjoying." 
 While his friends were founding the Revue de Paris, with 
 which his name was in later days to be connected, he was 
 writing and re-writing, passing long months in doubt and 
 depression, followed by periods of literary enthusiasm, when 
 the hundred projects boiling in his brain seemed each to get 
 in the way of the other. " Before a pleasant fire, by the 
 genial light of the lamps," says M. Du Camp, describing his 
 friend at that time, "Flaubert seemed to grow intoxicated 
 with the sound of his own voice. The lyric force which 
 filled him seemed to overflow. At such moments, he swore 
 that he would at once publish his books, and delighted in 
 the prospect of frightening the bourgeois with new ideas, 
 and newer forms of expression." But the next morning, 
 Flaubert would appear quite exhausted, and given up to 
 despair, and would say to the same friends who had listened 
 with astonishment to his declarations of the previous evening, 
 " I shall never publish anything." These alternate periods 
 of exalted enthusiasm and of discouragement lasted, says M. 
 Du Camp, about fifteen days, after which Flaubert would 
 settle down to work once more. Finally, he decided that 
 he would go up to Paris, and consult Theophile Gautier, 
 who was in those days a great authority ; and his friend 
 Bouilhet, the poet, said to him laughingly, " You remind 
 me of Panurge going to consult the oracles." 
 
 Flaubert took to Theophile Gautier the manuscript of 
 the Temptation of St. Anthony, a strange volume, into which 
 he had put so much of the force alluded to by M. Du Camp, 
 and of his pronounced hatred for the Philistines. The 
 gentle Gautier smiled at the excess of conscience displayed 
 by Flaubert, and at his doubts of his own work. He 
 reminded him that a writer wrote works for the purpose of 
 publishing them ; that he should not sit musing over them 
 year after year, but should give them to the public, and 
 
INTRODUCTION. xiii 
 
 abide by the public's verdict. Flaubert, however, was like 
 those good people who ask financiers for advice as to invest- 
 ment, and then take a contrary decision. He put the 
 Temptation of St. Anthony back in his portfolio, and it was 
 not until a lengthy period had elapsed that he drew there- 
 from another and a singula]- book, destined to create a marked 
 impression, and published it in the Revue de Paris, which 
 had been founded by Maxime Du Camp. This book was 
 Madame Bovary, with which Flaubert's name has unluckily 
 been more closely associated in the minds of English-speaking 
 peoples than with the glowing and majestic pages of his 
 great historical romance. 
 
 The mention of Madame Bovary brings us naturally to the 
 contemplation of certain peculiarities in Flaubert's liteiary 
 method, and especially in his style, methods which have been 
 the subjects of hundreds of essays, and of some bitter polemics 
 by continental critics during the past generation. Flaubert 
 has been called bv some the "father of naturalism," and was 
 even wont to allude to himself as a disciple of the realistic 
 method in literature. But to my thinking he is more 
 accurately described, in the phrase of a recent writer, as 
 " that lingering lover of the romantic school, elevated, despite 
 himself, to the high post of pontiff of realism." He was 
 certainly the originator in France of the school to which 
 belong the De Goncourts, Emile Zola, and other men, who 
 have had far greater pecuniary successes than Flaubert. 
 Many careless observers of the French literary movement 
 have fancied that they could directly trace the inspiration of 
 Emile Zola in his most unbridled and erotic effusions to 
 Madame Bovary and the spirit which presided at the writing 
 of such a book. 
 
 But the truth is that Zola and the men of his type are 
 seceders from the school which Flaubert founded. They have 
 gone to an extreme at which Flaubert's wisdom, his dignity, 
 and his devotion to literature, would never have permitted 
 
XIV INTRODUCTION. 
 
 him to arrive. His disdain for the conventional restrictions 
 of the cold and classical school was not so great as to lead 
 him to indecencies, or to pervert his imagination. Madame 
 Bovary was a daring book, but its atmosphere was not im- 
 pure. Here Flaubert truly handled the pen as if it were a 
 scalpel. A bourgeois himself, and the son of bourgeois parents, 
 he wrote down with masterly skill and frankness the petty" 
 vices of the bourgeois world, and with unerring finger pointed 
 out their causes and their fatal results. Madame Bovary 
 caused a profound sensation. The Imperial Government 
 thought it necessary to prosecute its author for immorality. 
 The Rwue de Paris gained from this suit against Flaubert a 
 fame which it might otherwise never have attained, and 
 Flaubert emerged from the obscurity of Croisset into the full 
 glare of Parisian celebrity, and at the same time found 
 himself triumphantly acquitted of the charge brought against 
 him. Many years afterwards, when he was ill, dispirited, 
 sorely tried by fortune, and saw no companions save the few 
 of the faithful in the little circle in Paris, he was wont 
 mockingly to allude to Zola and the others as people whom 
 he had invented, and who had won fortunes and honours ten 
 times greater than those accorded the inventor. 
 
 " By means of this book alone," says a French critic, 
 alluding to Madame Bovary, " one might form an accurate 
 conception of the poesy of realism as Flaubert understood 
 it. The pen is an instrument destined to reproduce all the 
 plastic combinations of human existence. The moral world 
 offering to imitation neither form nor colour, an imagination 
 which need not occupy itself with the saving of souls is 
 supposed to confine itself to the physical world, as an immense 
 studio filled with models, all of which have the same value 
 in its sight, for it would be almost like blaming the Creator 
 if one were to set aside or correct any of his creatures, as un- 
 worthy of exact reproduction. The school even requires 
 that we should abstain from judging people, making form 
 
INTRODUCTION. XV 
 
 everything, and conclusions and the moral nothing; in other 
 words, this attractive school has neither sentiment nor idea, 
 but execution.'' 
 
 This may have been a correct statement of Flaubert's 
 school, and of his method when Madame Bovary was 
 published, but it would not serve to describe the spirit which 
 dictated Salammbd. Shortly after the publication of 
 Madame Bovary, Flaubert published in the Artiste a series 
 of studies of fragmentary character, the remnants of that 
 manuscript of the Temptation of St. Anthony which he had 
 shown to Gautier. The characterisation of this work I leave 
 to more competent hands. It is sufficient here to say that it 
 shows, perhaps in greater degree than any other of Flaubert's 
 works, his wonderful knowledge of the French language. 
 " He has," says one of his countrymen, " the whole French 
 dictionary in his head, and possibly a good many other 
 dictionaries as well. He knows the terms which fix the idea 
 most strongly in the mind. There is nothing floating or 
 indecisive in his expression : but the word invariably conveys 
 delicate shades of meaning." 
 
 In 1858 Flaubert set out on the journey which was to be 
 the crown of his life, and which resulted in the creation of 
 Salammbd. He went first to Tunis, and thence to the ruins 
 of Carthage, where he remained for a long time, groping 
 with the ferocious industry of an archaeologist in the mys- 
 terious ruins of the proud city swept away by Scipio, and of 
 the pathetic fate of which there are no minute chronicles, 
 save that of the Greek Polybius, renowned among the 
 k " special correspondents" of the elder world. 
 
 It was well to call the story of Salammbd the "resurrection 
 of Carthage"'; and for those who doubt the skill of the magician, 
 as some were found to doubt when the work was first pub- 
 lished, they have only to turn to the simple narrative of the 
 truceless war between the Carthaginians and those barbarian 
 mercenaries whom they could not or would not pay for their 
 
xvi INTRODUCTION. 
 
 long services, to see how grand a spectacle has been grouped 
 about the war which historians regarded as uninteresting. 
 Flaubert follows the historic facts with the closest fidelity, 
 save in the two or three simple cases in which he has changed 
 the date of an occurrence in order to heighten the dramatic 
 force of the narrative. The great Hamilcar Barca, the father 
 of Hannibal, had sent home the Barbarian followers with 
 whom he had been waging his difficult war in Sicily, with in- 
 structions that they be paid ofi° by detachments. But the 
 Carthaginians, who had grown covetous after the many pri- 
 vations which their foreign campaigns had cost them, declined 
 to pay the mercenaries, but let them rest in idleness and 
 feasting, until they were thoroughly angered and mutinous, 
 and then sent them to another town, with instructions to 
 await the money. Here, Greeks and Iberians, Libyans and 
 Ligurians, Balearic slingers and run-away slaves, finally re- 
 volted, and headed by Spendius, the crafty Greek, Matho the 
 Libyan, and Autharitus the Gaul, marched back to Carthage 
 to begin the stupendous siege which Hamilcar finally crushed 
 by his gigantic efforts, and which he punished with a cruelty 
 almost without parallel. Spendius and Autharitus, and the 
 other minor chiefs, were crucified ; but 'Matho was taken 
 prisoner and put to death, being led in triumph through the 
 streets of the Carthage which he had so long threatened and 
 defied during the score of years separating the first from the 
 second Punic wars. Polybius characterises the struggle as 
 more cruel and inhuman than any other of which he had 
 heard . 
 
 Upon this Flaubert has grafted the bewitching tale of the 
 fierce and sensuous passion of Matho, the Libyan chief, for 
 Salammbo, the daughter of Hamilcar. Matho, aided by 
 Spendius, penetrates into Carthage by night during the siege, 
 enters the temple of Tanit, and carries oif the mysterious 
 veil of the goddess, whom the Carthaginians held in a special 
 and peculiar veneration. Clad in this mantle, which to look 
 
INTRODUCTION. XV11 
 
 upon was profanation for the worshippers, he passes into the 
 private apartments of Salammbo, there declares his passion, 
 and then retires, serene and composed before the mob which 
 comes to kill him, but dares not touch him because of the 
 sacred veil or mantle. He carries this talisman into the camp 
 of the Barbarians, and thither Salammbo, commanded by the 
 priests, comes to rescue it at whatever risk of life or of virtue. 
 Matho delivers it up. The consecration of the loves of the 
 barbarian and the daughter of Hamilcar is the fruit of this 
 interview ; and thenceforward the s^ory moves nobly through 
 a succession of grand military scenes, interspersed with de- 
 lightful pictures of the intimate and familiar life within 
 Carthage, until it arrives at its tragic close, serene as that of 
 an epic, in which Salammb6 dies after she has seen the cap- 
 tured Matko slain at her feet while she stands on the throne 
 beside the bridegroom to whom her father has given her. 
 
 The exquisite humanity of all the central figures in this 
 book, which would make an illustrious play, is here and there 
 almost Shakespearean. It is true that Flaubert, with his 
 exaggerated dread of a display of sensibility, has sometimes 
 so hurried along the impetuous torrents of the narrative that 
 one experience^ a feeling of breathlessness, a desire to catch 
 at something, and linger by the way. So, too, the French 
 critics have accused him of insufficient sense of contrast, of 
 making all his pictures too imposing. Singularly striking as 
 the figure and character of Salammbo are, poetic and sensuous 
 as are the descriptions of her worship on the housetops, her 
 communion with the sacred serpent, and her adoration of 
 Tanit, and the other false goddesses and gods of Carthage, 
 the great figure in the book is that of the veteran father, 
 Hamilcar, the admiral of the seas, the master of slaves and 
 of the lives of men, the politician and leader, the prince of 
 expedients and of strategy, the father of the general who was 
 to cross the Alps and fall with his army upon bewildered 
 Italy like a storm of fire. From the first entrance of 
 
XV111 INTRODUCTION. 
 
 .Hamilcar into the story we breathe a larger air ; we feel the 
 impression of truth, and of transcript from the truth. It is 
 3,s if Flaubert himself were one of the ancients, and had 
 written what he said and knew, even as Polybius did. There 
 is something infinitely touching and frightful at the same 
 time in the portrait of Hamilcar, in his passionate admiration 
 and love for the little Hannibal, in the grand description of 
 his mastery of the Elders and Patricians when he returns 
 from Sicily, in his pilgrimages through his farms, and among 
 his slaves, in his contemplation of his almost countless 
 treasures, and finally in his semi-barbaric sacrifices to Moloch 
 and the ferocious joy with which he seizes upon Spendius 
 and the other dying chiefs when he has enticed them into 
 their death-trap. 
 
 Yet Salammbo* is noble as a daughter of the gods ; noble 
 in her maiden contemplation of mysteries which she dare not 
 even think of fathoming ; noble in her self-sacrifice for 
 Carthage; noble in her father's wrath at what he thinks her 
 fall from the high virtue befitting a daughter of Hamilcar ; 
 noble in the midst of those patrician splendours which Flaubert 
 describes with such wealth of detail ; and there are certain 
 bits of descriptive writing showing Salammbo and her attend- 
 ants in their various avocations, which give, in the highest 
 sense of the term, the " colour compressed in words," which the 
 critic found in the famous line in Iphigenie, where Racine, 
 in a dozen words, depicts the sleeping sea with the sleeping 
 fleet crowded with sleeping men. Such effects cost Flaubert 
 infinite anguish — the word is not too strong, for he struggled 
 with his phrases as with a nervous malady. There is something 
 of Meissonier in the elaboration of his pictures, while oddly 
 enough there is also in his work the same grand and thrilling 
 sense of combination of vast subjects to be found on the 
 canvases of Rubens. In fact, Flaubert was like a painter 
 trying to cover a canvas worthy of Rubens with the ex- 
 cessively minute and perfect finish of Meissonier. What 
 
INTRODUCTION. XIX 
 
 wonder that his life was filled with unremitting study 
 and toil, and that the practice of his art almost broke his 
 spirit ? 
 
 Flaubert had much trouble with the critics. Sainte-Beuve 
 administered to him one of his amiable but somewhat pre- 
 tentious scoldings, to which Flaubert responded in December 
 of 18G'2 with commendable promptness and almost a complete 
 refutation. Sainte-Beuve, like lesser men, presumed to doubt 
 the wisdom of applying to antiquity the processes of the 
 modern novel, whereupon Flaubert entered into one of his 
 fine rages, in which he sometimes forgot his purity of style, 
 and scolded, railed, and battled like the Frenchmen of his 
 time. But as one said of him, shortly after this cudgelling 
 with the critics : " he comes out of it a much greater person 
 than before." Did a writer presume to criticise a single 
 description of Carthaginian archaeology or religion, as it 
 appeared in Salammbo, Flaubert instantly brought up an 
 authority to crush the unhappy wight. Even for the pardon- 
 able changes in the spelling of names, to reconcile them to 
 corrupt modern usage, Flaubert had his defensive reasons. 
 Whenever he had taken a liberty, he admitted it, as in his 
 expressed opinion that there was really no aqueduct leading 
 to ancient Carthage, although the ruins of an aqueduct may 
 be seen to-day. That Hanno was crucified in front of Tunis 
 he admits to be untrue, and says that the execution took plae«' 
 in Sardinia. M. Frcehner, the editor of the Revue Conlemporaim, 
 had violently attacked Salammbd, as false in its pretended 
 erudition ; but Flaubert in a dozen pages made short work 
 of him. In fact, M. Frcehner, although he returned to the 
 attack, was at last completely crushed. 
 
 Even had Flaubert paid less attention to the perfection of 
 detail in his description of these ancient battles, and these 
 imagined or somewhat idealised loves and lives in the midst 
 of the truceless war's long and gloomy course, his work would 
 have been certain to endure. There is a magic in the 
 
 o 
 
XX INTRODUCTION. 
 
 atmosphere, a truth in the delineation of passion, so 
 abundant a sympathy in the accounts of the battles and the 
 privations of the combatants, and such a simplicity and 
 strength in the hundreds of genre pictures scattered through 
 the book, that it must be accounted a masterpiece. So 
 long as men battle and women love, so long as human 
 nature suffers no change in its great attributes, so long will 
 the story of Hamilcar and of Spendius, of Matho and of 
 Salammb6, of the leprous Hanno and the fiery Narr' Havas, be 
 read with strong emotion and with avidity. It awakens 
 only noble thoughts, despite its sensuous setting. It is like 
 an exquisite piece of Greek sculpture, mighty, yet too 
 ethereal in its beauty for modern hands to create, set against 
 a back-ground flooded with sumptuous colour. 
 
 The great scenes in the book, the banquet and riot of the 
 barbarians, their contemplation of the crucified lions on the 
 road to Sicca, the preaching of the revolt by Spendius, the 
 entrance into the temple of Tanit by night, the contempla- 
 tion of Matho enshrouded in the veil by Salammbo, the 
 arrival of Hamilcar from Sicily, the interview in the tent, 
 the Carthaginian prisoners in the ditches filled with water, 
 the woes of Hanno, the deaths of the barbarians entrapped 
 into the dufile, the sacrifices to Moloch, and the death of 
 Salammbo, are every one genuine works of art, imperishable 
 as diamonds ; and if the French critics did not at first find 
 sufficient contrast in these paintings on the sublimely 
 sculptured portico, they discovered them when they had 
 bestowed proper attention upon the work. 
 
 The originality of Flaubert's character is shown in all his 
 subsequent works, as well as in those preceding Salammbd, 
 in different vein from that adopted in the Carthaginian tale. 
 In this latter, Flaubert rises to his completest dignity as an 
 artist : in the others he is the rageur, the battler, the beater 
 of bucklers, and is evidently very often ill at ease with him- 
 self. Fond of discussion of theories, he maintained an 
 
INTRODUCTION. XXI 
 
 immense correspondence with George Sand, in which he 
 pilloried everything commonplace, classing as such her 
 notion that one might preach in books. His Sentimental 
 Education, and other books of lesser importance from his 
 pen, were written with all his determined straining after 
 effects of words. He even graduated his sentences to 
 musical notes. "Phrases," he cried, "which make me 
 enthusiastic with admiration, appear to others very ordinary. 
 1 would give all the legends of Gavarni for certain 
 expressions and certain masterly cuts of style." He was 
 tempted once, in 1874, to try for success upon the stage, 
 where so many brilliant men, amply successful in their own 
 lines, have insisted upon coming to grief. His piece of The 
 Candidate, a comic sketch of manners during an election, 
 was a complete failure. At the end of the fourth represen- 
 tation at the Vaudeville, Flaubert was himself convinced, 
 and admitted, not without rage, that he had made a mistake. 
 It was, in fact, an excursion into light literature for which 
 he had not sufficiently prepared himself. A comedy written 
 in six w r eeks could not hope to compare with Salanunbo, 
 which was the work of such laborious years. Later on, in 
 bis three tales, Herodiax, St. Julien VHosjntalier, and 
 Un Cceur Simple, he showed the great analytic force 
 which had done so much to secure the success of Madame 
 Bovary. These tales were little lyrics in prose. They were 
 published in 1877, and brought popular interest again to 
 bear upon Flaubert, who would better have paused there, 
 and never have written the adventures of Bouvard and 
 Pecuchet, the chronicles of the useless life of two bourgeois 
 imbeciles, whom he intended as two characters typical of 
 that human folly and weakness which lie so much derided. 
 
 With his closing years came the trials from which few are 
 exempt. The death of his mother was a severe blow to one 
 who raised his family affection to the height of a veritable 
 religion, and who had always been delightful and delicate in 
 
XXll INTRODUCTION. 
 
 the exercise of his friendships with men and women. Then, 
 by a stroke of generosity, he swept away nearly all that he had, 
 except the right to live in the old house at Croisset, with the 
 knowledge that it belonged to another heir. The Government 
 gave him a small sinecure, which he was with difficulty per- 
 suaded to accept, and from March of 1879 until early in May 
 of 1880, he passed an agitated and wearied existence. The 
 solitude which he once so loved in his retreat at Croisset 
 now alarmed him, and he sought for company. The nervous 
 malady with which he had been all his life afflicted finally 
 manifested itself in frequent crises, which he tried in vain to 
 dispel by breathing ether. He had a fatal apoplectic attack, 
 battling against it to the last moment, like the vigorous and 
 lusty being that he was, as if clinging to the life which still 
 possessed many tortures for him, yet out of which he had 
 carved an immortal reputation, founded on at least two 
 works of singular genius and one of surpassing beauty. 
 Shortly after his death the old house at Croisset was sold, 
 and to-day a distillery is erected on the site of the rustic 
 retreat to which Tourgueneff loved to find his way, and 
 where Flaubert had passed many profitable years. 
 
 Between Tourgueneff and Flaubert the affection was en- 
 tirely mutual. Each recognised in the other a consummate 
 artist ; each knew r the other gifted with the so rare capacity 
 of making true pictures with noble and elevated language. 
 Each had the requisite proportion in his literary character to 
 enable him to avoid falling into the excesses of the natuialist 
 school and to remain capable of practising an eclecticism, 
 founded on what is true in the romantic and in the realistic 
 schools. 
 
 Flaubert and Tourgueneff shared each other's deep human 
 sympathies ; yet each scoffed at the folly of the conventional 
 men and women. Each wrote bitter pages of satire, and 
 each held pure and elevated ideals of politics. Each, too, 
 had the wonderful faculty of reproducing with words the 
 
INTRODUCTION. xxiii 
 
 sounds of the boughs moved by the wind, the effect of 
 summer moonlight on the quiet waves, the rhythmic swaying 
 of glasses on the virgin prairie —and all those manifesta- 
 tions of nature which touch the hearts of all men in common, 
 whatever be their station or education ; and this was one 
 of the secrets of their success. By their conscientious study 
 of nature they came to know how to interpret her. The 
 cold classicists of the eighteenth century knew little of these 
 things, nor can they ever hope to be loved like Flaubert and 
 Tourgueneff, the two great rugged twins of the new method 
 in literature. 
 
 Edward King. 
 
 Villa d<s Temcs, Paris. 
 
i 
 
BALAMMBO. 
 
 CHAPTER I. 
 
 The Feast. 
 
 It was at Megara in the suburbs of Carthage in 
 Hamilcar's gardens. 
 
 The soldiers whom he had commanded in Sicily 
 had been accorded by the Grand Council a great 
 feast, to celebrate the anniversary of the battle of 
 Eryx. 
 
 The captains, wearing bronze cothurnes,were seated 
 in the central avenue, beneath a purple canopy fringed 
 with gold, extending from the stable walls on one 
 side to the first terrace of the palace on the other ; 
 while the majority of the common soldiers were out 
 under the trees. Farther on in the gardens appeared 
 a number of flat-roofed structures, comprising wine- 
 presses, wine-cellars, bakeries, warehouses, and ar- 
 senals. The park also environed a court for elephants, 
 pits for ferocious animals, and a prison for slaves. 
 / Fig-trees surrounded the kitchens ; beyond, a syca- 
 more grove extended to masses of verdure, wherein 
 the pomegranates shone resplendent in the midst 
 of white tufts of cotton plants ; vines laden with 
 
 B 
 
SALAMMBO. 
 
 clusters of grapes interwove through pine branches ; 
 under plane trees a field of roses bloomed, and 
 here and there interspersing the green turf, lilies 
 waved gracefully. The pathways were strewn with 
 black sand mixed with powdered coral, and through 
 the centre, from end to end of this vast park, an 
 avenue of cypress trees formed a double colonnade 
 of green obelisks. 
 
 ^Hamilcar's palace, built of yellow-spotted Numi- 
 dian marble, of four terraced stories, towered above a 
 substructure of huge courses of stone ; its grand, 
 straight, ebony stairway, bearing on the corner 
 of each step the prow of a vanquished galley ; its 
 red doors quartered by a black cross, protected at 
 the base from scorpions by brass grillages, and 
 the openings at the top masked by trellisses of 
 golden baguettes, — seemed to the soldiers, in its dis- 
 play of barbaric opulence, as solemn and impenetra- 
 ble as Hamilcar's face. 
 
 At early dawn the convalescents who had slept in 
 the temple of Eschmoun set out to attend the feast, 
 and dragged themselves on their crutches to the 
 gardens. 
 
 By all the diverse pathways soldiers poured 
 forth incessantly, like torrents precipitated from 
 heights into a lake. Bewildered kitchen-slaves, half- 
 naked, could be eeen running about between the 
 trees in confusion, and the startled gazelles bleated 
 as they scampered over the lawns. 
 
 The setting sun and the perfumes of the lemon- 
 trees rendered even heavier and more oppressive 
 the exhalations of this sweating, seething crowd. 
 Here, upon this festal occasion, were gathered men 
 
THE FEAST. 3 
 
 of all nations : Ligurians, Lusitanians, Balearic 
 warriors, Negroes, and Roman fugitives. Here could 
 be heard, mingled with the heavy Dorian patois, the 
 Celtic syllables, rattling like battle -chariots ; and 
 the Ionian terminations, clashing with the conso- 
 nants of the desert, harsh as the yelpings of jackals. 
 Greeks could be recognised by their slender figures; 
 Egyptians by their high, square shoulders ; Cantab- 
 rians by their broad, muscular legs ; Carians swayed 
 proudly the plumes on their helmets ; Cappadocian 
 archers were conspicuous by the large flowers 
 painted over their entire bodies ; and some Lydians 
 feasted arrayed in the robes, slippers, and earrings 
 of women ; others, for the sake of pomp, had 
 daubed themselves with vermilion, resembling, as 
 they moved about, animated coral statues. 
 
 To partake of the feast tkese men stretched them- 
 selves out upon cushions, or ate as they squatted on 
 their haunches around large plateaus ; or even lay 
 flat on their bellies, and pulled towards themselves 
 pieces of meat, which they munched, leaning on their 
 elbows, in the pacific attitude of lions dismembering 
 their prey. The late comers, standing against the 
 trees, looked wistfully at the low tables, half con- 
 cealed beneath scarlet cloths, and the sumptuous 
 repast, eagerly awaiting their turns. 
 
 Hamilcar's kitchens being insufficient for this 
 occasion, the Grand Council had supplied slaves, 
 utensils, and couches. Bright, huge fires blazed 
 in the centre of the gardens, before which beeves 
 were roasting, imparting to the vicinity the appear- 
 ance of a battle-field upon which the dead were being 
 burned. On the tables were placed loaves of bread 
 
 B 2 
 
4 SALAMMBO. 
 
 sprinkled with aniseseed, alternating with large 
 cheeses, heavier than discs. Bowls of wine, and 
 canthari filled with water, were placed by the side 
 of gold filigree baskets containing flowers. 
 
 The delight experienced in being able at last, after 
 prolonged privations, to gorge themselves at will, 
 dilated the eyes of these starving warriors, and here 
 and there songs burst forth. Hamilcar's absence 
 contributed to the freedom with which the multitude 
 ate, drank, and caroused. 
 
 First — birds, covered with green sauce, were 
 served in red clay dishes embellished with black 
 designs ; then all species of shell-fish caught on the 
 Punic coast, followed by broths of barley, wheat, and 
 beans ; and snails with cumin, on yellow amber 
 plates. Afterwards the tables were covered with 
 every variety of meats : roasted antelopes, garnished 
 with their horns — peacocks in their plumage — whole 
 sheep cooked in sweet wine — legs of camels and 
 DUifaloes — hedgehogs, with garum sauce — fried grass- 
 hoppers, and preserved dormice. In Tamrapanni 
 wooden bowls, large pieces of fat floated in the 
 midst of saffron — every dish overflowed with pickle, 
 truffles, and assafcetida ; pyramids of fruit rolled 
 over honey-cakes ; nor were forgotten some of 
 the red-haired^ big-bellied little dogs fattened on 
 olive-marc ; the Carthaginian practice of eating 
 which was loathed by all other people. 
 • The surprise of these new dishes to this rude 
 multitude excited the greed of their stomachs. 
 Gauls, with their long hair coiled up on the 
 top of their heads, snatched from each other water- 
 melons and lemons, which they crunched, rinds 
 
THE FEAST. 5 
 
 and all ; Negroes, who had never before seen lobsters, 
 tore their faces with the red claws ; shaven-faced 
 Greeks, whiter than marble, threw behind them 
 the pickings-off from their plates, and herdsmen 
 of Bruttium clothed in wolves' skins silently de- 
 voured their portions with their faces buried in 
 their dishes. 
 
 Night fell. The canopy that had been spread over 
 the cypress avenue was now withdrawn, and torches 
 were brought forth. The vacillating petroleum lights, 
 burning in porphyry vases, frightened in the tops of 
 the cedars the apes consecrated to the moon ; the ter- 
 rified chatterings of these animals filled the soldiers 
 with great glee. Oblong flames trembled over the 
 brazen cuirasses ; all manner of scintillations flashed 
 from the dishes incrusted with precious stones. 
 Bowls bordered with convex mirrors multiplied the 
 reflected images, enlarging every object so strangely 
 as to attract the attention of the soldiers, who, in ast*-*vr 
 ishment, crowded around, gazing at themselves, or 
 making grimaces to provoke the laughter of their com- 
 rades by the grotesque reflections. Becoming boister- 
 ous, they threw at each other across the tables the ivory 
 stools and the gold spatulas. They swallowed, in 
 gluttonish mouthfuls, all the Greek wine contained in 
 wine skins ; all that from Campania held in amphoras, 
 and that from Cantabria, which was drawn from 
 hogsheads ; as well as the jujube, cinnamon, and 
 lotus wines. All were drunk, or wastefully spilled 
 upon the ground, forming puddles in which the 
 rioters would slip. In dense vapours, the fumes 
 of the viands, mixing with the heavy breaths, rose 
 in the foliage. In a nameless clatter mingled the 
 
6 SALAMMBO. 
 
 crunching of jaws, din of words, outburst of 
 wassail songs, clinking of cups, shattering of 
 Campanian vases — scattered in a thousand fragments 
 — and the limpid ring of large silver plates. 
 As the drunkenness of the soldiers augmented, 
 they recalled to memory more vividly the injustice 
 Carthage had put upon them. 
 
 The Republic, drained by the war, had permitted 
 all the returning troops to congregate in the city, 
 despite the fact that General Gisco had taken the 
 precaution to send them back in detachments, in 
 order to facilitate their speedy payment and dis- 
 charge ; but the Council, believing that they would 
 succeed in getting these warriors to consent to some 
 diminutions, detained them. However, at present 
 they were desirous not to be obliged to pay them. 
 This war debt w r as confused in the minds of 
 the people with the three thousand two hundred 
 Eubcean talents exacted by Lutatius ; hence these 
 soldiers, like the Romans, were considered enemies 
 to Carthage. The Mercenaries comprehended this 
 feeling, therefore their indignation burst forth in 
 menaces and irruptions. Finally, they demanded a 
 reunion, to celebrate one of their victories : the peace 
 party yielded, hoping at the same time to revenge it- 
 self upon Hamilcar, who had so strongly supported 
 the war. It had been terminated contrary to his 
 policy and efforts ; so much so that despairing of 
 help from Carthage, he placed Gisco in command 
 of the Mercenaries, himself continuing to march 
 towards the amber country. The Council, desirous 
 of attracting upon Hamilcar some of the hatred the 
 soldiers bore them, designated his palace gardens 
 
THE FEAST. 7 
 
 for the festival. Notwithstanding the excessive 
 expense, Hamilcar would have to submit individ- 
 ually to defray the greater part of it. 
 
 Proud of having made the Republic comply with 
 their demands on this score, the Mercenaries believed 
 that they would also ultimately return to their 
 native countries, with the payment for their blood in 
 the hoods of their cloaks. But now their recent 
 hardships, reviewed through the vapours of their 
 present drunkenness, seemed prodigious, and too 
 poorly recompensed at best. To one another they 
 displayed their wounds, recounted their combats, 
 their journeys, and the hunts peculiar to their various 
 countries ; imitating the cries and leaps of ferocious 
 animals. They made indecent wagers, immersing 
 their heads in amphoras of wine, there remaining 
 drinking like thirsty dromedaries, without inter- 
 mission. A Lusitanian, of gigantic height, carrying 
 a man upon each arm, stalked about the tables, the 
 while spurting fire from his nostrils. Lacedemonians 
 who had not removed their cuirasses leaped about 
 with hea\w strides ; others came forward like lewd 
 women making obscene gestures ; some, stripped 
 naked, wrestled like gladiators in the midst of the 
 feast ; and a company of Greeks danced around a vase 
 upon which they chanced to see the figures of the 
 nymphs that ornamented it ; meantime a negro 
 pounded lustily on a brass buckler with a beef-bone. 
 
 Suddenly a plaintive chant was heard, a chant 
 strong and soft, rising and falling on the air like the 
 fluttering wings of a wounded bird. It was the 
 voice of the slaves in the ergasttilum, where they were 
 imprisoned. 
 
(A « 
 
 8 SALAMMBO. 
 
 A group of soldiers bounded off, disappearing 
 in the direction of the voices, bent upon liberat- 
 ing these captives. Presently they returned, chas- 
 ing before them amid yells, through the dust, a 
 score of men, distinguishable by the paler hue of their 
 faces. These slaves wore on their shaven heads 
 little, conical-shaped, black felt caps ; their feet were 
 shod in wooden sandals, and as they ran, their chains 
 clattered like the iron felloes of a moving chariot. 
 Thus driven, they finally reached the cypress 
 avenue, where they were lost in the crowd that 
 surrounded! and interrogated them. 
 
 One of these slaves remained standing apart from 
 the others. Through his tattered tunic could be seen 
 on his shoulders the weals of long gashes ; with chin 
 lowered he looked suspiciously about him as he 
 half-closed his eyelids, in the glare of the torches ; 
 but, so soon as he seemed convinced in his own mind 
 that none of the armed men wanted to harm him, 
 a deep sigh of relief escaped from his breast, and 
 he stammered and mouthed, while tears bathed his 
 face ; then, abruptly seizing a full cantharus by its 
 rings, he raised it at arm's-length on high, straight 
 in the air, revealing chains dangling from his wrists. 
 
 He looked up to the sky, still holding the cup, as 
 he cried : — " All hail ! first, to thee, Baal Eschmoun, 
 liberator, whom the people of my country call 
 iEsculapius ! Hail ! ye, spirits of the springs ! of 
 the light ! and of the woods ! and ye, Gods, hidden 
 beneath the mountains and in the caverns of the 
 earth ! and ye strong men in shining armour, who 
 have delivered me ! " 
 
 He dropped the cantharus, and told his story. 
 
THE FEAST. 9 
 
 His name was Spending ; he had been captured by 
 
 the Carthaginians during the battle of the JEgatian 
 islands. He spoke Greek, Ligurian, and Phoenician. 
 Once again he thanked the Mercenaries, kissed their 
 hands, felicitated them on their feast ; but expressed 
 great astonishment that he did not see the golden cups 
 of the Sacred Legion. These cups were embellished 
 on each of their six golden faces by an emerald 
 vine, and belonged to a militia exclusively comprised 
 of young patricians of the tallest stature. To see 
 them was a privilege, considered almost a sacerdotal 
 honour, and nothing in the treasury of the Republic 
 was so coveted by the Mercenaries. They detested 
 the Legion because of this possession, and had been 
 known to risk their lives for the ineffable pleasure 
 of merely drinking out of these cups. Instigated 
 by what this slave said, the soldiers commanded 
 that the cups should be fetched to them. The slaves 
 said that they were deposited with the Syssites, 
 companies of merchants who ate in common ; but at 
 this hour all the members of the Syssites slept. 
 
 " Let them be wakened ! " responded the Mer- 
 cenaries. 
 
 After a second evasion, one of the slaves explained 
 that the cups were locked up in a temple. 
 
 " Let the temple be opened ! " replied the soldiers ; 
 and when the slaves trembled, avowing that veri- 
 tably the cups were in the custody of General Gisco, 
 they yelled, " Let him bring them ! " 
 
 Presently Gisco appeared at the end of the garden, 
 with an escort of the Sacred Legion : his ample black 
 mantle was adjusted on his head by a gold mitre 
 starred with precious stones ; its folds falling all 
 
IO SALAMMBO. 
 
 around him, reached down to his horse's hoofs and 
 blended in the distance with the shadows of night. 
 Nothing could be seen of him but his white beard, the 
 radiancy of his coiffure, and his triple collar of 
 wide blue plaques, which, agitated by the motion of 
 his horse, struck against his breast. 
 
 As he entered the gardens, the soldiers saluted 
 him with great cheers, crying out : — " The cups ! 
 The cups ! " 
 
 He commenced by declaring "that if one only con- 
 sidered their courage, they certainly merited the 
 cups," — at which the crowd fairly howled with joy 
 in applauding him. " He knew it well, he who had 
 commanded them, and had returned with the last 
 cohort, on the last galley ! " 
 
 " It is true ! it is true ! " they cried out. 
 
 " Nevertheless," continued Gisco, " the Republic 
 respects the divisions of the people, their customs, 
 and their religions ; at Carthage they are all free. 
 As to the gold cups of the Sacred Legion, they are 
 personal property." 
 
 Suddenly, from beside Spendius, a Gaul darted 
 across the tables, making straight for Gisco, whom 
 he threatened by brandishing two naked swords. 
 Without interrupting himself, the General struck 
 this man over the head with his heavy ivory baton, 
 felling him to the ground; at this the Gauls all 
 shrieked, and their fury communicating itself to the 
 other soldiers, they turned upon the Legionaries. 
 
 Gisco shrugged his shoulders as he saw his escort 
 grow pale : his courage would be vain against 
 these foolish, exasperated brutes ; whereas, later on 
 perhaps he might avenge himself if he should 
 
THE FEAST. I I 
 
 at present check them by some strategy ; so 
 he made a sign to his guards, and they all slowly 
 moved away. When under the entrance, he turned 
 towards the Mercenaries, and cried out : — " You shall 
 repent this !" 
 
 The feast recommenced ; but the revellers were 
 disturbed by the idea that Gisco might return, and 
 invest the suburb that impinged on the last ramparts, 
 and thus crush them against the walls. They 
 felt alone, despite their multitude; and the vast 
 city, with its massive piles of stairw r ays and lofty 
 black mansions sleeping under them in the shadow, 
 filled them with terror : but yet more ferocious than 
 the city, or its people, seemed its mysterious Gods. 
 In the distance lanterns glided about the harbour, 
 and lights could be seen in the temple of Khamoun. 
 Their troubled thoughts reverted to Hamilcar. Where 
 w r as he ? W r hy had he abandoned them just as 
 peace was declared ? Doubtless his dissensions with 
 the Council had been a trick planned for their de- 
 struction. They exasperated each other by the recital 
 of their personal wrongs, and their insatiable hatred 
 now fell in curses upon him. 
 
 At this stage of discontent a crowd assembled 
 under the plane trees, attracted thither by a negro 
 who rolled about beating the ground franticallj' 
 with his arms and feet, his eyes fixed, his neck 
 contorted, and foaming at the mouth. Some one 
 cried out that the man had been poisoned ; then 
 they all likewise believed themselves poisoned, 
 and fell upon the slaves. A vertigo of destruc- 
 tion whirled over this drunken armv ; thev struck 
 at random, breaking, maiming, killing. Some, 
 
1 2 SALAMMBO. 
 
 moved by diabolical impulse, threw lighted torches 
 among the foliage ; others leaned over the balustrade 
 of the lions' pit, ruthlessly killing the animals with 
 arrows; and the most venturesome recklessly ran 
 among the elephants, and sought to hew off their 
 trunks and destroy their tusks. 
 
 Meanwhile a group of Balearic slingers, with a view 
 to pillage more conveniently, turned a corner of the 
 palace, but were hindered from proceeding by a high 
 barrier constructed of malacca-cane. However, not 
 to be thus daunted, they severed, by the aid of 
 poniards, the leather thongs holding the hedge to- 
 gether. This obstacle surmounted, they found them- 
 selves under the facade that looked towards Carthage, 
 in another garden filled with tall vegetation. Rows of 
 white flowers succeeded one after another, describing 
 on the azure-coloured ground long parabolas, like the 
 trails of shooting stars. Shadowy bushes exhaled 
 honey-sweet, warm odours ; and the trunks of trees, 
 daubed with cinnabar, resembled blood-stained col- 
 umns. In the centre were twelve copper pedestals, each 
 one supporting a large glass bowl ; the ruddy gleams 
 filled and flickered confusedly in these hollow bowls, 
 which simulated enormous throbbing eye-balls. The 
 soldiers by torchlight stumbled down a deeply fur- 
 rowed declivity. They descried a little lake, divided 
 into numerous basins by partitions of bine stone. 
 The water contained therein was so limpid, that the 
 reflected torch flames quivered to the very bottom, 
 striking on a bed of white shells and gold dust. 
 All at once the water set up a bubbling, and luminous 
 spangles glistened, as large fish, wearing precious 
 stones in their gills, came swimming to the surface. 
 
THE FEAST. I 3 
 
 The soldiers, laughing immoderately, thrust their 
 fingers through the fishes' gills, and carried them thus 
 to the tables. These fish belonged to the Barca 
 family, and were reputed descendants of the primor- 
 dial eel-pout, which had brought to light the mystic 
 egg wherein was hidden the Goddess. 
 
 The idea of committing a sacrilege reanimated the 
 gluttony of the Mercenaries, which found quick 
 vent by their kindling fires under the brass vases, 
 and they evinced vast amusement as they watched the 
 beautiful fish flounder about and perish in the boil- 
 ing water. The throng of soldiers surged forward. 
 Fear no longer possessed them. They again com- 
 menced their carousal and drinking. Perfumes tric- 
 kled down over their foreheads, falling in large drops, 
 moistening their tattered tunics. They leaned their 
 fists on the tables, that seemed to them to oscillate like 
 ships ; while their large, drunken eyes turned and 
 roved about as though seeking to devour with their 
 glances all that they had not the power to take away. 
 Others walked about in the midst of the plates on the 
 crimson table-covers, breaking, with wanton kicks, 
 the Tyrian glass phials and the ivory benches. 
 Festal songs intermingled with the death-rattle of 
 the attendant slaves, in their last agonies among 
 the shattered cups. Still the soldiers demanded 
 more wine, more meat, and gold, and shouted for 
 women — raving deliriously in a hundred languages: 
 Many believed themselves in the baths, deceived by 
 the fumes floating about them ; or even, whilst observ- 
 ing the foliage, fancied that they were engaged in 
 hunting, and thus deluded, would rush violently upon 
 their comrades, thinking them to be ferocious beasts. 
 

 14 SALAMMBO. 
 
 Slowly the torches ignited the trees : the fire spread 
 from tree to tree, until the tall mass of verdure resem- 
 bled a volcano beginning to smoke. The clamour 
 redoubled, the wounded lions roared, and the ele- 
 phants trumpeted, through the darkness. 
 
 By a single flash the palace was illuminated from the 
 bottom to its highest terrace : the centre door at the top 
 opened, and a woman — the daughter of Hamilcar — 
 robed in black appeared on the threshold. She came 
 down the stairway that traversed obliquely the third 
 story, then the second and the first ; pausing on the 
 lowest terrace at the top of the stairway of the galleys, 
 motionless, head downcast, looking down upon the 
 soldiers. Behind her on both sides were two long 
 processions of pale men, clothed in white robes fringed 
 with red, hanging straight down to their feet ; 
 their heads and eyebrows were shaven ; their hands, 
 in which they carried enormous lyres, glittered 
 with rings. They all chanted in a shrill voice a 
 hymn to the divinity of Carthage. These were 
 the eunuch priests of the temple of Tan it, often sum- 
 moned by Salammbo to her palace. 
 
 Finally she descended the stairway of the galleys, 
 followed by the priests ; and moved forward with her. 
 retinue under the cypress trees, between the tables 
 at which the captains were seated, who drew back 
 slightly to watch her as she passed. Her hair was 
 powdered with violet dust, and, according to the 
 fashion of Canaanite maidens, it was gathered up in 
 the form of a tower on the crown of her head, making 
 her appear taller : strands of pearls attached to her 
 temples fell down to the corners of her month — as 
 rosy as a half-opened pomegranate ; on her neck she 
 
THE FEAST. I 5 
 
 wore a collection of luminous gems, which imitated 
 in their medley the scales of a sea-eel ; her sleeve- 
 less tunic, made of a black tissue, starred with 
 red flowers, exposed her bare arms, bedecked with 
 diamonds. Between her ankles she wore a gold chain- 
 let to regulate the length of her steps ; and her volu- 
 minous dark purple mantle, of an unknown fabric, 
 trailed, making at each step a wide billow behind her. 
 
 From time to time the priests thridded on their lyres 
 harmonious, almost soundless, tones. During the 
 intervals of the music could be detected a faint noise 
 produced by her gold chainlet accompanying the 
 measured patter of her papyrus sandals. At first 
 no person recognised her. It was only known that 
 she lived secluded, devoted to pious practices. 
 During the nights the soldiers had seen her between 
 the curling smoke arising from fuming censers, 
 kneeling before the stars, on the top of the palace. 
 
 At this moment the moon made her appear very 
 pale, and something of the gods seemed to envelope her 
 like a subtle mist. Her eyes appeared to penetrate 
 far away in the distance beyond terrestrial spaces. 
 She advanced with her head inclined downward, 
 holding in her right hand a small ebony lyre. 
 They heard her murmur : 
 
 " Dead ! all dead ! you no longer will obey my 
 voice when I sit on the lake shore and throw pips 
 of water-melons into your jaws ! In the depths of 
 your eyes, more limpid than drops of the streams, 
 rolled the mvsterv of Tanit !" Then she called her 
 fish bv their several names, which were the names of 
 the months—" Siv ! Sivan ! Tammouz ! Eloul ! 
 Tischri ! Schebar ! — Ah ! Goddess, pity me !" 
 
1 6 SALAMMBO. 
 
 Without comprehending her, the soldiers crowded 
 around her, much amazed by her attire. She cast 
 upon them a long, frightened look ; then, burying 
 her head in her bosom, she threw out her arms, re- 
 peating many times : — " What have you done ? What 
 have you done ? For your enjoyment bread, meat, 
 oil, and malobathrum were provided from the store- 
 houses ; I even had beeves fetched from Hecatom- 
 pylus, and sent hunters into the desert to procure all 
 sorts of game." 
 
 Her voice grew louder, her cheeks blazed, as 
 she continued : " Where then do you think you are ? 
 Is this a conquered city, or the palace of a master ? 
 And what a master ! The Suffete Hamilcar, my 
 father, servitor of the Baalim ! Your weapons now 
 reek with the blood of his slaves, when it was 
 he who refused them to Lutatius ! Do you know 
 of one in your native countries who understands 
 better than he how to conduct battles? Behold! 
 the steps of our palace are laden with the trophies 
 of our victories ! Go on, burn it to the ground ! I 
 will take with me the genius of our mansion — my 
 black serpent — who sleeps up there in the lotus 
 leaves ; for when I whistle he will follow me, and 
 when I enter my galley he will glide in the wake of 
 the vessel on the foam of the waves." 
 
 Her thin nostrils palpitated. She crushed her 
 finger nails against the jewels on her bosom. Her 
 eyes became suffused as she continued : " Alas ! 
 poor Carthage ! lamentable city ! you no longer 
 have for your defence the strong men of former 
 times, who went beyond the oceans to build in your 
 honour temples on foreign shores). All the countries 
 
THE FEAST. I J 
 
 about have been cultivated by you, and wave with 
 your harvests, and the plains of the seas are furrowed 
 by your oars ! " 
 
 Then she began to chant the adventures of Mel- 
 karth, the God of the Sidonians and founder of her 
 family. She told how he had ascended the moun- 
 tains of Ersiphonia, journeyed to Tartessus, and 
 waged war against Masisabal to avenge the Queen of 
 Serpents. 
 
 " He pursued in the forest the female monster, 
 whose tail undulated like a rivulet of silver over dead 
 leaves ; and he came to a prairie, over which the moon, 
 the colour of blood, shone refulgent in a pale circle ; 
 and there he found women, half dragons, grouped 
 around a huge fire, poised erect on their tails, 
 thrusting out and curving their scarlet tongues, 
 forked like fishermen's harpoons, to the very edge 
 of the flames." 
 
 Then, without ceasing Salammbo recounted how 
 Melkarth, after vanquishing Masisabal, had put the 
 decapitated head of his victim at the prow of his ship : 
 " At each surge of the waves it was plunged under 
 the foam ; and was embalmed by the sun until it 
 became more enduring than gold, yet tears never 
 ceased flowing from the eyes, but constantly dropped 
 into the water." All this she chanted in old Canaan- 
 ite dialect, which the Barbarians did not understand. 
 
 They demanded of one another what she could be 
 saying to them, accompanying her words with such 
 frightful gestures. Mounting upon the tables, the 
 benches, and the branches of sycamores, with open 
 mouths and outstretched necks, thev endeavoured to 
 grasp the vague stories that floated before their 
 
 c 
 
1 8 SALAMMBO. 
 
 imaginations, through the obscurity of the theogonies, 
 like phantoms in the clonds. 
 
 Only the beardless priests understood Salammbo. 
 Their shrivelled hands tremblingly clutched the 
 strings of their lyres, upon which from time to time 
 they pulled a lugubrious chord ; they were weaker than 
 old women, and quaked as much from fear as with 
 mystic emotion, not knowing what the soldiers might 
 be tempted to do. However, the Barbarians did not 
 notice the priests, for they were absorbed in listening 
 to the chanting maiden. 
 
 No one watched her more attentively than a young 
 Numidian chief who sat among the captains, sur- 
 rounded by the soldiers of his own nation. His girdle 
 bristled so full of darts that it made a protuberance 
 beneath his wide mantle, fastened to his temples by a 
 leather lacing ; this garment divided and swung down 
 over his shoulders in such a manner as to effectually 
 hide his face in shadow, concealing all but his gleam- 
 ing eyes. It was by chance that he attended this 
 feast. His father, conforming to the custom adopted 
 by kings of sending their sons to live in noble 
 families in other dominions, in order to prepare 
 future alliances, had sent him to abide with Barca. 
 During the six months that Narr' Havas had sojourned 
 in Carthage, he had never before seen Salammbo ; 
 and now sitting on his heels, his beard flowing 
 down over the shafts of his javelins, he contem- 
 plated her with nostrils distended, like a leopard 
 crouching in a jungle. 
 
 At the other side of the tables was a Libyan of 
 colossal stature, with short, curly black hair. He was 
 unarmed, save for his military jacket, the brass plates 
 
THE FEAST. 1 9 
 
 of which frayed the purple covering of the couch upon 
 which he sat. A collar with a silver moon was en- 
 tangled in the hairs on his breast ; splashes of blood 
 spotted his face ; he leaned on his left elbow, 
 mouth wide open, and smiled. 
 
 Salammbo ceased to employ sacred rhythm, resort- 
 ing successively to the various barbaric dialects, and 
 with delicate tact sought to soften their anger, speak- 
 ing Greek to the Greeks ; then turning towards the 
 Ligurians, the Campanians, and the Negroes in turn, 
 each, in listening, found in her voice the sweetness 
 of his own native language. 
 
 Carried away by the memories of Carthage, she 
 chanted the old battles against Rome, thus winning 
 their applause. Becoming excited by the flashing 
 of the naked swords, she cried out, with open 
 arms. Her lyre fell, then relapsing into silence, she 
 pressed her heart with both hands, thus resting for 
 some minutes with closed eyes as though to relish 
 the agitation of all these warriors. 
 
 Matho, the Libyan, leaned towards her ; involun- 
 tarily she approached him, and urged by recognition 
 of his pride, she poured out for him into a gold 
 cup a long stream of wine as her reconciliation with 
 the army. 
 
 " Drink ! " she said. 
 
 He took the proffered cup, and was carrying it to 
 his lips, when a Gaul, the same man Gisco bad 
 wounded, slapped him across the shoulders, utter- 
 ing in a jovial manner insinuating pleasantries 
 in the language of his own country. Spendius, 
 who was not far off, volunteered to interpret. 
 
 " Speak," said Matho. 
 
 c3 
 
20 SALAMMBO. 
 
 " The Gods patronise you, for you are about to 
 become rich. When will the marriage be ?" 
 
 "What marriage ?" asked Matho. 
 
 " Thine ; for with us," says the Gaul, " when a 
 woman offers to drink with a warrior she proffers 
 him her couch." 
 
 No sooner had Spendius interpreted this speech, 
 than Narr' Havas sprang forward, pulling from his 
 belt a javelin, poised his right foot on the edge of 
 a table, and hurled the weapon at Matho. The 
 javelin whirred between the cups, and passed through 
 the Libyan's arm, nailing it firmly to the table, with 
 such momentum as tocausethe shaft to vibrate swiftly 
 in the air. Matho quickly jerked it out ; but as he 
 was without weapons, in his rage he lifted up in his 
 arms the heavily laden table, and pitched it against 
 Narr' Havas. In the midst of the crowd that rushed 
 between the two infuriated men, Numidians and 
 the soldiers pressed so closely that they could 
 not draw their swords. Matho moved forward, deal- 
 ing heavy blows with his head. Finally, when he 
 lifted his face to look about, Narr' Havas had dis- 
 appeared, and Salammbo had also fled. Turning his 
 eyes towards the palace, he noticed that the red door 
 at the top quartered with a black cross was just 
 closing : at once he darted off in that direction. 
 He could be seen running between the prows of the 
 galleys, hidden and reappearing successively the 
 length of the three stairways till he at last reached 
 the red door ; this he fruitlessly threw himself 
 against with all his weight. Panting, breathless, he 
 leaned against the wall to keep from falling. 
 
 A man had followed him, and as he crossed the 
 
THE FEAS1. 2 1 
 
 shadows — for the lights of the feast were obscured 
 by an angle of the palace, — he recognised Spendius. 
 
 " Go back ! " exclaimed he to the intruder. 
 
 The slave, without answering, began to tear his 
 tunic with his teeth ; then kneeled beside Matho 
 and took hold of his arm, delicately feeling in the 
 dark, to discover the wound he had so recently re- 
 ceived. Under a ray of moonlight that just then 
 shimmered between the clouds, Spendius perceived 
 in the middle of the arm a gaping wound ; he rolled 
 around it the strips he had torn off from his tunic ; 
 but Matho, with irritability, said : 
 
 " Leave me ! leave me !" 
 
 " No ! " replied the slave " you delivered me from 
 the ergastuliim. I am yours ! you are henceforth my 
 master ! Command me ! " 
 
 Hugging close the wall, Matho made the circuit 
 of the terrace, attentively listening at every 
 step ; darting at intervals glances through the golden 
 trellisses into the silent apartments. At last he 
 paused in a despairing manner. The slave said to 
 him : 
 
 "Listen — Oh ! do not despise me for my weak- 
 ness ; I have lived in this palace, I can crawl like a 
 viper between its walls. Come, there is in the 
 Chamber of the Ancestors an ingot of gold under 
 each slab, and a subterranean passage leading to their 
 tombs." 
 
 " Well, what of that ? " asked Matho. 
 
 Spendius was silent. 
 
 Thus, standing on the terrace, an immense expanse 
 of shadow spread out before them that seemed full of 
 vague masses, like the gigantic billows of a black, petri- 
 
2 2 SALAMMBO. 
 
 fied ocean. But on the eastern horizon a luminous 
 streak appeared ; and to the left, the canals of Megara 
 began to ray with their white sinuosities the verdant 
 gardens. The conical roofs of the heptagonal temples, 
 the stairways, the terraces, the ramparts, all became 
 gradually defined in the pale dawn ; and surrounding 
 the peninsula of Carthage a girdle of white foam 
 fluctuated, and the emerald sea seemed congeal- 
 ing in the coolness of morning. In proportion 
 as the rosy sky widened, the tall mansions climbing 
 up the slope rose higher and massed together, 
 resembling a herd of black goats descending the 
 mountains. The deserted streets stretched out ; 
 palm trees here and there jutting beyond the 
 walls did not stir ; the full cisterns appeared like 
 silver shields lost in the courtyards ; on the pro- 
 montory of Hermaeurn the lighthouse beacon grew 
 fainter. On the summit of the Acropolis in the 
 cypress-groves the horses of Eschmoiin, just seeing 
 the light, placed the hoofs of their forefeet upon the 
 marble parapet, neighing shrilly as they faced the 
 rising sun. The sun arose. Spendius lifted his 
 arms and uttered a cry of adoration. 
 
 All was pulsating in a ruddy flood, as though the 
 God, rending himself, poured forth in full rays upon 
 Carthage the golden rain of his veins. The prows 
 of the galleys sparkled, the roof of Khamoun ap- 
 peared ablaze, and through the open doors lights 
 could be descried in the interior of the temple. 
 The wheels of large chariots coming from the country 
 to the city marts rumbled over the pavements ; drome- 
 daries loaded with baggage descended the slopes ; 
 money-changers in the thoroughfares took down the 
 
THE FEAST. 23 
 
 weather-boards from their shops ; storks flew, and 
 white sails fluttered athrill with day. 
 
 In the groves of Tanit could be heard the tam- 
 bourines of the sacred courtesans ; and at the point 
 of Mappals the furnaces used for baking clay coffins 
 began to smoke. 
 
 Spendius leaning over the terrace, gnashed his 
 teeth, repeating "Ah, yes, yes, master, I com- 
 prehend why you just now disdained to pillage 
 the mansion." 
 
 Matho was aroused by the whisper of this man's 
 voice, yet he did not seem to understand. 
 
 Spendius resumed, " Ah, what wealth ! and the men 
 who possess it have not even the weapons to protect 
 it." Then, with his right hand extended, he pointed 
 out to Matho some people outside of the pier, crawl- 
 ing on the sand seeking for gold dust. 
 
 " Look !" he exclaimed " the Republic is like those 
 wretched ones grovelling on the sea-beach. She 
 also plunges her avaricious arms into the sea- 
 sands, and the roar of the billows so fills her ears, 
 that she would not hear the step of a master 
 coming up behind her !" 
 
 Drawing Matho along to the end of the terrace, 
 the slave pointed out the garden wherein the sun 
 shone on the soldiers' swords that were hanging up 
 in the trees. 
 
 "But here are strong men who are exasperated 
 by hatred ; and nothing attaches them to Carthage, 
 neither families, nor oaths, nor gods !" 
 
 Matho remained leaning against the wall. -Spen- 
 dius drew nearer to him, pursuing in a low voice : 
 
 " Do you comprehend me, soldier ? We shall go 
 
24 SALAMMBO. 
 
 about arrayed in purple like satraps. We shall bathe 
 in perfumes. I shall in turn have my slaves ! 
 Are you not weary of drinking camp vinegar, 
 and of always hearing the trumpets ? You will repose 
 perhaps later on, will you not ? When some one pulls 
 off your cuirass to throw your body to the vultures ! 
 or possibly when leaning on a staff, blind, feeble, 
 lame, you hobble about from portal to portal and re- 
 count to the pickle vendors and to the little children 
 the tale of your youth ! For one moment recall all the 
 injustice of your chiefs, the encampments in the snow, 
 the forced marches, exposure to the sun, the tyrannies 
 of discipline, and the eternal threat of the cross ! After 
 so much misery, a collar of honour is given to you, as 
 one hangs a girdle of bells around asses' necks to divert 
 them on their toilsome marches and render them in- 
 sensible to their fatigue. A man like you, braver than 
 Pyrrhus ! If you desire all that, very good ! Ah, but 
 you would be happy in the grand, fresh halls, listening 
 to the sound of lyres as you lie on flowers, amused 
 by buffoons and women ! Do not tell me that the un- 
 dertaking is impossible ! Have not the Mercenaries 
 already taken possession of Rhegium and other 
 strong places in Italy ? Who hinders you ? Hamilcar 
 is absent ; the people execrate the Rich ; Gisco 
 has no power over the cowards who surround 
 him ; but you are brave, the soldiers will obey you. 
 Command them ! Carthage is ours ; let us fall upon 
 her ! " 
 
 " No ! " said Matho ; " the malediction of Moloch 
 weighs upon me. I felt it in her eyes, and just now I 
 have seen a black ram recoil in the temple ! " then 
 adding, as he looked around him : " Where is she ? " 
 
THE FEAST. 25 
 
 Spendius now perceived that an immense inquie- 
 tude absorbed Matho, and he dared not speak. 
 
 Behind them the trees yet smoked ; and from 
 the charred branches carcasses of half-burned apes 
 tumbled down from time to time among the 
 dishes ; drunken soldiers with open mouths snored 
 by the side of corpses ; and those who were awake 
 lowered their heads, dazzled by the glare of day- 
 light. The trampled earth was covered with bloody 
 pools. The elephants swayed their bleeding trunks 
 between the pickets of their paddocks. In the open 
 granaries could be seen sacks of wheat scattered 
 about, and under the gateways a compact line of 
 chariots heaped up by the Barbarians ; in the cedars^ 
 peacocks perched, spread their tails and squawked. 
 
 Matho's immobility astonished Spendius. He was 
 now even paler than before, and his eyes fixedly 
 followed some object visible on the horizon, as he 
 leaned with both hands on the edge of the terrace. 
 Spendius also, leaning over, discovered what thus 
 occupied him. In the distance a point of gold 
 turned in the dust on the road leading to Utica. 
 It was the axle of a chariot drawn by two mules, 
 guided by a slave who ran at the end of the pole, 
 holding the bridle. Two women were seated in the 
 chariot. The manes of the mules were puffed out 
 in Persian fashion between their ears, under a 
 netting of blue pearls. 
 
 Spendius, recognising them, suppressed a cry. 
 Behind, a wide veil floated on the breeze. 
 
CHAPTER IL 
 
 AT SICCA. 
 
 Two days later the Mercenaries left Carthage. To 
 each soldier was given a piece of money, upon the 
 stipulated condition that he should go into camp at 
 Sicca, and the} 7 were told, upon their departure from 
 the city, with all manner of fawning : 
 
 " You are the saviours of Carthage, but you will 
 certainly starve her if you remain here, for the city 
 will become insolvent. You must, for your own pre- 
 servation, withdraw ; but by such a concession you 
 will secure the Republic's goodwill. We will imme- 
 diately levy taxes to complete your payment, and 
 equip galleys to conduct you to your native coun- 
 tries. 
 
 The soldiers did not know what response to make 
 to such discourses. These men, accustomed to 
 war, becoming weary of sojourning in the city, 
 were not difficult to convince. The entire popu- 
 lace of Carthage mounted on the city walls to 
 watch the departing soldiers, as they defiled through 
 the street of Khamoim by the gate of Cirta, pell- 
 mell — archers with hoplites, captains with com- 
 
AT SICCA. 27 
 
 mon soldiers, Lusitanians with Greeks. They 
 marched boldly, making their heavy cothumes ring 
 on the pavements. Their armour was defaced 
 by dents made by the catapults, their faces were 
 sunburnt from long exposure on battle-fields. From 
 their mouths, covered with heavy beards, rasping 
 yells escaped ; their torn coats of mail rattled upon 
 the hilts of their swords, and through the rents 
 in the metal were revealed bare limbs as terrific 
 as war-engines. Sarissas, spears, felt-caps, and 
 bronze helmets all swayed as by a single rocking 
 movement. This long array of armed men poured 
 forth between the high six-storied mansions daubed 
 with bitumen, making the very walls crack as they 
 overflowed the street. From behind iron or wicker 
 grills, veiled women silently watched them pass. 
 
 The terraces, the fortifications, and the walls 
 were fairly hidden under the throng of Cartha- 
 ginians attired in black, and the sailors 1 tunics 
 looked like spots of blood amongst this sombre 
 multitude. Children, almost naked, gesticulated 
 in the foliage of the columns, or between the 
 branches of the palm-trees. The Elders posted them- 
 selves on the platforms of the towers ; and no one 
 knew why a man with a long beard kept moving 
 from place to place, in a thoughtful attitude. In 
 the distance, he seemed indistinct as a phantom, and 
 at times as motionless as the stones. 
 
 All were oppressed by the same disquietude, fear- 
 ful lest the Barbarians, who now perceived themselves 
 to be so strong, might take a whim and desire to 
 remain. But they departed with such assurance that 
 the Carthaginians were gradually emboldened to 
 
28 SALAMMBO. 
 
 mingle with the soldiers, overwhelming them with 
 gifts and promises. Some with exaggerated cunning 
 and audacious hypocrisy, entreated them not to 
 leave the city. Some threw to them flowers, 
 perfumes, and pieces of money ; others gave away 
 their amulets, worn to ward off illness and harm, 
 but first spat upon them three times in order to dispel 
 their intrinsic charm, and attract upon the new 
 possessors death ; or, to make the hearts of the 
 recipients cowardly, they enclosed jackal's hair in 
 the talismans ; others would invoke aloud the bless- 
 ing of Melkarth, but in a whisper implore his 
 malediction. 
 
 Hard upon the soldiers came the crush of bag- 
 gages, beasts of burden, and the stragglers ; the 
 sick groaned upon the backs of dromedaries, 
 others limped along, supporting themselves on 
 broken spears. The bibulous carried wine-skins, 
 the gluttonous took quarters of meat, cakes, fruits, 
 and butter done up in fig-leaves, and snow packed 
 in canvas-bags. Some were observed holding 
 parasols, and others had parrots perched on their 
 shoulders, or were followed by dogs, gazelles, 
 or panthers. Libyan women, mounted on asses, 
 heaped invectives upon the negresses who had 
 forsaken the brothels of Malqua to go with the sol- 
 diers ; many suckled their infants suspended from 
 their breasts in a leather leash. Mules, goaded by 
 their drivers with the points of spears, bent under 
 the burden of the heavy tents heaped on their backs. 
 The train also comprised a number of varlets and 
 water-carriers, emaciated and yellow from fevers, 
 filthy with vermin, the scum of the plebeian Cartha- 
 
AT SICCA. 29 
 
 ginians who had attached themselves to the Bar- 
 barian troops. 
 
 As soon as they had all passed out, the gates 
 were fastened behind them. Still the people did 
 not descend from the walls, but tarried to watch the 
 army. It spread quickly over the width of the 
 isthmus, and divided in unequal detachments, until 
 presently the lances appeared only, like tall blades of 
 grass ; finally all were lost to view in clouds of dust, 
 and the soldiers, looking back at Carthage, could 
 only distinguish the long walls with the vacant 
 battlements outlined against the sky. 
 
 The Barbarians heard a great outcry ; not know- 
 ing the exact number of their troops, they be- 
 lieved some of their comrades had lingered behind 
 in the city to amuse themselves by plundering 
 a temple : they laughed heartily over this idea 
 as they continued on their way. Once more march- 
 ing together through the open country, all were 
 as joyous as formerly, and the Greeks sang the 
 old song of the Mamertines : 
 
 " With my lance and my spear I sow 
 And I reap : I am master of the house ! 
 The disarmed man falls at my feet, 
 Calling me ' Signor ! ' and ' Great King !' " 
 
 They shouted, jumped, and the gayest narrated 
 stories, as now the period of their miseries seemed to be 
 at an end. Upon reaching Tunis, some of the soldiers 
 noticed that a troup of Balearic slingers were miss- 
 ing ; but assuming that they could not be far behind 
 the army, no more was thought about them. 
 
 At Tunis some lodged in the houses, others 
 camped at the foot of the walls, and the people of 
 
30 SALAMMB6. 
 
 the city came thither to chat with them. During 
 the entire night fires blazed on the horizon in 
 the direction of Carthage, and the flames, like gi- 
 gantic torches, cast shaft-like reflections over the 
 surface of the motionless lake : yet no one in the 
 army could divine wha,t feast was there being cele- 
 brated. 
 
 The next day the Barbarians crossed over a tract 
 of country under complete cultivation. Patricians' 
 farm-houses succeeded one after another on the edge 
 of the road, irrigating ditches flowed through palm- 
 groves, olive-trees formed long green rows, while rosy 
 vapours floated in the gorges of the hills, and 
 blue mountains towered up behind. A warm 
 wind blew. Chameleons crawled over large cactus- 
 leaves. With slackened speed the Barbarians marched 
 in isolated detachments one after another, at long 
 intervals. They ate grapes from the vines, slept 
 on the grass, and looked in marked astonishment 
 at the large artificially distorted horns of the cattle, 
 and the sheep encased in skins to protect their wool ; 
 or, in surprise examined the furrows, intercrossing in 
 a manner to make lozenge-like spaces ; then scanned 
 the ploughs, with shares like the flukes of a 
 ship's anchor, and the pomegranates watered with 
 silphium. The prevailing opulence of the earth, and 
 the wisdom of all these strange agricultural inven- 
 tions, truly amazed them. 
 
 At night, with faces upturned to the stars, they 
 stretched themselves upon their unfolded tents, still 
 yearning for the delights of Hamilcar's feast as they 
 fell asleep. 
 
 In the middle of the subsequent day they halted 
 
AT SICCA. 31 
 
 amid laurel-rose bushes, on the banks of a river. 
 They quickly threw aside their lances, buck- 
 lers, and belts, and plunged into the water, yelling 
 as they bathed, drinking out of their helmets or from 
 the stream as they lay flat on the ground, surrounded 
 by the beasts of burden from whose backs the 
 baggage was falling. 
 
 Spendius, sitting on a dromedary stolen from 
 Hamilcar's parks, spied Matho at a distance, allowing 
 his mule to drink, while he steadily looked in the 
 running water. His wounded arm was suspended 
 against his chest, he was bareheaded, and his face 
 was downcast. The slave ran through the crowd, 
 calling out : " Master ! Master ! " 
 
 Matho did not trouble himself to thank him for 
 his benediction. Spendius, thus repulsed, cautious^ 
 moved on behind him, and from time to time turned 
 his. eyes anxiously towards Carthage. He was the 
 son of a Greek rhetorician and a Campanian cour- 
 tesan. He grew rich by selling women : then was 
 ruined by a wreck ; after which, with the Sam 
 hite shepherds, he made war against the Romans, 
 was captured, effected his escape, and was then 
 retaken. During his captivity he had worked in the 
 quarries, panted in the sweating-baths, groaned in 
 the tortures, passed into the hands of various 
 masters, and experienced all their fury. One day, 
 in despair, he plunged into the sea off a trireme, 
 in which he was one of a squad pulling the 
 oars. The sailors picked him up as drowning, and 
 took him to Carthage to the ergastulum of Megara ; 
 but as the fugitives were eventually to be de- 
 livered back to the Romans, he had profited by the 
 
32 SALAMMBO. 
 
 prevailing confusion to fly with the soldiers. During 
 the entire march he remained beside Matho bringing 
 him his food, assisting him to mount or dismount, 
 and at night placing a rug under his head ; until 
 finally, touched by such persistent attentions, Matho 
 became gradually less reserved. 
 
 Matho was born on the Gulf of Syrtes ; his father 
 had conducted him on a pilgrimage to the temple 
 of Amnion ; he had hunted elephants in the forests 
 of the Garamantes ; and afterwards had engaged him- 
 self in the service of Carthage. After the capture of 
 Drepanum he had been named tetrarch. The Republic 
 was in Matho's debt for four horses, twenty -three 
 medimni of wheat, and his pay for one winter. He 
 feared the Gods, and wished to die in his native 
 country. 
 
 Spendius talked to him of his own voyages, his 
 people, and the temples that he had visited ; he 
 was familiar with many things : knew how to make 
 sandals, boar-spears, and nets, as well as how to 
 tame wild animals, and the manner of curing 
 fish. From time to time he interrupted his nar- 
 ration by giving utterance from the depths of 
 his chest to a sharp cry, whereupon Matho's 
 mule quickened its pace and the others hastily 
 followed ; then Spendius would resume, always agi- 
 tated by his grief. The evening of the fourth day 
 he became calm. 
 
 They marched side by side, at the right of the army 
 on the flank of a hill ; the plain below stretched 
 away until lost in the evening mists. The lines of 
 soldiers, defiling below them, made undulations 
 through the darkness. From time to time, when 
 
AT SICCA. 3$ 
 
 passing over eminences lighted by the moon, a star 
 would quiver on the shining points of the moving 
 spears, afterwards for an instant mirror itself on 
 the helmets, then disappear, to be continually suc- 
 ceeded bv others. In the distance, the awakened 
 flocks bleated, and an infinite sweetness seemed 
 at this hour to fall over the earth. 
 
 Spendius, with uplifted head, and eyes half*-closed, 
 breathed in the fresh breeze with deep inhalations, 
 threw out his arms, and moved them about restlessly, 
 to better feel the caresses of the air wafted over his 
 body. Hope of vengeance returned, transporting 
 him. He pressed his hand over his mouth to pre- 
 vent sobs escaping his lips, and thus, half swooning 
 in a delirium, he dropped the dromedary's halter ; 
 but the animal continued to move forward with 
 long, regular strides. Matho relapsed into his state 
 of sadness ; his long legs hung down to the ground, 
 and the grasses, rubbing against his cothurnes, made 
 a constant rustling. 
 
 Seemingly the road was without end, for at the 
 
 extremity of a plain it came to a round plateau, 
 
 then descended into a valley ; and the mountains, 
 
 that appeared in the distance to close in the horizon, 
 
 as they were approached seemed to be displaced, 
 
 and slip away farther into the perspective. Now 
 
 and then a river appeared, flowing through the 
 
 verdure of tamarisks, only to lose itself at a 
 
 turn of the hills. Occasionally an enormous rock 
 
 stood boldly up like the prow of a vessel, or 
 
 like the pedestal of a colossal statue which had 
 
 disappeared. At regular intervals they encountered 
 
 little quadrangular temples, serving as shelters for 
 
 D 
 
34 SALAMMBO. 
 
 the faithful who made pilgrimages to Sicca, but now 
 as firmly closed as tombs. The Libyans knocked 
 loudly against the doors for admission ; no one ever 
 responded from within. 
 
 At this point cultivation became rare ; suddenly 
 they came upon strips of sand bristling with clumps 
 of thorns ; flocks of sheep browsed among the 
 stones, herded by a woman about whose waist was a 
 blue fleece-girdle. When she saw the soldiers' spears 
 between the rocks, she fled screaming. 
 
 They were marching through a wide defile, 
 hedged in by two chains of reddish hillocks, when 
 a nauseous odour struck their nostrils, and they 
 believed that they saw something extraordinary at 
 the top of a carob tree ; a lion's head stood up above 
 the foliage. 
 
 Running towards it, they found a lion attached 
 to a cross by its four limbs, like a criminal ; 
 his enormous muzzle hung to his breast, and 
 his fore-paws, half concealed beneath the abundance 
 of his mane, were widely spread apart, like a 
 bird's wings in flight ; under the tightly drawn 
 skin, his ribs severally protruded and his hind legs 
 were nailed together, but were slightly drawn up ; 
 black blood had trickled through the hairs, and 
 collected in stalactites at the end of his tail, which 
 hung straight down the length of the cross. The 
 soldiers crowded around the beast, diverting them- 
 selves by calling him : — " Consul !" and " Citizen 
 of Rome !" and threw pebbles into his eyes to scatter 
 the swarming gnats. 
 
 A hundred steps farther on they came upon two 
 other lions ; then at once appeared a long row of 
 
AT SICCA. 35 
 
 crosses supporting yet other lions. Some evidently 
 had been dead a long time, as nothing remained 
 against the wooden crosses save the debris of their 
 skeletons ; and their half-corroded jaws were dis- 
 torted in horrible grimaces. Others were of snch 
 enormous size that the trees of the crosses bent 
 beneath their great weight and swayed in the^ wind, 
 so that flocks of ravenous vultures circled in the air 
 without ever daring to alight. 
 
 Thus was it that the Carthaginian peasantry re- 
 venged themselves when they captured ferocious 
 beasts, hoping by such examples to terrify others. 
 The Barbarians ceased their laughter, relapsing into 
 a profound amazement. " What people is this," 
 thought they, " which amuses itself by crucifying 
 lions ?" 
 
 The men from the north were vaguely disquieted, 
 anxious, and already ill. They tore their hands on 
 the aloe thorns, large mosquitoes buzzed in their 
 ears, and dysentery had begun to attack the army. 
 All were discouraged because they could not yet see 
 Sicca, and fearful lest they should be lost and perish 
 in the desert — the region of sands and terrors. 
 Many would not advance further ; others turned 
 back and retook the road to Carthage. 
 
 Finally, on the seventh day, after having followed 
 for a long time the base of a mountain, the road 
 abruptly turned to the right, and beyond loomed up a 
 line of walls, resting upon and blending with white 
 rocks. Suddenly the entire city rose before them. 
 Blue, yellow, and white veils fluttered along on 
 the walls in the blush of the evening, as the priest- 
 esses of Tanit ran to receive the soldiers ; there 
 
 D 2 
 
36 SALAMMB6. 
 
 they waited, ranged the length of the rampart, 
 striking tambourines, playing lyres, clattering cas- 
 tanets, and the sun's rays, as it set behind the 
 Numidian mountains, gleamed between the harp- 
 strings and their bare, outstretched arms. At inter- 
 vals the instruments were suddenly silenced : then a 
 strident cry rung out furious and continuous, a species 
 of barking produced by clacking their tongues against 
 the corners of their mouths. Those who were not 
 playing remained leaning on their elbows with their 
 chins pressed in the palms of their hands, more 
 immobile than sphinxes — darting their large, black 
 eyes at the advancing army. 
 
 As Sicca was a sacred city, and the temple and its 
 dependencies occupied half of its area, it could not 
 contain such a multitude : therefore the Barbarians 
 camped on the plain, at their ease. Those who were 
 disciplined took up regular quarters ; others arranged 
 themselves by nationalities or according to their 
 own fancies. 
 
 Greeks pitched their skin-tents in parallel rows ; 
 Iberians disposed their canvas canopies in a circle ; 
 Gauls constructed wooden huts ; Libyans made 
 cabins of dry stones ; and the Negroes dug with their 
 nails holes in the sand to sleep in ; and many, not 
 knowing what to do with themselves, wandered about 
 amongst the baggage, and at night lay on the ground 
 rolled up in their torn mantles. 
 
 The plain developed around them, bounded on all 
 sides by mountains ; here and there a palm-tree 
 bowed on the top of a sand-hill ; firs and oaks dotted 
 the sides of precipices. Sometimes a rain cloud would 
 hang in one part of the sky, and stream like a long 
 
AT SICCA. 2)7 
 
 scarf, while elsewhere the country would remain 
 imbued with azure and serenity ; then a warm 
 wind would chase whirlwinds of sand. A 
 stream descended in cascades from the heights 
 of Sicca, where rose upon brazen columns the 
 golden-roofed temple of the Carthaginian Venr.s, 
 ruler of that country, which the Goddess seemed 
 to fill with her soul. By the convulsions of the 
 earth, by the variations of temperature and the 
 play of lights, she manifested the extravagance of 
 her power with the beauty of her eternal smile. 
 The summit of some of the mountains formed a 
 crescent ; others resembled the bosom of a woman 
 offering her distended breasts. Above their fatigues 
 the Barbarians felt the overwhelming sense of this 
 reigning influence, full of delights. 
 
 Spendius had bought a slave with the money 
 received from the sale of the stolen dromedary. 
 He slept before Matho's tent all day long ; believing 
 in his dreams that he heard the whirr of the lash, 
 he would wake and pass . his hands over the 
 cicatrices on his legs, caused by having so long 
 worn irons ; reassured of his safety, he would 
 sleep again. 
 
 Matho accepted the companionship of Spendius, 
 who, wearing a long blade at his side, escorted him like 
 a lictor. Sometimes he would even rest his arm on 
 the shoulder of Spendius, who was a small man. 
 
 One evening, as they were together traversing the 
 camp streets, they saw a number of men wearing white 
 mantles, and in their midst thev discerned Xarr' 
 Havas, the Numidian prince. Matho trembled. 
 " Your sword I" cried he. " I want to kill him !" 
 
$8 SALAMMBO. 
 
 "Not yet," protested Spending, checking him. 
 Narr' Havas was already advancing towards them. 
 
 He kissed his thumbs as a sign of alliance, attri- 
 buting the anger he had shown at the feast to 
 drunkenness ; then he spoke at length against Car- 
 thage, but he did not say what had brought him to 
 the Barbarians. 
 
 " Was this to betray them or the Republic ?" 
 Spendius queried to himself ; and as he calculated to 
 profit by all disturbances, he felt grateful to Narr' 
 Havas for the future treacheries of which he sus- 
 pected the Numidians. 
 
 The Numidian chief remained among the Mer- 
 cenaries ; he seemed desirous to attach Matho to 
 himself, and sent to him fattened goats, gold-dust, 
 and ostrich-plumes. The Libyan, amazed by 
 these favours, hesitated whether to respond ami- 
 cably, or to be exasperated ; but Spendius appeased 
 him. Matho seemed always irresolute and in an 
 invincible torpor, like one who had partaken of 
 some deadly potion, and allowed himself to be gov- 
 erned by his slave. 
 
 One morning, when the three started off on 
 a lion-hunt, Narr' Havas hid a poniard under 
 his mantle. Spendius, who observed the act, 
 walked continually behind him ; hence they re- 
 turned without the Numidian having had an oppor- 
 tunity to draw the weapon. Upon another occasion 
 Narr' Havas conducted them a very long distance, 
 in fact, to the very boundaries of his own kingdom ; 
 they entered a narrow gorge, when Narr' Havas 
 smiled while declaring to them that he no longer 
 knew the road ; however, Spendius found it again. 
 
AT SICCA. 39 
 
 Matho more frequently than ever was melancholy as 
 an augur ; starting at sunrise he would wander into 
 the country, throw himself on the ground, and 
 there remain motionless till evening. 
 
 He consulted, one after another, all the diviners 
 in the army : those who observed the move- 
 ments of serpents, those who read the stars, and 
 those who blew on the ashes of the dead. He 
 swallowed galbanum, meadow-saxifrage, and the 
 venom of vipers, reputed to freeze the heart. 
 He summoned the negro women, who chanting 
 barbaric words by moonlight pricked the skin 
 of his forehead with golden stilettos. He covered 
 himself with collars and amulets ; invoked one 
 after another Baal-Khamoiin, Moloch, the seven 
 Cabiri, Tanit, and the Grecian Venus ; he engraved 
 a name on a copper plate, and buried it at the en- 
 trance of his tent. Spendius heard him constantly 
 moaning and talking to himself. One night he ven- 
 tured to enter Matho's tent. Matho, naked as a 
 corpse, was lying flat on a lion's skin, his face 
 buried in his hands ; a suspended lamp lit up his 
 weapons, as they hung against the tent-pole. 
 
 " You suffer ?" said the slave to him. "What is 
 the matter ? Tell me !" and he shook him by the 
 shoulders, calling him several times " Master ! 
 Master !" 
 
 Matho raised his large, troubled eyes towards him. 
 
 " Listen !" he said, in a deep voice, with one 
 finger on his lips ; " it is the wrath of the 
 Gods ! The daughter of Hamilcar pursues me ! I 
 have fear, Spendius !" then he pressed his hands 
 against his breast, like a child terrified by a phantom. 
 
4-0 SALAMMBO. 
 
 " Speak to me ! I am ill ! I wish to recover ! I have 
 vainly tried everything ; but perhaps you know 
 stronger Gods, or some irresistible invocation ?" 
 
 " What for ?" asked Spendius. 
 
 Matho responded, striking his head with his fists : 
 " To liberate me from this !" Then, at long intervals, 
 he said, talking to himself : " I am doubtless the victim 
 of a holocaust she has promised to the Gods. . . . She 
 holds me bound by an unseen chain. ... If I walk, 
 then she advances ; when I pause, she stops. . . . 
 Her eyes burn me. ... I hear her voice. . . . She 
 encompasses, she penetrates me. ... It seems that 
 she has become my soul ! And yet, for all that, 
 between us flow the invisible waves of an ocean 
 without bounds ! She is remote and inaccessible ! 
 The splendour of her beauty diffuses around her a 
 nebula of light, and I believe at moments I never saw 
 her — that she does not exist — and that it is all a 
 dream !" 
 
 Matho wept as in despair. Outside, the Barbarians 
 slept. 
 
 Spendius, in looking at this man, recalled to view 
 young men who, with golden vases in their hands, 
 had formerly supplicated him, when he paraded his 
 troops of courtesans through the cities. A pity 
 touched him, and he said : 
 
 " Be strong, my master ! Call upon your own will, 
 and do not longer implore the Gods ; they do not 
 heed the cries of men ! See, you cry out like a 
 coward ! Are you not humiliated that a woman 
 makes you suffer thus ?" 
 
 " Am I a child ?" said Matho. " Do you believe that 
 I yet weaken at the sight of women's faces, and at the 
 
AT SICCA. 41 
 
 sound of their songs ? We kept them in Drepanum 
 to sweep out our stables. . . I have possessed them 
 during sieges under the crumbling ceilings, while 
 the catapults yet vibrated ! . . . . But that woman ! 
 Spendius, that woman !".... 
 
 The slave interrupted him : 
 
 " If she were not the daughter of Hamilcar !" 
 
 " No !" exclaimed Matho. " She is nothing like 
 any other daughter of man ! Have you not seen her 
 glorious eyes under her great curved eyebrows, like 
 suns under triumphal arches ? Can you not recall, 
 when she appeared how all the flambeaux paled, and 
 that between the diamonds of her collar glimpses 
 of her bosom shone resplendently — how behind 
 her floated an odour like the perfumes from a 
 temple, and something emanated from her entire 
 being more fragrant than wine, and more terrible 
 
 than death ! . . . . She moves She stops." 
 
 He remained open-mouthed, his head lowered, eyes 
 fixed. 
 
 " But I want her ! I must have her ! I am 
 dying of her ! The idea of holding her in my 
 arms brings to me a fury of rapture ; and yet, 
 withal, I hate her! Spendius, I want to overcome 
 her ! How can I do it ? I long to sell myself to 
 become her slave. You were her slave ; you could 
 see her. Tell me of her, — does she not go out on the 
 terrace of her palace every night ? Ah ! the stones 
 must thrill under her sandals, and the stars bend 
 down to see her !" 
 
 He fell back in an access of passion, like a wounded 
 bull. Presently he chanted : " He pursued in the 
 forest the female monster, whose tail undulated over 
 
42 SALAMMBO. 
 
 the dead leaves like a rivulet of silver, modulat- 
 ing his voice in imitation of SalammbcVs, and with 
 his hands extended, feigned to touch lightly the 
 strings of a lyre. 
 
 To all the consolations offered by Spendius, he 
 kept repeating the same manner of discourse. The 
 subsequent nights were passed in the same lamen- 
 tations, and the same exhortations. Matho en- 
 deavoured to blunt his senses by heavy drinking, 
 but after his drunkenness had passed, he would be- 
 come even sadder. Then he tried to distract his 
 thoughts by playing knuckle-bone, losing in his un- 
 lucky wagers, one after another the gold plaques of 
 his collar. He even visited the handmaidens of the 
 Goddess, but afterwards descended the hillside in 
 sobs, like one returning from a funeral. 
 
 Spendius, on the contrary, became more daring 
 and gayer ; he might be seen in the leaf -thatched 
 drinking-booths, discoursing with the soldiers. He 
 repaired the old cuirasses. He juggled with poniards. 
 He gathered herbs in the fields to make decoctions 
 for the sick. He was facetious, subtle, full of inven- 
 tions and words ; -and the Barbarians became accus- 
 tomed to his services, as they also grew to like him. 
 
 Meanwhile they eagerly awaited the promised 
 ambassador from Carthage,- whom they expected 
 to bring for them, on the backs of mules, bas- 
 kets filled with gold ; and they always kept making 
 the same calculations, figuring on the sand with 
 their fingers. Each man in advance arranged his 
 future course of life ; one planned to have concu- 
 bines, another slaves, or lands, and others thought 
 that they would bury their treasures, or risk them 
 
AT SICCA. 43 
 
 on a vessel. But during this protracted season of 
 idleness, the many diverse dispositions chafed ; 
 there continually arose disputes between the cavalry 
 and infantry, the Barbarians and the Greeks, and 
 above the wrangles of the men could be heard un- 
 ceasingly the shrill voices of the women. 
 
 Day after day troops of men came into camp, 
 nearly naked, wearing grasses on their heads to pro- 
 tect them from the sun ; they were debtors of rich 
 Carthaginians, heretofore forced to till the lands for 
 them, who had escaped. Libyans arrived in num- 
 bers, and peasants ruined by taxes, exiles and also 
 malefactors. Then came crowds of merchants, and 
 vendors of oil and wine, all furious because they had 
 not received their money, denouncing the Republic. 
 Spendius added his voice in declaiming against her. 
 Soon the provisions diminished ; then they talked 
 of moving in a body on to Carthage, and even enter- 
 tained an idea of appealing to the Romans. 
 
 One evening, during the supper hour, heavy 
 creaking sounds drew near, and in the distance 
 appeared something red moving over the undu- 
 lations of the ground. It was a grand purple litter, 
 ornamented at the corners with bunches of ostrich 
 plumes, and crystal chains, interwoven with garlands 
 of pearls, beat against the closed hangings. Each 
 stride made by the camels following rung large bells 
 suspended from their breast-plates, and on all sides 
 of them was to be seen an escort of cavalry, wearing 
 armour of golden scales that reached from head to 
 foot. 
 
 This cavalcade halted three hundred paces from the 
 
44 SALAMMBO. 
 
 encampment, to draw from the sheaths which they 
 carried behind them, their round bucklers, Boeotian 
 helmets, and broadswords. Some of the men remained 
 with the camels, the others resumed their march. 
 Finally appeared the ensigns of the Republic, which 
 were blue wooden poles, terminated by horses' 
 heads or pine-cones. The Barbarians all arose cheer- 
 ing, and the women rushed towards the Guards of 
 the Legion, to kiss their feet. 
 
 The litter advanced on the shoulders of a dozen 
 Negroes, who inarched together in a short, rapid step, 
 going at hazard from right to left, much embarrassed 
 by the tent-ropes and animals moving about, and by 
 the tripods where meats were cooking. Occasionally 
 a fat hand laden with rings would half open the 
 curtain, and a harsh voice cry out abuse ; then the 
 porters would halt, turn about, and take another 
 road to traverse the camp. 
 
 The purple curtains finally were lifted, disclosing 
 on a large pillow an impassive, bloated human head. 
 The eyebrows, joining over the nose, formed two 
 ebony arches ; gold spangles glittered in the crimped 
 hair ; and the face was so ghastly, that it seemed 
 powdered over with marble-dust ; the remainder of 
 the body was hidden under the fleeces that filled 
 the litter. In this man the soldiers recognised the 
 Suffete Hanno, the one who had contributed by 
 his delay to lose the battle of the iEgatian islands. 
 In his victory at Hecatompylus over the Libyans, 
 he had behaved with seeming clemency, although 
 he was thought by the Barbarians to have been 
 actuated by cupidity, as he had sold to his own 
 profit all the captives, subsequently declaring to the 
 Republic that they were dead. 
 
AT SICCA. 45 
 
 After searching for some time for a commodious 
 place from which to harangue the soldiers, Hanno 
 made a signal, at which the litter halted, and assisted 
 by two slaves he alighted and totteringly placed his 
 feet on the ground. His feet were clad in black felt 
 boots, studded with silver moons ; bands like those 
 that encase a mummy enwrapped his legs, the 
 flesh protruding where the linen strips crossed. His 
 abdomen outburst the scarlet jacket that covered his 
 thighs ; and the folds of his neck fell down on his 
 breast like the dewlaps of an ox ; his tunic, over which 
 flowers were painted, was rent at the armpits ; he also 
 wore a scarf, a girdle, and a great black mantle with 
 double lace sleeves. The amplitude of his vest- 
 ments, his large collar of blue gems, his gold agrafes 
 and his heavy earrings rendered even more hideous, 
 if possible, his physical deformities. He appeared 
 like a gross idol, roughly hewn out of a block 
 of stone, as a pale leprosy covered his entire 
 body, imparting to him the aspect of something inert. 
 However, his nose, hooked like a vulture's beak, 
 dilated violently, as he inhaled the air and his 
 small eyes, with their gummed lashes, flashed with a 
 hard, metallic glitter. He held in one hand an aloe 
 spatula, wherewith to scratch his diseased skin. 
 
 Two heralds sounded their silver horns ; the 
 tumult ceased, and Hanno began to speak. 
 
 He commenced by eulogising the Gods and the Re- 
 public, saying that the Barbarians ought to con- 
 gratulate themselves on having served Carthage : but 
 that they should also be more reasonable, for the 
 times were hard : — " and if a master had only three 
 olives, was it not just that he kept two for himself ?'' 
 
46 SALAMMBO. 
 
 Thus the old Stiff ete interpolated throughout his 
 discourse proverbs and apologues, nodding his head 
 all the time to solicit approbation. He spoke in 
 the Punic language, but those who surrounded him 
 consisted of the most alert, who had run thither 
 without their weapons, and were Campanians, Gauls, 
 and Greeks, so that no one in the adjacent crowd 
 understood him. Perceiving this, Hanno paused to 
 reflect, meanwhile rocking himself heavily from 
 one leg to the other. The idea came to him to 
 convoke the captains, and his heralds cried out the 
 order in Greek, the language which had served for 
 word of command in the Carthaginian armies since 
 the time of Xanthippus. 
 
 The guards with blows of their whips dispersed 
 the mob of soldiers, and soon the captains of the 
 phalanxes, drilled like the Spartans and the chiefs of 
 the Barbaric cohorts, came forward wearing the 
 insignia of their respective rank, and the armour of 
 their nations. 
 
 Night fell ; here and there blazed the fires ; a 
 great rumour stirred the encampment ; and they 
 went from one to k another, asking, " What has he 
 brought ?" and " Why does not the Suffete distribute 
 the money ?" 
 
 Hanno explained to the convened captains and 
 chiefs the infinite obligations of the Republic : her 
 treasury was empty ; the Roman tribute over- 
 whelmed her ; in fact : — " We do not know what 
 to do ! The Republic is much to be pitied !" 
 
 From time to time he rubbed his limbs with his 
 aloe spatula, or even paused to drink, from a silver 
 cup held to his lips by a slave, a decoction of ashes 
 
AT SICCA. 47 
 
 of weasels and asparagus boiled in vinegar ; then, 
 after drying his mouth with a scarlet napkin, he 
 continued : 
 
 "That which was worth only one shekel of 
 silver costs to-day three shekels of gold, and 
 the farms abandoned during the war yield nothing. 
 Our purple fisheries are nearly lost ; pearls even 
 have become exorbitant ; and it is with diffi- 
 culty that we can obtain sufficient unguents for 
 service to the Gods ! and, as for articles for table 
 consumption — this subject is a calamity on which I 
 shall not dwell. For lack of galleys the spices 
 fail, and it will be troublesome to procure silphium, 
 in consequence of the rebellion on the frontier of 
 Cyrene. Sicily, from whence we get our slaves, is 
 now closed to us ! For instance, yesterday I gave 
 more money for a bath-man and four kitchen-varlets 
 than formerly I should have paid for a pair of ele- 
 phants !" 
 
 He unrolled a long strip of papyrus, and read, with- 
 out omitting a single figure, all the outlays that 
 the Government had made, for reparations of the 
 temples, paving streets, constructing vessels, coral- 
 fisheries, the aggrandisement of the Syssites, and 
 construction of engines for the mines in Can- 
 tabria. But, the captains did not understand the 
 Punic language any better than did the soldiers, even 
 though the Mercenaries saluted in this language. 
 Ordinarily numerous Carthaginian officers were in- 
 terspersed through the Barbaric armies to serve as in- 
 terpreters, but after the recent war they had hidden, 
 abandoning their posts, fearful of vengeance ; and 
 Han no had not the forethought to provide himself 
 
48 SALAMMB6. 
 
 with interpreters before setting out on the present 
 mission. His voice was so low, it became lost on 
 the wind. 
 
 The Greeks, girding on their iron sword-belts, 
 listened attentively, striving to divine his meaning ; 
 the mountaineers, covered with skins like bears, 
 looked defiantly at him, or yawned, leaning on their 
 heavy clubs studded with brass nails. The Gauls 
 inattentively chuckled, shaking their tall towers of 
 hair ; and the men of the desert, completely muffled 
 up in grey woollen clothing, listened motionless. 
 Men pushed forward from behind, till the Guards, 
 crowded by the surging mob, actually swayed on their 
 horses. Negroes held at arm's length lighted torches 
 of fir-branches ; and the gross Carthaginian continued 
 his harangue, standing in full view on a knoll of turf. 
 
 Meanwhile the Barbarians grew impatient, and 
 gave vent to murmurs. Each one apostrophised 
 Hanno, who gesticulated with his spatula ; those 
 who wished to silence others yelled louder, vastly 
 increasing the hubbub. Suddenly a man of stunted 
 appearance bounded to Hanno's feet, snatched a trum- 
 pet from one of the heralds, blew it, and Spendius 
 — for it was he — announced that he came to tell 
 them something of importance. He rapidly reiterated 
 this declaration in five different languages, namely, 
 Greek, Latin, Gallic, Libyan, and Balearic ; the 
 captains, half surprised, half laughing, responded,. 
 " Speak ! Speak !" 
 
 Spendius, tremblingly hesitating a moment, at 
 last commenced by addressing the Libyans, as they 
 were the most numerous : 
 
 "You have all heard the horrible menaces of that 
 man !" 
 
AT SICCA. 49 
 
 Hanno offered no remonstrance, as he did not 
 comprehend Libyan ; and to continue the experi- 
 ment, Spending repeated the same phrase in all the 
 other Barbaric idioms. The soldiers looked at 
 each other in astonishment ; when all, as by tacit 
 consent, or perhaps believing that they understood, 
 bowed their heads to signify approval. 
 
 Then Spendius began in a vehement voice : 
 
 " In the first place, that man has said that all the 
 Gods of other nations were but myths compared 
 with the Carthaginian Gods ! He has called you all 
 cowards, thieves, liars, dogs and sons of bitches ! Ho 
 has said, that but for you the Republic would not be 
 constrained to pay the Romans tribute, and that by 
 your outrages you have drained Carthage of per- 
 fumes, aromatics, slaves, and silphium, as you are in 
 league with the Nomads, on the frontiers of Cyrene. 
 As you yourselves have heard ! Then he has said 
 that the culpable shall be punished, and read 
 the enumeration of their punishments, such as 
 paving the roads, fitting up the vessels, embellishing 
 the Syssites, and being sent to dig in the mines of 
 Cantabria." 
 
 Spendius reiterated all this to the Greeks, Gauls, 
 Campanians, and Balearics. In recognising many of 
 the proper names that struck their ears as the same 
 that Hanno had used, the Mercenaries were convinced 
 that he was giving an exact report of the Sufl'ete's 
 discourse. Some yelled out to him : 
 
 " You lie ! " 
 
 Their voices were lost in the tumult of others, 
 and Spendius added : 
 
 " Do you not sec that he has left a reserve force 
 
 E 
 
50 SALAMMBO. 
 
 of cavalry outside the camp ? At a signal from 
 him, they are prepared to rush upon and slay you." 
 
 At this the Barbarians turned in the direction in- 
 dicated ; and as the crowd dispersed, there appeared 
 in their midst, moving slowly as a phantom, a 
 human being, bent over, thin, entirely naked, and 
 hidden almost to his thighs by his long hair, bristling 
 with dry leaves, dust, and thorns. He had about 
 his loins and knees wisps of straw and shreds 
 of cloth ; his cadaverous s£in hung to his flesh- 
 less limbs like rags on dry branches ; his hands 
 trembled continually, and he walked leaning on an 
 olive staff. He came near the Negro torch-bearers. 
 An idiotic grin revealed his pale gums, and his 
 great frightened eyes examined the Barbarians who 
 pressed around him. 
 
 Uttering a cry of fright, he sprang behind the 
 Negroes, sheltering himself with their bodies, and 
 stammered out, " Look at them ! look at them !" 
 pointing at the Suff ete's guards sitting motionless in 
 their glistening armour, their horses pawing the 
 ground, dazzled by the torch-lights that crackled in 
 the darkness. The human spectre struggled and 
 yelled, "They killed them !" 
 
 At these words, which he screamed in Balearic, 
 the Balearics drew nearer, and recognised him ; but 
 without responding to their queries, he repeated : 
 
 " Yes, killed all ! all ! Crushed like grapes ! The 
 fine young men ! The slingers ! My comrades and 
 yours !" 
 
 They gave him wine to drink, and overcome by his 
 emotion and weakness, he wept. Then again he 
 launched forth a volley of words. 
 
AT SICCA. 5I 
 
 With difficulty Spendius managed to conceal his de- 
 light; even while explaining to the Greeks and Lib- 
 yans all the horrible events recounted by Zarxas, he 
 could scarcely credit such an apropos and unlooked- 
 for coincidence. The Balearic soldiers paled on learn- 
 ing the manner in which their companions had per- 
 ished. A troop of three hundred slingers had landed 
 at Carthage in the evening and overslept themselves, 
 so that when they arrived the next morning at the 
 square of Khamoim, the Barbarians had already gone, 
 and they found themselves without defence, as 
 their clay balls had been packed upon the camels 
 with the other army baggage. They were allowed to 
 enter the street of Satheb, and to proceed till they 
 reached the oaken gate lined with brass plates, when 
 the people, by a single movement, threw themselves 
 upon the helpless troop. 
 
 Many of the soldiers recalled the great outcry 
 they had heard ; but Spendius, who had left the city 
 at the head of the columns, had not heard it. 
 
 After this the corpses of the slingers were placed 
 in the arms of the Dii-Pataci — which surrounded 
 the temple of Khamoim. Then they were reproached 
 for all the crimes committed by the Mercenaries — 
 their gluttonies, thefts, impieties, insults, and the 
 ruthless slaughter of the fishes in Salammbo's gar- 
 den. The bodies were infamously mutilated ; the 
 priests burned the hair to torture their souls ; pieces 
 of their flesh were hung up in the butchers' shops : 
 some of the torturers even buried their teeth in the 
 flesh ; and at night, to complete the outrages, the re- 
 mains were burned on pyres at the street-crossings. 
 
 These, then, were the fires that had flashed so 
 
 E 2 
 
52 SALAMMBO. 
 
 long- in the distance over the lake. Some of the 
 mansions took fire, and the remaining bodies and 
 the dying Avere forthwith hurriedly pitched over 
 the walls to prevent a general conflagration. Zarxas 
 was one of this number, and until the next day 
 sta3 T ed in the reeds on the lake shore ; then he 
 wandered out in the country, searching for the 
 army by its trail through the dust. During the daytime 
 he hid in caverns, taking up his march in the night 
 time. His wounds unstaunched, famishing and ill, he 
 subsisted on roots and carrion. At length one day 
 he saw on the horizon the lances, and followed them. 
 His reason was disturbed by the force and continu- 
 ance of his terrors and miseries. 
 
 While he spoke, the soldiers suppressed their ire 
 with difficulty ; when he had finished, however, it 
 raged forth like a storm ; they wanted then and 
 there to massacre the Guards and the Suffete. Some 
 less violent interposed, saying that at least he should 
 be heard and let them know if they were to be paid. 
 
 All yelled " Our money !" Hanno responded that 
 lie had brought it. 
 
 They made a rush to the advance posts, dragging 
 the Suffete's baggage to the centre of the camp. 
 Without waiting for the porters, they unknotted the 
 baskets. In those they opened first they found 
 hyacinth-robes, sponges, scratchers, brushes, per- 
 fumes, and bodkins of antimony for painting the 
 eyes, — all belonging to the Guards, rich men accus- 
 tomed to these luxuries. 
 
 Afterwards they discovered on one of the camels 
 a large bronze bath-tub, in which the Suffete indulged 
 his ablutions during his march ; for he took all 
 
AT SICCA. 5 
 
 i 
 
 sorts of precautions, even bringing in cages wea- 
 sels from Hecatompylus, to be burned alive for his 
 decoction. And as his malady imparted to him an 
 enormous appetite, he had brought a plentiful supply 
 of comestibles, — wines, pickles, meats and fish pre- 
 served in honey, and little Comrnagene-pots of goose- 
 grease packed in snow and chopped straw. When the 
 baskets were opened and the contents were displayed, 
 the provisions appeared in such considerable quan- 
 tities, as to provoke a laughter that swept over the 
 Barbarians like interclashing waves. 
 
 But the wages of the Mercenaries hardly 
 filled two esparto coffers : and even in one of 
 these they saw the leather tokens used by the 
 Republic to save their specie. The Barbarians 
 seeming much surprised, Hanno declared that their 
 accounts were very difficult, and that the Elders 
 had not yet found leisure to examine them. 
 In the meantime they had sent this supply. Every- 
 thing was emptied recklessly out and overturned 
 — mules, valets, litter, provisions, and baggage. 
 
 The soldiers seized upon the money in the sacks to 
 pelt Hanno. With great difficulty he was hoisted 
 upon an ass, and fled, clutching its mane ; howling, 
 crying, jolted, bruised, he hurled back upon the army 
 the maledicti ons of all the Gods. His broad, jewelled 
 collar rebounded to his ears ; he held his long, trail- 
 ing mantle between his teeth, and the Barbarians 
 veiled after him from afar : 
 
 "Go, coward! Swine! Sewer of Moloch ! Sweat 
 out now your gold, your pestilence ! Faster ! 
 Faster!" The escort in disorder galloped at his 
 side. 
 
54 SALAMMBO. 
 
 The fury of the Barbarians could not be appeased : 
 they recalled the fact that many of their numbers 
 who had set out for Carthage had not returned : 
 doubtless they had been killed. So much injustice 
 exasperated them, and they began to pull up their 
 tent pegs, roll up their mantles, bridle their horses, 
 each one taking his casque and sword ; and in an 
 instant all was ready. Those who did not possess 
 weapons dashed into the woods to cut bludgeons. 
 
 Day dawned : the people of Sicca awoke, and 
 bestirred themselves in the streets to witness the 
 evacuation. 
 
 " They go to Carthage !" it was said ; and the 
 rumour ran like wild-fire, spreading throughout the 
 country. 
 
 From every pathway, from every ravine, men 
 sprang forth. Herdsmen could be seen descending 
 the mountains, running breathlessly. When the 
 Barbarians had gone Spendius made the circuit 
 of the plain to reconnoitre, mounted on a Punic 
 stallion, accompanied by his slave, who led a third 
 horse. A single tent remained on the field. Spen- 
 dius entered it, exclaiming : 
 
 " Up, master ! Awake ! We go !" 
 
 "Where do we go ?" demanded Matho. 
 
 "To Carthage ! ,? cried Spendius. 
 
 Matho bounded on to the horse held by the slave 
 at the entrance. 
 
CHAPTER III. 
 
 SALAMMBO. 
 
 The rising moon struck across the waves. Over the 
 city still hung vast shadows, interspersed with points 
 of light and glints of brilliant whiteness ; the pole 
 of a car in a courtyard, or some vagrant, fluttering 
 tatters, the angle of a wall, or the glitter of a gold 
 collar on the neck of a God. On the roofs of the 
 temples, the glass globes radiated like enormous 
 diamonds : but vague ruins, heaps of black earth, 
 and gardens, made more sombre masses in the 
 general obscurity. 
 
 At the foot of Malqua, fishermen's nets extended 
 from house to house, like gigantic bats with out- 
 spread wings. The creaking of the hydraulic wheels 
 that forced the water up to the last stories of the 
 palaces was now silent. In the middle of the ter- 
 races camels tranquilly reposed, lying on their 
 bellies like ostriches. The porters slept in the 
 streets at the thresholds of the mansions. The 
 colossi cast long shadows over the deserted squares. 
 In the distance, sometimes the smoke of a sacrifice 
 
56 SALAMMBO. 
 
 yet burning escaped through the bronze tiles ; and 
 the heavy breeze brought with the aromatic per- 
 fumes, the odours of the sea, mingled with exhala- 
 tions from the sun-heated walls. 
 
 Around Carthage the motionless waters became 
 resplendent, as the rising moon spread her light, at 
 the same time, over the gulf, environed by mountains 
 and over the lake of Tunis, where upon the banks of 
 sand flamingoes formed long, rose-coloured lines ; and 
 further on below the catacombs the large salt lagoon 
 shone like a sheet of burnished silver. The blue dome 
 of heaven on the one side sank into the horizon 
 down to the powdered plains, and on the other 
 side faded away into the sea-mists ; and on the 
 summit of the Acropolis, the pyramidal cypresses, 
 bordering the temple of Eschmoim swayed, making 
 a murmur like the swell that beat regularly and 
 slowl} T along the mole at the foot of the ramparts. 
 
 Salammbo went out on the upper terrace of her 
 palace, supported by a slave, who carried on an iron 
 plate burning charcoal. 
 
 In the centre of the terrace was placed a small 
 ivory couch covered with lynx-skins, upon which 
 were laid pillows of the feathers of the prophetic 
 parrots — birds consecrated to the Gods — and at the 
 four corners were erected long cassolettes, filled 
 with spikenard, incense, cinnamon, and myrrh. The 
 slave lighted these perfumes. 
 
 Salammbo gazed at the polar star, then slowly 
 saluted the four quarters of the heavens, and knelt 
 on the ground amid the azure powder sown with gold 
 stars, in imitation of the firmament. Then she pressed 
 her elbows close against her sides, extending her fore- 
 
SALAMMBO. 57 
 
 arms perfectly straight, with hands open, her head 
 turned upwards and back under the full rays of the 
 moon, saying : 
 
 "0 Rabbetna ! BAALET ! TANIT !" Her tones 
 continued plaintively, as if she called some one : 
 " ANAITLS ! ASTARTB ! DERCETO ! ASTORETH ! MY- 
 LITTA ! ATHARA ! ELISSA ! TlRATHA ! . ... By 
 
 the hidden symbols. . . . by the resounding timbrels. 
 . . . bv the furrows of the earth. . . .bv the eternal 
 silence. ... by the everlasting fecundity. . . . 
 Ruler of the shadowy sea, and of the regions of 
 azure, Queen of humid things, all hail !" 
 
 She swayed her entire body two or three times, 
 then threw herself face downwards, with outstretched 
 arms, flat in the dust. 
 
 Her slave lifted her up quickly, as it was ordained 
 that after such rites some one should always lift 
 the suppliant from her prostration, as a sign that the 
 Gods accepted such services ; SalammbtVs nurse never 
 failed in this pious duty. This slave had been 
 brought, when but a child, to Carthage by some mer- 
 chants of Dara-Getulia, and after her emancipation 
 she had no wish to leave her master ; as a proof of her 
 willing servitude, according to a recognised custom, 
 she pierced in her right ear a large hole. She wore 
 a multi-coloured striped skirt fitting tightly about 
 her hips, falling straight down to her ankles, 
 between which as she walked two tin links struck 
 against one another ; her rather flat face was as yel- 
 low as her tunic ; very long silver pins made a 
 halo at the back of her head, and in her nose was 
 inserted a coral stud. She now stood near the couch 
 with eyes downcast, more erect than a Hermes. 
 
58 SALAMMBO. 
 
 Salammbo moved to the edge of the terrace ; her 
 eyes wandered for an instant over the horizon, then 
 she lowered her gaze to the sleeping city. A sigh 
 escaped from the depths of her bosom, making her 
 long white simarre undulate from end to end as it 
 hung unconfined either by girdle or agrafe. Her 
 pointed sandals with turned-tip toes disappeared 
 beneath a mass of emeralds : her hair was negligently 
 caught up in a net of purple silk. 
 
 She raised her head to contemplate the moon — 
 mingling with her words fragments of hymns as 
 she murmured : 
 
 " How lightly dost thou turn, sustained by the 
 impalpable ether ! About thee it is luminous, and 
 the movement of thy changes distributes 'the winds 
 and the fruitful dews ; as thou waxest and wanest, 
 cats' eyes elongate or shorten, and the leopards' 
 spots are changed. Women scream thy name in the 
 paroxysms of childbirth ! Thou increasest the 
 shell-fish ! Thou causest the wine to ferment ! 
 Thou putrefiest the dead ! Thou formest the pearls 
 at the bottom of the sea ; and all germs, Goddess ! 
 are quickened in the profoundest obscurity of thy 
 humidity ! When thou comest , orth a quietude 
 spreadeth over the earth ; the 'flowers close ; the 
 waves are lulled ; wearied men repose with their 
 faces upturned towards thee ; and the entire earth, 
 with its oceans and its mountains, is reflected in 
 thy face, as in a mirror. Thou art white, sweet, 
 lustrous, auxiliary, immaculate, purifying, serene !" 
 
 The crescent moon just then hung over the Hot- 
 Springs Mountain ; just below it, in the notch of the 
 two summits on the opposite side of the gulf, ap- 
 
SALAMMBO. 59 
 
 peared a little star, and all around it a pale circle. 
 Salammbo continued : 
 
 " But thou art a terrible mistress ! . . . Likewise 
 produced by thee are monsters, frightful phantoms, 
 and deceitful dreams ; thine eyes devour the stones of 
 the edifices, and during the periods of thy rejuvenes- 
 cence the sacred apes fall ill. Whither goes t thou then ? 
 Why perpetually changestthou thy forms ? Sometimes 
 narrow and curved, thou glidest through space as a 
 mastless galley, or, in the midst of stars thou resemblest 
 a shepherd guarding his flock ; anon shining and round, 
 thougrazest the top of the mounts like a chariot wheel ! 
 
 " Tanit, dost thou not love me ? I have watched 
 thee so often ! But, no, thou coursest in thine 
 azure, whilst I remain on the motionless earth ? . . ." 
 
 "Taanach, take your nebal and play softly on the 
 silver cord, for my heart is sad." 
 
 The slave lifted a species of ebony harp, taller than 
 herself, of a triangular shape like a delta, and placing 
 the point in a crystal globe, began to play with both 
 hands. 
 
 Tones succeeded, low, precipitous tones, like the 
 buzzing of bees, and growing more and more son- 
 orous, were w ^fted into the night, and mingled with 
 the lament of the waves and with the soughing of 
 the large trees on the summit of the Acropolis. 
 
 " Hush !" cried Salammbo. 
 
 " What is it mistress ? If a breeze but blow, >r 
 a cloud only passes, everything now vexes and 
 disturbs you." 
 
 " I know not," she replied. 
 
 " You have over-fatigued yourself by praying too 
 long," urged the slave. 
 
60 SALAMMBO. 
 
 " Oh ! Taanach ! I would dissolve myself therein 
 like a flower in wine !" 
 
 " Perhaps it is the odours of the perfumes ?" 
 
 "No!" said Salammbo. "The spirit of the Gods 
 dwells in good odours." 
 
 Then the slave talked to her of her father. It was 
 believed that he had gone into the Amber country 
 beyond the pillars of Melkarth. 
 
 " But mistress, if he should not return," she said, 
 " you must choose, as he wished you, a husband from 
 among the sons of the Elders ; and your disquietude 
 will vanish in the embrace of your husband." 
 
 " Why ?" asked the young girl. All the sons of 
 the Elders she had ever seen horrified her with their 
 wild beast laughter, and their gross limbs. 
 
 "Taanach, sometimes a feeling emanates from the 
 innermost depths of my being, like hot flushes, 
 heavier than the vapours arising from a volcano: — 
 voices call to me ; a fiery globe rolls and rises in my 
 breast ; it suffocates me. I seem to be dying, when 
 something so sweet flows from my brow, extending 
 to my very feet, — thrills through every atom of my 
 being — it is a caress which envelopes me — I feel 
 crushed as if a God spread himself over and en- 
 thralled me, Oh ! I long to lose myself in the night 
 mists — in the ripples of the fountains, in the sap of 
 the trees — leave my body to be but a breath of air 
 — a ray of light, and glide through space to thee, oh 
 mother !" 
 
 She raised her arms as high as possible, bending 
 her body backwards, appearing -as pale and delicate 
 in her white robe, as the moon ; then in her ecstacy 
 she fell panting on her ivory couch. Taanach placed 
 
SALAMMBO. 6 1 
 
 around her mistress's neck a collar of amber and 
 dolphins' teeth to banish these terrors. Salammbo 
 said, in a voice almost inaudible, "Go and find 
 Schahabarim for me." 
 
 Salammbo's father had not wished that she should 
 enter the college of priestesses, nor even that she 
 should know aught concerning the popular Tanit. 
 He reserved her for some alliance which would serve 
 his political aims : so that Salammbo lived alone in 
 her palace, as her mother had been dead for many 
 years. She had grown up amid abstinences, fasts, and 
 purifications, and was always surrounded by ex- 
 quisite and solemn things — her body saturated with 
 perfumes — her soul filled with prayers. Never had 
 she tasted wine, or eaten meat, or touched an un- 
 clean animal, or put her foot in the house of death. 
 
 She was ignorant of the obscene simulachres ; for 
 each God was manifested in many different forms, 
 and the various rites, often most contradictory, 
 all demonstrated the same principles ; therefore, 
 Salammbo was taught to adore the Goddess in her 
 sidereal figuration. 
 
 Aninfiuence had descended from the moon upon this 
 maiden, for whenever the planet waned, Salammbo 
 became feeble, languishing all day, only reviving at 
 night ; and once during an eclipse she nearly died. 
 
 But the jealous Rabbetna revenged herself on this 
 chaste maiden, withheld from immolation ; obsessing 
 her with allurements all the stronger because they 
 were vague, the outgrowth of faith, heightened by 
 imagination. 
 
 The daughter of Hamilcar constantly troubled her- 
 self about Tanit. She had learned the Goddess's 
 
62 SALAMMBO. 
 
 adventures, her journeys, and all her names, which she 
 repeated, without their possessing for her a distinct 
 significance. In order to penetrate the profundities 
 of her dogma, she yearned to know, in the most 
 secret place of the temple, the old idol, with the 
 magnificent veil upon which depended the destiny 
 of Carthage. The idea of a deity was not clearly 
 revealed by her representation, for to possess or even 
 behold her image was to partake a part of her power, 
 and in some measure to dominate her. 
 
 Salammbo turned as she recognised the tinkling 
 of the little gold bells that Schahabarim wore at the 
 hem of his robe. 
 
 He came up the stairs, and pausing as he reached 
 the threshold of the terrace, crossed his arms. His 
 sunken eyes burned like lamps in a sepulchre ; his 
 long, thin body glided along in his linen robe, weighed 
 down by bells alternating with emerald apples about 
 his heels. His limbs were feeble, his head oblique, his 
 chin peaked, his skin seemed cold to the touch, and his 
 yellow face covered with deeply furrowed wrinkles, 
 seemed as if contracted in a desire, in an eternal chagrin. 
 
 This man was the high priest of Tanit, and he 
 had educated Salammbo. 
 
 " Speak !" said he. " What do you wish ?" 
 
 " I hoped — you have as much as promised me — 
 ..,.." she stammered, half disconcerted ; then sud- 
 denly continued : " Why do you despise me ? What 
 have I neglected in the rites ? You are my teacher, 
 and you have said to me that no person understands 
 better than I the mysteries of the Goddess ; but there 
 are some which you do not wish to tell me ; is not 
 this true, father ?" 
 
SALAMMBO. 63 
 
 Schahabarim recalled the orders of Hamilcar con- 
 cerning his daughter's education, and responded : 
 "No ! I have nothing more to teach you. 1 ' 
 
 "A spirit," she resumed, " urges me to this adora- 
 tion. I have climbed the steps of Eschmoun, — God 
 of the planets and intelligences ; I have slept under 
 the golden olive tree of Melkarth, — patron of all Ty- 
 rian colonies ; I have pushed open the gates of Baal- 
 Khamoun, — source of light and fertilisation ; I have 
 sacrificed to the subterranean Cabiri ; — to the Gods 
 of the winds, the rivers, the woods, and of the moun- 
 tains ; — but all are too far, too high, too insensible — 
 you understand ? Whereas Tanit mingles in my life, 
 she fills my soul, and I tremble with internal dart- 
 ings, as if she struggled to escape the confines of my 
 body. It seems to me that I shall hear her voice, 
 behold her face ; a brightness dazzles me, then I 
 fall back again into the shadows." 
 
 Schahabarim was silent. She implored his atten- 
 tion with beseeching glances. At length he made a 
 sign to dismiss the slave, who was not of Canaanite 
 race. Taanach disappeared, and the priest raised one 
 arm in the air, and commenced : 
 
 " Before the Gods, only darkness existed, and 
 a breath floated, heavy and indistinct, like the 
 consciousness of a man in a dream : it contracted 
 itself, creating Desire and Vapour ; from Desire and 
 Vapour proceeded primitive Matter. It was a muddy 
 water, black, icy, profound, encompassing insensible 
 monsters, incoherent parts of forms to be born, 
 such as are painted on the walls of the sanctu- 
 aries. Then Matter condensed and became an egg. It 
 broke : one half formed the earth, the other half the 
 
64 SALAMMBO. 
 
 firmament. The sun, the moon, the winds, and clouds 
 appeared, and a crash of thunder awakened the 
 sentient animals. Then Eschmoun, unrolled him- 
 self in the starry sphere ! Khamoun shone radiantly 
 in the sun ; Melkarth with his arms pushed him 
 beyond Gades ; the Cabiri descended into the vol- 
 canoes ; and Rabbetna, like one who nourishes, leaned 
 over the world, poured forth her light like milk, 
 and her night like a mantle." 
 
 "And then ?" she asked — for the priest had enu- 
 merated the secrets of origins, to distract her by the 
 highest, the most abstract forms ; but the desire 
 of the maiden was rekindled under his last words, 
 and Schahabarim, half yielding, resumed : 
 " She inspires and governs the loves of men." 
 " The loves of men !" repeated Salammbo, dreamily. 
 " She is the soul of Carthage," continued the priest. 
 " Although she spreads over all, it is here she dwells, 
 beneath the Sacred Veil.'" 
 
 " father !" exclaimed Salammbo, " I shall see 
 her, shall I not ? You will conduct me to her ? For a 
 long time I have hesitated : now the curiosity to see 
 her form devours me. Pity me ! succour me! Let 
 us go to the temple !' 
 
 He repulsed her by a vehement gesture, full of 
 pride. 
 
 "Never ! Do you not know that to look upon her is 
 death ? The hermaphrodite Baalim unveil only to 
 us : men that we are in our intellects, women that 
 we are through our weakness. Your desire is a sacri- 
 lege. Be satisfied with the knowledge you possess." 
 She fell upon her knees, placing two fingers 
 against her ears in sign of repentance ; sobbing, 
 
SALAMMBO. 65 
 
 crushed by the priest's words, at the same time 
 angry with him — filled equally with terror and 
 humiliation. 
 
 Schahabarim remained standing, more insensible 
 than the stones of the terrace. He looked down 
 upon her trembling at his feet, and it afforded him 
 a measure of delight to see her thus suffering for 
 his divinity whom he, no more than she, could 
 wholly embrace. 
 
 Already the birds sang, and a cold wind blew, and 
 little clouds flitted across the pale sky. Suddenly the 
 priest perceived on the horizon behind Tunis some- 
 thing like light mists floating over the ground ; then 
 it became a vast curtain of grey dust perpen- 
 dicularly spread, and through the whirling mass, 
 the heads of dromedaries, and the flash of lances 
 and bucklers were defined. It was the Barbarian 
 army advancing on Carthage. 
 
CHAPTER IV. 
 
 UNDER THE WALLS OF CARTHAGE. 
 
 FROM the surrounding country the people, mounted 
 on asses or running on foot, pale, breathless, wild 
 with fear, came rushing into the city. They were 
 flying before the Barbarian army, which, within 
 three days, had traversed the road from Sicca, bent 
 on falling upon and exterminating Carthage. 
 
 Almost as soon as the citizens closed the gates 
 the Barbarians were descried, but they halted in the 
 middle of the isthmus on the lake shore. At first 
 they made no sign whatever of hostility. Many 
 approached with palms in their hands, only to be 
 repulsed by the arrows of the Carthaginians, so 
 intense was the terror prevailing throughout the city. 
 
 During the early morning and at nightfall stragglers 
 prowled along the walls. A small man, carefully 
 enveloped in a mantle, with his face concealed 
 under a very low visor, w r as specially noticeable. He 
 tarried for hours looking at the aqueduct, and 
 with such persistence, that he undoubtedly desired 
 to mislead the Carthaginians as to his actual 
 
UNDER THE WALLS OF CARTHAGE. 6/ 
 
 designs. He was accompanied by another man, 
 of giant-like stature, who walked about bare- 
 headed. 
 
 Carthage was defended throughout the entire width 
 of the isthmus : first by a moat, succeeded by a rampart 
 of turf ; finally by a double-storied wall, thirty 
 cubits high, built of hewn stones. It contained 
 stables for three hundred elephants, with magazines 
 for their caparisons, shackles, and provisions, as well 
 as other stables for a thousand horses with their 
 harness and fodder ; also casernes for twenty thou- 
 sand soldiers, arsenals for their armour, and all the 
 materials and necessaries for war. Towers were 
 erected on the second story, furnished with battle- 
 ments, clad on the exterior by bronze bucklers 
 suspended from cramp irons. 
 
 The first line of walls immediately sheltered 
 Malqua, the quarter inhabited by seafaring people 
 and dyers of purple. Poles were visible on which 
 purple sails were drying, and beyond, on the 
 last terraces, clay furnaces for cooking sanmure. 
 At the back the city was laid out in tiers, like an 
 amphitheatre ; its high dwellings in the form of 
 cubes were variously built of stones, planks, shin- 
 gles, reeds, shells, and pressed earth. The groves 
 of the temples appeared like lakes of verdure in 
 this mountain of diversely-coloured blocks. The 
 public squares levelled it at unequal distances, 
 and innumerable streets intercrossed from top to 
 bottom. The boundaries of the three old quar- 
 ters could be distinguished, now merged together and 
 here and there rising up like huge rocks or spreading 
 
 out in enormous flat spaces of walls — half-covered 
 
 f2 
 
68 SALAMMBO. 
 
 with flowers, and blackened by wide streaks caused 
 by the throwing over of filth ; and streets passed 
 through in yawning spaces like streams under 
 bridges. 
 
 The hill of the Acropolis, in the centre of Byrsa, dis- 
 appeared under a medley of monuments ; — such as 
 temples with torsel-columns, with bronze capitals and 
 metal chains, cones of uncemented stones banded with 
 azure, copper cupolas, marble architraves, Babylonian 
 buttresses, and obelisks poised on the points like 
 reversed flambeaux. Peristyles reached to fron- 
 tons ; volutes unrolled between colonnades ; granite 
 walls supported tile partitions. All these were 
 mounted one above another, half hidden, in a 
 marvellous, incomprehensible fashion. Here one 
 felt the succession of ages, and the memories of 
 forgotten countries were awakened. 
 
 Behind the Acropolis, in the red earth, the 
 Mappals road, bordered by tombs, extended in a 
 straight line from the shore to the catacombs ; then 
 followed large dwellings in spacious gardens ; 
 and the third quarter, Megara, the new city, extended 
 to the edge of the cliffs, on which was erected a 
 gigantic lighthouse where nightly blazed a beacon. 
 
 Carthage thus deployed herself before the soldiers 
 now encamped on the plains. 
 
 From the distance the soldiers could recognise the 
 markets and the cross-roads, and disputed among 
 themselves as to the sites of the various temples. 
 Khamoun faced the Syssites, and had golden tiles ; 
 Melkarth, to the left of Eschmoim, bore on its 
 roof coral branches ; Tanit, beyond, rounded up 
 through the palm-trees its copper cupola ; and the 
 
UNDER THE WALLS OF CARTHAGE. 69 
 
 black Moloch stood below the cisterns at the side of 
 the lighthouse. 
 
 One could see at the angles of the frontons, on the 
 summit of the walls, at the corners of the squares, 
 everywhere, the various divinities with their hideous 
 heads, colossal or dwarfish, with enormous or with 
 immeasurably flattened bellies, open jaws, and out- 
 spread arms, holding in their hands pitchforks, 
 chains, or javelins. And the blue sea spread out 
 at the end of the streets, which the perspective 
 rendered even steeper. 
 
 A tumultuous people from morning till night 
 filled the streets : young boys rang bells, crying out 
 before the doors of the bath-houses ; shops wherein 
 hot drinks were sold sent forth steam ; the air re- 
 sounded with the clangour of anvils ; the white cocks, 
 consecrated to the sun, crowed on the terraces ; beeves 
 awaiting slaughter bellowed in the temples ; slaves 
 ran hither and thither with baskets poised on their 
 heads ; and in the recesses of the porticoes now 
 and again a priest appeared clothed in sombre 
 mantle, bare-footed, wearing a conical cap. 
 
 This spectacle of Carthage enraged the Barbarians. 
 They admired her ; they execrated her ; they desired 
 at the same time to inhabit her and to annihilate her. 
 But what might there not be in the military port, 
 defended by a triple wall ? Then behind the city, 
 at the extremity of Megara, higher even than the 
 Acropolis, loomed up Hamilcar's palace. 
 
 Matho's eyes constantly wandered in that direction. 
 He climbed into the olive-trees, and bent forward, 
 shading his eyes with one hand : but the gardens 
 were deserted, and the red door with the black 
 cross remained closed. 
 
yo SALAMMB6. 
 
 More than twenty times he made the circuit of 
 the ramparts, searching for some breach to gain en- 
 trance. One night he threw himself into the gulf, 
 and swam for three hours without pausing. He 
 ultimately reached the foot of Mappals, endeavoured 
 to cling to and climb up the cliffs, but cruelly tore 
 his knees till they bled profusely, and crushed his 
 nails, so that he fell into the water and swam back 
 defeated. 
 
 His impuissance exasperated him : he was jealous 
 of this Carthage that enclosed Salammbo, as of some 
 one who might have possessed her. Stung by these 
 thoughts, all enervation left him : thenceforth he 
 plunged continuously into a frenzy of mad deeds. His 
 cheeks blazed, his eyes became inflamed, his voice 
 rasped ; he strode at a rapid pace across the camp, or 
 sat on the shore rubbing his large sword with the 
 sand, or shot arrows at the passing vultures. His 
 heart overflowed in furious speeches. 
 
 "Let your wrath go like a runaway chariot," said 
 Spending. " Cry out : blaspheme, ravage and kill ; 
 sorrow appeases itself with blood, and since you 
 cannot satiate your love, gorge your hate ; it will 
 sustain you !" 
 
 Matho resumed command of his soldiers, making 
 them manoeuvre unmercifully. They respected him 
 for his courage, and especially for his strength ; 
 besides, he inspired in their hearts a mystic awe, 
 for thev believed that he communed at night with 
 phantoms. 
 
 The other captains were animated by his example ; 
 thus the army was very quickly under fine discipline. 
 The Carthaginians heard from their dwellings the 
 
UNDER THE WALLS OF CARTHAGE. J I 
 
 constant fanfare of trumpet calls, regulating these 
 military exercises. At length the Barbarians ad- 
 vanced. 
 
 In order to crush them on the isthmus, the Car- 
 thaginians would have required two armies to attack 
 them in the rear at the same time : the one debarking 
 at the extremity of the Gulf of Utica, and the other 
 at the Hot-Springs Mountain. But, what could the 
 Carthaginians do now, with only the Sacred Legion, 
 comprising at most but six thousand men ? If the 
 Barbarians diverged towards the east they would 
 join the Nomads, and intercept the road to Cyrene 
 and the commerce of the desert. If they fell back to 
 the west the Numidians would revolt. Finally, 
 their subsistence would fail, and soon or late they 
 would be forced to devastate like locusts the sur- 
 rounding country ; the Rich trembled for their 
 beautiful chateaux, for their vineyards, and for their 
 farms. 
 
 Hamm proposed the most atrocious and impractica- 
 ble" measures, such as promising a large sum of money 
 for every decapitated head of a Barbarian, or that with 
 implements and war engines they should fire the 
 enemy's camp. His colleague Gisco, on the contrary, 
 advised that the Mercenaries should be paid. The 
 Elders detested him on account of his popularity, as 
 they dreaded to incur the risk of a master, and from 
 terror of a monarchy strove to weaken whatever was 
 subsidiarj- to, or could tend to re-establish, such a 
 form of government. 
 
 Outside the fortifications were people of another 
 race of an unknown origin, all porcupine hunters, 
 eaters of molluscs- and serpents — people who pene- 
 
72 SALAMMBO. 
 
 trated the caverns, captured live hyaenas, and 
 found amusement in racing them during the 
 evenings on the sands of Megara between the stelas 
 of the tombs. Their cabins of wrack and mud hung 
 against the cliffs like swallows' nests : they lived 
 there without government, without Gods, pell-mell, 
 completely naked, and at once both feeble and savage 
 — during all ages cursed by the Carthaginians because 
 of their unclean food. One morning the sentinels 
 perceived that these creatures had all gone. 
 
 At length the members of the Grand Council 
 decided that they would go personally to the Bar- 
 barians' camp, without collars or girdles, and with their 
 sandals uncovered, like their plebeian neighbours. 
 Accordingly one day they advanced at a tranquil step, 
 throwing salutations to the captains, or even tarrying 
 to talk with the soldiers, saying that all war was 
 now at an end, and that they would do justice to 
 the demands of the Mercenaries. 
 
 Many of these patricians saw for the first time a 
 Mercenarian camp. Instead of finding the con- 
 fusion that they had imagined, over everything order 
 ruled, and a frightful stillness prevailed. A rampart 
 of turf enclosed the army within a high wall 
 that could not be shaken by the shocks of catapults. 
 The camp streets were constantly kept sprinkled 
 with fresh water. Through holes'in the tents they 
 saw lurid eyes gleaming mid the shadows. The 
 stacks of spears and the suspended panoplies dazzled 
 them like mirrors. They talked in undertones among 
 themselves, and seemed constantly in fear of over- 
 turning with their long robes some of the vast medley 
 of objects. 
 
UNDER THE WALLS OF CARTHAGE. J 3 
 
 The soldiers demanded provisions, and engaged 
 to pay for them out of the money that the Republic 
 owed them. Beeves, sheep, guinea-fowls, dried 
 fruits, lupins, as well as smoked mackerel — those 
 excellent mackerel which Carthage exported with 
 large revenue to all other ports — were sent to them. 
 But the soldiers disdainfully w T alked around the mag- 
 nificent cattle, disparaged that which they coveted, 
 offering for a sheep the price of a pigeon, for three 
 goats the value of a pomegranate. The eaters-of- 
 unclean -things set themselves up as arbitrators, affirm- 
 ing that they were being duped. Then they drew 
 their swords and threatened to kill the ambassadors. 
 
 The commissioners of the Grand Council wrote 
 down the number of years' pay due to each soldier ; 
 but it was now impossible to know how much the 
 Mercenaries had originally been engaged for, and 
 the Elders were frightened at the exorbitant sums 
 that they would be obliged to pay. It would 
 necessitate the sale of the reserve of silphium, and 
 compel them to impose a tax on the commercial cities. 
 The Mercenaries were impatient ; already Tunis 
 sympathised with them. 
 
 The Rich, stunned by Hanno's fury and by the 
 reproaches of his colleague Gisco, recommended 
 that the citizens who might perchance know any 
 Barbarians should go and see them immediately, 
 in order to regain their friendship by fair promises ; 
 such confidence would calm them. 
 
 Tradesmen, scribes, workers from the arsenals, 
 and entire families went to the Barbarians. The 
 soldiers permitted all these Carthaginians to enter 
 their encampment, but by a single passage, so narrow 
 
74 SALAMMBO. 
 
 that only four men abreast could elbow their way. 
 
 Spending stood against the barrier, and caused 
 each one to be thoroughly searched. Matho faced 
 him, examining the multitude, seeking to find some 
 one whom he might have formerly seen at the palace 
 of Salammbo. 
 
 The encampment resembled a city, it was so filled 
 with people and movement. Yet the two distinct 
 crowds, military and civic, commingled without 
 being confounded ; the one dressed in linen or 
 woollen, wearing felt-caps pointed like pine-cones, 
 and the other vested in iron, wearing metal helmets. 
 Amid the moving varlets and vendors strolled about 
 women of all nations : brown as ripe dates, 
 green as olives, yellow as oranges. These women 
 had been sold by sailors, or chosen in the 
 trader's closet, or stolen from caravans, or taken 
 during the sacking of cities ; that they might be 
 wearied with lust while they were young, or might 
 be overwhelmed with blows when they were old, 
 and who would die neglected on the roadside, during 
 the retreats, along with the abandoned beasts of 
 burden, in the midst of the baggage. 
 
 The wives of the Nomads dangled over their 
 heels their square cut, tawny coloured robes, of 
 dromedaries, hair. The Cyrenaic musicians, with 
 painted eyebrows, and enveloped in violet gauze, 
 sang as they squatted on mats ; old negresses, 
 with their hanging breasts, picked up sun-dried 
 dung for fuel. Syracusians wore gold plaques 
 in their hair ; Lusitanians were tricked out with 
 necklaces made of shells ; the Gallic women 
 wore wolves' skins over their white breasts : 
 
UNDER THE WALLS OF CARTHAGE. 75 
 
 and robust children, covered with vermin, naked, 
 uncircumcised, playfully butted the passers-by on 
 their abdomens with their lusty heads, or crept up 
 behind them, like young tigers, to bite their hands. 
 
 The Carthaginians promenaded through the camp, 
 much surprised by the quantity of strange articles 
 with which it teemed. The most miserable were 
 melancholy, while the others strove to dissimulate 
 their uneasiness. 
 
 Soldiers slapped them familiarly on their shoulders 
 bidding them be gay ; and as soon as they perceived 
 some person of note, invited him to join their 
 sports : if one perchance consented to play a 
 game of discs, then the soldiers managed to 
 crush his feet ; or in boxing, after the first pass, 
 broke his jaw. 
 
 The slingers terrified the Carthaginians, with 
 their slings, the snake-charmers with their vipers, 
 and the cavalry with their horses. These citizens 
 of peaceful occupations lowered their heads and 
 forced a smile at these outrages. Some, to mani- 
 fest an assumed bravery, even made signs that they 
 desired to become soldiers. They were set to cleave 
 wood and to curry mules ; or buckled in armour, 
 and rolled about like hogsheads through the camp 
 streets. Afterwards, when they were disposed to 
 take leave, the Barbarians pulled out their own hair, 
 and with grotesque contortions, demonstrated their 
 pretended grief. 
 
 Manv of the Mercenaries, from foolishness or 
 prejudice, truly believed that all Carthaginians 
 were very rich : they followed, begging their visi- 
 tors to give them something ; asked for all that 
 
j6 SALAMMBO. 
 
 they wore that seemed beautiful in their barbaric 
 eyes — a ring, a girdle, sandals, or the fringes off their 
 robes ; after the Carthaginians were utterly despoiled, 
 and said, " But we have nothing more ; what do you 
 want ?"they wouldanswer, "Your women! your lives !" 
 
 In due time the military accounts were given to 
 the captains, read to the soldiers, and definitely ap- 
 proved. Then the soldiers demanded the tents, which 
 were given to them ; — the Greek polemarchs asked for 
 some of the beautiful armour fabricated in Carthage ; 
 the Grand Council voted a sum of money for this 
 acquisition. Then the cavalry -men pretended that it 
 would be but just for the Republic to indemnify them 
 for their horses ; one would affirm to have lost three 
 in such and such a siege, and another five on a cer- 
 tain march, another fourteen over precipices. They 
 were proffered the fine stallions of Hecatompylus ; 
 but no, they preferred the payment in money. 
 
 Finally they demanded to be paid in silver, and 
 not with leather tokens, for all the grain due to them, 
 and that at the highest prices at which it was 
 sold during the war, so that they even went so far 
 as to demand for one measure of meal four hundred 
 times more than had actually been given for a sack 
 of wheat. This injustice and greed exasperated the 
 Council ; however, it was necessary to yield. 
 
 Then the delegates of the soldiers and the Council 
 were reconciled, swearing amity by the genius of 
 Carthage and by the Gods of the Barbarians. With 
 demonstrations and Oriental verbosity they exchanged 
 excuses and caresses. The soldiers now demanded 
 as a proof of amity the punishment of the traitors who 
 had estranged them from the Republic. 
 
UNDER THE WALLS OF CARTHAGE. J J 
 
 The Carthaginians feigned that they did not com- 
 prehend ; the Barbarians, explaining more clearly, 
 boldly declared that they must have Hanno's head. 
 Frequently during the day they would leave their 
 camp and sally forth to the foot of the walls, crying 
 out for some one to throw the Suffete's head down to 
 them, at the same time holding their robes out- 
 stretched to receive the demanded guerdon. 
 
 Perhaps the Grand Council might have yielded, 
 had not a last exaction, more outrageous than all 
 others followed, for now the Mercenaries demanded 
 in marriage for their chiefs, maidens to be chosen 
 from the noble families. This was an idea of 
 Spendius, that many thought easy to achieve and 
 strongly expedient. However, their audacious pre- 
 tension in wanting to mix with the Punic blood 
 filled the citizens with such indignation, that they 
 brusquely signified to the soldiers that henceforth 
 they had nothing more to expect or receive from 
 Carthage. Then the soldiers exclaimed that they 
 had been basely deceived, and that if within three 
 days they did not receive their payment, they should 
 go themselves and wrest it from Carthage. 
 
 The bad faith of the Mercenaries w 7 as not quite so 
 complete as the Carthaginians supposed, for Hamil- 
 car had made them exorbitant promises — vague, it 
 is true, but solemn, and reiterated. They had been 
 ied to believe that, when they landed at Carthage, 
 the city would forthwith be given up to them, and 
 that they should share among themselves the city 
 treasure ; hence, when they came, only to find their 
 payments were repudiated, or would be paid with 
 great difficulty and delay, the disillusion of their 
 
J 8 SALAMMBO. 
 
 pride, as well as the rebuff to their cupidity, was 
 severe. 
 
 Dionysius, Pyrrhus, Agathocles, and the generals of 
 Alexander, had they not furnished examples of mar- 
 vellous fortunes ? The ideal of Hercules, whom 
 the Canaanites confused with the sun, illumined the 
 horizon of the armies. It was well known that 
 soldiers from the ranks had worn diadems, and the 
 re-echoing fame of falling empires made the Gauls 
 dream of glory in their oak forests, and imbued with 
 ambition the Ethiopians on their native sands. But 
 here was a people always ready to utilise the coura- 
 geous ; and the thief chased from his tribe, the par- 
 ricide skulking on the highways, the sacrilegious 
 pursued by the Gods, all the starving, and all des- 
 perados endeavoured to reach the port, where the 
 agents of Carthage recruited soldiers. Usually the 
 Republic kept her promises ; however, in this instance 
 the ardour of her avarice had dragged her into a 
 perilous infamy. The Numidians, the Libyans, the 
 whole of Africa, would now unitedly throw them- 
 selves upon Carthage. The sea only remained free 
 to her. But there she would come into collision 
 with Rome : so, like a man assailed by murderers, 
 she felt death lurking all around her. 
 
 The Council concluded it would be necessary to 
 have recourse again to Gisco, for the Barbarians would 
 probably accept the intervention of their former 
 general. One morning the chains of the port were 
 lowered, and three flat boats passed through the canal 
 of the Taenia and entered the lake. 
 
 At the prow of the first boat Gisco was per- 
 ceived ; behind him, and higher than a catafalque, 
 
UNDER THE WALLS OE CARTHAGE. 79 
 
 loomed up an enormous case, on lamented with 
 rings like pendant wreaths. Following, appeared 
 a legion of interpreters coiffured like sphinx s. 
 with parrots tattooed on their breasts. Friends 
 and slaves came after, all without arms, and in 
 such a multitude that they touched shoulder to 
 shoulder. These three long, crowded, boats solemn ly 
 advanced amid the cheers of the expectant army that 
 watched them from the shore. 
 
 As soon as Gisco landed, the soldiers rushed to 
 meet him. He soon erected, with sacks piled on top 
 of each other, a kind of tribunal, and declared that he 
 would not leave until he had integrally paid them all. 
 
 The outburst of applause prevented his speaking 
 for some time. Then he resumed by censuring the 
 wrong-doings of the Republic and the wrong-doings 
 of the Barbarians ; the great fault had been with those 
 who had mutinied, with such extreme violence, as to 
 have frightened Carthage. The best proof of the Re- 
 public's present good intentions was the fact that they 
 had sent him — the eternal adversary of Hanno — to 
 treat with them. They certainly could not suppose 
 that the people would be so inept as to anger its braves, 
 or so ungrateful as to discount their services. Gisco 
 prepared to pay the soldiers, commencing with the 
 Libyans. As they declared the lists falsified, he set 
 them aside. 
 
 They defiled before him by nations, and spread 
 out their fingers to indicate the term of years they 
 had served. Each man was successively marked on 
 his left arm with green paint ; scribes made with a 
 stiletto holes on sheets of lead ; while others drew 
 out the accounts from open coffers. 
 
80 SALAMMBO. 
 
 Presently a man passed by who tramped heavily, 
 like an ox. 
 
 " Come up near to me," said Gisco, suspecting 
 some fraud. " How many years have you served ?" 
 
 " Twelve," responded the Libyan. 
 
 Gisco slipped his fingers under the fellow's jaws, 
 as the chin-piece of the helmets produced, after 
 being worn for a long time, two callosities that 
 were called carroubes, and " having carroubes " was 
 synonymous to being a veteran. 
 
 " Thief !" — cried Gisco. " That which is missing 
 on your face you must have on your shoulders !" At 
 this he tore off the man's tunic, disclosing a back 
 covered with bleeding sores. In truth he was a 
 slave labourer of Hippo-Zarytus. Yells arose, and 
 the culprit was beheaded. 
 
 As soon as night fell, Spending went about to stir 
 up the Libyans, saying to them : 
 
 " When the Ligurians, the Greeks, Balearics, and all 
 the men of Italy shall be paid, they will return 
 to their native countries, but you others must remain 
 in Africa ; scattered among the tribes without any 
 defence ! Then the Republic will revenge herself ! 
 Beware of voyages ! Are you going to believe all these 
 speeches ? The two Suffetes are in accord ! This 
 one abuses your confidence ! Do you recollect the 
 island of bones, and Xanthippus, whom they sent to 
 Sparta on a rotten galley ?" 
 
 " How are we to act ?" demanded they. 
 
 " Be circumspect," replied Spendius. 
 
 The two subsequent days were spent in paying the 
 people of Magdala, Leptis and Hecatompylus. Spen- 
 dius spread fresh dissensions among the Gauls, saying : 
 
UNDER THE WALLS OF CARTHAGE. 8 1 
 
 " They will pay the Libyans, afterwards the Greeks, 
 then the Balearics, then the Asiatics, and all the 
 others ! But you, who are in the minority, will be 
 given nothing ! You will never more see your 
 country ! You have no vessels ! They will kill you 
 to save your keeping !" 
 
 The Gauls set out to seek Gisco. Autharitus, the 
 man whom he had wounded in Hamilcar's gardens, 
 addressed him, but was thrust back by the slaves, 
 and disappeared, swearing to revenge himself. 
 
 Demands and complaints multiplied. The most 
 persistent penetrated into the Suffete's tent, and, to 
 move him to pity, they would take his fingers and 
 make him feel their toothless mouths, their emaciated 
 arms, and the cicatrices of their wounds. Those 
 who were not yet paid became exasperated ; those 
 who had received their pay demanded an additional 
 sum for their horses ; and the vagabonds and out- 
 casts, taking the soldiers' weapons, declared that 
 they had been forgotten. Every moment men surged 
 forward in eddies ; the tents cracked under the 
 strain, and finally toppled over ; the multitude, 
 giving vent to yells, crowded between the ramparts, 
 swaying and surging from the entrance to the centre 
 of the camp. When the tumult became too loud, 
 Gisco posed his elbow on his ivory sceptre, and 
 gazed over the sea of faces, remaining motionless, 
 with his fingers buried in his beard. 
 
 Matho often went aside to interview Spendius, 
 but ever took his place again facing the Suffete ; and 
 Gisco felt perpetually his eyes like flaming fire-lances 
 darting towards him. Above the crowd frequently 
 they interchanged words of abuse, but neither under- 
 
 G 
 
82 SALAMMBO. 
 
 stood the other. Meanwhile, the distribution con- 
 tinued, and the Suffete for every obstacle found ready 
 expedients. 
 
 The Greeks quibbled about the differences in 
 the moneys ; but he furnished such satisfactory 
 explanations, that they withdrew without a murmur. 
 The Negroes demanded their pay in the white shells 
 used in commerce through the interior of Africa ; 
 he offered to send thither and bring a supply to 
 Carthage ; then, like the others, they accepted the silver 
 money. The Balearics had been promised some- 
 thing better — women. The Suffete responded that an 
 entire caravan of virgins was expected for them ; 
 but as the road was long, it would still require six 
 moons. However,, when they arrived at their desti- 
 nation, they would be fat, and well rubbed with 
 benzoin, and they should see them on the vessels 
 in the Balearic ports. 
 
 Suddenly Zarxas, now fine and vigorous, leaped 
 like a mountebank upon the shoulders of his friends, 
 and cried out, " What have you reserved for the 
 dead ?" pointing to the gate of Khamoun. 
 
 Under the last rays of the sun the brass plates that 
 garnished the gate from top to bottom were reful- 
 gent, and the Barbarians believed that they saw on 
 them a track of blood. Every time Gisco vouchsafed 
 to speak, their yells recommenced ; finally he de- 
 scended with a solemn step, and shut himself up in 
 his tent. 
 
 At sunrise, when he went forth again, his inter- 
 preters, who had lain outside his tent, did not 
 stir. They lay on their backs, eyes fixed, tongues pro- 
 truding between their teeth, and their faces blueish ; 
 
UNDER THE WALLS OF CARTHAGE. &$ 
 
 white froth oozed from their nostrils, their limbs 
 were stiff, as though they had been frozen during 
 the night, and around the neck of each was drawn 
 a little leather cord. 
 
 From this time there was no cessation of the rebel- 
 lion. The murder of the Balearics recalled by Zarxas 
 confirmed the suspicions set brewing by Spendius. 
 They imagined that the Republic always sought to 
 deceive them. It must be ended ! They could do 
 without interpreters ! Zarxas, with a sling around 
 his head, sang war songs ; Autharitus brandished his 
 great sword ; Spendius would whisper something to 
 one, and to another furnish a poniard. The most 
 powerful endeavoured to pay themselves ; but those 
 least enraged requested that the distribution should 
 go on. 
 
 During this excitement no one laid down their 
 weapons, and their wrath centred upon Gisco in a 
 tumultuous hatrecl. Some went up beside him. 
 Just so long as they only vociferated their wrongs, 
 they were patiently listened to ; but the moment 
 they uttered the slightest word in his favour they 
 were immediately stoned, or their heads would be 
 cut off by a sabre blow from behind. The heap of 
 sacks soon became red as an altar during a sacrifice. 
 
 They were terrible after their repast, for they had 
 drunk wine ! This was an indulgence forbidden 
 under pain of death in the Punic armies ; but in de- 
 rision of her discipline, they lifted their cups towards 
 Carthage. Afterwards they turned on the slaves of 
 the finances and began killing them. The word 
 strike, different in each language, was understood 
 
 by all. 
 
 tt2 
 
84 SALAMMB6. 
 
 Gisco knew perfectly well that his country had 
 forsaken him, but he did not desire her to be dis- 
 honoured. When the soldiers recalled to him that 
 the government had promised them vessels, he 
 swore by Moloch to furnish them himself at his 
 own expense, and pulling off his collar of blue stones, 
 threw it to the crowd as a pledge to his oath. 
 
 Then the Africans made a claim for their grain, ac- 
 cording to the arrangement with the Grand Council. 
 Gisco spread out the accounts of the Syssites, traced 
 with violet paint on sheep-skins, and read all that had 
 entered into Carthage, day by day, month by month. 
 Suddenly he stopped ; his eyes opened widely, as if 
 he had discovered between the figures his own death 
 sentence. In effect the Elders had made fraudulent 
 reductions, and the grain sold during the most calami- 
 tous period of the war was rated so low in these 
 accounts that only the blindest person could have 
 been deceived. 
 
 " Speak !" cried they ; " louder ! Oh ! he strives to 
 deceive us, the coward ! We distrust you !" 
 
 He hesitated for some time ; at length he again 
 took up his task. 
 
 The soldiers, without suspecting the accounts 
 rendered by the Syssites to be inaccurate, accepted 
 them. The abundance that they found Carthage 
 possessed of, threw them into a jealous rage. They 
 fell upon and broke open the sycamore coffer ; 
 it was now three-quarters empty, but having seen 
 such enormous sums taken from it, they had deemed 
 it inexhaustible. Had Gisco hidden some in his 
 tent ? The soldiers climbed over the sacks, led on 
 by Matho, yelling : 
 
UNDER THE WALLS OF CARTHAGE. 85 
 
 " The money ! the money !" 
 
 Gisco at last responded. 
 
 " Let your general give it to you !" 
 
 Without speaking further, he turned upon them 
 his large yellow eyes and long pale face, whiter than 
 his beard. An arrow whistled towards him, and 
 was arrested by its feathered barb, and held fast by 
 his broad gold earring ; a thread of blood trickled 
 down from his tiara upon his shoulder. 
 
 At a gesture from Matho all advanced upon Gisco. 
 He threw out his arms ; but Spendius with a run- 
 ning knot fastened his wrists together ; another man 
 pitched him over, and he disappeared in the prevailing 
 disorder of the crowd, which tumbled over the sacks. 
 They completely ransacked his tent, finding nothing 
 but the necessities of life ; then searching closer, 
 found three images of Tanit, and in a monkey's 
 hide, a black stone, which had fallen from the moon. 
 
 The numerous Carthaginians who had accom- 
 panied Gisco were all of the war party, and were men 
 of importance. They were taken outside of the tents, 
 and thrown into the pit of filth. They were attached 
 by chains to stakes driven in the earth, and their 
 food was held out to them on the points of javelins. 
 
 Over all of these captives Autharitus kept sur- 
 veillance, heaping upon them invectives ; but as they 
 did not comprehend his language, they made no 
 response, and the Gaul would, from time to time, 
 throw stones in their faces, to make them cry out. 
 
 Next day a languor invaded the army. According 
 as their rage subsided an inquietude possessed them. 
 Matho suffered from a strange sadness. It seemed to 
 
86 SALAMMBO. 
 
 himthat he had indirectly outraged Salammbo : the 
 Rich were like a dependence of her person. He 
 sat at night on the edge of their pit, and in their 
 moans fancied he heard something akin to her voice, 
 of which his heart was full. 
 
 Meanwhile, all accused the Libyans, who alone 
 were paid. Notwithstanding that national antipa- 
 thies and personal hatreds were reviving, every- 
 one felt the present peril in yielding to them. 
 Reprisals after such an outrage would be formidable. 
 They must by common adhesion ward off the 
 vengeance of Carthage. Cabals and harangues were 
 never ended ; everyone talked ; no one listened ; 
 and Spendius, ordinarily so loquacious, now to all 
 proposals shook his head. 
 
 One evening he carelessly asked Matho if there 
 were any springs in the interior of the city. 
 
 " Not one ! " responded Matho. 
 
 The next day Spendius led him to the lake shore, 
 " Master, if your heart is intrepid, I will conduct 
 you to Carthage." 
 
 "How ?" breathlessly asked Matho. 
 
 " Swear to execute my orders, and to follow me 
 like a shadow," said Spendius. 
 
 Matho raised his arm toward the planet Cabira, 
 saying : 
 
 " Bv Tanit I swear it !" 
 
 Spendius resumed : 
 
 " To-morrow, after sunset, wait for me at the foot 
 of the aqueduct between the ninth and tenth 
 arcades. Bring with you an iron pike ; wear a 
 helmet without aigrette, and leathern sandals." 
 
 The aqueduct to which he alluded traversed 
 
UNDER THE WALLS OF CARTHAGE. 8j 
 
 obliquely the entire isthmus — a work considerably 
 enlarged later by the Pomaris. Notwithstanding 
 Carthage's disdain for other peoples, she had awk- 
 wardly taken this new invention from Rome ; as 
 Rome herself had taken the Punic galley. It was of 
 a broad low architecture of five ranges of superposed 
 arches, with buttresses at the base and lions' heads 
 at the summit, which abutted on the western side 
 of the Acropolis, where it plunged under the city, 
 turning almost a river into the cisterns of Megara. 
 
 At the hour agreed upon, Spendius found Matho 
 waiting at the rende/.vous. He fastened a sort of har- 
 poon to the end of a long rope, that he whirled 
 rapidly like a sling ; as the iron caught in the 
 masonry, they moved one behind the other and 
 climbed up along the wall. After reaching the first 
 story, each time that the harpoon was thrown it 
 fell back ; hence, in order to discover some fissure, they 
 were compelled to walk on the edge of the cornice, 
 which on each row of arches they found became 
 narrower. At times the rope slackened, and again it 
 threatened to break. At length they attained the 
 upper platform, where Spendius bent over, sounding 
 the stones from time to time with his hands. 
 
 " It is here" — said he — "we will begin !" and press- 
 ing on the pike Matho had brought, he commenced 
 to disjoint one of the stones. 
 
 They perceived, in the distance below them, a troop 
 of cavalry galloping, without bridles on their horses, 
 their gold bracelets bounding in the loose draperies 
 of their ample mantles.- In advance could be dis- 
 tinguished a man crowned with ostrich-plmnes, 
 holding a lance in each hand as he galloped. 
 
88 SALAMMBd. 
 
 "Narr 1 Havas !" exclaimed Matho. 
 
 "What matter ?" replied Spendius, leaping into the 
 hole he had just made by displacing a stone. Matho, by 
 his orders, tried to prize out one of the blocks of stone, 
 but from lack of space he could not move his elbows. 
 
 " We shall return," — said Spendius ; — " go before 
 me." 
 
 Then they ventured into the water-conduit. The 
 water reached up to their waists ; soon they 
 staggered, and were obliged to swim. Their limbs 
 were knocked against the inner walls of the very 
 narrow channel, and as they progressed, the water 
 gradually rose, till it almost reached the superior 
 stones, against which they tore their faces, as the 
 swift current carried them resistlessly along. An 
 atmosphere heavy as that of a sepulchre pressed 
 upon their lungs, and with their heads under 
 their arms, their knees together, elongating them- 
 selves as much as possible, they passed like arrows 
 through the obscurity, stifled, gasping for breath, 
 nearly dead. Suddenly all grew dark before them 
 — the velocity of the water redoubled. They sank. 
 When they arose to the surface again they remained 
 for some minutes floating on their backs, inhaling the 
 delicious pure air. The arcades one behind the other 
 opened out in the middle of the wide walls separating 
 the basins ; all were full, and the water continued 
 as one unbroken sheet the length of the cisterns. 
 Through the air-holes in the cupola of the ceiling, a 
 pale clearness spread over the water like discs of 
 light : the darkness thickened towards the walls as 
 they retreated indefinitely — here the slightest noise 
 made a tremendous echo. 
 
UNDER THE WALLS OF CARTHAGE. 89 
 
 Spendius and Matho resumed swimming, and pass- 
 ing the openings of the arches, crossed many chambers 
 in succession : two similar but much smaller ranges of 
 basins extended parallel on each side. They lost them- 
 selves, and were compelled to turn and swim back 
 for some distance. Something resisted under their 
 feet : it was the pavement of the gallery running the 
 length of the cistern. With great precaution they pro- 
 ceeded to feel the walls, striving to detect an issue ; but 
 their feet slipped, and they fell into the deep basin ; they 
 struggled up, but again fell back. As they struck out 
 again they experienced a frightful fatigue in swimming 
 — their limbs seemed about to dissolve in the water — 
 their eyes closed — they seemed in death-throes. 
 
 Spendius struck his hand against the bar of a 
 grating ; both men shook it vigorously ; it yielded, 
 and they found themselves on the steps of a stair- 
 way closed at the top by a bronze door. With the 
 point of a poniard they wrested open the bolt 
 fastening this door from the outside, and at once 
 gained access to pure, fresh air. 
 
 The night was full of silence, and the sky swelled 
 above to an immeasurable height ; clumps of trees 
 projected beyond the long lines of walls ; the entire 
 city slept ; and the fires of the advance posts shone 
 through the night like lost stars. 
 
 Spendius, who had spent three years confined 
 in the ergastulum, knew the quarters of the city 
 but imperfectly. Matho, however, conjectured that 
 in order to reach Hamilcar's palace, they must go to 
 the left by crossing Mappals. 
 
 " No !" said Spendius ; " conduct me to the temple 
 of Tanit." 
 
90 SALAMMBO. 
 
 Matho essayed to speak. 
 
 "Remember!" said the former slave, as he lifted 
 his right arm, and pointed to the resplendent planet 
 of Ctibira. 
 
 Matho silently turned towards the Acropolis. They 
 crept cautiously along the enclosures of fig-trees 
 bordering the pathways. The water trickled from 
 their limbs upon the dust : their wet sandals made 
 no sound. Spend ius, with eyes more gleaming 
 than torches, at each step peered into the bushes, 
 as he groped behind Matho, constantly clutching in 
 his hands, ready for immediate action, the two 
 poniards he wore attached to his arms, that were 
 held in place below the armpits by a leather band. 
 
CHAPTER V. 
 
 TANIT. 
 
 AFTER leaving the gardens, they found the enclosure 
 of Megara an obstacle ; however, they soon detected 
 a breach in the high wall, through which they 
 passed. The ground descended, forming a very 
 broad valley. It was an excellent point for a 
 reconnaissance. 
 
 " Listen," said Spendius ; " and above all, fear 
 nothing : 1 will execute my promise ;" and with an 
 air of reflection he paused, as if to weigh his words. 
 " You remember that time, just at sunrise, as we 
 stood on the terrace of Salammbo's palace, when I 
 pointed out Carthage to you ? We were strong that 
 day, but you would not heed me." Then in a graver 
 voice he pursued : "Master, there is, in the sanctuary 
 of Tanit, a mysterious veil, fallen from Heaven, 
 that conceals the Goddess." 
 
 " I know that," replied Matho. 
 
 Spendius resumed : " It is divine, as it is a 
 part of Tanit. . . . The Gods reside where their 
 simulachres dwell. It is because Carthage possesses 
 it, that Carthage is powerful." Then leaning for- 
 
 9i 
 
92 SALAMMBO. 
 
 ward he whispered, " I have brought you with me, 
 to ravish this veil !" 
 
 Matho recoiled with horror. " Go ! seek some one 
 else ! I do not wish to aid in such an execrable crime." 
 
 " But Tanit is your enemy," replied Spendius. 
 " She persecutes you, and is destroying you with her 
 wrath. You can thus revenge yourself. She will 
 obey you. You will become almost immortal and 
 invincible !" 
 
 Matho bowed his head. 
 
 Spenclius continued : " If we succumb, the army 
 will become self-annihilated. We have neither 
 escape, succour, nor pardon to hope for ! What chas- 
 tisement of the Gods can you fear when once you 
 possess, in your own hands, their strength ? Do you 
 prefer to perish miserably the night of a defeat 
 under the shelter of a bush, or be burned at the 
 stake amid the outrages heaped upon you by the 
 populace ? Master, at some future day you will 
 enter Carthage between the colleges of pontiffs, who 
 will kiss your sandals ; and if the veil of Tanit then 
 weighs upon you, re-establish it in her temple. 
 Follow me ! Come, take it !" 
 
 A terrible desire devoured Matho : he would like 
 to abstain from the sacrilege, and yet possess the 
 veil. He thought, perhaps he did not desire to take 
 it merely to monopolise its virtues. However, he 
 did not probe to the bottom of his intentions, but 
 paused at the limit where his thoughts frightened 
 him. 
 
 "We will go on," he said; and they moved for- 
 ward at a rapid pace, side by side, without speaking. 
 
 The ground ascended, and the habitations drew 
 
TANIT. 93 
 
 closer together; they turned aside in the narrow 
 streets, walking in the midst of shadows. The 
 esparto-hangings closing the doorways beat against 
 the walls ; camels ruminated before heaps of cut grass 
 in a square ; then their path led them under a gallery 
 covered over with foliage, where a pack of dogs 
 barked at them. The space suddenly enlarged, and 
 they recognised the western facade of the Acropolis. 
 At the foot of Byrsa spread out a long, black mass ; 
 it was the temple of Tanit, a collection of monu- 
 ments and gardens, courts and fore-courts, hemmed 
 in by a little wall of uncemented stones, over which 
 Spendius and Matho vaulted. 
 
 This first enclosure shut in a grove of plane-trees, 
 planted as a precaution against the pest and in- 
 fections of the atmosphere. Here and there were 
 scattered tents in which, during the day, were sold 
 depilatory pastes, perfumes, clothing, crescent-shaped 
 cakes, images of the Goddess, and representations 
 of the temple carved in blocks of alabaster. They 
 had now nothing to apprehend, as, during the nights 
 that the planet did not appear, all rites were sus- 
 pended ; however, Matho slackened his pace ; he 
 stopped before the three ebony steps leading to the 
 second enclosure. 
 
 " Go on !" urged Spendius. 
 
 Pomegranates, almonds, cypresses, and myrtles, 
 alternated regularly, and were as motionless as bronze 
 foliage ; the path, paved with blue stones, creaked 
 under their feet ; and roses in full bloom embowered 
 the long alley. They soon came to an oval open- 
 ing, protected by a grating. Then Matho, who was 
 terrified by the silence, said to Spendius : 
 
94 SALAMMBO. 
 
 " It is here that the Sweet Waters and Bitter 
 Waters are mixed." 
 
 " I have seen all that," replied the former slave, 
 " in the city of Maphug, at Syria." 
 
 By a stair of six silver steps, they proceeded up to 
 the third enclosure. An enormous cedar occupied the 
 centre ; its lowest branches disappeared under loops 
 of fabrics and necklaces appended by the faithful. 
 They advanced a few steps more, and the facade of 
 the temple deployed before them. 
 
 Two long porticoes, with architraves reposing on 
 dwarfish pillars, flanked a quadrangular tower, orna- 
 mented on the platform by a crescent moon. At the 
 angles of the porticoes, and at the four corners of the 
 tower, were erected vases full of burning aromatics. 
 Pomegranates and colocynths loaded the capitals : 
 interlacements and lozenges alternated regularly with 
 garlands of pearls, festooning the walls, and a hedge 
 of silver filigree formed a wide semicircle before 
 a brass stairway descending from the vestibule. 
 
 There was at the entrance, between a stela of gold 
 and a stela of emerald, a stone cone ; in passing, 
 Matho kissed his right hand. 
 
 The first room was very lofty ; innumerable 
 openings pierced the vaulted ceiling, through which 
 the stars were visible. All around the wall, in reed- 
 baskets, were heaped beards and hair, first indications 
 of adolescence ; and in the centre of the circular 
 apartment the body of a woman rose from a ped- 
 estal covered with breasts. Fat, bearded, with eye- 
 lids lowered, she had the air of smiling ; her hands 
 crossed the lower part of her gross abdomen — polished 
 by the kisses of her votaries. 
 
TANIT. 95 
 
 Then they found themselves in the open air in a 
 transverse corridor, where an altar of scanty pro- 
 portions was placed against an ivory gate, barring 
 the passage. Beyond this the priests alone were 
 privileged to pass — as a temple was not a place for 
 the congregation of the people, but the particular 
 abode of its divinity. 
 
 " The undertaking is impossible," exclaimed Matho. 
 "You did not dream of this obstacle ; we must go 
 back." 
 
 Spendius carefully examined the walls. He 
 coveted the veil : not that he reposed confidence in 
 its virtues, for Spendius believed only in the Oracle ; 
 but he was persuaded that, if the Carthaginians 
 discovered themselves deprived of the veil they 
 would fall into great consternation. 
 
 To find some outlet, they m?,de a tour at the back. 
 Under the turpentine thickets could be seen little 
 buildings of various forms. Here and there a stone 
 phallus stood up ; and large stags tranquilly wan- 
 dered about, crushing under their cloven hoofs the 
 fallen pine-cones. 
 
 They retraced their steps between two long paral- 
 lel galleries. Tiny cells opened out on these. 
 Tambourines and cymbals hung on the cedar 
 columns. Extended on mats outside, Avomen slept, 
 whose bodies were so greased with unguents that 
 they exhaled an odour of aromatics, and extinguished 
 cassolettes ; and they were so covered with tattooing, 
 collars, bracelets, vermilion, and antimony, that they 
 might easilv have been mistaken for idols — thus 
 lying about on the ground — but for the movement 
 of their breasts. 
 
96 SALAMMBO. 
 
 Lotuses surrounded a fountain, where swam fish 
 like Salammbo's ; then in the background, against 
 the wall of the temple, clung a spreading vine, 
 with tendrils of glass bearing clusters of emerald 
 grapes ; rays from the precious stones made a play of 
 light beween the painted columns over the visages 
 of the sleeping women. 
 
 Matho felt suffocated in the warm atmosphere that 
 pressed upon him from the cedar compartments. All 
 the symbols of fecundation, the lights, the perfumes, 
 and the exhalations overcame him. Through this 
 mystic bewilderment he dreamed of Salammbo ; she 
 was in his imagination confused with the Goddess, 
 and his passion grew stronger, liberating and spread- 
 ing itself from the depths of his being, as the great 
 lotuses blossoming on the surface of the fountain 
 were rooted in the waters' depth. 
 
 Spendius calculated what sums of money he for- 
 merly could have gained by the sale of these sleep- 
 ing women, and with a rapid glance in passing, he 
 computed the value of the gold necklaces. 
 
 The temple, on this side as on the other, was im- 
 penetrable. They retraced their steps behind the 
 first chamber. While Spendius sought to ferret out 
 an ingress, Matho, prone before the ivory gate, im- 
 plored Tanit, supplicating her not to permit their 
 contemplated sacrilege. He endeavoured to appease 
 her by caressing words such as one might address 
 to an angry being. Meanwhile Spendius descried 
 above the door a narrow aperture. 
 
 " Stand up !" said Spendius. 
 
 Matho complied, putting his back against the wall, 
 standing erect. Then Spendius, placing one foot in 
 
TAN IT. 97 
 
 his hands and the other on his head, was enabled to 
 reach the top of the opening, through which he 
 crawled and disappeared. Then Matho felt strike 
 his shoulders the knotted rope that Spendius had 
 wound about his body before entering the cisterns. 
 Clutching it with both hands, he drew himself up 
 until he attained the opening, through which he 
 crawled, and on the other side found himself beside 
 Spendius, in a large hall full of shadow. 
 
 An attempt like this was most extraordinary. The 
 inadequacy of the means to prevent it showed that 
 it was deemed impossible. The inspired terrors, 
 more than the walls, defend such sanctuaries. Matho 
 at every step expected to meet his death. 
 
 A light twinkled in the extremity of the darkness ; 
 they drew nearer. It was a lamp burning in a shell 
 placed on the pedestal of a statue wearing the cap of 
 the Cabiri. Diamond discs studded her long blue robe, 
 and chains, passing under the pavement stones, at- 
 tached her heels to the ground. At the sight of this 
 idol Matho suppressed a scream, stammering, " Ah ! 
 behold her ! behold her !" . . . Spendius took up 
 the lamp, moving it about to better light himself. 
 
 " How impious you are !" murmured Matho ; and 
 yet he followed him. 
 
 They entered an apartment containing nothing 
 except a black painting representing another wo- 
 man. Her legs reached to the top of one of the 
 walls ; her body occupied the entire ceiling ; from 
 her navel hung suspended by a thread an enormous 
 egg, and the remainder of her body, her head down- 
 ward, descended the other wall to the level of the 
 pavement, where her finger-ends touched. 
 
 H 
 
98 SALAMMBO. 
 
 To pass beyond they drew aside a tapestry ; a 
 puff of wind extinguished the light, and they 
 were compelled to grope about, bewildered by the 
 complications of the architecture. Suddenly they 
 felt under their feet something singularly soft. The 
 sparks of light flashed and sprang ; they seemed to 
 tread on unconsuming fire. Spendius stooped down, 
 patted the floor with his hands, and detected that it was 
 carefully carpeted with lynx-skins. Then it seemed 
 to them that a thick, moist rope, cold and clammy, 
 slid between their legs. Through the fissures cut 
 in the wall, narrow rays of whiteness entered ; they 
 continued to move on by these uncertain streaks of 
 light ; presently they were able to distinguish a 
 large black serpent, as it darted quickly away and 
 disappeared. 
 
 " Let us fly !" exclaimed Matho. " It is she ! I 
 feel her ! She comes !" 
 
 " Ah ! no," responded Spendius, " the temple is 
 empty." 
 
 A dazzling light made them lower their eyes ; 
 however, once accustomed to the glare, they saw all 
 about innumerable beasts, emaciated, panting, extend- 
 ing their claws ; those above were confused with 
 those beneath in a mysterious disorder, most fright- 
 ful to behold. Serpents had feet ; bulls had 
 wings ; fishes with human heads devoured fruits ; 
 flowers blossomed in crocodiles' jaws ; and elephants, 
 with their trunks elevated, floated through the air 
 as freely and proudly as eagles. A terrible effort 
 distended their imperfect or manifold members. 
 They seemed as they thrust out their tongues to 
 long to exhale their souls with their breath. All 
 
TANIT. 99 
 
 forms were found here, as if the receptacle of 
 germs had burst in a sudden development, and 
 emptied itself over the walls of the hall. 
 
 Twelve blue crystal globes encircled the margin of 
 the room, supported on monsters resembling tigers. 
 Their eyeballs protruded like the eyes of snails, and 
 menacingly curving their thick-set backs, they 
 turned towards the farther part of the hall, where, 
 refulgent on an ivory chariot, was enthroned the 
 supreme Rabbet, the Omniparient, the last-imagined. 
 
 Tortoise shells, plumes, flowers, and birds were 
 profusely heaped up about the idol, reaching to her 
 waist. Silver cymbals, hitting against her cheeks, 
 pended from her ears. Her large fixed eyes stared 
 upon the intruders ; a luminous gem set in an 
 obscene symbol on her forehead flashed all over the 
 hall, and was reflected above the entrance in the 
 red copper mirrors. 
 
 Matho' took a step, a stone receded under the pres- 
 sure of his heels, and behold ! all the spheres revolved, 
 the monsters roared, music burst melodiouslv swell- 
 ing forth like the harmony of the planets ; the tum- 
 ultuous soul of Tanit gushed and expanded. She was 
 about to rise, and with outstretched arms she seemed 
 to fill the sanctuary. Suddenly the monsters closed 
 their jaws, and the crystal globes revolved no more. 
 
 Then a lugubrious modulation coursed through the 
 air, lasting for some time, and finally died away. 
 
 " The veil !" exclaimed Spendius. Nowhere could 
 it be seen. Where then to find it ? How discover 
 it ? And if the priests had hidden it ! Matho 
 experienced a rending of his heart, like a deception 
 in his faith. 
 
 H 2 
 
IOO SALAMMBO. 
 
 " Come this way I" whispered Spendius: Guided 
 by an inspiration, he led Matho behind Tanit's 
 chariot, where a slit a cubit wide was cut in the 
 wall from the top to the bottom. Through this 
 they penetrated into a small, round room, so lofty 
 that it resembled the interior of a column. In the 
 centre was a large black stone, half -spherical, like a 
 tambourine ; flames burned above, and an ebony cone 
 was erected at the back, upholding a head and two 
 arms. Beyond, appeared a cloud wherein stars scin- 
 tillated ; in the depths of its folds were figures 
 representing Eschmoun, the Cabiri, many of 
 the monsters already seen, the sacred beasts of 
 the Babylonians, and numerous other unknown 
 creatures. This passed like a mantle under the 
 visage of the idol, and ascending it spread out 
 over the wall, hanging to the corners ; it was at the 
 same time bluish — like night ; yellow — like dawn ; 
 and purple — like the sun ; harmonious, diaphanous, 
 glittering, and light. 
 
 This was the mantle of the Goddess, the sacred 
 Za'imph, which no one had the power to behold ! They 
 both grew pale. 
 
 "Take it!" at last said Matho. Spendius did 
 not hesitate, but supporting himself on the idol, 
 unfastened the veil, which sank upon the ground. 
 Matho placed one hand beneath it, and put his 
 head through the opening in the middle ; then he com- 
 pletely enveloped himself in the Za'imph, and threw 
 out his arms to better contemplate its splendour. 
 
 " Let us go !" said Spendius. 
 
 Matho stood panting, with his eyes riveted on the 
 pavement. Suddenly he exclaimed : 
 
TANIT. IOI 
 
 "But, if I now go to her palace, I no longer need 
 fear her beauty ! What can she do against me ? 
 Behold, I am more than a man now ! I can traverse 
 flames ! T can walk on the sea ! Transport possesses 
 me ! Salammbo ! Salammbo ! I am thy master !" 
 His voice thundered. He appeared to Sj^endius 
 of superior height, and transfigured. 
 
 Footsteps drew near ; a door opened and a man 
 appeared ; a priest with a tall cap peered about with 
 wide-open eyes. Before he had made a sign, Spen- 
 dius rushed upon him, grappled him and buried the 
 two poniards in his sides. His head rang out upon 
 the pavement. 
 
 They paused for some time, as motionless as the 
 body, listening. They heard nothing but the 
 soughing of the wind through the half-open door, 
 that led into a narrow passage. Spendius entered, 
 followed by Matho. They almost immediately 
 found themselves in the third enclosure, between 
 the lateral porticoes among the habitations occupied 
 by the priests. They hastened, fancying there must 
 be some short way out behind the cells. 
 
 Spendius, crouching on the edge of the fountain, 
 washed his blood-stained hands. The women still 
 slept ; the emerald vine shone with vitreous lustre. 
 They resumed their way. 
 
 Something ran behind them under the trees, and 
 Matho, who wore the veil, frequently felt some- 
 thing tug very gently at the fringe ; it was a large 
 cynocephalus, one of those that lived at liberty 
 in the precincts of the temple. This creature 
 clung to the veil as if it was conscious of the theft ; 
 nevertheless they dare not strike it, fearful that it 
 
102 SALAMMBO. 
 
 might increase its cries. Suddenly its anger seemed 
 appeased, and it trotted beside them, swinging its 
 body and its long hanging arms. 
 
 On reaching the barrier it gave a bound, and 
 sprang into a palm-tree. 
 
 Quitting the last enclosure, they diverged towards 
 Hamilcar's palace, as Spendius comprehended that 
 it would be useless to endeavour to dissuade Matho 
 from his course. 
 
 They went on by the Tanners' street, through 
 the square of Muthumbal, and the vegetable-market, 
 and the cross-roads of Cynasyn. At the corner of 
 a wall a man recoiled, frightened by this sparkling 
 object that crossed through the darkness. 
 
 " Hide the Zaimph," whispered Spendius. 
 
 Other people passed, but they continued unobserved. 
 
 At length they perceived the mansions of Megara. 
 The lighthouse, built at the back on the summit of 
 the cliff, illumined the sky with a large, clear, 
 red light ; and the shadow of the palace, with its 
 terraces rising one above the other, projected over 
 the gardens like a monstrous pyramid. They entered 
 the gardens through a hedge of jujube trees, cutting 
 off obstructing branches with their poniards. Every- 
 thing bore traces of the Mercenaries' recent feast 
 and depredations : the paddocks were broken down ; 
 the watercourses were dried up ; the doors of the 
 ergastulum stood open ; no one was visible about 
 the kitchens or cellars. They were astonished by 
 the prevailing silence, broken only by the hoarse 
 breathing of the elephants moving about in their 
 paddocks, and the crepitations from the lighthouse, 
 where a beacon of aloe wood burned. 
 
TAN IT. IO3 
 
 Matho meanwhile repeated : " Where is she ? I 
 want to see her ; take me to her." 
 
 " It is a madness,"— replied Spendius ; — " she will 
 summon her slaves to her succour, and, in spite 
 of your power, you will be killed !" 
 
 They attained the stairway of the galleys. Matho 
 raised his head, and believed he could see on 
 high a dim light softly radiating. Spendius en- 
 deavoured to detain him, but he sprang swiftly up the 
 steps. 
 
 Inreturning to these places where he had previously 
 seen her, the interval that had elapsed was instantly 
 effaced from his memory. Just now, she was chant- 
 ing between the tables- she had disappeared — and 
 ever since he seemed to have been climbing that 
 stairway. The sky overhead was covered with fire ; 
 the sea filled the horizon ; and at every step an 
 increasing immensity surrounded him ; he con- 
 tinued to climb with that strange facility that one 
 experiences in dreams. 
 
 The rustling of the veil grazing against the stones 
 recalled his new power, but, in the excess of his 
 hope, he no longer knew what he ought to do ; this 
 incertitude intimidated him. From time to time 
 he pressed his face against the quadrangular open- 
 ings in the closed apartments, and in many he fancied 
 he could faintly see those sleeping within. 
 
 The last storv was narrower, and formed like a 
 thimble on the top of the terraces. Matho slowly 
 made the circuit. A milky light filled the talc- 
 sheets which closed the little openings in the wall, 
 and, in their symmetrical arrangement through th^ 
 dark, resembled rows of fine pearls. Matho's heart- 
 
104 SALAMMB6. 
 
 beat quickened as he recognised the red door with 
 the black cross. He was inclined to fly, but he pushed 
 the door, and it swung open. 
 
 A suspended lamp, fashioned like a galley, burned 
 at the extremity of the room, and three rays 
 escaping from its silver keel, trembled over the 
 high red wainscoting decorated with black bands. 
 An assemblage of small gilded beams formed the 
 ceiling with amethysts and topazes set in the 
 knots of the wood. Stretched against the wall 
 of the long sides of the room were very low 
 couches made of white straps ; and shell-like arches 
 opened in the depth of the wall, from which many 
 garments in disorder, hung down to the floor. 
 
 An onyx step surrounded an oval basin, on the 
 edge of which rested a pair of dainty serpent-skin 
 slippers close beside an alabaster pitcher. Humid 
 footprints were clearly defined on the pavement 
 beyond, and the vapours of exquisite perfumes floated 
 everywhere. 
 
 Matho glided over the pavement, encrusted with 
 gold, mother-of-pearl, and glass ; and, despite the 
 highly polished surface, it seemed to him that his feet 
 sank, as if he walked in sand. Behind the silver 
 lamp he noticed a large azure square, suspended in 
 the air by four cords ; he drew towards it, with back 
 bent and mouth open. Strewn about the room among 
 purple cushions were flamingoes' wings, with handles 
 of black coral branches, tortoise shell combs, cedar 
 caskets, and ivory spatulas. Slipped over antelopes' 
 horns were rows of rings, and bracelets ; and in 
 a chink in the walls, on a reed lattice, were placed 
 clay vases, filled with water cooled by the incom- 
 
TANIT. IO5 
 
 ing breezes. Frequently Matho struck his toes, as 
 the floor was of unequal heights, making the cham- 
 ber like a succession of apartments. At the end a 
 silver balustrade surrounded a carpet, painted with 
 beautiful flowers. He reached the suspended couch, 
 beside which stood an ebony stool, serving as a 
 step. 
 
 The light was arrested at the edge of the couch, 
 and shadow, like a large curtain, completely hid all 
 objects, save a little bare foot peering from under a 
 white robe, resting on the corner of a red mattress. 
 Matho very softly drew down the lamp to make a 
 closer inspection. The occupant of the couch slept, 
 resting her cheek on one hand, and with the other 
 arm thrown out and exposed. The rings of her 
 wavy black hair tumbled about her in such abun- 
 dance, that she appeared actually to lie on a mass 
 of black plumes ; her white, wide tunic was crushed 
 in soft draperies to her feet, indistinctly defining 
 the outlines of her form ; and her eyes were partially 
 revealed between the half-opened lids. The perpen- 
 dicular couch-hangings enshrouded her in a bluish 
 atmosphere, and the swaying movement, imparted 
 to the cords by her respiration, rocked her suspended 
 couch mid-air. An enormous mosquito buzzed. 
 
 Matho stood motionless, holding the silver galley 
 at arm's-length. Suddenly the airy mosquito hang- 
 ings ignited and disappeared. Salammbo awoke. 
 The fire had become self-extinguished. She did not 
 speak. The lamp flickered over the wainscoting 
 great moire splashes of light. 
 
 "What is it ?" she exclaimed. 
 
 He responded : " It is the veil of Tanit." 
 
106 SALAMMB6. 
 
 " The veil of Tanit ?" cried Salammbo, as, sup- 
 porting herself on her hands, she leaned trem- 
 blingly over the side of her couch. 
 
 He continued : " I have sought it for you in the 
 depths of the sanctuary ! Behold !" The Zahnph 
 glittered, covered with rays. 
 
 "You remember, then ?" — queried Matho. — " In the 
 night you appeared in my dreams ; but I could not 
 divine the mute command in your eyes." 
 
 She placed one foot on the ebony stool to descend. 
 
 " If I had understood, I should have hastened, 
 I would have abandoned the army, I would not 
 have left Carthage. To obey you I would descend 
 by the cavern of Hadrumetum into the realms of 
 the Shades ! Forgive me ! Mountains have seemed to 
 weigh upon my days, and yet something drew me on. 
 I strove to reach you ; but, without the aid of the 
 Gods I should never have dared ! Let us depart ; you 
 must follow me, or if you do not desire to go, I will 
 remain. To me it makes no difference ! ! Drown 
 my soul in the vapour of your breath ! let my 
 lips be crushed in kissing your hands !" 
 
 " Let me see it !" she exclaimed. " Nearer ! nearer !" 
 
 As the dawn broke, a wine-coloured hue spread 
 over the talc-sheets in the walls. Salammbo leaned 
 back falteringly on the pillows. 
 
 "I love you!" cried Matho. 
 
 She stammered, " Give it to me !" and they drew 
 nearer together. 
 
 She moved steadily forward, robed in her white 
 trailing simarre, her large eyes riveted on the veil. 
 Matho contemplated her, dazzled by the splendour 
 of her head. Holding towards her the Zaimph, he 
 
TAN IT. T07 
 
 attempted to envelope her in an embrace. She 
 threw out her arms to repulse him. She suddenly 
 paused ; and they remained, silently regarding one 
 another with open mouths. 
 
 Without knowing what he solicited, a horror seized 
 her. She raised her narrow eyebrows, her lips parted, 
 and she trembled in consternation ; at length 
 recovering, she struck in one of the brass pateras 
 hanging at the corner of the red mattress and 
 screamed out : 
 
 " Help ! Help ! Back ! Sacrilegious ! Infamous ! 
 Accursed ! Come to me, Taanach, Kroum, Ewa, 
 Micipsa, Schaoul !" 
 
 Spendius's frightened face appeared in the wall 
 between the argil ewers, as he uttered with alarm, 
 " Fly ! they are coming !" 
 
 A great uproar ascended, shaking the stairway, 
 and a host of women, valets, and slaves burst 
 into the apartment, carrying spears, maces, cut- 
 lasses, and poniards. They were paralysed with 
 indignation at finding a man in Salammbo's room. 
 The women servants uttered funereal wails, and the 
 eunuchs fairly paled under their black skins. 
 
 Matho remained behind the balustrade, the 
 Za'imph enveloping him ; thus he resembled a sidereal 
 God, environed by the firmament. The slaves were 
 about to throw themselves upon him, but Salammbo 
 hindered them. 
 
 " Do not touch that ! It is the mantle of the 
 Goddess !" 
 
 She had retreated into a corner, but now she 
 stepped towards Matho, and extending her bare arm 
 towards him, cursed him : 
 
108 SALAMMBO. 
 
 " Malediction on you, who have robbed Tanit ! 
 Hate, vengeance, massacre, and sorrow ! May Gurzil, 
 God of battles, rend you ! May Mastiman, God of 
 death, strangle you ! and may the other — whom I 
 dare not name — burn you !" 
 
 Matho uttered a cry, like one wounded by a spear. 
 
 Frequently she repeated, " Go ! Go !" 
 
 The throng of servants scattered as Matho with 
 downcast eyes slowly passed out through their 
 midst. At the door he was retarded by the fringe 
 of the Zaimph becoming entangled on one of the 
 golden stars adorning the pavement, but by a brusque 
 movement of his shoulders he detached it, and 
 descended the stairs. 
 
 Spendius, bounding from terrace to terrace, over- 
 leaping the hedges and ditches, escaped from the 
 gardens and reached the foot of the lighthouse ; here 
 the wall was abandoned, as the cliff was inaccessible. 
 He advanced to the edge, then lying down on his 
 back, slid to the bottom ; then swimming, he reached 
 the Cape of the Tombs, from whence he made a wide 
 circuit by the salt lagoon, re-entering the Barbarians' 
 camp at evening. 
 
 The sun had risen as Matho descended the roads, 
 glaring about him with terrible eyes, like an escaping 
 lion. An indistinct murmur, emanating from the 
 palace, and recommencing in the distance from the 
 direction of the Acropolis, struck his ears. It was 
 rumoured that some one had taken from the 
 temple of Moloch the treasure of Carthage ; others 
 spoke of the assassination of a priest ; elsewhere it 
 was imagined that the Barbarians had entered the 
 city. 
 
TANIT. IOQ 
 
 Matho, not knowing how to leave the precincts, 
 pursued a straight path ; as soon as lie was seen 
 a clamour was raised. The people understood ; 
 consternation ensued ; then an immense rage pos- 
 sessed them. From the back part of Mappals, 
 from the heights of the Acropolis, from the cata- 
 combs, from the lake shore, multitudes ran. 
 The patricians left their palaces, tradesmen their 
 shops, women abandoned their children ; some seized 
 swords, axes, and clubs : but the same superstitious 
 obstacle which had hindered Salammbo likewise 
 checked this mob. 
 
 How could they retake the veil ? Only to look 
 upon it was deemed a crime ; it was of the nature 
 of the Gods, and mere contact was fatal. 
 
 On the peristyles of the temples the priests wrung 
 their hands in sheer desperation. The guards of 
 the Legion galloped at hazard ; people went up 
 on the house-tops, thronged the terraces, and 
 climbed upon the shoulders of the colossi and into 
 the ships' riggings. Still Matho advanced, and at 
 every step the rage and terror of the people aug- 
 mented. The streets emptied at his approach, and 
 the human torrent receded on both sides to the top 
 of the walls. Matho saw everywhere only glaring 
 eyes, strained wide-open as if to devour him, and 
 the defiant, closely clenched fists, and heard the 
 gnashing teeth between threatening lips ; but above 
 all Salammbo's imprecations resounded in his ears, 
 in multiplied echoes. 
 
 Suddenly a long arrow directed at Matho whirred 
 past, then another, and still another ; stones also 
 flew by, only to rebound about him on the ground ; 
 
IIO SALAMMBO. 
 
 but the missiles, all indifferently directed, passed 
 over his head ; for they feared to strike the Za'imph. 
 Recognising this fact, Matho made the veil serve 
 as a shield, holding it first to the right, then to the 
 left ; then before, then behind him : thus thwarted, 
 they could imagine no expedient. He walked faster 
 and faster ; finding the street openings all impassable, 
 barred by ropes, chariots, and snares, his attempts 
 to effect egress were balked, and he had ever and 
 anon to retrace his steps ; at length he entered the 
 Square of Khamoun, where the Balearic slingers had 
 perished. Matho stopped, and grew as pallid as death. 
 This time he believed himself lost. The multitude, 
 witnessing his dilemma, clapped their hands with 
 joy. 
 
 He ran up to the huge, very high closed gate, 
 which was most formidably constructed of heart of 
 oak sheathed with brass, and studded with iron 
 nails. Matho sprang with all his might agaiost 
 it ; the people stamped their feet, wild with delight 
 at witnessing the impotence of his fury. Then 
 he pulled off his sandal, spat upon it, and struck the 
 immovable panels with it ; again the entire concourse 
 of people yelled, forgetting in their transport the veil. 
 
 They were about to rush forward to crush him. 
 Matho moved his large vague eyes over the crowd. 
 His temples throbbed giddily ; he felt invaded by 
 such enervation as besets a drunken man. All at 
 once he saw dangling the long chain that served to 
 work the lever of the gate. With a fierce bound he 
 grasped, and forcibly pulled the chain, at the same 
 time using his feet as a buttress ; the enormous 
 valves, yielding to his mad strength, half -opened. 
 
TANIT. Ill 
 
 Once outside, he took the sublime Zaimph from 
 his neck, and lifted it over his head as high as pos- 
 sible. Distended and borne up by the sea breeze, the 
 relucent material became resplendent in the sunshine, 
 displaying its wondrous medley of inshot colours and 
 precious stones ; and over all its sheen could be 
 descried the faint images of its Gods. 
 
 Thus Miitho bore his trophy as he traversed the 
 entire plain until he reached the encampment, and 
 from the walls the irate, dismayed people watched 
 the fortune of Carthage pass into the enemy's 
 camp. 
 
CHAPTER VI 
 
 HANNO. 
 
 " I OUGHT to have carried her away !" Matho said 
 to Spending during that evening. " I should have 
 seized and abducted her from her palace ! No one 
 would have dared resist me !" 
 
 Spendius did not heed this as he lay on his back 
 refreshing himself with delight beside a large jar of 
 honey-water, wherein he would from time to time 
 plunge his head, in order to drink more copiously. 
 
 Matho resumed : " What is to be done .... 
 How can we re-enter Carthage ?" 
 
 "I do not know," answered Spendius. 
 
 This impassibility exasperated Matho, who ex- 
 claimed : 
 
 " What ! The blame is yours ! You led me ; then 
 you desert me, coward that you are ! Why then 
 should I obey you ? Do you believe yourself my 
 master ? Oh ! panderer, slave, son of slaves !" He 
 ground his teeth in wrath, and lifted his large hand 
 over Spendius. 
 
 The Greek did not respond. A clay sconce burned 
 
 112 
 
HANNO. 113 
 
 softly against the tent-pole, where the Zaimph glit- 
 tered in the suspended panoply. 
 
 All at once Matho drew on his cothurnes, buckled 
 on his jacket of plates of brass, and put on his helmet. 
 
 " Where are you going ?" asked Spendius. 
 
 " I shall return to the palace ! Leave me ! I shall 
 carry her off ! And if they offer me opposition I 
 shall crush them like vipers ! I shall put her to 
 death, Spendius ! Yes," he repeated, " I shall kill 
 her ! You will see, I shall kill her !" 
 
 Spendius, who was listening attentively, brusquely 
 pulled down the Zaimph and threw it into a corner, 
 and covered it with fleeces. 
 
 A murmur of voices became audible ; torches 
 blazed ; and Narr' Havas entered, followed by about 
 twenty men. They wore white woollen mantles, 
 leather collars, Avooden earrings, and hyena-skin 
 shoes, and were armed with poniards. Pausing at 
 the threshold, they leaned upon their lances, like 
 shepherds resting. 
 
 Narr' Havas was the finest of the group. The 
 leather straps encircling his thin arms were orna- 
 mented with pearls. His wide mantle was fastened 
 round his head by a gold band, from which an 
 ostrich plume fell drooping on his shoulders. A 
 continual smile revealed his teeth ; his eves were 
 sharp as arrows ; his entire bearing was somewhat 
 attentive, and yet indifferent. 
 
 He declared that he came to join the Mercenaries, 
 as the Republic had for a long time menaced his 
 kingdom ; consequently, he was interested in aiding 
 the Barbarians, and he possessed the power to be 
 useful to them. 
 
114 SALAMMBO. 
 
 " I will furnish you with, elephants, for my forests 
 are full ; with wine, oil, barley, dates, pitch, and 
 sulphur for sieges ; with twenty thousand foot 
 soldiers, and ten thousand horses. If I now 
 address you, Matho, it is because the possession 
 of the Zaimph has rendered you the first in the 
 army ; we were also friends formerly," he added. 
 
 Meanwhile Matho contemplated Spendius, who 
 listened intently, sitting on a heap of sheep-skins, 
 all the time making little signs of assent with his 
 head. 
 
 Narr' Havas talked on, calling upon the Gods to 
 witness his sincerity. Then he cursed Carthage. To 
 attest the violence of his imprecations, he broke a 
 javelin, and all his men uttered in unison a deafening 
 howl. 
 
 Matho, carried away by this avowed rage, cried 
 out that he accepted the proffered alliance. 
 
 Then they brought a white bull and a black sheep 
 — symbolical of day and night — which they slaugh- 
 tered on the edge of a pit, into which, when it 
 became full of blood, they plunged their arms. 
 Afterwards Narr' Havas placed his outspread hand 
 on Matho's breast, and Matho placed his hand on 
 Narr' Havas's breast ; then they repeated the stigmata 
 on their tent-cloths. Subsequently the night was 
 spent in eating. The remnants of meat, with all 
 the skins, bones, horns, and hoofs, were burned. 
 
 Matho, at the time he returned to the camp 
 wearing the veil of the Goddess, had been hailed 
 with tremendous acclamation. Even those who 
 were not of the Canaanite religion felt in their 
 vague enthusiasm the advent of a Genius. As 
 
HANNO. 115 
 
 for seeking to capture the Zaimph, no one dreamed 
 of such a thing ; the mysterious manner whereby 
 he had acquired it, sufficed in the minds of the 
 Barbarians, to make his possession of it legitimate. 
 Thus thought the soldiers of African race ; but 
 others, whose hatred against the Republic was of 
 more recent origin, knew not how to decide. If 
 they had only possessed vessels, they would have 
 immediately set sail for their own countries. 
 
 Spendius,Narr' Havas,and Matho expedited envoys 
 to all the tribes of the Punic territory. Carthage 
 had exhausted these peoples by exorbitant taxes ; 
 punishing delinquents, and even those who mur- 
 mured, by chains, the executioner's axe, or the 
 cross. They were compelled to cultivate that which 
 pleased the Republic, and furnish that which she 
 demanded. No one had the right to possess a 
 weapon. Whenever villages revolted, the inhabi- 
 tants were sold as slaves ; the governors were esti- 
 mated like wine-presses, according to the quantity 
 they were able to produce. 
 
 Outside of the region immediately subject to 
 Carthage, w T ere their allies, who contributed only a 
 moderate tribute ; beyond these allies wandered the 
 Nomads, who could be let loose upon them. By 
 this system the harvests were always abundant, 
 the breeding studs skilfully conducted, the planl 
 tions superb. Old Cato, a master in agriculture and 
 slave-raising, ninety-two years later was thereby 
 amazed, and his cry, " Delenda est Carthago" re- 
 peated in Rome, was but an exclamation of jealous 
 cupidity. 
 
 During the last war the exactions had been 
 
 12 
 
Il6 SALAMMB6. 
 
 doubled, so that nearly all the cities of Libya had 
 surrendered to Regulus. As punishment, the Repub- 
 lic compelled them to give one thousand talents, 
 twenty thousand head of cattle, three hundred sacks 
 of gold-dust, and considerable advances of grain ; 
 and the chiefs of tribes had been crucified or thrown 
 to the lions. 
 
 Carthage was especially execrated by Tunis, an 
 older city than the metropolis, she could not 
 forgive the grandeur of the Republic, as she lay 
 facing its walls, crouching in the mud on the water's 
 edge, like a malignant beast watching its prey. 
 The transportations, the massacres, the epidemics, 
 had not enfeebled her ; moreover, she had supported 
 Archagathus, son of Agathocles. The eaters-of- 
 unclean-things soon found arms there. 
 
 The couriers had not as vet set out on their 
 mission ; but a universal joy spread abroad through- 
 out the provinces. Without waiting for cause, the 
 stewards of the houses and the functionaries of the 
 Republic were strangled in the baths ; old weapons 
 were now brought forth from caverns, where they 
 had formerly been hidden, and the iron of ploughs 
 was forged into swords ; children deftly whetted 
 javelins on the door-steps ; and the women con- 
 tributed their necklaces, rings, earrings, and, in fact, 
 everything that could be transposed or converted in 
 any manner to serve for the desired destruction of 
 Carthage. Each one wished to give something. 
 Stacks of lances accumulated in the towns like 
 sheaves of maize. Cattle and money were sent to 
 Matho, who without delay paid all arrears to the 
 Mercenaries, and this, which was the suggestion of 
 
HAN NO. 117 
 
 Spending, resulted in Matho's being named Schalis- 
 chim of the Barbarians. 
 
 Meanwhile men flowed in from all quarters. 
 First came the autochthons, who were followed by 
 the slaves from the fields. Caravans of negroes 
 were seized and armed, and the merchants who 
 were going to Carthage, in the hope of a more 
 certain and speedy profit, united with the Bar- 
 barians. Incessantly numerous bands arrived, and 
 from the heights of the Acropolis the Carthaginians 
 could see the army rapidly swelling. 
 
 On the platform of the aqueduct the Guards of the 
 Legion were posted as sentinels, and near them, at 
 certain distances, were erected huge brazen vats, in 
 which boiled quantities of asphalt. Below, on the 
 plain, the vast concourse stirred about tumultuously. 
 They were uncertain, experiencing that embarrass- 
 ment always inspired in Barbarians whenever they 
 encountered walls. 
 
 Utica and Hippo-Zarytus withheld their alliance. 
 Phoenician colonies, like Carthage, they were self- 
 governed, and in the treaties which the Republic 
 concluded had always caused to be subjoined clauses 
 to distinguish them from it. Yet they respected 
 this strongest sister, who protected them, and they 
 did not believe that a mass of Barbarians was 
 capable of vanquishing her, but on the contrary, that 
 Carthage could annihilate the enemy. They desired 
 to remain neutral, and live peacefully. 
 
 But the position of these two colonies rendered 
 them indispensable. Utica, at the end of a gulf, 
 was convenient to bring outside assistance into 
 Carthage. If Utica should alone be captured, then 
 
Il8 SALAMMBO. 
 
 Hippo-Zarytus, six hours further distant on the coast, 
 could replace the loss, and the metropolis could 
 thus be revictualled, and would be found impreg- 
 nable. 
 
 Spendius wanted the siege to be undertaken im- 
 mediately. Narr' Havas strongly opposed such 
 action, as it was necessary he should first return 
 to the frontier. This was the opinion of the 
 veterans called in council, and approved by 
 Matho; and it was decided that Spendius should 
 attack Utica ; Matho, Hippo-Zarytus ; that the third 
 army corps, commanded by Autharitus, resting 
 upon Tunis, should occupy the plain of Carthage, 
 and that Narr' Havas should return to his own king- 
 dom to procure elephants, and with his cavalry hold 
 the roads. 
 
 The women clamoured violently at this decision ; 
 they coveted the jewels of the Punic dames. The 
 Libyans also protested, declaring that they had been 
 ■summoned to engage in a siege against Carthage, and 
 now they were ordered away. The soldiers de- 
 parted almost alone. 
 
 Matho commanded his companions with the 
 Iberians and Lusitanians, the men from the West 
 and from the islands; while those who spoke Greek 
 requested that they might be placed under Spen- 
 dius's command, because of his astuteness. 
 
 The Carthaginians experienced great stupefaction 
 when they saw this army all at once in motion, 
 stretching away under the mountain of Ariana, 
 by the road to Utica on the sea-coast. A section 
 remained before Tunis ; the rest disappeared, to 
 reappear on the other shore of the gulf, on the out- 
 
HANNO. 119 
 
 skirts of the woods, in which it was again lost to 
 view. 
 
 Possibly this army numbered eighty thousand 
 men. The two Tyrian cities would offer no resist- 
 ance, and they would return against Carthage. 
 Already a considerable army cut her off, occupying 
 the base of the isthmus, and soon Carthage must 
 perish from hunger, as the people could not subsist 
 without the aid of the provinces, since the citizens 
 paid no contributions, as at Rome. 
 
 Carthage was lacking in political genius. Her 
 eternal strife for gain had prevented her from exer- 
 cising that prudence which promotes the highest 
 ambition. She was like a galley anchored on the 
 Libyan sands, maintained there by force of toil. 
 The nations, like billows, roared about her, and the 
 least storm shook this formidable machine to the 
 foundation. 
 
 Her treasury had been drained by the Roman war, 
 and all that had been squandered and lost during 
 the bargaining with the Barbarians. However, she 
 must have soldiers, and no Government now reposed 
 trust in the Republic ! Ptolemy, not long before, 
 had refused to loan Carthage two thousand talents. 
 And yet another not insignificant cause of dis- 
 couragement was the rape of the Yeil. Spendius 
 had indeed wisely foreseen this. 
 
 But this people, who felt itself detested, clasped to 
 its heart its money and its Gods, and its patriotism 
 was maintained by the constitution of its govern- 
 ment. 
 
 In the first place, the power belonged to all, without 
 anyone being able to monopolise it. Personal debts 
 
120 SALAMMB6. 
 
 were considered as public debts. The men of 
 Canaanite race had the monopoly of commerce. In 
 multiplying the profits of piracy by the practice of 
 usury, and by rigorously making the most of the 
 slaves and lands and the poor, men sometimes 
 became wealthy. "Wealth alone opened all her 
 magistracies, and even though the power and money 
 were perpetuated in the same families, the oli- 
 garchy was tolerated because each had the hope of 
 attaining to it. 
 
 The societies of commerce, wherein the laws were 
 elaborated, elected the inspectors of finance, to 
 whose discretion it was left, on quitting office, to 
 nominate the hundred members of the Council of 
 Elders who belonged to the Grand Assembly, a 
 general convention of all the Rich. 
 
 As for the two Suffetes, these relics of kingship, 
 inferior to Consuls, they were elected on the same 
 day, from two distinct families, in order that they 
 might be divided by various animosities, and 
 mutually enfeebled. They were not empowered to 
 deliberate on the war, and when they were con- 
 quered, the Grand Council crucified them. 
 
 Hence the strength of Carthage emanated from 
 the Syssites, who were established in a grand court 
 in the centre of Malqua, the spot where, it is said, 
 the first bark manned by Phoenician sailors had 
 landed. Since that period the sea had greatly 
 retired. It was a group of small chambers of an 
 archaic architecture, built from the trunks of palm- 
 trees, with stone corner-pieces, separated one from 
 another, affording to each chamber complete isolation 
 for the various companies in their conferences. The 
 
HANNO. 121 
 
 Rich gathered therein daily to discuss their own 
 interests, as well as those of the Government, from 
 the search for pepper to the conquest of Rome. 
 
 Three times every moon they had their couches 
 carried up on the high terrace bordering the wall 
 of the court ; and from below they could be observed 
 sitting at table in the open air, without cothurnes 
 or mantles ; their diamonds flashing on their fingers 
 as they handled their food, and their large ear- 
 rings dangling between the flagons, glittered. 
 They were all strong and fat, half-naked, happy, 
 and laughing, eating in the open bine, like huge 
 sharks disporting in the sea. 
 
 At the present time, however, they could not 
 dissemble their anxiety ; they were too pale. The 
 crowd below awaited their adjournment, to escort 
 them to their palaces and to ascertain the news. 
 As during times of the plague, all the houses were 
 closed ; occasionally the streets would suddenly 
 swarm with people, and just as suddenly empty and 
 become deserted. Some ascended the Acropolis, 
 others ran towards the port. Every night the Grand 
 Council deliberated in session. At last the people 
 were convened on the square of Khamoun, and it was 
 officially announced that they had decided to rein- 
 state in command Hanno, the conqueror of Heca- 
 tompylus. 
 
 He was a pious, artful man, merciless to the 
 Africans — a true Carthaginian. His revenues 
 equalled those of the Barca family, and no other man 
 had such experience in administrative affairs. 
 
 Hanno decreed the enrolment of all able-bodied 
 citizens, placed catapults upon the towers, demanded 
 
122 SALAMMBO. 
 
 exorbitant supplies of weapons, even ordered the 
 construction of fourteen galleys, which were not re- 
 quired ; and ordered everything to be registered and 
 accurately inscribed. He was borne by his slaves to 
 the lighthouse, the arsenal, and into the treasury of 
 the temples ; and could always be seen in his large 
 litter, as it rocked from step to step, ascending or 
 descending the stairways of the Acropolis. At 
 night, in his palace, as he could not sleep, he pre- 
 pared himself for the coming battle by shouting in 
 a terrible voice military manoeuvres. 
 
 Everyone, by excess of terror, became brave. 
 The Rich at cock-crow would aligne the length of 
 Mappals, turning up their robes as they practised 
 the use of the pike. But having no instructor, 
 they disputed among themselves as to methods. 
 When out of breath, they would sit panting on the 
 tombs, only to recommence their exercises after 
 resting. Many even imposed on themselves a 
 regimen. Some imagined that to acquire strength 
 it was necessary to eat large quantities, and gorged 
 themselves ; others, incommoded by corpulence, 
 endeavoured to reduce themselves by long fastings. 
 
 Utica had already frequently invoked the assist- 
 ance of Carthage ; but Hanno would not move 
 until the last screw was set in every war machine. 
 He lost three more moons of time in the equip- 
 ment of the hundred and twelve elephants, stabled in 
 the ramparts. These vanquishers of Regulus, so cher- 
 ished by the people, certainly could not be treated 
 too well. Hanno ordered their brazen breastplates 
 to be recast, their tusks gilded, their towers en- 
 larged, and had made for them most beautiful purple 
 
HANNO. 123 
 
 caparisons, bordered with very heavy fringes. Inas- 
 much as their conductors were called Indians, as the 
 first doubtless came from the Indies, he ordered that 
 they should wear Indian costumes, consisting of a 
 white turban round the head, and little breeches of 
 byssus, which, with their transverse pleats, looked 
 like two valves of a shell, fastened on their hips. 
 
 During all these preparations, Autharitus's army 
 remained stationed before Tunis, concealed behind 
 a wall, constructed of mud taken from the lake, and 
 protected on the top by thorn-bushes. The Negroes 
 planted, in various places, on large stakes, frightful 
 images, human masks composed out of birds' 
 feathers, heads of jackals and serpents, which gaped 
 towards the enemy to frighten them ; and by such 
 measures the Barbarians considered themselves to 
 be utterly invincible, and danced, wrestled, and 
 juggled, convinced that Carthage before long would 
 perish. 
 
 Any other general than Hanno could have 
 crushed with facility this multitude, so embarrassed 
 by herds and women, and who, furthermore, were 
 not versed in any military tactics ; and Autharitus, 
 being discouraged, no longer required his men to 
 drill. 
 
 They scattered before him, as he passed by, 
 rolling his large blue eyes. Then when he arrived 
 at the lake shore, he removed his seal-skin tunic, 
 unknotted the cord holding back his long red locks, 
 and soaked them in the water. He regretted that 
 he had not deserted, and gone over to the Romans 
 with the two thousand Gauls of the temple of Eryx. 
 
 Frequently during the middle of the day the sun's 
 
124 SALAMMBO. 
 
 rays suddenly vanished, then the gulf and open sea 
 seemed as motionless as molten lead. A cloud of 
 brown dust rose perpendicularly, then coursed along 
 in whirling eddies, under the force of which the 
 palm trees bowed, the sky became obscured, stones 
 could be heard rebounding on the backs of the 
 animals, and the Gaul would glue his lips against 
 the holes in his tent, gasping from exhaustion and 
 melancholy. He fancied that he inhaled the per- 
 fumes of his native pastures on autumn mornings, 
 that he saw the snowflakes, and again heard the 
 lowing of the aurochs lost in the mists, and closing 
 his eyes, he seemed to see the fires of the long cabins 
 thatched with straw, as they quivered on the marshes 
 at the end of the woods. 
 
 There were others who also possibly regretted 
 their absence from their native country as much as 
 he, though it was not so far away. For the Cartha- 
 ginian captives could in fact distinguish, at the other 
 side of the gulf, on the declivities of Byrsa, the 
 canopies spread out in the courts of their dwellings. 
 Sentinels patrolled around these prisoners per- 
 petually. Each man wore an iron yoke, by which 
 all were attached to one chain. The crowd never 
 wearied coming to look upon these patrician cap- 
 tives. The women pointed out to their little children 
 the beautiful Punic robes hanging in tatters upon 
 their attenuated limbs. 
 
 Every time that Autharitus contemplated Gisco, a 
 fury possessed him in memory of the old general's 
 injury to him, and he would certainly have killed 
 him but for the oath he had made to Narr' Havas. 
 He then returned to his tent and drank a mixture of 
 
HAN NO. 125 
 
 barley and cumin, till he became drunk to un- 
 consciousness : at noontime the following day he 
 awoke, consumed by a horrible thirst. 
 
 Matho, in the meantime, besieged Hippo-Zarytus. 
 This city was protected by a lake communicating 
 with the sea, and had three lines of fortifications, 
 and on the heights which overlooked her, a wall 
 extended, fortified by towers. 
 
 Never before had Matho commanded in similar 
 undertakings. Then the thought of Salammbo beset 
 him, and he dreamed of the pleasures of her beauty, 
 as in the delights of a revenge that transported him 
 with pride. His desire to see her again was bitter, 
 furious, constant. He even thought of offering 
 himself as a bearer of truce, in the hope that once 
 in Carthage he might make his way to her. Often 
 he would sound the signal for assault, and without 
 waiting for aught, would dart on to the pier that they 
 were endeavouring to construct in the sea. Here he 
 tore up the stones with his hands, turned everything 
 upside down, plunging and striking about in every 
 direction with his broad sword. The Barbarians 
 followed his leadership, and dashed pell-mell upon 
 the w r orks ; the overcrowded ladders broke with a 
 loud crash, and masses of men tumbled into the 
 water, which leaped in reddened waves against the 
 walls. At last the tumult abated, and the soldiers 
 withdrew to renew the assault. Matho seated himself 
 outside his tent, wiped his blood-bespattered face, 
 and, turning towards Carthage, wistfully gazed at 
 the horizon. 
 
 Facing him, among the olive, palm, myrtle, and 
 plane trees, were two wide pools, which joined 
 
126 SALAMMBO. 
 
 another lake, the contour of which was not 
 perceptible from this point of view. Behind a 
 mountain rose other mountains, and in the middle 
 of the immense lake stood an island, perfectly 
 black, of a pyramidal shape. On the left, at the 
 extremity of the gulf, the sand heaps resembled great 
 golden billows arrested in their course, and the 
 sea, flat like a pavement of lapis-lazuli, ascended 
 imperceptibly to the sky on the horizon. The 
 verdure of the country in places disappeared under 
 long yellow patches, the carobs shone brilliant as 
 coral buttons, the vines hung in festoons from 
 the top of sycamores. The faint murmur of the 
 water was audible, the tufted skylarks hopped 
 about, and the last fires of the sun gilded the 
 carapaces of the tortoises as they left the rushes to 
 inhale the sea breezes. 
 
 Matho, sighing deeply, lay flat on the ground, 
 digging his nails into the sand, and wept, feeling 
 wretched, mean, and forsaken. He could never 
 possess Salammbo ; and he could not even succeed 
 in capturing a city. At night, alone in his tent, he 
 contemplated the Zaimph, querying of what service 
 was this thing of the Gods to him ? And doubts 
 supervened in the Barbarian's thoughts. Then it 
 seemed to him, on the contrary, that the vestment of 
 the Goddess belonged to Salammbo, and that a part 
 of her soul floated in it, more subtle than a breath, 
 and he caressingly patted it, breathed with his face 
 buried in its folds, kissed it with sobs. He drew 
 it about his shoulders to intensify the illusion, and 
 believed he embraced her. 
 
 Sometimes, by the light of the stars, he would 
 
HANNO. 12 J 
 
 suddenly start out, stepping over the sleeping sol- 
 diers wrapped in their mantles ; then at the gates 
 of the camp he leaped upon a horse, galloped 
 away, and two hours afterwards was at Utica in the 
 tent of Spendius. At first he talked of the siege, 
 but his real motive was to assuage his sadness by 
 talking about Salammbo. 
 
 Spendius exhorted him to wisdom. 
 
 " Repulse from your soul these miseries that de- 
 grade it ! You formerly obeyed others, but now 
 you command an army ; and if Carthage is not 
 conquered, at least we shall have provinces granted 
 to us, and we will become kings ! " 
 
 But why had not the possession of the Zaimph 
 given them victory ? 
 
 According to Spendius it was necessary to wait. 
 Matho imagined that the veil concerned exclusive ly 
 those of the Canaanite race, and with barbarian sub- 
 tilty, said to himself : 
 
 " The Zaimph will avail me nothing ; but, because 
 they have lost it, it a vails them nothing." 
 
 Then succeeded a scruple of pertubation ; he feared 
 in adoring the Libyan God Aptouknos to offend 
 Moloch, and timidly asked Spendius to which of 
 these Gods it would be well to sacrifice a man. 
 
 "Always sacrifice !" said Spendius, laughing. 
 
 Matho did not comprehend this indifference, 
 and suspected that the Greek had a genius of 
 whom he did not wish to speak. 
 
 All religions, as all races, met together in these 
 Barbarian armies, and they were ever considerate 
 of the Gods of others, as they all inspired 
 terrors. Many mingled in their native religion 
 
128 SALAMMB6. 
 
 foreign practices. It was very well not to adore the 
 stars, but this or that constellation being fatal or 
 helpful, they made sacriiices to it. An unknown 
 amulet, found by chance in a moment of peril, 
 became a deity. Or perhaps it was a name — 
 nothing but a name — which they repeated without 
 ever striving to understand its meaning. 
 
 But to many the result of having pillaged numerous 
 temples, and seen many nations and massacres, was 
 that they ended by believing only in destiny and 
 death, and every night they slept with the placidity 
 of wild beasts. 
 
 Spendius would have spat upon the images of 
 Jupiter Olympus ; notwithstanding, even he dreaded 
 to speak aloud in the dark, and lie never failed to 
 put on his right sandal first. 
 
 He erected a long quadrangular terrace fronting 
 Utica, but in proportion as it was built up the ram- 
 parts were also raised higher. That which was 
 beaten down by one army, was almost immediately 
 found re-erected by the other. 
 
 Spendius looked carefully to his troops, and con- 
 stantly devised plans, endeavouring to recall the 
 stratagems he had heard recounted in his travels. 
 
 Why did not Narr' Havas return ? The delav 
 filled them with inquietude. 
 
 Hanno had completed his preparations. 
 
 During one moonless night he transported his 
 elephants and soldiers across the Gulf of Carthage 
 on rafts. They then turned the Hot-Springs Moun- 
 tain, to evade Autharitus, and proceeded so slowly 
 that, instead of surprising the Barbarians the next 
 
HANNO. I29 
 
 morning, as the Suffete had calculated, they only 
 arrived at noon on the third day. 
 
 On the eastern side of Utica a plain extended as 
 far as the great lagoon of Carthage ; behind it de- 
 bouched at a right angle a valley, cutting between two 
 low mountains, suddenly closing in. Further ofl", 
 to the left, the Barbarians were encamped in such 
 a manner as to blockade the port. They were sleeping 
 in their tents — as on this day besieged and besiegers 
 were too much fatigued to enter into combat, and 
 had sought repose — when at the curve of the hills 
 the Carthaginian army appeared. 
 
 The camp followers, armed with slings, were 
 stationed on the wings. The Guards of the Legion, 
 wearing armour of golden scales, formed the first 
 line : their large horses, denuded of manes, hair, 
 and ears, wore a silver horn in the centre of 
 their foreheads, making them resemble rhino- 
 ceroses. Between their squadrons, young men, 
 wearing on their heads small helmets, balanced 
 in both hands ash-wood javelins ; the heavy infantry, 
 armed with long pikes, moved in the rear. All the 
 vendors were laden with as many weapons as they 
 could possibly carry : some bore a lance, an axe, a 
 mace, and two swords : others, like porcupines, 
 bristled with darts, and their arms stood out from 
 their cuirasses of sheets of horn, or plaques of metal. 
 Finally appeared the scaffoldings of the lofty war 
 engines : carrobalistas, onagers, catapults, and scor- 
 pions, oscillating on cars, drawn by mules and 
 quadrigas of oxen. 
 
 As the army unfolded itself, the captains ran 
 breathlessly from right and from left, delivering 
 
 K 
 
1 30 SALAMMBO. 
 
 orders, closing up the lines, and maintaining proper 
 spaces. 
 
 The Elders in command had come decked in 
 purple casques, with magnificent fringes, that became 
 entangled in the straps of their cothurnes. Their 
 faces, daubed over with vermilion, glistened under 
 enormous helmets, surmounted by images of Gods. 
 They carried shields bordered with ivory, and studded 
 with jewels ; as they passed in glittering array, it 
 was as though suns traversed brass walls. 
 
 The Carthaginians manoeuvred so awkwardly, that 
 the Barbarians, in derision, invited them to be 
 seated ; and screamed out to them that they would 
 soon empty their huge bellies, dust the gilding from 
 their skins, and make them drink iron. 
 
 At the top of a pole planted before Spendius's 
 tent, a strip of green cloth fluttered as a signal. 
 The Carthaginians responded by a great bluster of 
 trumpets, cymbals, drums, and flutes made of asses' 
 bones. 
 
 Already the Barbarians had leaped outside the 
 palisades, and now were face to face with their 
 enemies, and within javelin's length of them. 
 
 A Balearic slinger advanced a step, placed in his 
 sling one of his clay balls, and twirled his arm ; 
 an ivory shield was shattered, and the two armies 
 mingled in conflict. 
 
 The Greeks with their long lances pricked the 
 horses' nostrils, making them fall back on their 
 riders ; the slaves whose duty it w r as to sling 
 stones had chosen those which were too large, and 
 they fell close to them. The Punic foot soldiers, 
 in striking out to cut down the enemy with their 
 
HANNO. 131 
 
 long swords, exposed their right sides ; the Bar- 
 barians plunged into their lines, thrusting them 
 through and through with their broad swords : they 
 madly stumbled over the dying and dead, blinded 
 by the blood that spurted into their faces. This 
 confused mass of pikes, helmets, cuirasses, swords, 
 and human limbs swirled and writhed, widening 
 and narrowing in elastic contractions. 
 
 The Carthaginian cohorts became more and more 
 broken ; their heavy war engines could not be extri- 
 cated from the sands : at length the Suffete Hanno's 
 litter — his grand litter, with the crystal pendulums, 
 that had been seen since the verv commencement of 
 the attack swaying among the soldiers like a barque 
 on the billows — suddenly foundered. He doubtless 
 was killed ! The Barbarians found themselves alone. 
 They burst forth into song. 
 
 Presently the dust began to settle, when Hanno 
 reappeared on the back of an elephant. He was 
 bare-headed : a negro carried over him an umbrella 
 of byssus. His collar of blue plaques struck 011 the 
 painted flowers of his black tunic, circles of dia- 
 monds enclasped his enormous arms ; he advanced, 
 mouth wide open, brandishing an enormous spear 
 expanding at the end like a lotus, and more brilliant 
 than a mirror. 
 
 Soon the earth trembled, and the Barbarians saw, 
 bearing down upon them in one straight line, all the 
 Carthaginian elephants, with their tusks gilded, ears 
 painted blue, sheathed in bronze, shaking above their 
 purple caparisons the leather towers, in each of 
 which were three archers holding large, drawn bows. 
 
 The soldiers scarcely had time to seize their arms, 
 
 X 2 
 
132 SALAMMB6. 
 
 they were ranged at hazard, frozen with terror, and 
 struck with indecision. 
 
 Already from the tops of the towers volleys of 
 arrows and javelins, fire-lances and masses of lead, 
 were being hurled at them. Some to climb up 
 clung on to the fringes of the caparisons, but their 
 hands were hewn off with cutlasses, and they fell 
 backwards on the drawn swords of their own 
 comrades. 
 
 Their frail pikes were soon broken, and the 
 elephants plunged into the phalanxes like wild 
 boars through clumps of grasses, uprooting, as they 
 went along, the palisades with their trunks, and 
 traversed the camp from end to end, overturning the 
 lents under their chests. 
 
 Panic-stricken, the Barbarians had taken flight, 
 aiding themselves in the hills that bordered the 
 valley from whence the Carthaginians had issued. 
 
 Hanno, presented himself before the gates of 
 Utica as conqueror, and sounded his trumpet. The 
 three judges of the city appeared, in the opening of 
 the battlements, on the summit of a tower. The 
 people of Utica did not desire to receive as guests 
 so many well-armed men. Hanno lost his temper. 
 Finally they consented to admit him with a small 
 escort. 
 
 The streets were too narrow for the passage of the 
 elephants, and it was necessary to leave them outside 
 the city gates. 
 
 As soon as the Suff ete entered the city, the princi- 
 pal men came to salute him. He demanded to be 
 immediately conducted to the bath-house, and there 
 summoned his cooks. 
 
HANNO. 133 
 
 Three hours later, he was still deeply immersed in 
 the oil of cinnamon with which the bath-tub was 
 filled, and while bathing he ate from off a cow-hide 
 stretched across the tub flamingoes' tongues and 
 poppy-seeds, seasoned with honey. His Greek doctor, 
 in a long, yellow robe, stood beside him, immobile, 
 from time to time having the temperature of the 
 bath increased ; and two young boys leaned on the 
 steps of the bath rubbing the leper's legs. But the 
 care of his body did not arrest his love for public 
 affairs, for he occupied himself with the dictation of 
 a letter to the Grand Council ; and, as some prisoners 
 had been taken, he queried with himself as to what 
 terrible chastisement he could possibly invent. 
 
 " Stop !" said he to the slave who stood near, 
 writing on the palm of his hand. " Let them be 
 brought to me ! I wish to see them." 
 
 And from the extremity of the hall, which was 
 now filled with the whitish vapour from the steam, 
 through which the torches cast red spots, some one 
 pushed forward three Barbarians : a Samnite, a 
 Spartan, and a Cappadocian. 
 
 " Proceed I" said Hanno. " Rejoice, light of 
 the Baals ! your Suffete has exterminated the 
 voracious dogs ! Benedictions on the Republic ! 
 Ordain prayers !" He perceived the captives, and 
 then burst into laughter. " Ha ! ha ! ha ! my 
 braves of Sicca. You do not shout so loud 
 to-day. It is I ! Do you recognise me ? Where 
 then are your swords ? What terrible men truly !" 
 — and he feigned to hide as though he experienced 
 great fear. — " You asked for horses, for women, for 
 lands, for magistracies, and doubtless also for priest- 
 
1 34 SALAMMBO. 
 
 hoods ! Why not ? Ah well, I will furnish you the 
 lands, and you shall never leave them. You shall 
 be married to new gallows ! For your payment, 
 ingots of lead shall be cast in your mouths, and I 
 will put you in the very best places, very exalted, 
 among the clouds, to be near the eagles !" 
 
 The three Barbarians, long-haired, covered with 
 tatters, looked at him without comprehending what 
 he said. Wounded on their knees, they had been 
 lassoed and captured, the ends of the heavy chains 
 on their hands dragged on the stones. Hanno was 
 indignant at their impassibility. 
 
 " On your knees ! On your knees ! Jackals ! 
 Dirt ! Vermin ! Excrement ! And they do not 
 respond ? Enough ! Silence ! Let them be flayed 
 alive ! No ! not now, presently ! " 
 
 He snorted like a hippopotamus, and rolled his 
 eyes about. The perfumed oil trickled down his 
 gross body, sticking to the scales on his skin ; and 
 the torchlights threw over him a pink hue. 
 
 He resumed his official letter : " During four days 
 we have suffered intensely from the sun. In the 
 passage of the Macar some mules were lost. Despite 
 the enemies' position, the extraordinary courage . . . 
 Oh ! Demonades, how I suffer ! Let the bricks be 
 reheated till thev are red." 
 
 A raking noise was then heard in the furnaces. 
 The incense fumed yet stronger in the large per- 
 fume-pans, and the shampooers, entirely naked, 
 dripping like sponges, rubbed over his joints a paste 
 composed of wheat, sulphur, black-wine, bitches'- 
 milk, myrrh, galban, and storax. 
 
 An incessant thirst consumed him. The man 
 
HANNC\ 135 
 
 dressed in the yellow robe, however, did not yield 
 to his patient's desire ; but held to him a gold cup 
 
 in which smoked a I troth of vipers. 
 
 "Drink this!" urged he, " in order that the 
 strength of the serpents, born of the sun, may 
 penetrate the marrow of your bones. And take 
 courage ! reflection of the Gods ! You know, more- 
 over, that a priest of Eschmoun observes around the 
 Dog the cruel stars from whence you derive your 
 malady. They pale like the spots on your skin : 
 therefore you ought not to die of it." 
 
 "Ah, yes ! That is true !" repeated the Suff'ete — 
 " I ought not to die of it !" And from his violet 
 purple lips escaped a breath more nauseous than the 
 exhalations of a corpse. 
 
 His eyes, denuded of lashes, resembled two 
 burning coals : heavy folds of skin hung on his 
 forehead ; his ears stood out from his head, and 
 began to enlarge ; and the deep wrinkles that formed 
 semicircles around his nostrils gave him a strange, 
 frightful aspect, the air of a savage brute. 
 
 His unnatural voice resembled a roar as he said : 
 "Perhaps you are right, Demonades. In fact, look 
 even now, some of the ulcers are closed ; I feel 
 robust ! See how I eat !" 
 
 And, less from a desire to gormandise than 
 actuated by ostentation — and to convince himself 
 that he was actually improving — he first ate of the 
 minced cheese and marjoram, then the boned-fish, 
 pumpkin, oysters with eggs, horse radish, truffles 
 and brochettes of little birds. 
 
 In looking at the prisoners whilst he ate, he 
 delighted in the imagination of their tortures. 
 
1 36 SALAMMB6. 
 
 In the meanwhile he also recalled Sicca ; and his 
 rage for all his sufferings burst forth in a volley of 
 insults against these three men. 
 
 " Ah, traitors ! Wretches ! Infamous ! Accursed ! 
 And you outraged me ! Me ! — the Suffete Hanno ! 
 Their services, the price of their blood, as they have 
 said. Ah ! yes ! their blood ! their blood !" Then 
 he talked to himself : " All shall perish ! Not one 
 shall be sold ! It would be best to conduct them to 
 Carthage. No, let me see. . . . without doubt I have 
 not brought enough chains . . . Write : ' Send to me.' 
 . . . How many prisoners are there ? Let some 
 one go and ask Muthumbal. Go ! No pity ! And 
 have all their hands cut off, and brought to me in " 
 baskets !" 
 
 But strange cries, at once hoarse and shrill, 
 penetrated the hall, above Hanno's voice and the 
 clatter of the dishes which were being placed around 
 him. The cries redoubled ; and in an instant a 
 furious trumpeting of elephants burst forth, as if 
 the battle had broken out anew. A tremendous 
 tumult encompassed the city. 
 
 The Carthaginians had not endeavoured to pursue 
 the Barbarians. They had established themselves 
 at the foot of the walls with their baggage, valets, and 
 all their satraps' train, and had given themselves up to 
 rejoicing under their beautiful pearl-embroidered 
 tents. The Mercenaries' recent camp was merely a 
 heap of ruins on the plain. 
 
 Spendius had regained his courage. He dispatched 
 Zarxas towards Matho, and hastened through the 
 woods to rally his men. Their losses were not 
 great, and enraged at having been thus conquered 
 
HANNO. 137 
 
 without combat, they were re-forming their lines, 
 when a vat of petroleum, doubtless abandoned by the 
 enemy, was discovered. Spendius had swine brought 
 from the neighbouring farm-houses, besmeared them 
 with the bitumen, and setting fire to them, turned 
 them loose towards Utica. 
 
 The elephants, terrified by these running flames, 
 stampeded over the rising ground. A volley of javelins 
 was hurled upon the infuriated creatures ; they 
 turned back upon the Carthaginians, disembowelling 
 them with strokes of their tusks, and trampling them 
 beneath their massive feet, suffocating and crushing 
 them. The Barbarians descended the hill behind 
 them ; the Punic camp, being without entrenchments, 
 was sacked at the first charge, and the Cartha- 
 ginians 'found themselves crushed against the city 
 gates, which were kept closed from the fear of the 
 possible invasion of the Mercenaries. 
 
 At daybreak Matho's foot soldiers were seen ad- 
 vancing from the west, and at the same time the 
 Xumidian cavalry of Narr' Havas appeared, bounding 
 over the ravines and underbrush, driving before 
 them the fugitives like hounds chasing hares. 
 
 This change of fortune interrupted the Suffete, and 
 he screamed for some one to assist him to leave the 
 sweating bath. 
 
 Before him yet stood the three captives. A negro, 
 the same who had carried his umbrella during the 
 battle, leaned towards him and whispered something 
 in his ear. 
 
 " What then ?" slowly asked the Suffete. " Ah, 
 kill them !" he added, in a brusque tone. 
 
 The Ethiopian drew from his belt a long poniard, 
 
138 SALAMMBO. 
 
 and the three heads fell. One bounded in the midst 
 of the scraps of the Suffete's recent feast, then rolled 
 into the tub of oil, and floated for some time with 
 open mouth and fixed eyes. 
 
 The morning light entered the slits in the walls, 
 and the three bodies could be seen lying on their 
 breasts. Great streams gurgled from the headless 
 trunks like fountains, and a sheet of blood flowed 
 over the mosaics, which were sanded with blue 
 powder. The Suffete paused to dip his hands in the 
 warm pool, rubbing the blood over his knees, this 
 being esteemed a remedy for his malady. 
 
 Evening came. He escaped from Utica with his 
 escort, taking to the mountains to rejoin his army. 
 He found only the remnants of it. Four days later he 
 was at Gorza, on the top of a defile, when Spendius's 
 troops showed themselves below them. Had twenty 
 good lancers attacked the front of their advancing 
 column, they could easily have arrested them ; how- 
 ever, the paralysed Carthaginians watched them pass 
 by. Hanno recognised in the rear guard the Nu- 
 midian king. Narr' Havas bowed his head to salute 
 him, making a sign that he could not interpret. 
 
 Hanno's forces returned towards Carthage in terror, 
 only venturing to march at night, and hiding by 
 day in the olive woods. During every stage some 
 of the men died. They frequently believed them- 
 selves to be lost. Finally they attained the Cape 
 of Hermaeum, where vessels came to transport them. 
 Hanno was so fatigued, so desperate, and especially 
 so overwhelmed by the loss of the elephants, that 
 he vainly besought Demonades to administer poison 
 to him, and thereby put an end to his existence. 
 
HANNO. I39 
 
 Besides, he already imagined himself extended on 
 his cross. 
 
 Carthage did not possess the energy to be indig- 
 nant with him. They had lost four hundred 
 thousand nine hundred and seventy-two shekels of 
 silver, fifteen thousand six hundred and twenty- 
 three shekels of gold, eighteen elephants, fourteen 
 members of the Grand Council, three hundred 
 patricians, eight thousand citizens, corn for three 
 moons, considerable baggage, and all their war 
 engines. 
 
 The defection of Narr 1 Havas was absolute. The 
 two sieges recommenced, and now Autharitus's army 
 extended from Tunis to Rhades. From the top of 
 the Acropolis could be seen, in the surrounding 
 country, wide columns of smoke ascending to the 
 sky from the burning chateaux of the patricians. 
 
 One man only had the power to save the Republic. 
 The Carthaginians repented that they had misun- 
 derstood him, and even the peace faction voted 
 holocausts for Hamilcar's return. 
 
 The sight of the Za'imph had utterly overcome 
 Salammbo. At night she believed she could hear 
 the footsteps of the Goddess, and would awake in a 
 fright and scream out. Everv day she sent nourish- 
 ment into the temples. Taanach wearied herself 
 executing her orders, and Schahabarim quitted her 
 no more. 
 
CHAPTER VII. 
 
 HAMILCAR BARCA. 
 
 The Annunciator-of-the-Moons watched nightly, 
 from the top of the temple of Eschmoim, to pro- 
 claim through his trumpet the movements of the 
 planet. One morning he perceived in the west 
 something, resembling a bird, skimming its long 
 wings over the surface of the sea. It was a ship 
 of three banks of oars, the prow terminating in 
 a sculptured horse. 
 
 The sun rose ; the Annunciator-of-the-Moons 
 shaded his eyes, and seizing his clarion at arm's 
 length, sent a ringing blast over Carthage. 
 
 The people, unable to believe the announcement, 
 disputing amongst themselves the probability of its 
 truth, issued from every house. The pier was soon 
 crowded with curious people. Finally, Hamilcar's 
 trireme was recognised by all. 
 
 The vessel advanced in a proud, wild fashion, her 
 yard perfectly straight, her sail bulging the entire 
 length of the mast. Cleaving the foam about her, 
 her gigantic oars struck the water in cadence. From 
 
 140 
 
HAMILCAR BARCA. 141 
 
 time to time the extremity of her keel, fashioned 
 like a plough-share, was seen as she plunged ; and 
 under the beak at the end of the prow, the sculptured 
 horse with ivory head, rearing its two forefeet, 
 seemed to course over the plains of the sea. 
 
 As she rounded the promontory her sail fell ; the 
 wind had ceased ; and now, near the pilot, could be 
 discerned a man standing bare-headed. It was the 
 Suffete Hamilcar ! About his sides he wore shining 
 plates of iron : a red mantle, attached to his shoulders, 
 allowed his arms to be freely seen ; two very long 
 pearls pended from his ears, and his black bushy 
 beard fell down upon his breast. 
 
 The approaching galley, tossed between the rocks, 
 coasted the mole, and the excited crowd followed 
 her along on the stones, shouting : 
 
 "Hail! Benediction! Eye of Khamoim ! Oh, 
 deliver us ! It is the fault of the Rich ! They desire 
 your death ! Guard yourself, Barca !" 
 
 He made no response, as if the clamour of the 
 oceans and the din of battles had completely 
 deafened him. But as the vessel came under the 
 stairway which descended from the Acropolis, 
 Hamilcar lifted his head, crossed his arms, and 
 looked at the temple of Eschmoim. He gazed still 
 higher, into the dome of the pure sky, and in a 
 sharp tone cried out an order to his sailors. The 
 trireme bounded through the water. She grazed 
 the idol set up at the corner of the pier to ward 
 off tempests ; and in the commercial port, full of 
 filth, splinters of wood, and fruit-rinds, she crowded 
 back in her passage, and ripped open the sides of 
 vessels moored to piles ending in crocodiles' jaws. 
 
142 salammb6. 
 
 The people continued to run, following the vessel. 
 Some excitedly plunged into the water and swam 
 alongside of her. Soon the vessel reached the 
 head of the port, before the formidable gate, brist- 
 ling with spikes. The gate lifted, to allow the 
 trireme to pass, and it vanished under the profound 
 vault. 
 
 The Military Port w T as completely separated from 
 the city, and when ambassadors came, they were 
 obliged to enter between two walls into a passage 
 emerging to the left before the temple of Khamoun. 
 This large basin of water was round, like a cup, 
 and surrounded by quays, where docks were built to 
 harbour vessels. In front of each dock were two 
 columns, carrying on their capitals the horns of 
 Ammon, which formed a continuous portico all 
 around the basin. In the centre, on an isle, was 
 built a house for the Suffete of the sea. The water 
 was so limpid that the bottom of the basin, paved 
 with white shells, was apparent. 
 
 The noise from the streets did not penetrate 
 thus far, and Hamilcar, in passing, recognised the 
 triremes which he had formerly commanded. Of 
 the old fleet there now scarcely remained twenty 
 vessels in shelter on the shore — leaning over on 
 their sides, or straight on their keels, with their 
 poops high in the air, displaying their bulging 
 prows covered with gilding and mystic symbols. 
 The chimeras had lost their wings, the Patascian 
 Gods their arms, the bulls their silver horns ; yet 
 all, though half defaced, inert, and rotten, were full 
 of romance, and yet exhaled the aroma of past 
 vovages: now, like disabled soldiers who again meet 
 
HAMILCAR BARCA. 1 43 
 
 their old commander, these dilapidated vessels 
 seemed to say to him : 
 
 "Here we are! Here we are! And you also — 
 you are vanquished !" 
 
 No one except the Suffete of the sea had the right 
 to enter the admiralty. Until proof of his death 
 should be established, he was always considered 
 to be in existence. By this observance the Elders 
 avoided an additional master. Hence, despite their 
 disaffection towards Hamilcar, they had not failed 
 to respect the custom. 
 
 The Suffete entered the deserted apartments, at 
 every step finding armour, furniture, and familiar 
 objects, all of which, however, astonished him ; 
 even in the vestibule there yet remained in a 
 cassolette the ashes of the perfumes burned at the 
 time of his departure, as an offering to conjure 
 Melkarth. It was not thus that he had hoped to 
 return ! 
 
 x^ll that he had done, all that he had seen — the 
 assaults, the incendiary fires, the legions, the tem- 
 pests — unrolled before his mind : Drepanum, Syra- 
 cuse, Lilybreum, Mount Etna, the plateau of Eryx, 
 his five years of battle, till the fatal day when, laying 
 down their arms, thev had lost Sicilv. He resaw 
 the citron- woods, the herdsmen tending their goats 
 on the grey mountains, and his heart leaped 
 wildly as another Carthage established away there 
 came before his imagination. His projects and his 
 memories buzzed in his brain, vet dizzv from the 
 pitching of the vessel. An overwhelming pang 
 seized him, and suddenly becoming weak, he felt the 
 need of drawing nearer to the Gods. He ascended 
 
144 SALAMMB6. 
 
 to the last story of his mansion ; then, after with- 
 drawing, from a gold shell suspended on his arm, 
 a spatula studded with nails, he opened a small oval 
 room. The narrow black rondels, encased in the 
 walls, were as transparent as glass, and admitted a 
 soft light. Between these regular rows of discs, 
 hollows were made like the niches used for urns in 
 a columbarium. Each one of these hollows con- 
 tained a round, dark-coloured stone, apparently very 
 heavy. Only superior souls honoured these abaddirs, 
 fallen from the moon. By their fall these stones 
 signified the planets, the sky, the fire ; by their 
 colour, the darkness of night ; and by their density, 
 the cohesion of terrestrial things. 
 
 A stifling atmosphere filled this mystic place. 
 These round stones placed in the niches were 
 slightly whitened by the sea-sand, which had been 
 driven by the wind through the door. Hamilcar 
 counted them, one after another, touching each with 
 the tip of his finger ; then hiding his face under a 
 saffron-coloured veil, fell upon his knees, and, with 
 outstretched arms, threw himself prone on the 
 ground. 
 
 Outside, the daylight struck against the laths of 
 the black lattices; in their diaphanous thickness 
 shrubberies, hillocks, whirlwinds, and indistinct 
 outlines of animals were • discerned. Within, the 
 light entered, frightful and yet pacific, as it should 
 be from behind the sun in the gloomy regions of 
 of future creations. 
 
 Hamilcar struggled to banish from his thoughts 
 all the forms, all the symbols, and all appellations 
 of the Gods, in order to better grasp the immutable 
 
HAMILCAR BARCA. I 45 
 
 spirit which these appearances concealed. Some- 
 thing of the planetary vitality penetrated his being, 
 hence he felt for death, and all hazards, a disdain, 
 most erudite and most personal. 
 
 When he arose he experienced a serene intre- 
 pidity, invulnerable alike to mercy or fear ; and 
 feeling half-suffocated, he ascended to the top of 
 the tower that overlooked Carthage. 
 
 The city descended in a sweeping curve, with her 
 cupolas, temples, golden-roofs, mansions, clumps of 
 palms, and here and there glass globes, from which 
 refracted lights sparkled ; and surrounding this 
 horn of plenty opening out towards him, were the 
 ramparts, built like a gigantic border. Below, 
 he perceived the ports, the squares, the interior 
 of the courts, and the outlines of the streets, and 
 from this height men appeared as mites, and almost 
 level with the pavement-stones. 
 
 " Ah ! if Hanno had not arrived too late on the 
 morning of the battle of the ^Egatian islands !" 
 Thus thinking, he turned his eyes to the extreme 
 horizon, extending his arms tremblingly towards 
 Rome. 
 
 A multitude occupied the steps of the Acropolis. 
 In the square of Khamoun, people jostled each other 
 to see the Suffete appear ; the terraces gradually 
 became thronged with eager gazers, some of whom 
 recognised and saluted him. In order, however, to 
 more effectually incite their impatience, he imme- 
 diately withdrew from sight. 
 
 Hamilcar found awaiting him below in the hall 
 the most important men of his faction — Istatten, 
 Subeldia, Hictamon, Yeoubas, and others. They 
 
 L 
 
146 SALAMMBO. 
 
 recounted to him all that had occurred since the 
 conclusion of the peace — the avarice of the Elders; 
 the departure and subsequent return of the soldiers ; 
 their demands ; the capture of Gisco ; the rape of 
 the Zaimph ; the succour, and subsequent desertion, of 
 Utica ; but not one dared tell him of the events which 
 concerned him personally. Finally they separated, 
 to meet again at night with the Assembly of Elders 
 in the temple of Moloch. 
 
 This deputation had but just gone, when a tumult 
 broke forth outside the gate. Some one attempted 
 to enter, in spite of the servants' protests ; and 
 as the uproar redoubled, Hamilcar ordered that the . 
 unknown person should be shown in. 
 
 An old negress appeared, evidently much broken, 
 wrinkled, trembling in a stupid manner, and en- 
 veloped to her heels in wide blue veils. She came 
 forward, facing the Suffete. They looked at one 
 another for some moments. Suddenly Hamilcar 
 quivered ; at a gesture of his hand his slaves with- 
 drew ; and he signed to the negress to move with 
 caution, drawing her by the arm to a remote room. 
 
 The negress threw herself on the floor to kiss 
 Hamilcar's feet ; roughly lifting her up, he asked : 
 
 " Where have you left him, Iddibal ?" 
 
 " Away, there, master !" 
 
 Throwing aside the veils, she rubbed the black 
 from her face with one of the sleeves of her tunic : 
 the senile, trembling, stooping figure was trans- 
 formed, revealing a robust old man, whose skin 
 seemed somewhat tanned by exposure to sand, wind, 
 and sea. A tuft of white hair stood up on the crown 
 of his head, like a bird's aigrette. With an ironical 
 
HAMILCAR BARCA. 1 47 
 
 glance he pointed to the discarded disguise, which 
 had fallen on the floor. 
 
 " You have done well, Iddibal. It is well !" Then, 
 with a piercing look of scrutiny, Hamilcar added, 
 " Does anyone yet suspect ?" 
 
 The old man swore by the Cabiri that the secret 
 was perfectly guarded. They never quitted their 
 cabin, which was three days from Hadrumetum ; the 
 shores were peopled with tortoises, and the dunes 
 were covered with palm trees. " And, obedient to 
 your orders, master, I am teaching him to lance 
 javelins, and to manage the teams." 
 
 " He is strong, is he not ?" 
 
 "Yes, master, and intrepid also; he fears neither 
 serpents, nor thunder, nor phantoms. He runs bare- 
 looted, like a herdsman, on the very edge of the 
 precipices." 
 
 " Speak ! Speak !" 
 
 "He invents snares to capture wild beasts. The 
 other moon — would you believe it ? — he surprised 
 an eagle. He clutched it ; and the blood of both 
 child and struggling bird spattered through the 
 air in large drops, like wind-blown roses. The 
 furious bird enveloped him with the beating of 
 its strong wings ; but the dauntless boy seized it 
 more firmly, and pressed it against his chest : and, 
 in proportion as its death agony increased, his 
 laughter redoubled, till it rung out superb, like 
 the clash of swords." 
 
 Hamilcar lowered his head, evidently dazzled by 
 these presages of greatness. 
 
 " But, for some days he has been restless and agi- 
 tated. He watches the far-off sails passing by at 
 
148 SALAMMB6. 
 
 sea ; he is sad, and refuses his food ; he asks 
 questions about the Gods, and he desires to know 
 Carthage." 
 
 " No ! no ! not yet !" exclaimed the Suffete. 
 
 The old slave seemed to understand the peril that 
 frightened Hamilcar, and resumed : 
 
 " But how restrain him ? Already he has made 
 me promise ; and I should not have come to Carth- 
 age except to buy for him a poniard with a silver 
 handle encircled with pearls." 
 
 Then the slave recounted how, having espied the 
 Suffete on the terrace, he had managed to pass the 
 guards of the Port in the guise of one of Salammbo's 
 women, in order to attain his master's presence. 
 
 Hamilcar remained a long time lost in meditation. 
 At last he said : 
 
 " To-morrow, at sunset, present yourself at Megara, 
 behind the purple factory, and imitate the cry of a 
 jackal three times. If you do not then see me, the 
 first day of each moon return to Carthage. Forget 
 nothing ! Cherish him ! Now you may speak to him 
 of Hamilcar." 
 
 The slave resumed his disguise, and they left the 
 house and the Port together. Hamilcar continued 
 alone on foot without an escort, as the conferences 
 of the Elders were, on all extraordinary occasions, 
 secret, and each one attended mysteriously. 
 
 At first he skirted the eastern face of the Acropolis, 
 then passed by, in successive order, the vegetable- 
 market, the galleries of Kinisdo, and the suburb 
 of the perfumers. The scattered lights were dying 
 out ; silence settled on the wider streets, and 
 shadowy forms gliding through the darkness fol- 
 
HAMILCAR BARCA. 1 49 
 
 lowed him : others came up — all, like him, directing 
 their steps along the Mappals. 
 
 The Temple of Moloch was built at the foot of a 
 steep gorge, in a sinister spot. From the bottom 
 only the high walls could be perceived rising inde- 
 finitely, like the sides of a monstrous tomb. The 
 night was sombre ; a grey fog seemed to press upon 
 the sea waves, as they beat against the cliffs, sobbing 
 and sounding like a death, gurgle ; and the human 
 shadows gradually vanished, as if they had glided 
 through the walls like spirits. 
 
 Just beyond the entrance of these walls was a vast 
 quadrangular court, bordered by arcades ; in the 
 centre rose a massive structure, with eight uniform 
 sides. Cupolas surmounted it, ranged around the 
 second story, which supported a form of rotunda, 
 from which sprang a cone with a returning curve, 
 terminating on the summit in a ball. 
 
 Fires burned in filigree cylinders fastened on 
 standards, borne by men. These lights nickered in 
 the gusts of wind, and reddened the golden combs 
 holding the braided tresses at the nape of the necks 
 of the servitors. These torch-bearers ran forward, 
 calling each other to receive the Elders. Here and 
 there on the pavement enormous lions crouched 
 like sphinxes — the living symbols of the Sun, the 
 Devourer. They dozed with half-closed eyes ; but, 
 awakened by the tramp of feet and sound of voices, 
 they slowly rose and approached the Elders, whom 
 they recognised by their costumes ; they rubbed 
 against their thighs, curving their backs, and yawning 
 sonorously, and the vapour of their breaths floated 
 li-ke mist across the flames of the torches. 
 
1 50 SALAMMB6. 
 
 The agitation increased ; the gates were closed ; 
 all the priests took flight, and the Elders disappeared 
 under the columns, which formed a deep vestibule 
 around the temple. These columns were disposed in 
 a fashion to reproduce in circular ranges, comprised 
 one within another, the Saturnian period, containing 
 the years, the months within the years, and the days 
 within the months — finally, they touched the wall 
 of the sanctuary. 
 
 In this vestibule the Elders deposited their nar- 
 whal-tusk staves — as a law, which was always ob- 
 served, punished with death anyone who should 
 enter a session with any weapon. 
 
 At the bottom of their robes many displayed a 
 rent stayed by a purple braid, to manifest that they 
 were too preoccupied mourning their relatives to 
 bestow time in the arrangement of their clothing, 
 and this evidence of their bereavement prevented 
 the rent from destructively enlarging. Others, as a 
 sign of mourning, enclosed iheir beards in a small 
 pouch of violet-coloured skin, attached by two cords 
 to their ears. 
 
 Their first act on assembling Avas to embrace one 
 another, breast to breast. They surrounded Hamil- 
 car to offer congratulations ; they truly seemed like 
 brothers meeting a brother again. 
 
 The majority of these men were thick-set, with 
 hooked noses, resembling the Assvrian Colossi: some, 
 nevertheless, by their projecting cheek-bones, their 
 great height, and narrow feet, betrayed an African 
 origin from Nomad ancestors. Those who lived 
 constantly in the depth of their counting-houses had 
 pale faces ; others maintained about them the severity 
 
HAMILCAR BARCA. I 5 I 
 
 of the desert, and strange jewels sparkled on all 
 their fingers, tanned by unknown suns. The navi- 
 gators were recognisable by their rolling gait, and 
 the agriculturists retained about their persons the 
 odours of wine-presses, dried grasses, and the 
 sweat of their mules. These old pirates tilled 
 farms; these money-makers equipped vessels: and 
 these proprietors of plantations kept slaves who exer- 
 cised the various trades. All were learned in the 
 religious disciplines, expert in stratagems, unmerci- 
 ful and wealthy. Protracted cares had imparted t<> 
 them an air of weariness : their naming eyes were 
 full of defiance, and the habit of travel, and of lying, 
 and of traffic, and of command, gave to their persons 
 an aspect of cunning and violence — a sort of brutality, 
 circumspect and passionate. Besides, the influence 
 of Moloch made them solemn. 
 
 At first they walked through a long, vaulted hall, 
 oval, like an egg. Seven doors, corresponding to the 
 seven planets, spread against the wall seven squares 
 of different colours. After a long room, they entered 
 another similar hall, in which, at the far end, was a 
 lighted candelabrum, covered with chased flowers, 
 and each one of its eight golden branches bore in 
 a chalice of diamonds a wick of byssus. This cande- 
 labrum was placed on the last of the long steps 
 leading to a grand altar, terminating at the corners 
 in brazen horns. Two lateral stairways led up to 
 its flat top, where the stones were covered under a 
 mountain of accumulated ashes, and something in- 
 distinct smouldered slowly upon it. Then beyond, 
 higher than the candelabrum, and even higher than 
 the altar, towered up the iron Moloch with his 
 
152 SALAMMBO. 
 
 mail's breast, in which yawned seven apertures ; his 
 open wings spread out over the walls ; his elongated 
 hands reached to the floor ; three black stones, en- 
 circled in yellow, represented three eyeballs in his 
 forehead ; and his bull's head was raised by a terrible 
 effort, as if to bellow. 
 
 Around the hall were ranged ebony benches ; 
 behind each was erected a bronze standard, resting 
 on three paws, and supporting a torch. All these 
 lights were reflected over the polished surface of 
 the mother-of-pearl lozenges paving the hall. The 
 room was so lofty that the red walls, as they neared 
 the dome, appeared black, and on high the three 
 eyes of the idol seemed like stars half lost in the 
 night. 
 
 The Elders sat on the ebony benches, having 
 thrown over their heads the ends of their long robes. 
 They remained motionless, with their hands crossed 
 in their wide sleeves; and the mother-of-pearl pave- 
 ment resembled a luminous stream that ran under 
 their bare feet from the altar towards the door. 
 
 In the centre the four pontiffs sat back to back 
 on four ivory chairs, forming a cross. The pontiff 
 of Eschmoim robed in hyacinth, the pontiff of Tanit 
 in a white linen robe, the pontiff of Khamoun in a 
 reddish woollen garment, and the pontiff of Moloch 
 in purple. 
 
 Hamilcar moved forward to the candelabrum, and 
 making a circuit of it, examined the burning wicks, 
 then threw upon them a perfume powder. Instantly 
 violet flames sprang up at the extremities of the 
 branches. 
 
 Now a shrill voice broke forth, another responded, 
 
HAMILCAR BARCA. I 53 
 
 and the hundred Elders, the four pontiffs, and Hamil- 
 car, all at the same time rose to their feet, intoning a 
 hymn, always repeating the same syllables and re- 
 swelling the sounds ; their voices continued to rise 
 until they became terrible, when, with a single stroke, 
 all were silent. 
 
 They paused some minutes. At last Hamilcar 
 drew from his breast a small statuette with three 
 heads, blue like a sapphire, and placed it before him. 
 It was the image of Truth, the very genius of his 
 speech. Afterwards he replaced it in his breast, 
 and all, as though seized by a sudden rage, screamed 
 out : 
 
 " These Barbarians are your good friends ! Traitor ! 
 Wretch ! You have come to see us perish, have you 
 not ? . . . Let him speak ! . . . No ! No ! . . .' , 
 
 They revenged themselves for the constraint 
 which had been imposed on them by the official 
 ceremony ; and though they had longed for the 
 return of Hamilcar, they were now indignant that 
 he had not prevented their disasters, or, rather, that 
 he also had not undergone them like themselves. 
 
 As soon as the tumult was calmed, the pontiff of 
 Moloch arose, saying : 
 
 " We demand that you explain why you have not 
 returned to Carthage before." 
 
 " What does that matter to you ?" disdainfully 
 responded the Suffete. 
 
 Their outcries redoubled. 
 
 " Of what do you accuse me ? Perhaps, that I have 
 conducted the war badly ? You have seen the ordi- 
 nances of my battles, you others conveniently leave 
 to the Barbarians. . . ." 
 
1 54 SALAMMB6 
 
 " Enough ! Enough !" they yelled 
 He resumed in a deep voice, to make himself 
 better heard : 
 
 " Oh, that is true! I deceive myself! Lights of 
 the Baal. Here in your midst are braves ! Gisco, rise 
 up I 11 And, moving along the altar step, half -closing 
 his eyes, seemingly in search of some one, he re- 
 peated : " Rise up, Gisco ! You can accuse me ; they 
 will defend you ! But where is he ?" Then, pausing 
 as though to correct himself : "Ah! in his dwelling, 
 without doubt. Surrounded by his sons, command- 
 ing his slaves, happy, and enumerating on the walls 
 the collars of honour that the country has conferred 
 upon him !." 
 
 They writhed about, shrugging their shoulders, as 
 if lashed with whip-thongs. 
 
 "You do not even know whether he is dead or 
 alive !" And, without heeding their clamour, he 
 told them that in abandoning the Suffete they had 
 forsaken the Republic. Likewise that the Roman 
 treaty of peace, advantageous though they thought 
 it, was more calamitous than twenty battles. 
 
 Some — the least wealthy of the Council, who were 
 always suspected to incline towards the people or 
 towards tyranny — applauded. 
 
 Their adversaries, the chiefs of the Syssites and 
 administrators, triumphed over them by force of 
 numbers ; the most important were ranged near 
 Hanno, who sat at the other end of the hall before 
 the high door closed by a hyacinth tapestry. 
 
 The ulcers on Hanno's face were covered with 
 paint ; the gold-powder from his hair had fallen 
 upon his shoulders, where it made two brilliant 
 
HAMILCAR BARCA. I 55 
 
 patches ; and the hair appeared white, tine, and 
 crinkled, like lamb's wool. His hands were swathe. I 
 with linen bandages saturated with perfumed grease, 
 that trickled down and dropped on the pavement ; 
 and his malady seemed considerably augmented, for 
 his eyes were so covered by the folds of his eyelids 
 that, in order to see, he was compelled to tip his 
 head backwards. 
 
 His partisans urged him to speak. At length he 
 said, in a harsh, hideous voice : 
 
 " Less arrogance, Barca ! We have all been con- 
 quered ! Each one must bear his misfortune ; there- 
 fore resign yourself!" 
 
 " Inform us, rather," Hamilcar smilingly said, — 
 " how you steered your galleys into the Roman 
 fleet ?" 
 
 " I was driven by the wind out of my course," re- 
 sponded Hanno. 
 
 " You are like the rhinoceros, who treads in his 
 own dung ; you expose your own folly! Be silent !" 
 and they began mutual recriminations respecting 
 the battle of the islands of iEgates. Hanno accused 
 Hamilcar of not having come to join forces with 
 him. 
 
 " But that would have entailed leaving Eryx. It 
 was necessary to take to the open. What prevented 
 you ? Oh ! I forgot — the elephants are afraid of the 
 sea !" 
 
 Hamilcar's partisans found his pleasantry so good 
 that they laughed heartily, till the dome of the 
 temple re-echoed like the beating of drum-;. 
 
 Hanno denounced the indignity of such an outrage, 
 protesting that his malady had attacked him as the 
 
156 SALAMMBO. 
 
 result of a chill during the siege of Hecatompylus ; 
 and the tears coursed down his face as a winter 
 rain over a ruined wall. 
 
 Hamilcar continued : " If you had loved me as 
 much as you do that man, there would to-day be great 
 joy throughout Carthage ! How many times have I 
 not implored you for aid, and you have always refused 
 me money !" 
 
 " We needed it here," said the chief of the Syssites. 
 
 " And when my affairs were desperate — for we 
 have been compelled to drink the urine of our 
 mules cooled in our helmets, and have eaten the 
 thongs of our sandals ; when I fairly longed that the 
 blades of grass were soldiers, or that I could form 
 battalions with our rotting dead — you recalled the 
 vessels yet remaining with me!" 
 
 " We could not risk all," interrupted Baat-Baal, 
 owner of gold mines in Darytian-Gaetulia. 
 
 " In the meantime, what have you done here in 
 Carthage, in your dwellings, behind your walls ? 
 There were the Gauls on the Eridanus that should 
 have been set in motion ; the Canaanites at Cyrene, 
 who would have come to our aid ; and while the 
 Romans were sending ambassadors to Ptolemy. . . ." 
 
 " He praises the Romans to us now !" some one 
 cried out. " How much have they paid you to 
 defend them ?" 
 
 " Ask that of the plains of Bruttium, of the ruins 
 of Locri, Metapontum, and Heraclea ! I have 
 burned all their trees, have pillaged all their temples, 
 and even to the death of the grandsons of their 
 grandsons. . . ." 
 
 " Truly, you declaim like an orator! " interrupted 
 
HAMILCAR BARCA. 157 
 
 Kapouras, an illustrious merchant. " What then do 
 you want ?' 7 
 
 " I say that you must be more ingenious, or more 
 formidable! If the entire of Africa rejects your 
 yoke, it will be because you do not know how to 
 adjust it to her shoulders — enfeebled masters that 
 you are! Agathocles, Regulus, Ccepio, any of the 
 brave men, have only to land in order to subju- 
 gate the Republic ; and when the Libyans in the east 
 combine with the Numidians in the west, and the 
 Nomads shall have come from the south, and the 
 
 Romans from the north " 
 
 A cry of horror rang out. 
 
 " Oh ! you will strike your breasts, roll yourselves 
 in the dust, and tear your mantles ! What matter ? 
 You will be obliged to turn the millstones in Suburra, 
 and gather the vintage on the hills of Latium." 
 
 They struck their right thighs to demonstrate their 
 offence at such a suggestion, lifting the sleeves of 
 their robes like the large wings of frightened birds. 
 Hamilcar, carried away by an inspiration, con- 
 tinued in the same strain as he stood apart on the 
 highest step of the altar, quivering with terrible 
 emotion. He lifted his arms, and the ravs from the 
 candelabrum burning behind him, passed in streaks 
 between his fingers, like golden javelins. 
 
 " You will lose your vessels, your fields, your 
 chariots, your suspended couches, and your slaves 
 who now shampoo your feet ! The jackals will make 
 their lairs in your palaces, the plough turn over your 
 tombs ; there will only remain the cry of the eagles 
 and heaps of ruins ! Thou shalt fall, Carthage !" 
 The four pontiffs threw out their hands to ward 
 
158 SALAMMBO. 
 
 off this anathema. All had risen to their feet ; but 
 the Suffete of the sea, a sacerdotal magistrate under 
 the protection of the sun, was inviolable, so long 
 as the assembly of the Rich had not judged him. 
 A terror dwelt in the altar on which he stood. 
 They recoiled. 
 
 Hamilcar said no more. With eyes fixed and face 
 as pale as the pearls in his tiara, he panted, almost 
 terrified at himself, and his spirit lost in lugubrious 
 visions. From the height where he stood, the 
 flambeaux on the bronze standards appeared to him 
 to be a vast crown of fire laid flat on the pavement ; 
 the black smoke that escaped rolled up through the 
 darkness of the dome. The intensity of the silence 
 reigning for some moments was such that the distant 
 sea-roar could be heard. 
 
 After a time the Elders counselled among them- 
 selves. Their interests, their very existence, were 
 attacked by the Barbarians. But they could not 
 conquer them without the Suffete's aid ; and, de- 
 spite their pride, this fact made them unmindful 
 of all minor considerations. They took his friends 
 aside, and in a parley made interested reconcilia- 
 tions, understandings, and promises. 
 
 Hamilcar protested that he no longer desired to 
 be involved in the details of any command. All 
 besought and implored him to reconsider his de- 
 cision. When the word treason escaped their lips, 
 he lost temper, retorting that the only traitor to 
 Carthage was the Grand Council, as the engagements 
 with the soldiers expired with the war, hence they 
 became free as soon as the war ended. He even ex- 
 tolled their bravery, and depicted all the advantages 
 
HAMILCAR BARCA. I 59 
 
 that would accrue if the soldiers could be permanently 
 attached to the Republic by donations and privileges. 
 
 At this, Magdassan, an old governor of provinces, 
 rolling his yellow eyes about, said : 
 
 " Truly, Barca, from force of travel, you have 
 become a Greek, a Latin, and I know not what ! 
 Why do you talk of recompense for these men ? 
 Let ten thousand Barbarians perish rather than one 
 of us." 
 
 The p]lders nodded their heads approvingly, and 
 murmured: "Yes; why have so much trouble on 
 this score ? We can always procure Mercenaries 
 when needed." 
 
 " Yes, and you can conveniently get rid of them, 
 is it not so ? Abandon them, as you did in Sardinia. 
 Warn the enemy the road they must take, as was 
 done for those Gauls in Sicily, or else debark them 
 in the open sea. While returning, I saw the rocks 
 whitened with their bones !" retorted Hamilcar. 
 
 "What a pity !" impudently ejaculated Kapouras. 
 
 " Have they not turned a hundred times to the 
 enemy ?" exclaimed others. 
 
 " Why, then," answered Hamilcar, " in spite of 
 vour laws, have vou recalled them to Carthage ? 
 And why, when once here in your city, poor and 
 numerous amidst your wealth, did the idea not 
 occur to you to weaken them by some division ? 
 Afterwards vou dismissed them with their women 
 and children — without keeping a single hostage ! 
 Did vou imagine that thev would assassinate each 
 other and spare you the pain of fulfilling your 
 pledges ? You hate them because they are strong ! 
 You hate me even more, because I am their master ! 
 
l6o SALAMMB6. 
 
 Ah ! I just now felt, when you kissed my hands, that 
 you all restrained yourselves with difficulty from 
 biting them !" 
 
 If the sleeping lions had entered at this moment 
 from the outer court, howling wildly, the uproar 
 could not have been more terrible. But the pontiff 
 of Eschmoun rose, and with his knees tightly pressed 
 together, his elbows straight, and hands half open, 
 said : 
 
 " Barca, Carthage desires you to take the general 
 command of the Punic forces against the Barba- 
 rians !" 
 
 " I refuse !" responded Hamilcar. 
 
 " We will give you full authority," screamed out 
 the chiefs of the Syssites. 
 
 "No!" 
 
 " Without any control ! Without division ! All 
 the money that you want ! All the captives, all the 
 booty, fifty zerets of land for each dead enemy." 
 
 " No ! no ! Because with you it is impossible to 
 vanquish them !" 
 
 " He is afraid !" 
 
 " Because you are cowards, avaricious, ungrateful, 
 pusillanimous, and fools !" 
 
 " He treats with the enemies ! To put himself at 
 their head," cried out some. 
 
 " And return on us," screamed others. 
 
 And from the extremity of the hall Hanno yelled, 
 " He aspires to be king !" 
 
 Then they all bounded up, overturning the benches 
 and flambeaux, and darted in a crowd towards the 
 altar, brandishing their poniards. 
 
 Hamilcar, searching under his sleeves, drew forth 
 
HAMILCAR BARCA. l6l 
 
 two large cutlasses. Advancing his left foot, he con- 
 fronted and defied them all, as, with flashing eyes, 
 bending forward, he stood immovable under the 
 golden candelabrum. 
 
 Thus, as a precaution, every member of the 
 conference had carried concealed weapons into the 
 temple : it was a crime ; they looked at one another 
 terrified. As all were culpable, each quickly re- 
 assured himself, and gradually turned his back to 
 the Suffete, retreating to the body of the hall, enraged 
 and humiliated. For the second time they had re- 
 coiled before Hamilcar. 
 
 They remained for some moments standing. Some, 
 who had carelessly wounded their fingers, held them 
 in their mouths, or rolled them up gently in the 
 ends of their mantles, and, as they were dispersing, 
 Hamilcar heard their remarks : 
 
 " Ah ! it is a point of delicacy. He does not wish 
 to afflict his daughter I" 
 
 A voice, in a very loud tone, answered : " Doubt- 
 less, since she takes her lovers from amongst the Mer- 
 cenaries !" 
 
 At first he staggered ; then his eyes searched 
 rapidly over the throng for Schahabarim. The poirtifi' 
 of Tanit had alone remained seated. Hamilcar 
 could only perceive in the distance his tall cap. 
 All sneered at the Suffete to his very face, and, 
 as his agony augmented, their joy increased, while 
 amid the confused yells he could hear those who 
 were last to depart, screaming back at him : 
 
 " He was seen leaving her bed-chamber !" 
 
 " One morning in the month of Tammouz I" 
 
 " He is the thief of the Zaimph !" 
 
 M 
 
1 62 SALAMMBO. 
 
 r" 
 
 "A very fine man V 
 " Taller than Hamilcar !" 
 
 At this he jerked off his tiara the badge of his 
 dignity — his tiara of eight mystic rows, in the centre 
 of which was an emerald shell — and with both hands 
 dashed it fiercely to the ground. The gold circles 
 broke and rebounded, and the pearls rang out on the 
 pavement. 
 
 On his pale forehead now appeared a long cicatrix 
 that moved like a serpent between his eyebrows ; 
 his limbs trembled ; he went up by one of the 
 lateral stairways leading to the altar, and stepped on 
 the top. It was to consecrate himself to the Gods by 
 offering himself as a holocaust. The movement of 
 his flowing mantle agitated the lights of the can- 
 delabrum, which was lower than his sandals, and a fine 
 powder was raised by his steps, and floated about him 
 like a cloud, as high up as his girth. He paused 
 between the legs of the brass colossus, took up two 
 handfuls of those ashes, the sight of which alone 
 made all the Carthaginians tremble with terror, and 
 said : 
 
 " By the hundred flambeaux of your Intelligences ! 
 By the eight fires of the Cabiri ! By the stars ! 
 By the meteors ! And by the volcanoes ! By all 
 that which burns ! By the thirst of the desert ! By 
 the saltnessof the Ocean ! By the cavern of Hadru- 
 metum the realm of Souls ! By the extermina- 
 tion ! By the ashes of your sons, and the ashes 
 of ihe brothers of your ancestors, with which I now 
 commingle those of mine ! You, the hundred Coun- 
 cillors of Carthage, you have lied in accusing my 
 daughter! And I, Hamilcar Barca, Suffete of the 
 
HAMILCAR BARCA. 1 63 
 
 sea, Chief of the Rich and Ruler of the people, be- 
 fore Moloch with the bull's head, I swear " 
 
 They waited for something awful ; but he resumed 
 in a much louder and calmer voice — " That I will 
 not even speak of it to her !" 
 
 The sacred servitors, wearing gold combs, entered, 
 some carrying sponges of purple, and others palm 
 branches. They drew aside the hyacinth curtain 
 spread before the doorway, and through the opening 
 could be perceived at the end of the other halls the 
 vast rose-coloured skv, which seemed to be but a 
 
 V 7 
 
 continuation of the temple's vault, resting on the 
 horizon of the blue sea. 
 
 The sun, just leaving the billows, rose, striking in 
 full effulgence against the breast of the brazen idol, 
 which was divided into seven compartments, close* 1 
 by gratings. Moloch's jaws, revealing his red teeth, 
 opened in a terrible yawn; his enormous nostrils were 
 dilated ; the broad davlight seemed to animate and 
 impart to him a terrible air of impatience, as though 
 he would like to bound outside to mix with the sun, 
 with the God, and course with him through the im- 
 mensities of space. 
 
 Meanwhile the flambeaux, still burning, scattered 
 on the mother-of-pearl pavement, appeared like 
 splashes of blood. 
 
 The Elders reeled from exhaustion, and filled 
 their lungs by long inhalations of fresh air : the per- 
 spiration ran down their livid faces: their fierce out- 
 cries had robbed them of their voices : but their 
 wrath against the Suffete had not subsided, and 
 their adieux were parting threats, to which Hamilcar 
 responded. 
 
 MS 
 
1 64 SALAMMB6. 
 
 " To-morrow night, Barca, in the temple of 
 Eschmoun !" 
 
 "I shall be there !" 
 
 "We will have you condemned by the Rich !" 
 
 "And, I you by the people !" 
 
 " Take heed, lest you end on a cross !" 
 
 "And you, torn in the streets !" 
 
 As soon as they reached the threshold of the court 
 they resumed a calm deportment. 
 
 Their runners and charioteers awaited them at the 
 gate. The majority departed on white she-mules. 
 The Suffete sprang into his chariot, grasping the 
 reins himself ; the two horses arched their necks, 
 struck in cadence the stones, which rebounded under 
 their hoofs, and ascended the entire distance to Map- 
 pals, at such a fleet gallop, that the silver vulture 
 ornamenting the end of the pole seemed to fly as 
 the chariot swept quickly past. 
 
 The road crossed a field set with long stones 
 with pointed pyramidal tops ; on each was sculptured 
 an open hand, as though the dead lying beneath had 
 reached out of their tombs towards heaven to claim 
 something. Further along were scattered cone- 
 shaped cabins, built of clay, branches, and reed 
 wattles. Little stone walls, runnels of water, 
 esparto ropes, and hedges of Indian figs irregularly 
 separated these habitations, which became closer 
 and closer together in approaching the Suffete's 
 gardens. 
 
 But Hamilcar kept his eyes fixed on a large tower 
 of three stories, forming three enormous cylinders, 
 the first built of stone, the second of brick, and the 
 
HAMILCAR BARCA. I 65 
 
 third entirely of cedar, supporting* a copper cupola 
 on twenty-four juniper columns, over which fell like 
 garlands the interfacings of brass chainlets. This 
 lofty edifice dominated the buildings that extended 
 to the right, consisting of the warehouses and count- 
 ing house, while the palace of the women loomed 
 up at the end of the avenue of cypresses, which 
 alligned like two bronze walls. 
 
 When the rumbling chariot had entered through 
 the narrow gate, it halted under a wide hangar, 
 where the horses were immediately hoppled and fed 
 with heaps of chopped grass. 
 
 All the servants ran forward. They were indeed 
 a host ; for those who worked in the adjacent 
 country, in terror of the soldiers had betaken 
 themselves to Carthage. The farm labourers, clothed 
 in animals' skins, dragged behind them chains 
 riveted to their ankles ; the workers in the purple 
 factories had their arms stained red, like execu- 
 tioners ; the sailors wore green caps ; the fishermen 
 coral necklaces ; the hunters bore a net across their 
 shoulders, and the people of Megara wore white or 
 black tunics, leather breeches, and skull-caps of 
 straw, felt, or linen, according to their different 
 employments or industries. 
 
 In the rear pressed a populace in rags, who lived 
 without employment, far from the dwelling houses, 
 sleeping on the ground, sheltered only by the trees 
 in the gardens, eating the scraps from the kitchens — 
 human excrescences which vegetated in the shadow 
 of the palace. 
 
 Hamilcar tolerated them from prudential reasons, 
 even more than from disdain. Many of their 
 
1 66 SALAMMBO. 
 
 number had never before seen the Suffete, but all, to 
 manifest their joy, wore flowers in their ears. 
 
 Men, coiffed like sphinxes, armed with large 
 clubs, brandished them about in the crowd, striking 
 right and left to keep back the slaves over-curious to 
 see their master, so that he might not be pressed 
 upon by their numbers or incommoded by their 
 odours. 
 
 They all threw themselves flat on the ground, 
 crying out: — " Eye of Baal ! May your mansion 
 flourish for ever !" and between the men thus pros- 
 trated in the avenue of cypresses, the intendant of 
 the intendants, Abdalonim, coiffed in a white mitre, 
 advanced towards Hamilcar, carrying a censer in his 
 hand. 
 
 Salammbo descended the stairway of the galleys. 
 All her women followed behind her, and at each 
 step she advanced they also descended. 
 
 The heads of the negresses in contrast made large 
 black spots amid the line of bandeaux of golden 
 plaques which bound the foreheads of the Roman 
 women. Others wore in their hair silver arrows, 
 emerald butterflies, or long pins spreading like the 
 sun's rays. Over the medley of their white, yellow, 
 and blue garments, their fringes, agraffes, necklaces, 
 rings, and bracelets glittered. The robes rustled, 
 and the clattering of sandals, accompanied by the 
 dull sound of the naked feet upon the wood, was 
 audible. Here and there a tall eunuch, whose 
 shoulders overtopped the women, smiled with his 
 face aloft in the air. 
 
 As soon as the acclamations of the men were 
 quieted, the women, with faces hidden by the 
 
HAMILCAR BARCA. IbJ 
 
 sleeves of their dresses, uttered in unison a strange 
 cry, like the howl of a she-wolf, and so furious and 
 strident that it seemed to make the grand ebony 
 stairway, now covered with women, vibrate like a 
 lyre from top to bottom. 
 
 The wind fluttered their long veils and gently 
 waved the slender papyrus stems. 
 
 It was the month of Schebaz, in the middle of 
 winter ; the pomegranate trees, at this season in 
 flower, stood out in relief against the azure sky; 
 through the branches the sea appeared, with an 
 island in the distance, half lost in the mist. 
 
 Hamilcar paused when he perceived Salammbo. 
 
 Born after the death of several male children, she 
 had not been welcomed, for the birth of a daughter 
 was considered a calamity in the religions of the 
 sun. However, at a later period, the Gods had given 
 him a son; but he ever retained some memory of his 
 blighted hopes, and as it w r ere the shock of the male- 
 diction he had pronounced against her. 
 
 Meanwhile, Salammbo continued to advance to- 
 wards him. Pearls of various colours fell in long 
 clusters from her ears over her shoulders, dangling 
 down as far as her elbows ; her hair was crimped 
 in a mode to simulate a cloud. Around her neck 
 she wore small quadrangular gold plaques represent- 
 ing a woman between two lions rampant, and her 
 costume reproduced completely the accoutrements of 
 the Goddess Tanit. Her hyacinth robe, with flowing 
 sleeves, drawn tightly in at the waist, widened out 
 at the bottom. The vermilion of her lips made her 
 pearly teeth appear even whiter than they actually 
 were ; the antimony on her eyelids caused her eyes 
 
1 68 SALAMMBO. 
 
 to assume an almond shape. Her sandals of a bird's 
 plumage, with very high heels, gave her a more 
 imposing height. She was extraordinarily pale, 
 doubtless in consequence of the cold. 
 
 At length she arrived before Hamilcar, and, with- 
 out looking up, or raising her head, she addressed 
 him, saying : 
 
 " All hail, Eye of Baalim ! Eternal glory ! Triumph ! 
 Contentment ! Rest ! Wealth ! There was a long 
 period when my heart was sad, and the household 
 languished, but the master who returns is like Tam- 
 muz restored to life ; and under thy care, father, 
 a joy, a new existence, will expand over all !" 
 
 And taking from Taanach's hand a little oblong 
 vase, in which fumed a mixture of farina, butter, 
 cardamon, and wine, she continued : " Drink a full 
 draught of the welcome cup prepared by thy ser- 
 vant." 
 
 "Benediction on thee !" he replied, mechanically 
 seizing the golden vase she proffered to him. 
 
 All the while he examined her with a scrutiny so 
 keen that Salammbo, troubled thereat, stammered 
 out: 
 
 " Some one has told thee, master ! . . . ." 
 
 " Yes ! I know !" answered Hamilcar, in a low 
 voice. Was this a confession ? Or did she merely 
 allude to the Barbarians ? And he added a few 
 vague words concerning the public embarrassment 
 that he himself hoped now to dispel. 
 
 " father !" exclaimed Salammbo, " thou canst 
 never efface that which is irreparable !" 
 
 At this he started back, and Salammbo was as- 
 tonished by his amazement, as she did not dream of 
 
HAMILCAR BARCA. 1 69 
 
 ( larthage, but of the sacrilege of which she felt her- 
 self an accomplice. This man, who made the legions 
 tremble, whom she scarcely knew, frightened her 
 like a God. He had divined it ; he knew all ; some- 
 thing terrible was about to befall her ; she cried 
 out—" Mercy !" 
 
 Hamilcar lowered his head slowly. Disposed as 
 Salammbo was to accuse herself, she dared not now 
 open her lips ; notwithstanding she was almost suffo- 
 cated with the desire to complain to, and be com- 
 forted by her father. Hamilcar combated his in- 
 clination to break his oath. However, he kept it 
 from pride, or through fear of putting an end to his 
 uncertainty, and scanned her full in the face, trying 
 with all his power to discover wiiat she hid at the 
 bottom of her heart. 
 
 Salammbo, panting, buried her head gradually in 
 her bosom, crushed by his too austere scrutiny. He 
 was now sure that she had vielded to the embrace 
 of a Barbarian. He shuddered, lifting both his 
 fists over her. She uttered a scream, and fell down 
 among her women, who eagerly pressed about her. 
 
 Hamilcar turned on his heels, followed by all of 
 his attendants. The door of the warehouses was 
 thrown open, and he entered into a vast, round hall, 
 whence long passages radiated like the spokes of ;t 
 wheel from its hub, leading into other halls. A 
 stone disc was erected in the centre, surrounded by 
 a railing for holding the cushions that were heaped 
 upon the carpets. The Suffete at first walked with 
 long, rapid strides, breathing heavily, striking the 
 ground sharply with his heels. He passed his hand 
 across his forehead like one tormented by flies ; then, 
 
I70 SALAMMBO. 
 
 shaking his head, he perceived the accumulation of 
 his wealth, and became calmer. His thoughts were 
 attracted to the perspective of the passages and to 
 the adjoining halls tilled with the rarest treasures. 
 Therein were amassed bronze plates, ingots of silver, 
 and pigs of iron alternating with blocks of tin 
 brought from the Cassiterides, by way of the Dark- 
 some sea; gums &qm the countries of the Blacks 
 overflowed their sacks, made from the bark of palm- 
 trees ; and gold dust, heaped in leather bottles, im- 
 perceptibly filtered through the worn seams ; deli- 
 cate filaments, drawn from marine plants, hung be- 
 tween the flax from Egypt, Greece, Taprobane, and 
 Judea. Madrepores, as broad as bushes, bristled at 
 the base of the walls, and an indefinable odour floated 
 about, evidently emanating from the abundant store 
 of perfumes, spices, hides, and ostrich plumes, tied 
 in large bunches at the very top of the roof. Before 
 each passage elephants' tusks stood up, joined at the 
 points, forming an arch above the doorway. 
 
 Finally, he mounted the stone disc. All the intend- 
 ants stood with their arms crossed and heads bowed, 
 while Abdalonim, in a proud manner, lifted his 
 pointed mitre. 
 
 Hamilcar interrogated the Chief of the Ships. He 
 was an old pilot, with eyelids inflamed by the wind; 
 his white locks fell to his hips, as though the foam 
 of tempestuous waves had lingered in his beard. 
 
 He answered that he had sent a fleet by Gades and 
 Thymiamata, endeavouring to reach Eziongeber by 
 rounding the South Horn and the promontory of 
 Aromata. 
 
 Other vessels had continued to the west during 
 
HAMILCAR BARCA. 171 
 
 four moons, without making land : but the prows 
 of the vessels became entangled in the grasses : the 
 horizon resounded continually with the noise of 
 cataracts ; blood-coloured fogs obscured the sun. and 
 a breeze, freighted with perfumes, put all of the 
 crews to sleep, and their memories had been there- 
 by so much disturbed that at present they could 
 recount naught concerning this region. Meantime, 
 other vessels had ascended the streams of Scvthia, 
 penetrating Colchis to the Jugrians and the Estians : 
 had carried away from the archipelago fifteen hun- 
 dred virgins ; and sent to the bottom all foreign 
 vessels navigating beyond the cape of iEstrymon, in 
 order that the secret of the routes might not be 
 known. King Ptolemy had kept back the incense 
 from Schesbar, Syracuse, and Elatea. Corsica and 
 the islands had furnished nothing. Then the old 
 pilot dropped his voice to announce that one trireme 
 had been taken at Rusicada by the Numidians — 
 " For they are with them, master." 
 
 Hamilcar knitted his eyebrows, then signed to 
 the Chief of the Journeys to speak. This man 
 was wrapped in a brown robe without girdle, and 
 his head was bound round by a long scarf of white 
 material, which passed over his mouth and fell back 
 on his shoulders. 
 
 The caravans had been regularly despatched at the 
 winter equinox. But out of fifteen hundred men 
 bound to the further Ethiopia with excellent camels, 
 new leather bottles, and stocks of painted linen, 
 one onlv had returned to Carthage : all the others 
 had perished from fatigue, or had become dazed by 
 the terrors of the desert. He said that he had been 
 
172 SALAMMBO. 
 
 far beyond the Black Harosch, afterwards to the 
 Atarantes, and the country of the big apes, and 
 thence to immense kingdoms where even the ordi- 
 nary utensils were made of gold : in this region 
 were seen a stream the colour of milk, spreading out 
 like a sea, forests of blue trees, aromatic hills, mon- 
 sters with human faces, vegetating on rocks, whose 
 eyes to behold you expanded like flowers ; then behind, 
 the lakes covered with dragons, to the mountains of 
 crystal that supported the sun. Other caravans had 
 returned from the Indies, bringing back peacocks, 
 pepper, and some new tissues. As for those who 
 went to purchase chalcedonies, by the road of the 
 Syrtis and the temple of Ammon, they had doubt- 
 less perished in the sands. The caravans of Gaetulia 
 and Phazzana had furnished their usual supplies, 
 but the Chief did not at present dare to equip any 
 other expeditions. 
 
 Hamilcar, comprehending by this that the Mercen- 
 aries occupied the country, gave vent to a dull moan, 
 as he leaned on his other elbow. 
 
 The Chief of Farms, who was summoned next in 
 order, experienced such fear that he trembled vio- 
 lently, in spite of his thick-set shoulders and great 
 red eyes ; his flat-nosed face resembled a mastiff's, 
 and was surmounted by a network of bark-fibres : 
 he wore a girdle of leopard skin with all the hair 
 intact, in which shone two formidable cutlasses. 
 
 As soon as Hamilcar turned towards him, he 
 uttered a cry to invoke all the Baals, protesting it 
 was not his fault ! He could do nothing ! He had 
 observed the temperature, the land, the stars ; had 
 made the plantations at the solstice of winter; had 
 
HAMILCAR BARCA. I 73 
 
 pruned during the wane of the moon ; and had 
 inspected the slaves, and provided them with 
 clothing. 
 
 Hamilcar, becoming irritated by such loquacity, 
 clacked his tongue, and the man with the cutlasses 
 continued in a rapid voice : 
 
 "Ah, master! They have plundered all ! Sacked 
 all ! destroyed all ! Three thousand feet of timber 
 were cut down at Maschala, and atUbadathe granaries 
 were broken open and the cisterns were filled up ! 
 At Tedes they took away fifteen hundred gomors of 
 wheat ; at Marazzana they killed the herdsmen and 
 ate the herds, and burned your house, your beautiful 
 house of cedar beams, where you spend the summers. 
 The slaves of Tuburbo, who reaped the barley, took 
 flight to the mountains ; and of the asses, riding and 
 working mules, the cattle of Taormina, and the 
 Oringis-horses, not one remains ; all were taken 
 away. It is a curse. I cannot survive it !" 
 
 He commenced to cry, adding : " Ah ! if you only 
 knew how full the cellars were, and how the ploughs 
 shone ! Ah, the fine rams ! Ah, the fine bulls !" 
 
 Hamilcar's rage suffocated him; lit' burst forth : 
 " Be quiet ! Am I then a pauper ? No lies ! Speak 
 the truth ! I wish to know all that I have lost, to the 
 last shekel, to the last cab ! Abdalonim, bring me the 
 accounts of the vessels, of the farms, of the caravans, 
 and those of my household ! And if any of your con- 
 sciences be troubled, sorrow on your heads ! 
 
 Leave !" 
 
 All the intendants walking backwards, touching 
 their fingers to the ground, left the Suffete's presence. 
 
 Abdalonim took from the middle of a nest of 
 
1 74 SALAMMBO. 
 
 pigeon-holes in the wall the accounts kept on 
 knotted cords, bands of linen or of papyrus, and 
 shoulder-blades of sheep covered with fine writing. 
 He laid them all at Hamilcar's feet, and placed in his 
 hands a wooden frame, strung with three interior 
 wires on which slipped gold, silver, and horn balls, 
 and began : 
 
 " One hundred and ninety-two houses in the 
 Mappals, rented to the new Carthaginians at the rate 
 of one beka per moon." 
 
 " Hold ! That is too much ! Provide for the poor. 
 Write the names of those whom you believe to be 
 the most courageous, and endeavour to ascertain if 
 they are attached to the Republic. What next ?" 
 
 Abdalonim hesitated, surprised by such gener- 
 osity. 
 
 Hamilcar impatiently wrested from his hands the 
 linen bands, saying, as he looked : 
 
 " What, then, is this ? Three palaces around 
 Khamoun at twelve kesitath per month ! Put it 
 twenty. I do not wish to be devoured by the 
 Rich." 
 
 Abdalonim after a long salute resumed : " Loaned 
 to Tigilas, until the end of the season, two kikars 
 at thirty-three and a third per cent, maritime 
 interest ; advanced to Bar-Malkarth ifteen hundred 
 shekels on the security of thirty slaves, but twelve 
 died in the salt marshes." 
 
 " In other words, they were not robust," laughingly 
 said the Suff ete. " No matter ! if he needs money, 
 satisfy his requirements ! One must always lend, and 
 at different interest, according to the wealth of the 
 people." 
 
HAMILCAR BARCA. I 75 
 
 Then the servitor hastened to read all the reports : 
 on the iron mines of Annaba, the farming of the coral 
 fisheries, the purple factories, the yield of the tax 
 on the resident Greeks, and the exportation of silver 
 to Arabia, where it was valued ten times more than 
 gold ; then on the captures of vessels, allowing for tin- 
 tithes for the temple of Tanit, saying about the last 
 item, " Each time I have declared one-fourth less, 
 master." 
 
 Hamilcar kept account, rattling the balls under his 
 fingers. 
 
 " Enough ! What have you paid ?" 
 
 " To Stratonicles of Corinth, and three merchants 
 of Alexandria, on the letters, which behold have 
 been cashed, ten thousand Athenian drachmas and 
 twelve Syrian talents of gold. The provisions for 
 the crews rising to twenty minae per month for a 
 trireme. ..." 
 
 " I know it ! How much are the losses ?" 
 
 " Here, see the account on these sheets of lead," 
 said th^ intendant. " With reference to the vessels 
 chartered in common, as they were frequently com- 
 pelled to throw the cargoes overboard, the unequal 
 losses were divided according to the number of 
 partners. For cordage borrowed from the arsenals 
 that it has been impossible to return, the Syssites 
 have exacted eight hundred kesitath before the 
 expedition to Utica." 
 
 " The Syssites again !" said Hamilcar, lowering his 
 head, and remaining as if crushed under the weight of 
 all the hatreds he felt levelled at him. "But, I do 
 not see here the expenses of Megara." 
 
 Abdalonim became pale, and turned to bring from 
 
I 76 SALAMMB6. 
 
 another case the sycamore-wood tablets filed in 
 bundles, and tied together with leather straps. 
 
 Hamilcar listened, curious as to the domestic de- 
 tails, calmed by the monotony of the man's voice in 
 enumerating the accounts, while Abdalonim read 
 slower and slower, and suddenly letting the wooden 
 tablets fall to the ground, threw himself flat on his 
 face with arms extended, in the position of one con- 
 demned. 
 
 Hamilcar, without evincing any emotion, picked 
 up the tablets ; his lips parted and his eyes opened 
 widely when he saw charged for the expenses of 
 one day an exorbitant consumption of meats, fish, 
 birds, wines, and aromatics, vases broken, slaves 
 killed, and napery destroyed. 
 
 Abdalonim, remaining prostrate, told him of the 
 Barbarians' feast and that he had not the power to 
 escape from executing the commands of the Elders. 
 Salammbo, too, had commanded that money should 
 be jjrodigally expended to receive the soldiers. 
 
 At the name of his daughter Hamilcar bounded 
 up; then compressing his lips, he sank back amid 
 the cushions, tearing the fringes with his nails, his 
 eyes fixed, panting. 
 
 " Get up !" said the Suffete. 
 
 Then he descended from the dais, followed by 
 Abdalonim, whose knees trembled. But seizing an 
 iron bar, he went to work like a fury to unseal the 
 pavement. A disc of wood flew out and revealed 
 under the entire length of the passage, numerous 
 broad coverlids that concealed pits where grain was 
 stored. 
 
 " Eye of Baal ! You see by this," said the servant, 
 
HAMILCAR BARCA. I 77 
 
 timorously, " they have not taken all ! For these 
 pits are deep, each one fifty cubits, and full to the 
 top ! During your absence I have had similar pits 
 dug in the arsenals and in the gardens, so that your 
 mansion is as full of grain as your heart is of wis- 
 dom." 
 
 A smile passed over Hamilcar's face. 
 
 "It is well, Abdalonim." Afterwards he whispered: 
 "You must obtain grain from Etruria and Bruttiuin, 
 and from whatever place you can ; it makes no 
 difference at what price ! Amass and keep it store* I. 
 It is necessary that I alone possess all the grain in 
 Carthage." 
 
 Then, when they reached the extremity of the pas- 
 sage, Abdalonim, with one of the keys hanging from 
 his girdle, opened a large quadrangular room, divided 
 in the centre by cedar pillars. Gold, silver, and brass 
 coins were piled on tables, or stowed in niches that 
 extended the length of the four walls, reaching 111 ! 
 to the beams of the roof : enormous coffers of hippo- 
 potamus hide leaned in the corners, supporting 
 rows of smaller bags : and bullion heaped up, made 
 hillocks on the pavement, while from place to place 
 piles too high had toppled over, appearing like 
 columns in ruins. The large pieces of Carthaginian 
 money, stamped on the face with a representation 
 of Tanit and a horse under a palm tree, were 
 mixed with those of the colonies on which were 
 impressed the figure of a bull, a star, a globe, or a 
 crescent. Then, disposed about in unequal sums, 
 were pieces of all values, and dimensions, and ages, 
 from the ancient ones of Assyria, that were thin as 
 a finger-nail, to the old ones of Latium, that were 
 
 N 
 
I78 SALAMMBO. 
 
 thicker than a hand ; there were also the buttons of 
 iEgina, the tablets of Bactria, and the short cylinders 
 of ancient Lacaedemonina. The coins were rusty, 
 greasy with dirt, and many were covered with 
 verdigris caused by water, having been fished up in 
 nets, or blackened by fire, as found after sieges in 
 the midst of the ruins of cities. 
 
 The Suff ete had very quickly calculated if the pre- 
 sent sums corresponded to the gains and to the 
 losses that had just been submitted to him, and he 
 was about proceeding when he discovered three brass 
 jars completely empty. Abdalonim averted his head 
 with a sign of horror, and Hamilcar resigned himself 
 in silence. 
 
 They crossed other passages and through other 
 halls, coining at last before a door Avhere, to guard it 
 better, a man was fastened about the body by a long 
 chain, rivetted in the masonry of the wall — a Roman 
 custom but recently introduced into Carthage. His 
 beard and nails had grown excessively long, and he 
 swayed from right to left, with a continued oscilla- 
 tion, like that of captive animals. 
 
 As soon as he recognised Hamilcar, he dashed 
 towards him, crying out : " Mercy, Eye of Baal ! 
 Pity ! Kill me ! It is now ten years since I have 
 seen the sun ! In the name of your father, mercy !" 
 
 Without answering him, Hamilcar clapped his 
 hands. At this signal three men appeared, who, 
 with the assistance of Abdalonim, set at once to 
 work, straining their arms in the effort to retire 
 from its rings the enormous bar securing the door. 
 When accomplished, Hamilcar took a torch, and dis- 
 appeared in the darkness beyond. 
 
HAMILCAR BARCA. I 79 
 
 This was believed to be the passage leading to the 
 sepulchre of the family; bat only a wide pit would 
 have been found, excavated to throw thieves oft" the 
 track, and it concealed nothing. 
 
 Hamilcar passed by it, then, leaning down, turned 
 aside on its rollers a very heavy millstone, which 
 revealed an opening, through which he entered an 
 apartment built in the form of a cone. The walls 
 were covered with brass scales. In the centre, on a 
 granite pedestal, was erected a statue of a Cabirus, 
 bearing the name of Aletes, the discoverer of the 
 mines in Celtiberia. Against the base of this statue, 
 on the ground, w T ere placed crosswise, broad golden 
 bucklers, and monstrous silver vases with closed 
 necks, all of such an extravagant form as to make 
 them useless, it being the custom to cast such quan- 
 tities of metal in these objects as to render it next to 
 impossible to embezzle or even move them. 
 
 With the torch he carried he lighted a small 
 miner's lamp fixed in the idol's cap. Suddenly the 
 hall was illuminated with green, yellow r , blue, violet, 
 wine and blood coloured lights ; for it was filled with 
 precious stones placed in golden calabashes hanging 
 like sconces to brass plates, or in their native blocks 
 ranged along at the base of the walls. Here were 
 to be found in abundance turquoises torn from 
 the mountains by the swirl of a sling ; carbuncles 
 formed by lynxes' urine, tongue-like stones fallen 
 from the moon, tyanos, diamonds, sandastrum, beryls, 
 the three varieties of rubies, the four species of 
 sapphires, and the twelve species of emeralds. These 
 precious stones flashed variously like splashes of milk, 
 like blue icicles, or like silver dust, and threw their 
 
 n2 
 
l8o SALAMMBC). 
 
 rays in sheets, in beams, or twinkled like stars. The 
 thunder-stones engendered by the thunder scintillated 
 near the chalcedonies, which antidoted poisons. The 
 light also disclosed topazes from Mount Zabarca, 
 subtle in warding off terrors ; opals from Bactria, 
 employed to prevent abortions : as well as horns 
 of Amnion, that were placed under beds to invite 
 dreams. 
 
 The fantastic fires from these gems and the flame 
 of the lamp were mirrored in the broad, gold shields. 
 Hamilcar stood with folded arms, smiling — and he 
 revelled less in the spectacle than in the conscious- 
 ness of his riches. They were inaccessible, inex- 
 haustible, infinite. The thought of his ancestors 
 sleeping beneath his feet sent thrilling to his heart 
 some measure of their eternity : he felt at this 
 moment drawn very near to the subterranean spirits. 
 He experienced an emotion akin to the joy of a 
 Cabirus, and the large luminous rays striking his face, 
 resembled the end of an invisible network that 
 crossed abysses, and attached him to the centre of 
 the world. 
 
 An invading idea made Hamilcar shiver : he went 
 "behind the idol, and walked straight to the wall ; then 
 searched on his arm amid numerous tattooings ; ex- 
 amined a horizontal line with two perpendicular lines, 
 which in Canaanite figures expressed thirteen ; then 
 he counted to the thirteenth brass plate on the wall, 
 when he again lifted his sleeve, and with his right 
 hand traced on another part of his arm other lines 
 more complicated, delicately moving his fingers 
 as though he played on a lyre. Finally, he struck 
 seven blows with his thumb, at which one entire 
 
IIAMILCAR BARCA. l8l 
 
 section of the wall turned around as a single block. 
 This masked a sort of cellar, in which were enclosed 
 mysterious things that possessed no names, but of 
 an incalculable value. Hamilcar descended the three 
 steps, took from a silver vat an antelope's skin that 
 floated in a black liquid, and then reascended. 
 
 Abdalonim then walked before him. At each 
 step he struck the pavement with his tall staff orna- 
 mented on the handle with bells, and before the door 
 of each room cried Hamilcar's name, accompanied 
 with praises and benedictions. 
 
 In the circular gallery, from which radiated all the 
 lobbies, were small beams of algum-trees ; piled along 
 the walls were sacks of henna, cakes of Lemnos- 
 earth, and tortoise-shells filled with pearls. The 
 Suffete in passing grazed with his robe, without 
 oven glancing at them, gigantic pieces of amber, 
 formed by the sun's rays, and almost divine. 
 
 A mist of odorous vapour escaped from one of the 
 closed rooms. 
 
 " Open that door !" the Suffete commanded. 
 
 They entered. Naked men were laboriously en- 
 gaged kneading pulp, pounding herbs, stirring the 
 fires, pouring oil into jars, opening and closing little 
 oval cells excavated all around in the walls, which 
 were so numerous that the room resembled the in- 
 terior of a bee-hive. Myrobalans, bdellium, saffron, 
 and violets overflowed the place, and scattered about 
 were gums, powders, roots, glass phials, branches of 
 dropwort and rose petals ; the scents were stifling, in 
 spite of the clouds from the storax that crackled in 
 the centre on a brass tripod. 
 
 The Chief of Perfumes, pale and very tall, like a 
 
1 82 SALAMMBO. 
 
 long wax flambeau, came forward to greet Hamilcar, 
 by crushing over his hands a roll of aromatic ointment, 
 whilst two slaves rubbed his heels with harewort 
 leaves. The Suffete repulsed them, for they were 
 Cyrenians of infamous customs, but tolerated because 
 of their secret knowledge in compounding perfumes. 
 
 In order to make a display of his vigilance, the 
 Chief of Perfumes offered to the Suffete, in an 
 electrum spoon, a little malobalthrum to taste ; then 
 with an awl pierced three Indian bezoars. Hamil- 
 car, who comprehended the artifices of the craft, took 
 a horn ful of balm, and approached the fire, spilling 
 it on his robe, when a brown stain appeared, which 
 proved it was adulterated. At this revelation he 
 looked fixedly at the Chief, and, without saying a 
 word, threw the gazelle-horn in his face. 
 
 Indignant as he was that these adulterations 
 should be committed to his detriment, yet upon per- 
 ceiving some packages of spikenard that were being 
 packed for exportation to the countries beyond the 
 seas, he ordered antimony to be added to make 
 them heavier. Then he demanded where were the 
 three boxes of psagas destined for his own personal 
 use. 
 
 The Chief of Perfumes avowed that he knew no- 
 thing about them, as the soldiers had invaded the 
 distillery with drawn knives, and coerced him by 
 threats to open the three boxes. 
 
 " You, then, fear their wrath more than mine ?" 
 cried the Suffete, and through the fumes his eyeballs 
 flashed like torches upon the tall, pale man, who 
 began to comprehend the situation. " Abdalonim, 
 before sunset have him flogged, and torture him !" 
 
HAMILCAR BARCA. 1 83 
 
 This damage, though less than the others, had exas • 
 perated him. In spite of his efforts to banish the 
 Barbarians from bis thoughts, he was continually 
 reminded of them. Their excesses were confused 
 with his daughter's shame, and he wished that 
 all those of his household who knew, might not 
 mention it to him. But something impelled him to 
 plunge deeper in his misfortune, and, taken with 
 an inquisitorial rage, he paid visits of inspection 
 to the hangars, behind the house of commerce, 
 examining the stores and supplies of bitumen, wood, 
 anchors, cordage, honey, and wax ; then the maga- 
 zines of fabrics, the reserves of provisions, not for- 
 getting the marble yards and the granary of sil- 
 phium. 
 
 Then he crossed to the opposite side of the gardens, 
 inspecting with keen scrutiny in their cabins the 
 domestic artisans whose products were sold ; watched 
 the tailors as they embroidered mantles, some as 
 they knotted the nets, others who combed the wool 
 for cushions or cut out sandals, and viewed the 
 Egyptian workers polishing papyrus with a shell. 
 The shuttles of the weavers clacked, and the arm- 
 ourers' anvils clanged. To these last craftsmen he 
 said : 
 
 " Forge swords ! Always forge ! I shall need them." 
 And he pulled from his breast the antelope skin, 
 macerated in poisons, he had but recently taken 
 out of the silver vat, and ordered them to cut and 
 fashion from it a breastplate for him, that would be 
 more solid than brass, and invulnerable alike to 
 weapons or flames. 
 
 As soon as he had reached the various workers, 
 
184 SALAMMBd. 
 
 Abdalonim, in order to divert the Suffete's anger 
 from himself, sought to irritate him against them by 
 disparaging their work, murmuring : 
 
 " What a task ! It is a shame ! Truly the master 
 is too good !" 
 
 Hamilcar, without heeding, proceeded on his way. 
 
 He slackened his pace, as the path was barred 
 by large, noble trees, completely charred, as one 
 finds them in the woods where herdsmen have 
 camped. The roads were barricaded, the palisades 
 were broken, the water was lost in the ditches ; 
 fragments of glass and bones of apes appeared in 
 the midst of muddy puddles. On the bushes tatters 
 of cloth hung, and under the citrons decaying flowers 
 emitted a yellow, noisome fume. In truth, the ser- 
 vants had abandoned everything, believing that 
 Hamilcar would never return. 
 
 At each step he discovered some new disaster, ever 
 more proofs of the very thing he had forbidden 
 himself to learn aught about. Lo! even now, as he 
 walked about, he soiled his purple brodequins, crush- 
 ing under foot the very filth of the Barbarians ; and 
 yet he did not now possess the power to make these 
 wretches fiy to atoms at the end of a catapult. He 
 experienced a sense of humiliation for having so 
 recently defended them in the Assembly : it was 
 treachery and treason ; but as he could not avenge 
 himself on the soldiers, or on the Elders, or on 
 Salammbo, or on any person, and his wrath sought 
 some victim, he condemned to the mines all the 
 garden slaves by a single decree. 
 
 Each time that Abdalonim saw his master approach 
 the parks he shook in terror. But Hamilcar took 
 
HAMILCAR BARCA. 1 85 
 
 the road first to the mill, from whence issued a 
 lugubrious melopceia. 
 
 In the midst of clouds of flour-dust turned the 
 heavy mills, constructed of two porphyry-cones, 
 placed one upon the other ; the uppermost one 
 was of funnel-shape, and revolved as it ground the 
 grain on the second cone by the aid of strong bars 
 pushed by men, holding their chests and arms firmly 
 against them, or pulling with all their might, har- 
 nessed to the bars. The friction of the breast- 
 strap had formed around their armpits purulent 
 sores, such as might be seen on asses' withers ; and 
 black, filthy rags, hardly covering their loins, Happed 
 over their thighs like long tails. Their eyes were 
 red, and the shackles on their feet clattered while 
 they panted and heaved and tugged in accord. On 
 their mouths were muzzles, fastened by little bronze 
 chains, rendering it impossible for them to eat the 
 meal, and gauntlets, made without separated fingers, 
 muffled their hands, preventing them from pilfering. 
 
 At the entrance of the Suffete, the wooden bars 
 creaked more loudly, the grain grated in grinding. 
 Many of these slaves, upon seeing him, fell down 
 on their knees, while the others continued their 
 drudgery, treading heedlessly over their kneeling 
 companions. 
 
 The Suffete asked for Giddenem, the governor of 
 the slaves, who appeared, displaying the dignity of 
 his office by the richness of his costume : his 
 tunic, slit at the sides, was of fine purple ; heavy 
 rings dragged down his ear-lobes ; and to join the 
 bands of material enveloping his legs was a gold 
 lacing, like a serpent coiling around a tree, reach- 
 
1 86 SALAMMBO. 
 
 ing from his ankles to his hips. In his hands, 
 covered with rings, he held a string of jet beads, 
 to identify the men subject to the accursed malady. 
 
 Hamilcar signed him to detach the slaves' muzzles, 
 when they all, with cries like famished animals, 
 rushed upon the meal, burying their faces in the 
 heaps to devour it. 
 
 " See, you starve them, and exhaust their forces !" 
 said the Suffete. 
 
 Giddenem replied that he was obliged to do so in 
 order to subdue them. 
 
 "According to this, it was scarcely worth the while 
 to send you to the training-school for slaves at Syra- 
 cuse. Bid all the other slaves come before me." 
 
 And the cooks, butlers, grooms, runners, porters of 
 the litters, men from the sweating-baths, and the 
 women with their children, all ranged themselves in 
 the gardens in a single file, from the house of com- 
 merce as far as the park for wild animals. These 
 creatures all held their breaths, terror-stricken, and a 
 vast silence reigned over Megara. The sun length- 
 ened its rays over the Lagoon below the catacombs. 
 The peacocks began to squawk. Hamilcar moved 
 step by step, before this array of slaves. 
 
 " Of what use are these old slaves ?" said he. 
 " Sell them ; there are too many Gauls ; thev are 
 drunkards ! and too many Cretans, they are liars ! 
 Buy for me instead Cappadocians, Asiatics, and 
 Negroes.'" 
 
 He was astonished at the small number of children, 
 saying, " Every year, Giddenem, the establishment 
 should have some births. You must leave the huts 
 open every night, so that they may mix at liberty." 
 
HAMILCAR BARCA. I 87 
 
 In succession, the governor pointed out to him the 
 thieves, the lazy, and the mutinous, and he distri- 
 buted the manner of chastisements, with reproaches 
 to Giddenem, who, like a bull, drooped his low fore- 
 head, with his thick intercrossed eyebrows. 
 
 "Look, Eye of Baal," said the governor, designat- 
 ing a robust Libyan, " there ; behold one who was 
 discovered with a rope around his neck." 
 
 " Ah ! so you want to die ?" disdainfully said the 
 Suffete. 
 
 And the slave, in an intrepid tone, answered 
 "Yes!" 
 
 Without caring either for the example or pecu- 
 niary loss, Hamilcar ordered — "Away with him!" 
 
 Perhaps he had in his mind the idea of a sacrifice. 
 It was a misfortune that he himself inflicted in 
 order possibly to ward off more terrible ones. 
 
 Giddenem had hidden the mutilated slaves behind 
 the others, but Hamilcar perceived them, and de- 
 manded of one: 
 
 " Who cut your arm ?" 
 
 " The soldiers, Eve of Baal." 
 
 Then addressing himself to a Samnite, who hobbled 
 like a wounded heron, he said : 
 
 " And you — who did that to you ?" 
 
 The governor had broken this slave's leg with an 
 iron bar. Such atrocious imbecility exasperated the 
 Suffete, and he jerked away from Giddenem the 
 string of jet. 
 
 " Curses be upon the dog who wounds the herds ! 
 Crippler of slaves — the bounty of Tanit ! Ah, thus 
 would vou ruin your master ! Let him be smothered 
 in a dung-heap ! But those who are missing, where 
 
1 88 SALAMMBO. 
 
 are they ? Have you allowed the soldiers to assas- 
 sinate them ?" 
 
 Hamilcar's face became so terrible that all the 
 women fled, and the slaves drew back, making a 
 wide circle ; meantime Giddenem frantically kissed 
 Hamilcar's feet, who stood with his hands lifted over 
 him. 
 
 But his mind, now lucid as during the most 
 critical moment of battle, recalled a thousand odious 
 things, the ignominies from which he had turned, 
 and by the light of his anger, as by the fulgurations 
 of a terrible storm, he instantly resaw all his disasters. 
 The governors of the fields had fled from terror, 
 possibly by connivance with the soldiers ; all were 
 deceiving him. For a long time he had restrained 
 himself; but now he cried out : 
 
 " Let them be brought ! and branded on their fore- 
 heads with hot iron, as cowards !" 
 
 The fetters, pillories, knives, and chains for those 
 condemned to the mines, the cippes to grip their 
 legs, the numella to confine their shoulders, and 
 the scorpions, or whips of three thongs terminating 
 in brazen chains, all were brought and spread out 
 through the middle of the gardens. 
 
 The slaves were placed facing the sun, towards 
 Moloch the Devourer, extended on the ground flat on 
 their faces, or on their backs ; and those condemned 
 to flagellation were fastened against trees with two 
 men beside them, the one who struck the blows, 
 and the other who counted the stripes. The former 
 wielded the whip with both arms, the thongs 
 whistled sharply through the air at each blow, 
 making the bark fly off the plane-trees, and the blood 
 
HAMILCAR BARCA. I 89 
 
 spurt from the culprit's body like rain over the 
 foliage : and red masses writhed, howling, at the foot 
 of the trees. 
 
 Those who were branded tore their faces with 
 their nails. The wooden vices creaked, dull thuds 
 were heard, and at times, above all, a sharp scream 
 from the victim suddenly pierced the air. 
 
 In the direction of the kitchens could be seen, 
 amid ragged clothing and dishevelled hair, men 
 with bellows reviving the fires, and the atmosphere 
 was charged with the odour of burning flesh. 
 
 The whipped creatures fainted ; but retained by 
 the cords around their arms, helplessly rolled their 
 heads on their shoulders with closed eyes. Those 
 who watched them uttered screams of fright: and 
 the lions, perhaps recalling the recent feast, yawned 
 and stretched themselves against the confines of their 
 pits. 
 
 Salammbo was now seen on the platform of her 
 terrace : she walked rapidly from right to left in 
 terror. Hamilcar saw her, and it seemed to him 
 that she lifted her arms towards him to beseech 
 mercy. With a gesture of horror he straightway 
 passed into the elephant paddocks. 
 
 These animals were always the pride of the noble 
 Punic families. Thev had borne their ancestors, 
 had triumphed in the Avars, and they were venerated 
 as favourites of the sun. Those of Megara were the 
 strongest in Carthage. 
 
 Before his departure on his last expedition, Ham- 
 ilcar had charged Abdalonim under oath that he 
 would ever watch over these creatures. But they 
 had died from their mutilations, and now only three 
 
I90 SALAMMBO. 
 
 remained, lying in the middle of the court in the 
 dust, before the remnants of their manger. 
 
 Recognising Hamilcar, the elephants came towards 
 him. One had his ears dreadfully slit ; another a 
 large gaping wound on his knees ; and the third 
 had his trunk cut off. They looked at him with a 
 pitiful air } like reasoning persons: and the one that 
 had lost his trunk lowered his enormous head, and 
 bending his knees, endeavoured to stroke his master 
 gently with the hideous extremity of the stump. 
 At this caress from the wounded animal tears gushed 
 from the Suffete's eyes, and he sprang upon Abda- 
 lonim. 
 
 " Oh, wretch ! to the cross ! to the cross ! " Ab- 
 dalonim fainted, falling backward on the ground. 
 
 From behind the purple factories, whence blue 
 smoke slowly curled up to the heavens, at this 
 moment a jackal's yelp echoed. Hamilcar paused. 
 
 The thought of his son, like the contact with a 
 God, calmed him at once. It was a prolongation of 
 his strength, an indefinite continuation of his per- 
 sonality, which now he caught a glimpse of ; and 
 the slaves could not comprehend from what source 
 came this sudden appeasement to their master. 
 
 He immediately diverged towards the purple 
 factories ; he passed before the ergastuhim, a long, 
 black stone structure built in a square pit, with a 
 little passage around it, and a stairway at each of the 
 corners. 
 
 To complete his signal Iddibal was doubtless wait- 
 ing for nightfall. Nothing was yet pressing, Hamil- 
 car thought. As he descended into the prison some 
 cried out to him : 
 
HAMILCAR BARCA. 19! 
 
 u Turn back ! " The most daring followed him. 
 
 The open door swung and battered to and fro in 
 the wind. Twilight entered through the narrow 
 loopholes, revealing in the interior broken chains 
 hanging to the walls. Behold, these were all that 
 remained of the war captives ! Then Hamilcar grew 
 extraordinarily pale, and those who lingered outside 
 in the ditch saw him support himself by his hand 
 against the wall to keep from falling. But the 
 jackal yelped three times in succession. Hamilcar 
 lifted his head, he did not speak a word, he did 
 not move. As soon as the sun had completely set 
 he disappeared behind the fig-tree hedge ; and at 
 night, as he entered the assembly of the Rich con- 
 vened in the temple of Eschmoun, he said : 
 
 " Lights of the Baalim, I accept the command of 
 the Punic forces against the Barbarian army ! " 
 
CHAPTER VIII. 
 
 THE BATTLE OF THE MACAR. 
 
 The next day Hamilcar drew from the Syssites two 
 hundred and twenty-three thousand kikars of gold, 
 and levied a tax of fourteen shekels on the Rich. 
 Even the women were called upon to contribute, 
 and a tax was exacted for the children ; and — mon- 
 strous deviation from Carthaginian customs — he 
 forced the colleges of priests to furnish money. 
 
 He likewise requisitioned all the horses, mules, 
 and weapons. The possessions of those citizens 
 who endeavoured to misrepresent their wealth, were 
 confiscated and sold ; and, in order to abash the 
 avaricious, he personally contributed sixty armours, 
 and twelve hundred gommers of meal, — as much as 
 the Ivory Company. 
 
 He sent to Liguria to hire as soldiers, three thou- 
 sand mountaineers, accustomed to fight bears, advanc- 
 ing to them six moons' pay, at four minaa per day. 
 
 Notwithstanding that it was necessary to form 
 
 an army, he did not accept, like Hanno, all the 
 
 citizens whosoever offered. In the first place he 
 
 rejected people of sedentary occupations ; next, those 
 
 192 
 
THE BATTLE OF THE MACAR. 1 93 
 
 whose bellies were too gross, or whose appearance 
 was cowardly ; while he admitted dishonoured men, 
 the dissolute of Malqua, the sons of Barbarians, and 
 emancipated slaves. As recompense, he promised to 
 the New Carthaginians the complete rights of the 
 city. 
 
 His first task was to reform the Legion, — those 
 fine young men, who considered themselves the 
 military majesty of the Republic, and were self- 
 governed. He reduced all the officers to the ranks ; 
 he treated the men roughly, making them run, leap, 
 and ascend without halting the acclivity of Byrsa ; 
 hurl javelins, wrestle, and even sleep out of doors 
 in the public squares. Their families seeing this, 
 pitied them. 
 
 He directed that the glaives should be made 
 shorter, and the brogues stouter ; he restricted the 
 number of attendants, and reduced the baggage. 
 
 In the temple of Moloch there was kept a treasure 
 of three hundred Roman pilums, which he took de- 
 spite the pontiff's protestation. 
 
 With the elephants which had returned from Utica, 
 and those which were the personal property of 
 citizens, he organised a phalanx of seventy-two, and 
 by every device rendered them most formidable. 
 Their conductors were provided with a mallet and 
 chisel to split open the animals' skulls, if during a 
 melee they became unmanageable. 
 
 He would not permit the Grand Council to name 
 his generals. The Elders endeavoured to oppose 
 the laws to him, but he overrode them, and not one 
 dared murmur : all bent under the vehemence of 
 
 his genius. He assumed the sole charge of the war, 
 
 O 
 
194 SALAMMBO. 
 
 the government, and the finances ; and, in order to 
 prevent accusations against him, he demanded that 
 the Suffete Hanno should be made examiner of his 
 accounts. 
 
 To procure sufficient stones to repair the rampart 
 he demolished the old interior walls, which were at 
 present useless. But the differences of fortunes 
 replacing the hierarchy of races, continued to main-, 
 tain a demarcation between the sons of the vanquished 
 and those of the victors ; so that the patricians 
 watched with an irritated eye the destruction of 
 these ruins, while the plebeians, without well know- 
 ing why, rejoiced over it. 
 
 Armed troops from morning till night defiled 
 through the streets ; every moment the sound of 
 trumpets could be heard ; chariots passed loaded with 
 bucklers, tents, and pikes ; the courts were thronged 
 with women making bandages ; the ardour of one 
 was communicated to another ; the soul of Hamilcar 
 pervaded the Republic. 
 
 He had distributed the soldiers in equal numbers 
 of pairs, taking care to place along the lines alter- 
 nately a strong and a weak man, so that the less 
 vigorous or more cowardly was at the same time 
 led and impelled by two others. But with his three 
 thousand Ligurians and the best of the Cartha- 
 ginians, he could only form a simple phalanx of 
 four thousand and ninety-six hoplites, protected by 
 bronze casques, and wielding ashwood sarissas four- 
 teen cubits long. Two thousand young men were 
 equipped with slings and a poniard, and shod in 
 sandals. These he reinforced with eight hundred 
 others, armed with round bucklers and Roman glaives. 
 
THE BATTLE OF THE MACAR. 1 95 
 
 The heavy cavalry was comprised of the nineteen 
 hundred guards yet remaning of the Legion, mailed 
 in vermilion bronze like the Assyrian Clinabarians. 
 He had four hundred mounted archers, called 
 Tarentines, wearing weasel-skin caps and leather 
 tunics, and armed with a double-edged battle-axe. 
 Finally, mixed with the Clinabarians were twelve 
 hundred Negroes from the quarter of the caravans, 
 whose duty it was to run alongside of the stallions, 
 supporting themselves by clutching their manes with 
 one hand. 
 
 All was ready ; however, Hamilcar did not start. 
 
 Frequently at night he would leave Carthage un- 
 accompanied, and go a distance beyond the Lagoon, 
 towards the embouchures of the Macar. Did he wish 
 to join the Mercenaries ? The Ligurians camped in 
 the Mappals surrounded his mansion. 
 
 These apprehensions entertained by the Rich ap- 
 peared justifiable, when one day they beheld three 
 hundred Barbarians approach the walls. The Suffete 
 ordered the gates to be opened to admit them ; they 
 were deserters, and ran towards their master, impelled 
 either by their fear or their fidelity. 
 
 Hamilcar's return had not astonished the Mer- 
 cenaries, for in their mind this man could not die. 
 He was returning to fulfil his promises — a hope which 
 had in it nothing absurd, considering how deep the 
 abyss was between the Republic and the army. 
 Besides, the}" did not deem themselves culpable, 
 for they had forgotten their depredations at the 
 feast. 
 
 The spies whom they had surprised undeceived 
 them. This was a triumph for the desperate ; even 
 
 o 2 
 
I96 SALAMMBO. 
 
 the lukewarm became furious. The two sieges had 
 overwhelmed them with weariness ; nothing pro- 
 gressed ; it were far better to engage in battle ! Thus, 
 many of the men disbanding, wandered over the 
 country, but at the rumour of the armament they 
 returned. 
 
 Matho leaped with joy, crying out : • 
 
 "At last! At last !" 
 
 The resentment which he had centred upon 
 Salammbo now vented itself upon Hamilcar. His 
 hatred now perceived for its object a settled prey ; 
 and as vengeance became more easy to conceive, he 
 almost fancied he had attained, and already rejoiced 
 in it. At the same time he was possessed by a 
 deeper tenderness and devoured by a keener desire. 
 
 Now he saw himself in the midst of the soldiers, 
 brandishing the Suffete's head upon a pike. Then 
 in the chamber with the purple couch, holding the 
 maiden in his arms, covering her face with kisses, 
 stroking caressingly her splendid long black hair ; 
 and this vision, which he knew could not be realised, 
 tortured him. He swore to himself, since his com- 
 rades had named him Schalischim, to carry on the 
 war, and the certainty that he would never return 
 from it made him determine to render it pitiless. 
 
 He sought out Spendius in his tent, and said to 
 him : 
 
 " You take your men ! I shall bring mine ! 
 Warn Autharitus ! We are lost if Hamilcar attacks 
 us ! Do you hear me ? Arise ! " 
 
 Spendius remained stupified before this authorita- 
 tive air. Matho had habitually permitted himself 
 to be led, and the fits of passion he had previously 
 
THE BATTLE OF THE MACAR. 1 97 
 
 evinced had always quickly subsided. But at present 
 he seemed at once calmer and more terrible ; a superb 
 will flashed in his eyes like the flames of a sacrifice. 
 
 The Greek did not heed Matho's reasons. He 
 occupied one of the pearl embroidered Carthaginian 
 tents, spending his time drinking cool drinks from 
 silver cups, playing at cottabus ; let his hair grow 
 long, and conducted the siege with slowness. In fact, 
 he had established secret communications with the 
 city, and did not wish to depart, knowing that before 
 many days it would open its gates. 
 
 Narr' Havas, who constantly wandered between the 
 three armies, at this juncture was found near Spen- 
 dius. He supported the Greek's opinion, and even 
 blamed Matho for being willing through an excess 
 of courage to abandon their enterprise. 
 
 "Leave, then, if you are afraid!" cried Matho/ 
 " you have promised to supply us with pitch, sulphur, 
 elephants, foot soldiers and horses, where are they ?" 
 
 Narr' Havas reminded him that he had exter- 
 minated Hanno's last cohorts ; as for the elephants, 
 his men were now hunting for them in his forests ; 
 that he was equipping the infantry, and that the 
 horses were on the march. 
 
 As he talked the Numidian kept caressing the 
 ostrich plume that fell over his shoulder, rolling his 
 eyes like a woman, all the time smiling in an aggra- 
 vating manner. Matho stood before him unable to 
 make any response. 
 
 Just then an unknown man entered, dripping 
 with sweat, terrified, his feet bleeding, his girdle 
 unfastened ; and his laboured respiration shook his 
 thin sides as if thev would burst : he launched forth 
 
I98 SALAMMBO. 
 
 in an unintelligible dialect, with wide open eyes, as 
 though he was recounting a battle. 
 
 The Numidian king sprang outside the tent and 
 summoned his horsemen. They ranged themselves 
 on the plain in the form of a circle before Narr' 
 Havas, who was now mounted ; he lowered his head 
 and bit his lips. At last he divided his men in two 
 sections, ordering the first section to await him ; 
 then, with an imperious gesture, leading the other 
 section at a gallop, he disappeared on the horizon 
 in the direction of the mountains. 
 
 " Master !" murmured Spendius, — " I do not like 
 these extraordinary chances — the Suffete who re- 
 turns, and Narr' Havas who goes off !" 
 
 " Well ! what matter ?" said Matho disdainfully. 
 
 This was another evident reason why they must 
 forestall Hamilcar and rejoin Autharitus. But if 
 they abandoned the siege of the cities the inhabi- 
 tants would attack them in the rear, while they 
 would have the Carthaginians in front of them. 
 After many discussions they resolved upon the 
 following plan, which was immediately executed. 
 
 Spendius with fifteen thousand men proceeded as 
 far as the bridge over the Macar, three miles from 
 Utica. The angles of it were fortified by four enor- 
 mous towers upon which were planted catapults. 
 With trunks of trees and masses of rock, barricades 
 of thornbushes and stone walls, they blocked all the 
 mountain paths and gorges. On the summits heaps 
 of grass were piled up ready to be fired as signals ; 
 and shepherds trained to see at long distances were 
 posted there at regular intervals. 
 
 Hamilcar doubtless would not take the road 
 
THE BATTLE OF THE MACAR. 1 99 
 
 by the Hot Springs Mountain as Hanno had done. 
 He would certainly think that Autharitus, being 
 master of the interior, could close the road against 
 him. Then a check at the beginning of the 
 campaign would ruin him, while a victory would 
 only result in soon having to begin over again, 
 as the Mercenaries would be further off. He 
 could yet land at the Cape of Grapes and then 
 march on to one of the cities ; but he would find 
 himself between the two armies : an imprudence 
 of which he was incapable with such a small number 
 of troops. Therefore he was bound to skirt the base 
 of the Ariana and turn to the left to avoid the 
 embouchures of the Macar, and march straight to 
 the bridge. It was at this point Matho waited for 
 him. 
 
 At night by torch-light he superintended the 
 pioneers ; anon he sallied forth to Hippo-Zarytus, to 
 inspect the works in the mountains ; returning, op- 
 pressed with his plans, he could not rest. 
 
 Spendius envied his tireless force, but for all 
 details as to directing the spies, the choice of senti- 
 nels, the construction of machines, and all measures 
 for defence, Matho listened docilely to his com- 
 panion ; henceforth they talked no more about 
 Salammbo, — one not thinking of her, and the other 
 restrained by a sense of shame. 
 
 Often Matho went in the direction of Carthage, 
 endeavouring to see Hamilcar's army. He darted his 
 eyes along the horizon, threw himself flat on the 
 earth, and in the throbbing of his own arteries 
 believed that he heard the tramp of troops. 
 
 He declared to Spendius, that if before three days 
 
200 SALAMMBO. 
 
 Hamilcar had not advanced, he should march with 
 all his men to meet him and offer battle. Two days 
 more passed, still Spendins detained him ; but the 
 morning of the sixth day he departed. 
 
 The Carthaginians were no less impatient for 
 battle than the Barbarians. In the tents and in the 
 houses all were moved by the same desire, by the 
 same pangs ; all asked themselves what kept Hamil- 
 car back. 
 
 From time to time, the Suffete ascended the cupola 
 of the temple of Eschmoun and stood beside the 
 Annunciator -of- the- Moon to observe the winds. 
 One day, the third of the month of Tibby, he was 
 seen descending the Acropolis with hurried steps. 
 A great clamour was raised in the Mappals, quickly 
 the streets were filled with commotion, and every- 
 where soldiers began to arm themselves, amid the 
 cries of distracted women, who threw themselves 
 upon the men's breasts. Once equipped, they ran to 
 the square of Khamoun and fell into their ranks. 
 No one was permitted to follow or speak to the 
 soldiers, or approach the ramparts : during some 
 minutes the entire city was as silent as a vast tomb. 
 The soldiers, leaning on their lances, dreamed, and 
 those in the houses sighed. 
 
 At sunset the army marched through the western 
 gate, but instead of taking the road to Tunis to gain 
 the mountains in the direction of Utica, they con- 
 tinued along the sea-coast, and by this road they soon 
 attained the Lagoon, where large round spots whitened 
 with salt glistened like gigantic silver plates for- 
 gotten on the banks. Further on the puddles of water 
 
THE BATTLE OF THE MACAR. 201 
 
 multiplied, the ground gradually became softer, the 
 soldiers' feet sank beneath the surface ; yet Hamilcar 
 would not turn back. He always moved at the head 
 of the troops, mounted on his horse, spotted yellow 
 like a dragon, that kept tossing the froth about him- 
 self as he advanced by dint of stout efforts through 
 the mire. Some of the soldiers cried out that they 
 would perish ; he snatched away the weapons from 
 these whimperers and gave them to the servants. 
 
 At every step the mud became deeper and deeper : 
 it was necessary for the men to mount the beasts of 
 burden, others clung to the horses' tails ; the robust 
 pulled up the weak, and the Ligurians urged for- 
 ward the infantry at the points of their spears. The 
 obscurity increased : the road was lost : all halted. 
 
 Then the Suffete's slaves advanced to seek for the 
 landmarks planted at certain distances by his orders ; 
 presently they shouted out through the darkness 
 from a distance, and the army followed them. 
 
 Finally, the resistance of firm ground was felt 
 under foot. Then a whitish curve became vaguely 
 outlined, and they soon found themselves on the 
 shores of the Macar. Notwithstanding the cold, the 
 camp fires were not lighted. 
 
 In the middle of the night wind squalls arose. 
 Hamilcar commanded the officers to arouse the sol- 
 diers, but not to sound the trumpets : therefore the 
 captains quietly moved about, tapping the men on 
 their shoulders. 
 
 A very tall man waded into the water, and as it 
 did not reach to his girdle, the army could ford it. 
 
 The Suffete ordered that thirty-two of the elephants 
 should be placed in the stream, one hundred p^ces 
 
202 SALAMMBO. 
 
 apart, whilst others should be stationed below to 
 stay the lines of men from being swept away by 
 the current ; and all the troops, holding their weapons 
 above their heads, crossed over the Macar as between 
 two walls. Hamilcar's observations had revealed 
 the fact, that the westerly winds drove the sand so 
 as to obstruct the stream by forming across it a 
 natural causeway. 
 
 Now he was on the left bank facing Utica on a 
 vast plain, an advantage for his elephants, which 
 after all constituted the main strength of his army. 
 
 This stroke of genius aroused the enthusiasm of 
 the soldiers, and an extraordinary confidence returned 
 to them ; they wanted to fall immediately upon the 
 Barbarians ; but the Sulfete ordered them to rest for 
 two hours. 
 
 As soon as the gun appeared the troops were 
 again put in motion on the plains, in three lines, the 
 elephants in front of the light infantry with the 
 cavalry behind them, and at the rear marched the 
 phalanx. 
 
 The Barbarians encamped at Utica, and the fifteen 
 thousand around the bridge, were surprised to see in 
 the distance the ground undulate. The wind, which 
 blew very strongly, chased the dust in whirlwinds ; 
 they lifted themselves up, as if detached from the 
 soil, in large golden pillars, then disintegrated into 
 nothingness, always recommencing, thus hiding from 
 the view of the Mercenaries the Punic army. In 
 consequence of the effect produced by the horns 
 placed on the side of the casques, some believed that 
 they perceived a herd of cattle ; others, deceived 
 by the fluttering mantles, pretended to distinguish 
 
THE BATTLE OF THE MACAR. 203 
 
 wings ; and those who had travelled much shrugged 
 their shoulders, explaining that it was the illusion 
 of the mirage. Meanwhile something enormous 
 continued to advance. Little vapours, tenuous as 
 breaths, floated over the surface of the desert. The 
 sun, now much higher, shone more powerfully ; a 
 fierce glare, which seemed to quiver, made the 
 depth of the sky more profound, and affecting all 
 objects, rendered the distance incalculable. 
 
 The immense plain developed on all sides until lost 
 to view ; and the almost invisible undulations of the 
 ground were prolonged to the extreme horizon, closed 
 in by the long blue line of the sea. The two armies 
 w r ent forth from their tents to behold ; and the people 
 of Utica, in order to see better, crowded upon the 
 ramparts. 
 
 They distinguished many transverse bars bristling 
 with even points ; these became thicker and larger ; 
 black hillocks swayed ; suddenly square bushes ap- 
 peared : they were the elephants and the lances. A 
 single veil burst forth : 
 
 " The Carthaginians !" and, without signal, without 
 command, the soldiers at Utica and those stationed 
 at the bridge made a dash pell-mell to fall together 
 in one body upon Hamilcar. 
 
 At this name Spendius trembled and breathlessly 
 repeated — w ' Hamilcar ! Hamilcar !" And Matho was 
 not there ! What should he do ? No means for flight ! 
 
 The surprise of this event, the terror he experienced 
 for the Suffete, and above all the urgency for an im- 
 mediate resolution, upset him : he fancied that he saw 
 himself slashed by a thousand swords, decapitated, 
 dead. 
 
204 SALAMMBO. 
 
 Meanwhile they called for him. Thirty thousand 
 men were about to follow his leadership ; a fury 
 against himself seized him as he fell back upon the 
 hope of victory ; it was full of delight, and he 
 fancied himself braver than Epaminondas. To hide 
 his pallor he daubed his cheeks with vermilion, 
 then buckled on his greaves and cuirass, swallowed 
 a cup of pure wine, and ran hotly after his troops, 
 that had hastened towards those of Utica. 
 
 Both divisions united so rapidly that the Suffete 
 had not time to range his men in line of battle. 
 Gradually he slackened his pace. 
 
 The elephants stopped, swaying their heavy heads, 
 covered with ostrich-plumes, as they struck them- 
 selves on their shoulders with their trunks. 
 
 At the back through the intervals could be distin- 
 guished the cohorts of velites, and further on, the 
 large helmets of the Clinabarians with polished 
 weapons that glittered under the sun's rays, cuirasses, 
 plumes, and waving standards. 
 
 But the Punic army all told numbering only eleven 
 thousand three hundred and ninety-six men, seemed 
 scarcely to contain so many, for it formed a long 
 square, narrowed at the flank and closed up on itself. 
 In seeing them so weak the Barbarians were possessed 
 by a disorderly joy, as they were three times the 
 number of the enemy. 
 
 As yet no one could discern Hamilcar ; he had 
 perhaps remained behind ? What difference any 
 way ? The disdain that they had for these mer- 
 chant soldiers reinforced their courage, and before 
 Spendius could command the manoeuvre, it had all 
 been anticipated and already executed. 
 
THE BATTLE OF THE MACAR. 205 
 
 They deployed in a long straight line that over- 
 lapped the wings of the Punic army, in order to 
 completely envelope it. But when they were not 
 more than three hundred paces apart, the elephants, 
 instead of advancing, turned back ; then behold, the 
 Clinabarians wheeled round and followed them, and 
 the surprise of the Mercenaries redoubled as they 
 perceived all the archers running to rejoin them. 
 The Carthaginians were then afraid and were flying ! 
 A formidable hooting burst out among the Barbarian 
 troops, and from the back of his dromedary Spending 
 cried out : 
 
 "Ah, I knew it well ! Advance ! Advance !" 
 
 Then launched forth instantaneously through the 
 air, streams of javelins and darts, and balls from whir- 
 ring slings. The elephants, galled on their haunches 
 by the flying arrows, were put in a rapid gallop and 
 stirred up a great dust, that so completely enveloped 
 them that they vanished like shadows in a cloud. 
 
 Now far beyond could be distinguished a loud 
 noise of tramping, predominated over by the shrill 
 blare of trumpets blown with fury. The sjjaces be- 
 fore the Barbarians, full of eddies and tumult, drew 
 them in like a whirlpool, and some dashed headlong 
 into it. The cohorts of infantry appeared ; they closed 
 their ranks, and simultaneously all the others saw 
 the foot soldiers running with the galloping cavalry. 
 
 Hamilcar had commanded the phalanx to break its 
 sections, for the elephants, light infantry, and cavalry 
 to pass through these intervals, in order to quickly take 
 up their station on the wings, and had so exactly cal- 
 culated the distance from the Barbarians, that at the 
 moment when they came within reach, the entire 
 
2o6 SALAMMBO. 
 
 Carthaginian army was re-formed in a great straight 
 line. In the centre bristled the phalanx, formed in 
 syntagmata or perfect squares, having sixteen men on 
 each side. All the file leaders appeared between the 
 long sharp points, which jutted unequally beyond 
 them, as the first six ranks crossed their sarissas, 
 holding them in the middle, and the ten inner ranks 
 supported theirs on the shoulders of their comrades 
 immediately before them. 
 
 Their faces half disappeared under the visors of their 
 casques, bronze greaves covered their right legs, and 
 broad cylindrical shields reached down to their knees ; 
 and this awful quadrangular mass, moving as a single 
 piece, seemed to possess the life of an animal and 
 the functions of a machine. Two cohorts of ele- 
 phants regularly bordered it, and the huge creatures 
 shuddered, to detach the splinters of the arrows stick- 
 ing in their black hides. The Indians crouched on 
 their necks amidst tufts of white plumes, guiding 
 them with the spoon-shaped end of the harpoons they 
 wielded ; while in the towers men concealed as far 
 as their shoulders, waved, behind the great bent bows, 
 iron holders containing burning tow. 
 
 On the right and left of the elephants hovered 
 the slingers, with a sling around their heads, an- 
 other about their loins, and a third in their right 
 hands. Then came the Clinabarians, each one 
 flanked by a Negro, holding their lances between the 
 ears of their horses, covered, like their riders, with 
 gold. Following at certain spaces came the light- 
 armed soldiers, with bucklers of lynx-skin, over 
 which projected the points of the javelins they held in 
 their left hands ; and the Tarentines, managing two 
 
THE BATTLE OF THE MACAR. 207 
 
 horses coupled together, finished off at both ends this 
 wall of soldiers. 
 
 The Barbarian army, on the contrary, had not been 
 able to maintain its allignment. Its enormous 
 length wavered and opened out gaps. All panted 
 breathless from running. The phalanx swayed 
 heavily as it thrust forward all its sarissas ; under 
 this tremendous weight the Mercenaries' lines, too 
 thin, gave way in the middle. 
 
 The Carthaginian wings spread out to seize them ; 
 the elephants followed : with lances held obliquely 
 the phalanx cut the Barbarians in two ; both the 
 enormous fragments were shaken ; the wings, with 
 volleys of arrows and balls, drove them back against 
 the phalangites. The cavalry failed to disengage itself, 
 with the exception of two hundred Numidians, who 
 charged the right squadron of the Clinabarians. All 
 the others found themselves enclosed and could not 
 escape from the lines. Destruction was imminent 
 and a resolution urgent. 
 
 Spendius commanded an attack on the phalanx 
 to be made simultaneously on the two flanks, to 
 force a passage right through it. But the narrow- 
 est ranks glided within the longest ones, returned 
 to their position, and the phalanx wheeled to meet 
 the Barbarians, as terrible on its flanks as it had 
 been just before on its front. 
 
 They struck against the shafts of the long sarissas ; 
 the cavalry in the rear foiled their attack, and the 
 phalanx, supported by the elephants, kept closing up 
 and extending, and presented successively a square, 
 a cone, a rhombus, a trapezium, and a pyramid. A 
 double interior movement was continually being 
 
208 SALAMMBO. 
 
 made from its front to its rear, as those who were at 
 the base of files ran towards the first ranks, while 
 such of them as were fatigued or wounded fell back 
 to the base. The Barbarians found themselves 
 crowded on to the phalanx. It was impossible for 
 it to advance ; the field of action appeared like an 
 ocean whereon were tossing red plumes and bronze 
 scales, while the bright bucklers rolled like silver 
 foam. Sometimes from end to end wide currents 
 would descend and then ascend, while in the middle 
 a dense mass remained immovable. 
 
 The lances inclined and rose alternately. Else- 
 where, was a movement of naked blades so rapid 
 that only the points could be distinguished, and the 
 turms of cavalry swept in wide circles which closed 
 up behind them in eddies. 
 
 Above the captains' voices the blare of the clarions 
 and twanging of lyres, leaden bullets and almond- 
 shaped pellets of clay whistled in their flight through 
 the air, smiting swords from the hands that clasped 
 them, and making brains leap from the skulls. The 
 wounded, sheltering themselves with one arm under 
 their shields, pointed their swords with the pommel 
 rested on the ground, and others, writhing in 
 pools of blood, turned to bite the passers' heels. 
 The multitude was so compact, the dust so thick, 
 the tumult so deafening, that it was impossible to 
 clearly distinguish anything ; the cowards who 
 offered to surrender were not even heard. When 
 men were disarmed they gripped body to body, and 
 breasts cracked against the cuirasses, and the heads 
 of the corpses hung backwards between two nerve- 
 less arms. 
 
THE BATTLE OF THE MACAR. 2CX) 
 
 There was a company of sixty Umbrians who 
 stood firmly on their legs, their pikes advanced 
 before their eyes, unshaken and grinding their teeth 
 as they cut down and forced back two syntagmata 
 at once. The Epirote shepherds ran on to the left 
 squadron of the Clinabarians, seized their horses 
 by the manes, twisting their clubs in them, till the 
 tortured animals, throwing their riders, fled across 
 the plain. The Punic slingers, scattered here and 
 there, stood agape. The phalanx began to waver, the 
 captains ran about distracted, the rear ranks pushed 
 on the soldiers, and the Barbarians had re-formed 
 their lines. They returned to the charge ; the victory 
 was within their grasp. 
 
 But a cry, one frightful shriek, burst out, a roar of 
 pain and rage ; it was the seventy-two elephants 
 charging down in a double line. Hamilcar had 
 waited until the Mercenaries were massed in a 
 single spot, before loosing the elephants upon them ; 
 the Indians had goaded them so vehemently that 
 the blood ran over their large ears. Their trunks 
 were bedaubed with minium, and they held them 
 straight in the air like red serpents ; their breasts 
 were accoutred with a boar-spear, their backs with 
 a cuirass, their tusks elongated with iron blades 
 curved like sabres ; and to render them more ferocious, 
 they had been intoxicated with a mixture of pepper, 
 pure wine, and incense. They shook their collars of 
 bells, shrieking, and the elephantarchs lowered their 
 heads to avoid the stream of flaming darts which 
 began to fly from the tops of the towers. 
 
 In order to resist the charge more effectually the 
 Barbarians closed up in a compact body ; the elephants 
 
 P 
 
2IO SALAMMBO. 
 
 threw themselves impetuously into the middle. The 
 boar-spears attached to their breasts like the prows 
 of ships clove through the cohorts ; they fell back in 
 great waves ; with their trunks the elephants kept 
 strangling men, or, even snatching them from the 
 ground, held them over their heads and delivered 
 them to the soldiers in the tower ; with their tusks 
 they disembowelled their victims and tossed their 
 bodies in the air, while long entrails hung from 
 their ivory tusks like tangles of cordage from masts. 
 The Barbarians endeavoured to gouge out their eyes, 
 or hamstring them : even glided under their bellies 
 and plunged their blades up to the hilts, but were 
 crushed beneath the falling animals and perished ; 
 the more intrepid clutched on to their girths, under 
 die down-pouring volley of flames, balls, and arrows, 
 and continued to sever the leather till the wicker 
 towers rolled off like a tower of stones. Fourteen 
 elephants, placed on the extreme right, irritated by 
 their wounds, turned on the second line ; the Indians 
 seized their mallets and chisels, and applying them 
 to the neck- joint, with all their force struck one 
 mighty blow. 
 
 The enormous animals sank down, falling one 
 upon another, forming almost a mountain, and on the 
 heap of carcasses and armour a monstrous elephant, 
 called Fury of Baal, caught by the leg among the 
 chains, trumpeted till evening with an arrow in his 
 eye. 
 
 Meanwhile the others, like conquerors who delight 
 in the extermination of foes, were overthrowing, 
 crushing, stamping, venting their fury on the bodies 
 and on the wrecks. In order to drive them back, 
 
THE BATTLE OF THE MACAR. 211 
 
 the companies pressed around them in close circles, 
 but they pivoted on their hind feet in a continual 
 rotary movement, always advancing. The Cartha- 
 ginians experienced a renewal of vigour, and the 
 battle raged again. 
 
 The Barbarians weakened ; some Greek hoplites 
 threw away their weapons ; a panic seized the others. 
 Spendius could be seen leaning forward on his 
 dromedary as he spurred it on the shoulders with 
 two javelins. Then all dashed towards the wings 
 and ran in the direction of Utica. 
 
 The Clinabarians, whose horses were exhausted, 
 did not attempt to overtake them. The Ligurians, 
 overcome by thirst, screamed for some one to carry 
 them to the stream. But the Carthaginians placed in 
 the middle of the syntagmata, and who had suffered 
 least, stamped their feet with eagerness when they saw 
 their vengeance escaping ; already they were starting 
 in pursuit of the Mercenaries ; Hamilcar appeared. 
 
 He held in with silver reins his spotted horse, all 
 covered with foam. The bandlets attached to the 
 horns of his casque clattered in the wind behind 
 him, and he had placed under his left thigh his oval 
 buckler. With a movement of his three-pointed 
 pike he checked the army. 
 
 The Tarentines sprang quickly from their first on 
 to their second horses, and departed to the right and 
 left towards the water and the city. 
 
 The phalanx easily exterminated all who remained 
 
 of the Barbarians. When the swords came near, they 
 
 closed their eves and stretched out their throats. 
 
 Others defended themselves to the death ; they were 
 
 struck down from a distance under a shower of 
 
 P 2 
 
212 SALAMMB6. 
 
 stones, like mad clogs. Hamilcar had charged his 
 men that they should take prisoners ; but the Car- 
 thaginians obeyed him with rancour, as they expe- 
 rienced so much pleasure in plunging their swords 
 into the Barbarians' bodies. As they felt the heat 
 they set to work with naked arms like mowers, and 
 when they stopped to take breath, they followed with 
 their eyes across the country a horseman in pursuit 
 of a runaway soldier. He succeeded in catching 
 him by the hair and held him thus some moments, 
 then clove him down with a blow of his battle-axe. 
 Night fell. The Carthaginians and Barbarians 
 had disappeared. The elephants that had fled were 
 wandering on the horizon, with their towers on 
 fire, burning in the darkness here and there, like 
 moving light-houses, half lost in the mist ; and no 
 other movement was noticeable over the plain than 
 the rippling of the stream swollen by the corpses 
 which it was carrying out to the sea. 
 
 Two hours after, Matho arrived. By the starlight he 
 caught sight of long unequal heaps lying upon the 
 ground. They were files of Barbarians. He stooped 
 down ; all were dead. He called afar ; not one voice 
 answered. 
 
 That same morning he had quitted Hippo-Zarytus 
 with his soldiers to march on Carthage ; he reached 
 Utica, to find that Spendius's army had just gone, 
 and the inhabitants had begun to fire the war- 
 machines. All had been broken to pieces with 
 fury. But the tumult that was raging in the direc- 
 tion of the bridge redoubled in an incomprehensible 
 manner. Matho had hurried by the shortest route 
 
THE BATTLE OF THE MACAR. 213 
 
 to cross the mountain, and as the Barbarians were 
 flying by the plain, he had met no one. 
 
 In front of him small pyramidal masses stood out 
 in shadow, and nearer, on this side of the stream, 
 were motionless lights level with the ground. In 
 fact, the Carthaginians had drawn back behind the 
 bridge, and to deceive the Barbarians, the Suffete had 
 established numerous posts on the other bank. 
 
 Matho continued to move forward, believing that 
 he distinguished Punic ensigns, for some horses' 
 heads which did not move appeared in the air fixed 
 on the top of staves, thrust in invisible stacks of 
 arms, and he heard in the distance a great uproar, the 
 noise of songs and clinking of cups. 
 
 Then, ignorant where he was, or how to find 
 Spendius, quite overcome by anguish, terrified and 
 lost in the darkness, he most impetuously retraced 
 his steps by the same route. The dawn was break- 
 ing, when from the mountain height he beheld the 
 city, with the frames of the engines blackened by the 
 flames leaning like giant skeletons against the walls. 
 
 All was hushed in an unusual silence and dejection. 
 Amongst his soldiers outside the tents slept men 
 almost naked, stretched out on their backs, or with 
 their foreheads on their arms, supported by their 
 cuirasses. Some of them were ungluing the bloody 
 bandages from their legs. Those who were dying 
 rolled their heads gently ; others dragged them- 
 selves along to fetch their comrades a drink. 
 Along the narrow paths sentinels patrolled to keep 
 themselves warm, or kept their faces turned towards 
 the horizon, with their pikes on their shoulders in 
 a savage attitude. 
 
2 14 SALAMMBO. 
 
 Matho found Spendius sheltered under a piece of 
 canvas that was hung from two poles driven into the 
 ground, clasping his knees between his hands, his 
 head lowered. 
 
 They remained some time without speaking. 
 Finally Matho murmured : 
 
 "Vanquished !" 
 
 Spendius replied in a sombre voice : 
 
 "Yes; vanquished!" 
 
 And to all questions he answered only by gestures 
 of despair. 
 
 Meanwhile, moans and death-rattles were heard on 
 all sides. Matho partially drew aside the canvas. 
 Then the spectacle of the soldiers recalled to him 
 another disaster in the same place, and grinding his 
 teeth, he exclaimed : 
 
 " Wretch ! once already . . . ." 
 
 Spendius interrupted him : 
 
 " But you were not there !" 
 
 " It is a curse ! " cried Matho. "At last, however, 
 1 shall reach him. I shall vanquish him ! I shall 
 kill him ! Ah, if I had only been there !...." The 
 idea of having missed the battle stung him to greater 
 desperation than the defeat. He pulled off his sword 
 and threw it to the ground. "But how have the 
 Carthaginians defeated you ?" 
 
 The former slave recounted the manoeuvres. 
 Matho believed that he saw them, and was exaspe- 
 rated. The army of Utica, instead of running towards 
 the bridge, should have fallen upon Hamilcar from 
 behind. 
 
 "Alas ! I know it," said Spendius. 
 
 " You ought to have doubled the depths of your 
 
THE BATTLE OF THE MACAR. 21 5 
 
 lines, and not to have engaged the phalanx with the 
 light troops, and to have made way for the elephants. 
 At the last moment you could have regained the field ; 
 nothing compelled you to retreat." 
 
 Spendius answered : 
 
 " I saw Hamilcar pass by in his large red mantle, 
 his arms raised above the dust like an eagle flying 
 on the flank of the cohorts, and at every gesture of 
 his head they closed in or extended their ranks ; 
 the crowd drew us the one towards the other ; he 
 was looking at me ; I felt in my heart a cold steel !" 
 
 " Perhaps he might have chosen the day ?" Matho 
 said in an undertone to himself. 
 
 They interrogated each other, trying to discover 
 what had brought the Suffete at the most untoward 
 juncture. They talked of the situation, and to ex- 
 tenuate his fault, or reimbue himself with courage. 
 Spendius declared that there still remained some 
 hope. 
 
 " Even though there remained none it would be 
 of no consequence ! " retorted Matho. " All alone I 
 should continue the war !" 
 
 "And I, also !" cried the Greek. Bounding to his 
 feet, he walked with long strides, his eyes flashing, 
 and a strange smile wrinkled his jackal face. 
 
 " We will recommence : do not quit me again ! 
 1 am not made for battles in the broad daylight ; 
 the flash of swords troubles my vision ; it is a 
 malady ; I have lived too long in the ergastulum. 
 But give me walls to scale at night, and I will 
 penetrate to the citadels, and the corpses shall be 
 cold before eock-crow ! Show me some one, — 
 something, — an enemy, a treasure, a woman," he 
 
2l6 SALAMMB6. 
 
 repeated — " a woman, be she the daughter of a king, 
 and I will quickly bring your desire at your feet. 
 You reproach me for having lost the battle against 
 Hanno ; I nevertheless regained it — confess it ! My 
 drove of swine served us better than a phalanx of 
 Spartans." And yielding to the wish to extol him- 
 self and take his revenge, he enumerated all that 
 he had done for the cause of the Mercenaries. 
 
 " It was I, in the gardens of the Suffete, who incited 
 the Gauls ! Later on at Sicca I maddened them all witli 
 the fear of the Republic ; Gisco was about to send the 
 interpreters back, but I did not choose that they 
 should be able to speak. Ah, how their tongues hung 
 out of their mouths ! Do you remember ? I conducted 
 you to Carthage ; I stole the Za'imph ; I guided you 
 to her presence ; I will do still more ; you shall see !" 
 He burst into laughter like a madman. 
 
 Matho considered him with wide open eyes. He 
 experienced a species of embarrassment before this 
 man, who was at once so cowardly and so terrible. 
 
 The Greek resumed in a jovial tone, snapping his 
 fingers : 
 
 " By Bacchus ! After the rain the sun ! I have worked 
 in the quarries, and I have drunk Massic wine, in 
 a ship which belonged to me, beneath a golden 
 canopy like a Ptolemy. Misfortune ought to render 
 us more capable. By force of toil one bends for- 
 tune. She loves the crafty ; she will yield !" 
 
 He went up to Matho and took him by the arm. 
 
 " Master, at present the Carthaginians are sure of 
 their victory. You have a whole army which has not 
 been in combat, and your men obey you ! Place 
 them in the van. Be assured that my men, for veil- 
 
THE BATTLE OF THE MACAR 217 
 
 geance' sake, will march. I have yet remaining three 
 thousand Carians, twelve hundred slingers and 
 archers, complete cohorts ! We can even form a 
 phalanx : let us return !" 
 
 Matho, stunned by the disaster, until now had 
 thought of no way of escape. He listened with 
 open mouth ; the bronze plates encircling his sides 
 rose and fell with the throbbing of his heart. He 
 picked up his sword and cried out : 
 
 " Follow me ! We inarch !" 
 
 But the scouts, when they returned, reported that 
 the Carthaginian dead had been carried away, the 
 bridge was in ruins, and Hamilcar had disappeared. 
 
CHAPTER IX. 
 
 THE CAMPAIGN. 
 
 Hamilcar had thought that the Mercenaries would 
 await him at Utica, or that they would return against 
 him : finding that his forces were not sufficient to 
 deliver or receive an attack, he had plunged to the 
 south of the right bank of the river, which placed 
 him at once beyond the danger of a surprise. 
 
 From the first, shutting his eyes to their revolt, he 
 wished to detach all the tribes from the cause of the 
 Barbarians ; then, when they should be well isolated 
 in the middle of the provinces, he would fall upon 
 and exterminate them. 
 
 In fourteen days he pacified the region comprised 
 between Thouccaber and Utica, with the cities of 
 Tignicabah, Tessourah, Yacca, and others more to the 
 west. Zounghar, built in the mountains, Assouras, 
 celebrated for its temple, Djeraado, fertile in juniper- 
 trees, Thapitis, and Hagour sent to him ambassadors. 
 
 The people from the country came laden with 
 provisions, imploring his protection, kissing his feet 
 and the feet of his soldiers, and uttering bitter com- 
 plaints against the Barbarians. Some came offering 
 
 in sacks the decapitated heads of Mercenaries whom 
 
 218 
 
THE CAMPAIGN. 219 
 
 they claimed to have killed, but which in fact they 
 had cut from the corpses that they found, as num- 
 berless soldiers were lost in the retreat, and were 
 afterwards picked up dead in different places, under 
 the olive trees or in the vineyards. 
 
 To dazzle the people, Hamilcar, the first day after 
 his victory, sent to Carthage the two thousand 
 prisoners taken on the battle-field. They arrived in 
 long companies each of a hundred men, their arms 
 fastened behind their backs by a bronze bar which 
 caught them at the nape of their necks ; even the 
 wounded, yet)bleeding, were compelled to run, driven 
 along by cuts from the whips of the horsemen riding 
 behind them 
 
 There was a delirium of joy ! It w r as reported 
 that six thousand Barbarians had been killed, the 
 others could not hold out, and the war -ews termi- 
 nated. People embraced one another in the streets, 
 and rubbed butter and cinnamon on the faces of the 
 Dii-PatcecL to express their thankfulness. These 
 Gods, with their big eyes and their gross bellies, with 
 their arms raised to their shoulders, seemed under 
 the access of fresh paint to be alive, and to participate 
 in the gladness of the people. 
 
 The Rich left their doors open ; the city resounded 
 with the beating of tambourines ; the temples were 
 illuminated nightly, and the handmaidens of the 
 Goddess descended to Malqua, and established at the 
 cross-roads tressels of sycamore where they prostituted 
 themselves. Lands were voted to the conquerors ; 
 holocausts to Melkarth ; three hundred golden crowns 
 to the Suffete, and his partisans proposed to decree 
 him new prerogatives and fresh honours. 
 
2 20 SALAMMBO. 
 
 Hamilcar had solicited the Elders to make over- 
 tures to Autharitus, offering to exchange all the 
 Barbarian prisoners, if necessary, for old Gisco, 
 and the other Carthaginians held by him. The 
 Libyans and the Nomads who composed Authari- 
 tus's army scarcely knew the Mercenaries, who were 
 men of Italiote or Greek race ; and inasmuch as the 
 Republic proffered so many Barbarians in exchange 
 for so few Carthaginians, they resolved that it must 
 be for the sole reason that the Barbarian captives 
 possessed no value, whereas the others must have 
 considerable. They feared a trap. Autharitus re- 
 fused. 
 
 Forthwith the Elders issued a decree for the ex- 
 ecution of their prisoners, although the Suffete had 
 written not to put them to death, as he had planned 
 to incorporate the best with his own troops, hoping 
 by this step to encourage defection. But hatred 
 swept away all prudence. 
 
 The two thousand Barbarians were fastened against 
 the stelas of the tombs in the Mappals ; then the ped- 
 lars, kitchen scrubs, embroiderers, and even women, 
 the widows of the dead warriors, with their children, 
 joined by all others who wished, came to kill them 
 with arrows. In order to prolong their torture they 
 slowly took deliberate aim. Each lowered their 
 weapon, and raised it again by turns. The multi- 
 tude crowded up, giving vent to yells. 
 
 The paralytics had themselves brought on stretchers ; 
 many prudently brought their provisions and stayed 
 there till evening ; others passed the night there. 
 Drinking booths had been set up. Many gained large 
 sums by hiring out their bows. 
 
THE CAMPAIGN. 22 1 
 
 The crucified bodies were allowed to stand, resem- 
 bling so many red statues on the tombs ; and the per- 
 vading exultation reached as far as the people of 
 Malqua, descendants of the Autochthonic tribes, who 
 ordinarily were indifferent to events in the Republic. 
 In recognition of the present pleasure afforded to 
 them by the government, they were now concerned in 
 her fortunes, feeling themselves to be Punic, and the 
 Elders considered it crafty thus to have merged the 
 entire people in the same vengeance. 
 
 The sanction of the Gods was not wanting, for from 
 every quarter of the sky ravens descended, beat- 
 ing their wings as they circled in the air, with 
 loud hoarse croaks, and making an enormous cloud 
 which continually wheeled over itself. It could be 
 seen from Clypea, from Rhades, and from the promon- 
 tory of Hermiseum. Sometimes this mass would 
 suddenly rift, widening afar its black spirals ; it 
 was an eagle which swooped into the middle, then 
 soared away. On the terraces, on the domes, on the 
 points of the obelisks, and on the pediments of the 
 temples, here and there, big birds were perched 
 holding in their reddened beaks shreds of human 
 flesh. 
 
 In consequence of the odour the Carthaginians 
 resigned themselves to release the bodies. Some 
 were burned, others were thrown into the sea, and 
 were driven by the north wind on the waves, to be 
 washed upon the beach at the end of the gulf before 
 the camp of Autharitus. 
 
 This chastisement had doubtless terrified the Bar- 
 barians ; as from the roof of Eschmoun they could 
 be sten hastily pulling up their tents, rounding up 
 
222 SALAMMBO. 
 
 their herds, and hoisting the baggage upon the asses, 
 so that by the evening of the same day the entire 
 army had decamped. 
 
 It was intended by marching and countermarch- 
 ing between the Hot Springs Mountain and Hippo- 
 Zarytus, to close to the Suffete the approaches to 
 the Tynan cities, with a possibility of a return to 
 Carthage. 
 
 During this period the two other armies en- 
 deavoured to reach him in the south, Spendins by 
 the east, Matho by the west, so as to unite the three 
 armies and then surprise and entrap him. A totally 
 unlooked-for reinforcement astonished them, for 
 Narr' Havas reappeared with three hundred camels 
 laden with bitumen, twenty-five elephants, and six 
 thousand horsemen. 
 
 In order to weaken the Mercenaries the Suffete 
 had deemed it well to give Narr' Havas enough to 
 do in his own distant kingdom. From the heart 
 of Carthage he had come to an understanding with 
 Masgaba, a Getulian brigand who sought to carve a 
 realm for himself. Supported with Carthaginian 
 silver, the adventurer had stirred the Numidian 
 states to revolt, by the promise of their freedom. 
 But Narr' Havas, warned by the son of his nurse, had 
 surprised Cirta, poisoned the conquerors with the 
 water in the cisterns, had struck off some heads, 
 and reduced everything to order : and he now came 
 more furious than the Barbarians against the Suffete. 
 
 The chiefs of the four armies agreed as to disposi- 
 tions for the war. As it would be prolonged it was 
 necessary to provide against every contingency. 
 
THE CAMPAIGN. 22 3 
 
 It was agreed first to invoke the assistance of the 
 Romans, and the mission was offered to Spending ; 
 but as a fugitive, he did not dare to take charge of 
 it, therefore twelve men from Greek colonies were 
 selected to execute it, and embarked on a Numidian 
 shallop at Annaba. 
 
 Then the chiefs exacted from all of the Barbarians 
 an oath of complete obedience. Each day the cap- 
 tains inspected the clothing and shoes ; even the use 
 of bucklers was forbidden to the sentinels, for they 
 often had been found to prop them against their lances 
 and thus sleep whilst standing upright. Those who 
 dragged about any baggage were constrained to get 
 rid of it ; everything, according to the Roman cus- 
 tom, must be carried on the back. By way of pre- 
 caution against the elephants Matho instituted a 
 corps of panoplied cavalry, in which both man and 
 horse were concealed under a cuirass of hippopo- 
 tamus hide bristling with nails ; and to protect the 
 horses' hoofs, they wore shoes of plaited esparto- 
 grass. 
 
 It was forbidden to pillage the towns, or to tyrannise 
 over the inhabitants of non-Punic race. As the 
 country was being drained, Matho ordered the dis- 
 tribution of rations to the soldiers individually, with- 
 out heeding the women ; at first they shared with 
 them, and from lack of sufficient food, many became 
 wecik. It was the occasion of incessant quarrels and 
 invectives ; many attracted the companions of others 
 by bribes, or even by the promise of their rations. 
 Seeing this, Matho commanded that all the women 
 should be driven away without mercy. They took 
 refuge in the camp of Autharitus ; but the women 
 
2 24 SALAMMB6. 
 
 of the Gauls and Libyans by force of outrages com- 
 pelled them to leave. 
 
 At length they ventured under the walls of Car- 
 thage, imploring the protection of Ceres and of 
 Proserpine ; as there was in Byrsa a temple and 
 priests, consecrated to these Goddesses, in expiation 
 of the horrors committed formerly during the siege 
 of Syracuse. The Syssites alleging their right to all 
 strays, claimed the youngest to sell ; and the New- 
 Carthaginians took some of the blonde Lacaedemonian 
 women in marriage. 
 
 Some of the women obstinately followed the 
 armies. They ran on the flank of the syntagmata be- 
 side the captains. They called to their men, and pulled 
 them by their cloaks, struck themselves on their 
 breasts as they uttered curses, and held out at arm's 
 length their crying naked little babies. This sight 
 softened the hearts of the Barbarians, yet they felt 
 that the women were obviously a hindrance, a peril 
 even. Frequently they were rudely pushed back, 
 but they would persistently return. Matho ordered 
 the cavalry of Narr' Havas to charge them with their 
 lances, and when the Balearic warriors cried out to 
 him that they wanted women, — " Myself ! I have 
 none !" he answered. 
 
 At present the genius of Moloch possessed him. 
 Despite the rebellion of his conscience, he executed 
 frightful deeds, and imagined that in so doing he 
 obeyed the voice of a God. When he could not 
 ravage them, he threw stones into the fields to render 
 them barren. 
 
 By reiterated messages he pressed Autharitns and 
 Spendius to hasten on. But the operations of the 
 
THE CAMPAIGN. 225 
 
 Suffete were incomprehensible. He encamped suc- 
 cessively at Eidous, at Monchar, at Tehent ; the scouts 
 believed that they espied him in the vicinity of 
 Ischiil, near the frontier of Narr' Havas's dominion ; 
 and it was ascertained that he had crossed the stream 
 above Tebourba, as if to return to Carthage. Scarcely 
 was he in ope place, when he removed to another. 
 The routes that he took always remained unknown. 
 Without giving battle, the Suffete kept his advant- 
 ages ; pursued by the Barbarians, he seemed to lead 
 them on. 
 
 These marches and counter-marches fatigued the 
 Carthaginians yet more; and Hamilcar's forces were 
 not renewed, but day by day diminished. Now the 
 people from the country brought provisions to him 
 reluctantly. Everywhere he met a hesitation, a 
 taciturn hatred ; and in spite of his supplications to 
 the Grand Council no succour came from Carthage. 
 
 Some said — and perhaps some believed — that he 
 did not require aught. It was a ruse, or a useless 
 complaint, and Hanno's partisans, in order to do an 
 ill office to Hamilcar, exaggerated the importance of 
 his victory. The troops that he had under his orders 
 they were content to sacrifice, but they were not 
 going to thus continually supply all of his demands. 
 The war was quite heavy enough ! it had cost too 
 much ; and, actuated by pride, the patricians of bis 
 faction supported him with slackness. 
 
 Then, despairing of the Republic, Hamilcar levied 
 by force on the tribes for all that was requisite 
 for the war : grain, oil, wood, animals, and men. At 
 these demands the inhabitants were not tardy in 
 taking flight. The towns that he traversed were 
 
 Q 
 
2 26 SALAMMBO. 
 
 deserted, cabins were ransacked without finding any- 
 thing, and very soon a frightful solitude enveloped 
 the Punic army. 
 
 The Carthaginians furiously pillaged the provinces, 
 filled up the cisterns, burned the houses ; the sparks 
 carried by the wind scattered afar, and on the 
 mountains entire forests burned, bordering the val- 
 leys with a crown of fire : to pass beyond, the troops 
 were compelled to wait until they subsided. Then 
 they resumed their march under the full sun, over 
 the hot cinders. 
 
 Sometimes they saw by the roadside lurid gleams 
 in the bushes like the eyeballs of a tiger-cat. It 
 was a Barbarian crouching on his haunches, daubed 
 with dust to blend his form with the colour of the 
 foliage ; or when they went along a ravine, those who 
 were on the wings suddenly heard stones rolling, 
 and in lifting their eyes perceived in the opening 
 of the gorge a bare-footed man fleetly bounding by. 
 
 Inasmuch as the Mercenaries did not besiege 
 them again, Utica and Hippo-Zarytus were free. 
 Hamilcar commanded them to come to his aid. 
 Not daring to compromise themselves, they replied 
 by vague words, compliments, and excuses. 
 
 He abruptly marched back northwards, determined 
 to obtain possession of one of the Tyrian cities, even 
 if he had to besiege it. It was necessary for him to 
 have a point on the coast in order to draw from the 
 islands, or from Cyrene, supplies and soldiers, and he 
 coveted the port of Utica as being the nearest to 
 Carthage. 
 
 The Suffete accordingly left Zouitin, and cau- 
 tiously skirted the lake of Hippo-Zarytus. But soon 
 
THE CAMPAIGN. 227 
 
 he was obliged to extend his regiments in a column, 
 to climb up the mountain separating the two valleys. 
 At sunset they descended into its summit, hollowed 
 out like a funnel ; when they perceived before them, 
 level with the ground, bronze she-wolves, which 
 seemed to run over the grass. 
 
 Suddenly large plumes of feathers rose into 
 view ; and to the rhythm of flutes a formidable 
 chant burst forth. It was the army of Spending : 
 for the Campanians and Greeks, in their abhorrence 
 of Carthage, had adopted Roman ensigns. At the 
 same time on the left appeared long pikes, shields 
 of leopard's skin, linen cuirasses, and naked shoul- 
 ders. They were Matho's Iberians, Lusitanians, 
 Balearics, and Getulians ; the neighing of the horses 
 of Narr' Havas was heard : they distributed them- 
 selves around the hill. Then came the irregular 
 mob commanded by Autharitus, made up of Gauls, 
 Libyans, and Nomads ; and in their midst the 
 Eaters-of-Unclean-Things could be recognised by 
 the fishbones worn in their hair. 
 
 Thus the Barbarians had so exactly regulated 
 their marches that they had simultaneously united. 
 But, surprised themselves, they halted for some 
 minutes motionless, and consulted. 
 
 The Suffete had collected his men in an orbicular 
 mass, the form of which offered on every side equal 
 resistance. Their high-pointed bucklers, stuck in 
 the turf one against the other, surrounded the in- 
 fantry. The Clinabarians remained outside ; and 
 further off, at intervals, the elephants were stationed. 
 The Mercenaries were harassed with fatigue : it 
 would be better to wait until the following day ; 
 
 Q 2 
 
2 28 SALAMMBO. 
 
 and, certain of their victory, the Barbarians occupied 
 themselves during the entire night in eating. 
 
 They lighted huge bright fires, which while dazz- 
 ling them, left the Punic army beneath them in the 
 shade. Hamilcar caused a trench to be excavated 
 around his encampment after the Roman method, 
 fifteen feet wide and ten cubits deep ; and a parapet 
 to be thrown up with the earth thus dug out, on 
 which were planted interlacing sharp stakes. At 
 sunrise the Mercenaries were amazed to behold the 
 Carthaginians thus entrenched as in a fortress. 
 
 They recognised in the midst of the tents Hamil- 
 car, who walked about giving his orders. His body 
 was encased in a brown cuirass fashioned of small 
 scales. He was followed by his horse, and from 
 time to time he paused, extending his right arm to 
 point out something. 
 
 Then more than one recalled to himself similar 
 mornings when to the din of clarions he had passed 
 slowly before them, and how his looks had fortified 
 them as cups of wine. A sort of tenderness seized 
 them. Those, on the contrary, who did not know 
 Hamilcar, were delirious in their delight at having 
 caught him. 
 
 However, if all attacked at the same time they 
 would inflict mutual damage in the contracted 
 space. The Numidians could charge across, but the 
 Clinabarians, protected by their cuirasses, would 
 crush them ; then how could they pass the palisades? 
 As for the elephants, they were not sufficiently 
 trained for them. 
 
 " You are all cowards !" cried Matho. 
 
 And with picked troops he dashed against the 
 
THE CAMPAIGN. 2 2Q 
 
 entrenchments. A volley of stones repulsed them, 
 for the Suffete had captured on the bridge their 
 abandoned catapults. 
 
 This failure abruptly turned the unstable spirit of 
 the Barbarians. Their excessive bravado disappeared ; 
 they wished to conquer, but with the slightest possible 
 risk. According to Spendius, it was necessary to 
 carefully guard the position they had secured, and 
 famish the Punic army. But the Carthaginians 
 began to dig wells, and as mountains surrounded 
 the hill, thev discovered water. 
 
 From the summit of their palisade they fired 
 arrows, hurled earth, dung, and stones, which they 
 tore up from the ground ; whilst the six catapults 
 were wheeled incessantly the length of the entrench- 
 ment. 
 
 But the springs might naturally dry up, the pro- 
 visions would fail, the catapults might wear out ; 
 the Mercenaries were ten times their number, and 
 would certainly triumph in the end. As a subterfuge 
 to gain time, the Suffete thought that he would open 
 negotiations, and one morning the Barbarians found 
 within their lines a sheep-skin covered with writ- 
 ing. He justified himself for his victory : the Elders 
 had forced him into the war ; and, to show them 
 that he kept his word, he now offered to them the 
 plunder of Utica or Hippo-Zarytus, whichever they 
 chose. Hamilcar, in conclusion, declared that he 
 did not fear them, because he had won over some 
 traitors, and that with their help he would easily 
 make an end of them all. 
 
 The Barbarians were troubled ; this proposition 
 of an immediate booty made them ponder ; they 
 
23O SALAMMBO. 
 
 apprehended treason, not suspecting a snare in the 
 boasting of the Suffete ; and they began to regard 
 each other with distrust. Every word was observed, 
 every movement watched; and at night terrors 
 awoke them. Many deserted their comrades, follow- 
 ing their personal fancy in choosing the army to 
 which they attached themselves : and the Gauls with 
 Autharitus joined the men of the Cisalpine province, 
 whose language they understood. 
 
 The four chiefs conferred every night in Matho's 
 tent, and, squatting around a buckler, they moved 
 forward and backward attentively the little wooden 
 dummies, invented by Pyrrhus for reproducing mili- 
 tary manoeuvres. Spendius, explaining the resources 
 of Hamilcar, entreated them not to throw away 
 this opportunity, and swore by all the Gods. Matho 
 in vexation walked about gesticulating. For him 
 the war against Carthage was a pei^sonal affair, and 
 he felt indignant that the others intermeddled with- 
 out being willing to obey him. Autharitus divined 
 his words from his face, and applauded. Narr' Havas 
 raised his chin as a sign of disdain ; not one measure 
 was offered but he considered it fatal. Matho smiled 
 no more : sighs escaped him as if he had forced 
 back the anguish of an impossible dream, the despair 
 of a lost enterprise. 
 
 While the Barbarians deliberated in their uncer- 
 tainty, the Suffete increased his defences, dug a 
 second trench on the inside of the palisades, erected 
 a second wall, and constructed wooden towers at 
 the corners ; his slaves went to the middle of the ad- 
 vance-posts to bury caltrops in the ground. But the 
 elephants, whose allowances were reduced, struggled 
 
THE CAMPAIGN. 23 I 
 
 in their shackles. To economise the fodder, he 
 ordered the Clinabarians to kill the least robust of 
 the stallions. Some of the men refusing to comply, 
 were at once beheaded. The horses were eaten. 
 The memory of this fresh meat during the follow- 
 ing days was a great sorrow. 
 
 From the bottom of the amphitheatre, where the 
 Punic army was confined, they saw all around them 
 on the heights the four Barbarian camps full of 
 movement. Women moved about balancing leather 
 bottles on their heads ; goats bleated, wandering 
 under the stacks of pikes ; the sentinels were going 
 on or off duty, and men were eating their meals 
 around the tripods. In fact, the various tribes fur- 
 nished them with abundant supplies, and they had 
 no idea how greatly their inaction terrified the Punic 
 armv. 
 
 From the second day, the Carthaginians had 
 remarked in the camp of the Nomads a troop of 
 three hundred men remote from the others. They 
 were the Rich, retained as prisoners since the com- 
 mencement of the war. 
 
 The Libyans ranged them all on the edge of the 
 ditch, and, posted behind them, threw javelins, 
 while making a rampart of their bodies. Scarcely 
 could these wretched beings be recognised, to such a 
 degree were their faces disfigured by vermin and 
 filth. Their hair had been pulled out in spots, 
 leaving bare ulcers on their scalps ; and they were 
 so thin and hideous that they resembled mummies 
 in tattered shrouds. Some of their number trembled 
 and sobbed in a stupid manner ; others screamed 
 out to their friends to fire upon the Barbarians. 
 
232 SALAMMBO. 
 
 There was one among these prisoners perfectly 
 motionless, with head bent, who did not speak ; his 
 flowing white beard fell down to his hands, covered 
 with chains. The Carthaginians felt from the 
 depths of their hearts the downfall of the Republic as 
 they recognised Gisco. Even though the place was 
 dangerous they crowded there to see him. Some 
 one had placed on his head a grotesque tiara, made 
 of hippopotamus-skin studded over with stones. This 
 had been a fancy of Autharitus, that thoroughly dis- 
 pleased Matho. 
 
 Hamilcar was infuriated, and ordered the palisades 
 to be opened, determined to clear a way at any cost, 
 and in a furious rush the Carthaginians charged 
 half-way up, about three hundred paces. Such a 
 torrent of Barbarians poured down, that they were 
 /Iriven back on their own lines. 
 
 One of the guards of the Legion was left outside, 
 having stumbled against the stones. Zarxas ran up, 
 knocked him down, and plunged his poniard into his 
 throat ; he drew out the weapon and threw him- 
 self upon the wound ; — gluing his lips to it with 
 grunts of delight and wild starts that shook him to 
 his very heels, he sucked the blood in deep draughts, 
 then tranquilly sat on the body with face uplifted, 
 turning his head back to inhale the air, like a hind 
 that has just drunk from a torrent. He struck up 
 in a shrill voice a Balearic song, a vague melody, 
 full of prolonged modulations, breaking off and 
 replying to himself, like echoes answering echoes in 
 the mountains ; he called his dead brothers and 
 invited them to a feast ; — then, he let his hands 
 fall listlessly between his knees, slowly bowed his 
 
THE CAMPAIGN. 233 
 
 head and wept. This atrocious deed filled the Bar- 
 barians, and especially the Greeks, with horror. 
 
 From this time the Carthaginians made no sortie ; 
 but they had no thought of surrender, being assured 
 that they would perish under tortures. 
 
 Meanwhile, despite Hamilcar's care, the provisions 
 diminished frightfully. For each man there re- 
 mained not more than ten Whommer of corn, three 
 hin of millet, and twelve betea of dried fruits. No 
 more meat, oil, or salt provisions, not one grain of 
 barley for the horses ; they could be seen bending 
 down their emaciated necks to seek in the dust for 
 trampled bits of straw. 
 
 Often the sentinels patrolling the terrace espied in 
 the moonlight a dog belonging to the Barbarians 
 prowling below the entrenchments in heaps of filth. 
 They felled it with a stone, and by the aid of the straps 
 of a buckler, lowered themselves down the length 
 of the palisade, and without a word ate it. Occasion- 
 ally a horrible baying was set up, and the venture- 
 some never returned. In the fourth dilochia of the 
 twelfth syntagma, three phalangites quarrelling about 
 a rat, waxed so wroth that they killed each other 
 with blows of their knives. 
 
 All longed for their families and their homes : the 
 poor for their cabins shaped like bee-hives with shells 
 placed at the thresholds, and a net suspended outside; 
 and the patricians for their grand halls full of 
 bluish shadows, wherein, during the warmest hour 
 of the day, they had formerly sought repose, 
 listening to the indistinct voices in the street, 
 mingled with the rustling of leaves in their gardens, 
 stirred by the breeze; — and, to better enter into 
 
234 SALAMMBO. 
 
 these reveries, and thoroughly enjoy them, they 
 half-closed their eyelids until the shock of a wound 
 awakened them. 
 
 Every moment there was an engagement, a new 
 alarm ; the towers blazed, the Eaters-of -Unclean- 
 Things leaped upon the palisades — their hands were 
 cut off with axes ; others ran up ; a shower of iron 
 fell upon the tents. Galleries of reed hurdles were 
 erected to protect them from the projectiles. The 
 Carthaginians shut themselves up and ventured out 
 no more. 
 
 Each day the sun in its course above on the 
 hill deserted from the early hours the depth of the 
 gorge and enwrapped them in shadow. In front 
 and behind rose the grey slopes of earth, covered with 
 stones spotted over with scanty lichens, and over 
 their head the sky, always cloudless, spread out 
 more steely cold to the eye than a metal cupola. 
 Hamilcar was filled with such a measure of indig- 
 nation against Carthage, that he felt strongly disposed 
 to join the Barbarians and lead them against her. 
 Besides, now, even the porters, the sutlers, and 
 slaves began to murmur ; and neither the people, 
 the Grand Council, nor anyone extended a solitary 
 hope. The situation was intolerable, and especially 
 so because of the idea that it would become worse. 
 
 At the news of this disaster Carthage heaved with 
 anger and hatred ; the citizens perhaps would have 
 execrated the Suffete less if early in the war he had 
 allowed himself to be vanquished. 
 
 But to hire other Mercenaries there was neither 
 time nor money. As for recruiting soldiers in the 
 
THE CAMPAIGN. 235 
 
 city, how could they equip them ? Hamilcar had 
 taken all the weapons ! And who would command 
 new troops ? The best captains were now in the cam- 
 paign with him. Meanwhile, messengers despatched 
 by the Suffete arrived in the streets and cried out 
 for help. The Grand Council was perturbed, and 
 made arrangements for their disappearance. 
 
 This was a useless precaution : all accused Barca 
 for having acted with too much leniency. He 
 should have annihilated the Mercenaries after his 
 victory. Why had he ravaged the tribes ? How- 
 ever, they already had imposed on themselves sacri- 
 fices quite heavy enough ! And the patricians de- 
 plored their contribution of fourteen shekels, the 
 Syssites theirs of two hundred and twenty-three 
 thousand kikar of gold, and those who had given 
 nothing lamented as bitterly as the others. 
 
 The populace was jealous of the new Cartha- 
 ginians, to whom Hamilcar had promised the 
 complete rights of the city ; and even the Ligurians, 
 who had fought so danntlessly, were confounded 
 with the Barbarians, and like them were cursed ; 
 their race became a crime, a complicity. The shop- 
 keepers on the door-sills of their shops, journeymen 
 who walked about with their leaden rules in their 
 hands, pedlars of pickle rinsing their baskets, bath- 
 men in the sweating baths, and the vendors of hot 
 drinks, all discussed the operations of the campaign. 
 They traced in the dust with their fingers the plans of 
 battle ; and there was not a vagabond so low that he 
 did not dare vouchsafe to correct Hamilcar's military 
 errors. 
 
 The priests averred that all his misfortunes were 
 
236 SALAMMBO 
 
 a chastisement for his long impiety. He had not 
 offered holocausts, he had not purified his troops, he 
 had even refused to take with him augurs ; — and 
 the scandal of the sacrilege strengthened the vio- 
 lence of restrained hatreds, the rage of hopes be- 
 trayed. They recalled the disaster of Sicily, and all 
 the burden of his pride that they had borne so long. 
 The colleges of pontiffs did not pardon him for 
 seizing their treasure, and they exacted from the 
 Grand Council a pledge to crucify him if he ever 
 returned. 
 
 This year the heat of the month of Eloul, which 
 was most excessive, was a fresh calamity. From the 
 lake shore nauseous odours arose and were diffused 
 through the atmosphere with the smoke of the spices 
 circling up at the street corners. Hymns constantly 
 resounded. Streams of people crowded the stair- 
 ways to the temples ; the walls were draped with 
 black veils ; tapers burned constantly in front of 
 the Dii-PatcBci ; and the blood of the camels slaugh- 
 tered as sacrifices ran along the flights of steps, 
 forming red cascades. 
 
 A funereal delirium agitated Carthage. From the 
 extremity of the narrowest alleys, and from the 
 blackest dens, pale faces issued forth — men with 
 profiles like vipers, who ground their teeth. The 
 shrill shrieks of women filled the dwellings, and 
 escaping through the lattices, made those who stood 
 chatting about the squares turn around. Sometimes 
 it was believed that the Barbarians were coming : 
 some one had seen them behind the Hot-Springs 
 Mountain. Then it was rumoured that they were 
 encamped at Tunis. And the voices 'multiplied, 
 
THE CAMPAIGN. 237 
 
 swelling till merged in one confusing clamour. 
 Then a universal silence reigned. Some of the 
 people remained clinging to the pediments of the 
 edifices with one hand shielding their eyes, while 
 others, lying flat at the foot of the ramparts, strained 
 their ears. The fear having passed, their wrath 
 broke out afresh. But the conviction of their 
 powerlessness soon threw them back into the same 
 sadness. 
 
 It redoubled every evening, when all mounting 
 the terraces, uttered, while bowing nine times, a 
 vast cry of salutation to the sun, as it sank slowly 
 behind the Lagoon, then suddenly disappeared in 
 the mountains in the direction of the Barbarians. 
 
 They were looking forward to the coming of the 
 thrice holy feast, when from the top of a pyre an 
 eagle soared towards the sky — a symbol of the resur- 
 rection of the year, a message from the people to 
 its supreme Baal which they considered as a kind 
 of union, a means of attaching themselves to the 
 power of the Sun. 
 
 Besides, filled now with hatred, the people natu- 
 rally turned towards Moloch, the Man Slayer, and 
 all deserted Tanit. In effect, the Rabbetna, no longer 
 possessing her veil, was despoiled of a part of her 
 power. She refused the blessing of her waters. 
 She had forsaken Carthage ; she was a deserter, an 
 enemy. Some, to outrage her, threw stones at her. 
 But even while cursing many pitied her. She was 
 still cherished, and perhaps more profoundly than 
 ever. 
 
 All their misfortunes came from the rape of 
 the Zaimph. Salammbu had indirectly participated 
 
238 SALAMMB6. 
 
 in this crime ; therefore she was included in the 
 same rancour ; she must be punished. The vague 
 idea of an immolation, quickly circulated amongst 
 the people. To appease the Baalim, undoubtedly 
 they must offer something of incalculable value — a 
 beautiful being, young, a virgin of an ancient family, 
 descended from the Gods, — a human Star. 
 
 Daily unknown men invaded the gardens of 
 Megara, and the slaves, trembling for themselves, did 
 not dare resist them. However, they did not pass 
 on to the stairway of the Galleys, but always stopped 
 below with eyes uplifted to the last terrace ; they 
 waited for Salammbo, and for hours cried out against 
 her, like dogs barking at the moon. 
 
CHAPTER X. 
 
 THE SERPENT. 
 
 These clamours of the populace did not frighten 
 the daughter of Hamilcar ; she was disturbed by 
 loftier inquietudes — for her great serpent, the black 
 Python, languished : and for the Carthaginians a 
 serpent was not only a national, but a personal fetich. 
 They believed every serpent to be an offspring of 
 the slime of the earth, inasmuch as it emerged from 
 the depths, and it needed no feet to walk upon ; its 
 movements recalled the undulations of the streams ; 
 its temperature ancient darkness, clammy, full of 
 fruitfulness ; and the orb that it described in biting 
 its tail, the complete planetary system, the intelligence 
 of Eschmoivn. 
 
 Salammbo's serpent had frequently of late refused 
 the four living sparrows offered to it at the new and 
 full of each moon. Its beautiful skin, covered like 
 the firmament with spots of gold on a dead black 
 surface, was now yellow, flabby, wrinkled, and too 
 large for its body : about its head was spreading a 
 downy mould ; and in the corners of its eyes ap- 
 peared little red points that seemed to move. 
 
 239 
 
24O SALAMMBO. 
 
 From time to time Salammbo drew near to its 
 silver filigree basket, and withdrew the purple cur- 
 tain, cast aside the lotus leaves and down — but it 
 was continually coiled upon itself, more motionless 
 than a withered vine. Under the influence of her 
 intense observation she ended by feeling in her 
 heart a spiral like another serpent, which was gra- 
 dually rising up to her throat and strangling her. 
 
 She was in despair at having seen the Za'imph ; 
 and yet she experienced a sort of joy, a peculiar 
 pride. A mystery eluded her in the splendour of 
 its folds ; it was the mist enveloping the Gods, the 
 secret of universal existence ; and Salammbo, while 
 horrified at herself, regretted that she had not lifted 
 it. 
 
 Almost always she was crouching on the floor of 
 her room, her hands clasped around her left knee, 
 her mouth half opened, chin lowered, and eyes fixed. 
 She recalled with terror her father's face. She 
 yearned to make a pilgrimage in the mountains of 
 Phoenicia, to the temple of Aphaka, where Tanit had 
 descended under the form of a star. All manner 
 of imaginations allured and alarmed her ; besides, 
 each day a greater loneliness environed her. She 
 did not even know what had become of Hamilcar. 
 
 Wearied of her thoughts she arose ; and in moving 
 about, the soles of her tiny sandals clattered against 
 her heels at every step as she walked at random 
 in the large, silent room. The amethysts and to- 
 pazes bedighting the ceiling quivered here and there 
 in luminous points, and Salammbo, as she walked, 
 turned her head slightly to view them. She took 
 the suspended amphoras by their necks ; she re- 
 
THE SERPENT. 24 1 
 
 freshed herself under the broad fans, or even amused 
 herself by burning cinnamon in hollowed pearls. 
 
 At sundown Taanach drew back the lozenges of 
 black felt which closed the openings in the wall ; 
 then Salammbo's doves, rubbed with musk like the 
 doves of Tanit, at once flew into her presence, 
 and their pink feet slipped over the glossy pavement 
 in the midst of the grains of barley which Salammbo 
 scattered to them in handfuls, as a sower in a field. 
 But suddenly she burst out in sobs, and remained 
 extended full length on the great couch of cow- 
 hide straps, without moving, repeating one word, 
 always the same, with her eyes open, pale as death, 
 insensible, cold ; and yet she heard the cries of the 
 apes in the clumps of palm trees, and the continuous 
 grinding of the great wheel raising through the 
 stories a stream of pure water up into her porphyry 
 basin. 
 
 Sometimes during many days she refused to eat. 
 She dreamed that she saw dim stars passing beneath 
 her feet. She summoned Schahabarim ; and when 
 he came she had nothing to say to him. 
 
 She could not live without the solace of his 
 presence ; but her spirit revolted against this domi- 
 nation ; she felt for the priest, at the same time, 
 terror, jealousy, and hatred, and an emotion akin to 
 love, in recognition of the singular delight she 
 experienced whenever she found herself near to 
 him. 
 
 He had recognised the influence of Rabbet, skilled 
 as he was to distinguish which were the Gods who sent 
 illnesses : and to cure Salammbo he ordered that her 
 room should be sprinkled with lotions of vervain and 
 
 R 
 
242 SALAMMBO. 
 
 adiantum, and that she should eat mandrake every 
 morning, and sleep with her head on a sachet of 
 aromatics mixed by the pontiffs. He had even em- 
 ployed hazehvort, a fire-coloured root, by which 
 fatal spirits are driven back in the north. Finally, 
 he turned towards the polar star, and murmured in 
 triads the mysterious name of Tanit. But as 
 Salammbo continued to suffer, his anguish deep- 
 ened. 
 
 No one in Carthage was as learned as this priest. 
 In his youth he had studied in the college of the 
 Mogbeds at Borsippa, near Babylon ; then had 
 visited Samothrace, Pessinus, Ephesus, Thessaly, 
 Judea, and the temples of the Nabathasans, which 
 are lost in the sands ; and he had journeyed oh foot 
 along the banks of the Nile, from the cataracts to 
 the sea. With his face covered with a veil, and 
 waving torches, he had cast a black cock on a fire 
 of sandarack before the breast of the Sphinx — 
 Father-of-the-Terror. He had descended into the 
 caverns of Proserpine ; he had witnessed the five 
 hundred columns of Lemnos turn, and had seen the 
 brightness of the candelabrum of Tarentum, which 
 carried on its standard as many sconces as there 
 are days in the year. 
 
 Occasionally at night he would receive Greeks 
 to question them. The constitution of the world 
 did not cause him less solicitude than the nature of 
 the Gods ; with the armillary placed in the portico 
 of Alexandria he had observed the equinoxes, and 
 accompanied as far as Cyrene the bematists of Euer- 
 gates, who measured the heaven by calculating the 
 number of their paces. So that now there was 
 
THE SERPENT. 243 
 
 growing up in his thoughts a subjective religion, 
 without a defined formula, and for this very reason 
 full of ecstasies and fervour. 
 
 He no longer believed that the earth was shaped 
 like a pine-cone, but he believed it to be round, and 
 eternally falling in space with such prodigious velo- 
 city that no one could perceive its fall. 
 
 From the position of the sun above the moon, he 
 concluded that Baal was supreme ; the orb was only 
 his reflection and visage. Moreover, all terrestrial 
 things which he then saw forced him to recognise 
 as supreme the male destroying principle. Then, 
 he secretly accused Rabbet for the misfortune of his 
 life. Was it not for her that in former days the 
 grand pontiff had advanced amid a tumult of 
 cymbals and taken his future virility? And he 
 followed with a melancholy gaze the men who aban- 
 doned themselves to pleasures with priestesses in the 
 depths of the turpentine groves. 
 
 His days were spent in inspecting the censers and 
 gold vases, tongs and rakes used for the cinders of 
 the altar, and all the robes of the statues, even to 
 the bronze pins used to frizz the hair of an old 
 Tanit in the third chapel, close to the emerald vine. 
 Regularly, at the same hours, he raised before the 
 same entrances the grand tapestries, which fell back 
 again. He remained with his arms open in the same 
 attitude, prayed prostrated upon the same stones; and 
 about him, through the lobbies filled with eternal 
 twilight, moved only a population of barefooted 
 priests. 
 
 But over the barrenness of his life Salammbo came 
 as a flower in the chink of a sepulchre. Yet he was 
 
 r2 
 
244 SALAMMBO. 
 
 harsh to her, and never spared her either penances or 
 bitter speeches. His condition established between 
 them the equality of a common sex; and yet, his wishes 
 towards the maiden would have been rather to have 
 the power of possessing her, than to find her so fair 
 and, above all, so pure. Often he clearly saw that 
 she tried in vain to follow his thoughts. Then he 
 turned away more sadly, and felt himself more for- 
 saken, more lonely, and more useless. 
 
 Strange words frequently escaped his lips, and 
 passed before Salammbo as broad flames illuminating 
 abysses. 
 
 It was night, on her terrace, when alone these two 
 observed the stars, and Carthage spread itself below 
 their feet, whilst the gulf and open sea were vaguely 
 obscured in the colour of the darkness. 
 
 He revealed to her the theory of souls which 
 descended on the earth, following the same 
 track as the sun by the signs of the zodiac. With 
 extended arm he pointed out in Aries the en- 
 trance of the human generation ; in Capricorn the 
 entrance for the return towards the Gods ; and 
 Salammbo strove to perceive them, for she took 
 these conceptions for realities, accepting as actu- 
 alities pure symbols, and even figures of speech, 
 a distinction which was no longer clearly defined 
 for the priest. 
 
 " The souls of the dead," he said, " resolve 
 
 themselves in the moon as do the corpses in the 
 
 earth. Their tears compose her humidity ; it is a dark 
 
 abode full of mire, wrecks, and tempests." 
 
 She asked what would become of her. 
 
 "At first you will languish, light as a vapour that 
 
THE SERPENT. 245 
 
 floats on the waves ; and after trials and most pro- 
 longed agonies, you will enter the centre of the sun 
 to the very source of the Intelligence !" 
 
 However, as he did not mention Tanit, Salammbo 
 imagined he was restrained through shame for his 
 vanquished Goddess, and called her by a common- 
 place name, that designated the moon. But she con- 
 tinued to pour forth benediction upon the planet so 
 fertile and benign. At last he exclaimed : 
 
 "No! no! she draws from the sun all her 
 fruitfulness ! Have you not seen her vagrantly 
 wandering around him like an amorous woman who 
 runs after a man in a field ?" — and without cessation 
 he exalted the virtues of the grand luminary. 
 
 Far from weakening her mystic desires, on the 
 contrary, he stimulated them, and he even seemed 
 to take pleasure in harassing her by his revela- 
 tions of a pitiless doctrine. Salammbo, despite the 
 throes of her love, threw herself upon them with 
 rapture. 
 
 But the more Schahabarim felt a doubt concerning 
 Tanit the more he desired to believe in her. In the 
 depths of his soul remorse checked him. It was neces- 
 sary that he should have some proof, a manifestation of 
 the Gods ; and in the hope to obtain such, he imagined 
 an undertaking that should at the same time save 
 his country and his belief. 
 
 From this moment he set himself to deplore before 
 Salammbo the sacrilege and consequent misfortunes 
 even in the regions of the sky. Then abruptly he 
 announced the peril threatening the Suffete, who 
 was assailed by three armies commanded by Matho, 
 — for, because of Matho's possession of the veil, he 
 
246 SALAMMBO. 
 
 was, in the eyes of the Carthaginians, king of the 
 Barbarians ; adding that the preservation of the 
 Republic, as well as her father's safety, depended 
 upon her alone. 
 
 " Upon me !" she exclaimed. " What can I do ?" 
 
 But the priest, with a smile of disdain, said : 
 
 " Never will you consent !" 
 
 She supplicated him to explain. Finally Scha- 
 habarim said to her : 
 
 . " It is necessary that you go to the Barbarians' 
 camp and retake the Za'imph." 
 
 She sank down upon the ebony stool, and remained 
 with her arms stretched out between her knees, 
 shuddering throughout her entire frame like a 
 victim at the foot of an altar awaiting the blow of 
 the axe. Her temples throbbed violently; she saw 
 circles of fire burning before her eyes, and in her 
 stupor comprehended nothing more than that she 
 certainly must be on the eve of her death. 
 
 But if Rabbetna triumphed, — if the Zaimph was 
 brought back and Carthage delivered — of what im- 
 portance the life of one woman ! thought Schaha- 
 barim. Then she might perhaps obtain the veil and 
 not perish. 
 
 For three days he did not return to her ; the 
 evening of the fourth day she sent for him. 
 
 To more surely inflame her heart, he reported all 
 the invectives that were openly hurled in the Council 
 upon Hamilcar ; he told her she had sinned, and that 
 she should make reparation for her crime, and that 
 Rabbetna ordered this sacrifice. 
 
 Often a great clamour crossed over the M appals, and 
 reached Megara. Schahabarim and Salammbo went 
 
th£ si;ki j ent. 247 
 
 quickly out, and looked from the top of the stairway 
 
 of the galleys. 
 
 It was occasioned by the people congregated in the 
 square of Khamoun, who yelled out for weapons. 
 The Elders did not wish to furnish them, as they 
 esteemed this effort unavailing, for others who 
 had gone without a general had been massacred. 
 At last the crowd was permitted to sally forth ; 
 and from a kind of homage for Moloch, or a 
 vague wish for destruction, they pulled up in the 
 groves of the temple large cypress trees, and having 
 lighted them in the torches of the Cabiri, carried 
 them through the streets while they sang. These 
 monstrous flames advanced swaying gently, casting 
 reflections on the glass globes at the crest of the 
 temples, on the ornaments of the colossi, on the beak- 
 heads of the ships, passed beyond the terraces, and 
 appeared like suns revolving in the city. They 
 descended the Acropolis. The gate of Malqua 
 opened. 
 
 "Are you ready?" exclaimed Schahabarim, "or 
 have you recommended them to say to your father 
 that you abandon him ? " She hid her face in her 
 veil, and the great lights receded, till gradually they 
 sank to the edge of the waves. 
 
 An indefinable terror held her ; she was afraid of 
 Moloch, afraid of Matho. That man of giant stature, 
 and who was master of the Zaimph, dominated Rab- 
 betna, even as the Baal did, and he appeared to 
 her surrounded with the same splendours. Then she 
 remembered that the spirit of the Gods sometimes 
 visited the bodies of men. Had not Schahabarim, 
 in speaking of him, declared that she ought to con- 
 
248 SALAMMBO. 
 
 quer Moloch ? They were mingled the one with the 
 other : she confounded them : both pursued her. 
 
 She wished to know the future, and approached 
 her serpent, — for auguries were often drawn from the 
 attitude of the serpents. The basket was empty. 
 Salammbo was troubled. 
 
 She found it coiled up by its tail to one of the 
 silver balustrades near the suspended couch, rubbing 
 itself, to disengage itself from its old yellowish 
 skin; meanwhile its body, shining and bright, was 
 gradually extending, like a blade partially drawn 
 from the scabbard. 
 
 The following days, according as she allowed her- 
 self to be convinced she was more disposed to succour 
 Tanit, the Python grew better and larger, and seemed 
 to revive. 
 
 The certitude that Schahabarim expressed the will 
 of the Gods established itself in her conscience. 
 One morning she arose determined, and asked the 
 priest what it was necessary for her to do to compel 
 Matho to give back the veil. 
 
 " Reclaim it," said Schahabarim. 
 
 " But if he refuses ?" she resumed. 
 
 The priest contemplated her attentively, and with 
 such a smile as she had never before seen. 
 
 " Yes ; what shall I do ?" repeated Salammbo. 
 
 He rolled between his fingers the ends of his 
 bandelets that fell down from his tiara over his 
 shoulders, his eyes downcast, immobile : finally per- 
 ceiving that she did not comprehend, he said : 
 
 " You will be alone with him." 
 
 " And then ?" 
 
 " Alone in his tent." 
 
THE SERPENT. 249 
 
 V And what then ?" 
 
 Schahabarim bit his lips ; he sought for some 
 roundabout phrase. 
 
 " If you must die it will be later," said he ; " much 
 later ! fear nothing ! and whatever he attempts, do 
 not call out ! do not be frightened ! You should be 
 humble, you understand, and submissive to his de- 
 sire, for it is the order of Heaven !" 
 
 "But the veil ?" 
 
 "The Gods will care for it," responded Schahabarim. 
 
 She added : 
 
 " Oh, father, if you would only accompany me ?" 
 
 "No!" 
 
 He made her kneel, and keeping her left hand 
 raised and her right one extended, he swore on her 
 behalf to bring back to Carthage the veil of Tanit. 
 With fearful imprecations, she consecrated her- 
 self to the Gods, and each time that Schahabarim 
 pronounced a word she faintingly repeated it. 
 
 He indicated to her all the purifications and fasts 
 she ought to perform, and what paths to pursue, in 
 order to reach Matho's tent ; besides, he told her that 
 a servitor familiar with the roads should accompany 
 her. 
 
 She felt herself freed. She dreamed of naught 
 but the happiness of reseeing the Za'imph ; and now 
 she blessed Schahabarim for his exhortations. 
 
 It was the season when the doves of Carthage 
 migrated to the mountain of Eryx in Sicily, there 
 nesting about the temple of Venus. Previous to their 
 departure, during many days, they sought each other, 
 and cooed to reunite themselves ; finally one evening 
 
250 SALAMMBO. 
 
 they flew, driven by the wind, and this large, white 
 could glided in the heaven very high above the sea. 
 
 The horizon was crimson. They seemed gradually 
 to descend to the waves, then disappear as though 
 swallowed up and falling, of their own accord, into 
 the jaws of the sun. Salammbo, who watched them 
 disappear, lowered her head. Taanach, believing that 
 she surmised her mistress's grief, tenderly said : 
 
 " But, mistress, they will return." 
 
 " Yes ! I know it." 
 
 " And you will see them again." 
 
 " Perhaps ! " Salammbo said, as she sighed. 
 
 She had not confided to anyone her resolution, 
 and for its discreet accomplishment she sent Taanach 
 to purchase, in the suburbs of Kinisdo (instead of 
 requiring them of the stewards), all the articles it was 
 necessary she should have : vermilion, aromatics, a 
 linen girdle, and new garments. The old slave was 
 amazed by these preparations, without daring to ask 
 any questions ; and so the day arrived fixed by 
 Schahabarim when Salammbo must depart. 
 
 Towards the twelfth hour, she perceived at the end 
 of the sycamores an old blind man, whose hand 
 rested on the shoulder of a child who walked before 
 him, and in the other hand he held, against his hip, 
 a species of cithara made of black wood. 
 
 The eunuchs, the slaves, the women had been 
 scrupulously sent away ; no one could possibly know 
 the mystery that was being prepared. 
 
 Taanach lighted in the corners of the room four 
 tripods full of strobus and cardamom, then she spread 
 out great Babylonian tapestries, and hung them on 
 cords all round the room, — for Salammbo did not 
 
THE SERPENT. 25 I 
 
 wish to be seen even by the walls. The player of 
 the kinnor waited crouching behind the door, and the 
 young boy, standing up, applied his lips to a reed flute. 
 In the distance the street clamour faded, the violet 
 shadows lengthened before the peristyles of the 
 temples, and on the other side of the gulf the base 
 of the mountain, the olive fields, and the waste 
 yellow ground indefinitely undulated till finally 
 lost in a bluish vapour ; not a single sound could 
 be heard, and an indescribable oppression pervaded 
 the air. 
 
 Salammbo crouched on the onyx step on the edge 
 of the porphyry basin ; she lifted her wide sleeves 
 and fastened them behind her shoulders, and began 
 her ablutions in a methodical manner, according to 
 the sacred rites. 
 
 Next Taanach brought to her an alabaster phial, 
 containing something liquid, yet coagulated ; it was 
 the blood of a black dog, strangled by barren women 
 on a winter's night in the ruins of a sepulchre. 
 She rubbed it on her ears, her heels, and the thumb 
 of her right hand, and even the nail remained tinged 
 a trifle red, as if she had crushed a berry. The 
 moon rose, then both at once the cithara and the 
 flute commenced to play. Salammbo took off her 
 ear-rings, laid aside her necklace, bracelets, and her 
 long white simarra ; unknotted the fillet from her 
 hair, and for some minutes shook her tresses gently 
 over her shoulders to refresh and disentangle them. 
 The music outside continued ; there were always 
 the same three notes, precipitous and furious ; the 
 strings grated, the flute was high-sounding and son- 
 orous. Taanach marked the cadence by striking her 
 
252 SALAMMBO. 
 
 hands ; Salammbo, swaying her entire body, chanted 
 her prayers, and one by one her garments fell around 
 her on the floor. 
 
 The heavy tapestry trembled, and above the cord 
 that sustained it the head of the Python appeared. He 
 descended slowly, like a drop of water trickling along 
 a wall, and glided between the stuffs spread out, 
 then poised himself on his tail; he lifted himself 
 perfectly straight up, and darted his eyes, more 
 brilliant than carbuncles, upon Salammbo. 
 
 A shudder of cold, or her modesty perhaps, at first 
 made her hesitate. But she recalled the order of 
 Schahabarim, so she went forward ; the Python 
 lowered himself, alighting upon the nape of her neck 
 in the middle of his body, allowing his head and 
 tail to hang down like a broken necklace, and the 
 two ends trailed on the floor. Salammbo rolled them 
 around her sides, under her arms, between her 
 knees ; then taking him by the jaw, she drew his little 
 triangular mouth close to her teeth ; and with half- 
 closed eyes she bent back under the moon's rays. 
 The white light seemed to enshroud her in a silvery 
 fog ; the tracks of her wet feet shone on the stones ; 
 stars twinkled in the depths of the water ; the 
 Python tightened against her his black coils, speckled 
 with spots of gold. Salammbo panted under this 
 too heavy weight ; her loins gave way, she felt that 
 she was dying : the Python patted her thighs softly 
 with his tail ; then the music ceased, and he fell 
 down. 
 
 Taanach drew near to Salammbo, and after ar- 
 ranging two candelabras, of which the lights burned 
 in two crystal globes filled with water, she tinted 
 
THE SERPENT. 253 
 
 with henna the inside of the hands of her mistress, 
 put vermilion on her cheeks, antimony on her eye- 
 lids, and lengthened her eyebrows with a mixture 
 of gum, musk, ebony, and crushed flies 1 feet. 
 
 Salammbo, sitting in a chair mounted with ivory, 
 abandoned herself to the care of her slave. But 
 the soothing touches, the odour of the aromatics, 
 and the fasts she had kept, enervated her : she be- 
 came so pale that Taanach paused. 
 
 " Continue !" said Salammbo ; and as she drew 
 herself up in spite of herself, she felt all at once 
 reanimated. Then an impatience seized her ; she 
 urged Taanach to hasten, and the old slave growled : 
 
 " Well ! well ! mistress ! . . . You have no one 
 waiting for you elsewhere !" 
 
 " Yes !" responded Salammbo, " some one waits for 
 me." 
 
 Taanach started with surprise, and in order to 
 know more, she said : 
 
 " What do you order me to do, mistress, if you 
 should remain away ? " . . 
 
 But Salammbo sobbed, and the slave exclaimed : 
 
 " You suffer ! What is the matter with von ? Do 
 not go ! Take me ! When you were a little one and 
 wept, I held you to my heart and suckled you, and 
 made you laugh by tickling you with my nipples. 
 Mistress !" she struck her withered breasts, exclaim- 
 ing : " You sucked them dry. Now I am old ! I 
 can do nothing for vou ! You do not love me any 
 more ! You hide your troubles from me, you dis- 
 dain your nurse !" With fondness and vexation the 
 tears coursed down her face, in the scars of her 
 tattooing. 
 
254 SALAMMBO. 
 
 " No ! " said Salammbo, " no ; I love you ; be com- 
 forted !" 
 
 Taanach, with a smile like the grimace of an old 
 monkey, recommenced her task. Following the di- 
 rections of the priest, Salammbo ordered her slave 
 to make her magnificent. Taanach complied, with a 
 barbaric taste full of elaboration and ingenuity. 
 
 Over a first fine wine-coloured tunic she placed 
 a second one, embroidered with birds 1 plumes. 
 Golden scales were fastened to her hips, from her 
 wide girdle flowed the folds of her blue, silver-starred 
 petticoat-trousers. Then Taanach adjusted an ample 
 robe of rare stuff from the land of the Seres, white 
 variegated with green stripes. She attached over 
 Salammbo's shoulders a square of purple, made heavy 
 at the hem with beads of sandastrum; and on the top 
 of all these vestments she arranged a black mantle 
 with a long train. Then she contemplated her, and 
 proud of her work, she could not keep from saying : 
 
 " You will not be more beautiful the day of your 
 nuptials !" 
 
 " My nuptials !" repeated Salammbo in a reverie, 
 as she leaned her elbow on the ivory chair. 
 
 Taanach held up before her mistress a copper 
 mirror, wide and long enough for her to view herself 
 completely. She stood up, and with a light touch of 
 one finger put back a curl that drooped too low on her 
 forehead. Her hair was powdered with gold, crimped 
 in front, hanging down her back in long twists, 
 terminating in pearls. The light from the candelabra 
 heightened the colour on her cheeks, the gold 
 throughout her garments, and the whiteness of her 
 skin. She wore around her waist, on her arms, 
 
THE SERPENT. 255 
 
 hands, and feet such a profusion of jewels that the 
 mirror, reflecting like a sun, flashed back prismatic 
 rays upon her): — and Salammbo stood beside Taan- 
 ach, leaning and turning around on all sides to view 
 herself, smiling at the dazzling effect. 
 
 She walked to and fro, embarrassed by the time 
 that she needs must tarry. 
 
 Suddenly the crow of a cock was heard. She quickly 
 pinned over her hair a long yellow veil, passed a 
 scarf around her neck, and buried her feet in blue 
 leather buskins, saying to Taanach : 
 
 " Go, see under the myrtles, if there is not a man 
 with two horses." 
 
 Taanach had scarcely re-entered before Salammbo 
 descended the stairway of the galleys. 
 
 "Mistress!" called out the slave. Salammbo 
 turned around and placed one finger on her lips, in 
 sign of discretion and silence. 
 
 Taanach crept quietly the length of the prows as 
 far as the base of the terrace, and in the distance by 
 the moonlight she distinguished in the cypress avenue 
 a gigantic shadow moving obliquely to the left of 
 Salammbo : this was a foreboding of death. 
 
 Taanach went back to her room, threw herself on 
 the floor, tore her face with her finger-nails, pulled 
 out her hair, and uttered shrill yells at the top of her 
 voice. 
 
 Finally the thought came to her that some one 
 might hear ; then she was quiet, and sobbed very low, 
 with her head between her hands and her face laid 
 flat on the stones. 
 
CHAPTER XL 
 
 IN THE TENT. 
 
 The man sent by Schahabarim to guide Salammbo 
 conducted her up the road leading beyond the light- 
 house towards the Catacombs, then descended the 
 long suburb of Molouya, full of steep by-ways. 
 
 The sky began to whiten. Sometimes palm- 
 beams jutting beyond the walls obliged them to 
 lower their heads. The two horses, pacing carefully, 
 kept slipping ; and they thus arrived at the gate of 
 Teveste. 
 
 Its heavy valves were half open ; they passed ; it 
 slowly swung to behind them. 
 
 For some time they followed along the foot of the 
 ramparts, and at the top of the cisterns they took a 
 road by the Taenia, a narrow ribbon of yellow land, 
 which separating the gulf from the lake, was pro- 
 longed as far as Rhades. 
 
 No one appeared in or about Carthage, either on 
 the sea or in the surrounding country. The clay- 
 coloured waves rippled softly, as the gentle wind 
 tossed the foam over the sweep of the breakers and 
 necked them o'er with broken splashes of white. 
 
 256 
 
IN THE TEXT. 257 
 
 Notwithstanding the profusion of her wraps, Sal- 
 arambo shivered in the freshness of the morning, 
 and was made dizzy by the unaccustomed motion of 
 the horse and the open air. Then the sun rose ; it 
 bit the back of her head, and involuntarily she 
 became a trifle drowsy. The two horses ambled 
 along- side by side, burying their hoofs in the mute 
 sand. 
 
 When the}' passed the Hot-Springs Mountain, they 
 proceeded at a more rapid gait as the ground became 
 firmer. 
 
 Although it was the season for ploughing and 
 sowing, the fields as far as the eye could span were 
 as forsaken as a desert ; heaps of grain were spread 
 oat from place to place ; elsewhere the reddened 
 barley shed itself from the ear ; and on the clear 
 horizon, villages appeared in black, with incoherent 
 and mutilated outlines. 
 
 Now and again a half-calcined piece of wall stood 
 up on the roadside. The cabin roofs were falling in, 
 exposing the interiors, where could be seen fragments 
 of pottery, tatters of clothing, all sorts of utensils. 
 and unrecognisable shattered objects. Frequently a 
 being covered with rags, evidently startled by the 
 equestrians, emerged from the ruins, its face incrusted 
 with dirt, and eyes flaming, but always quickly took 
 to its heels, or disappeared in a hole. Salammbo and 
 her guide did not halt. 
 
 Abandoned plains succeeded each other. Over 
 wide stretches of yellow earth spread out in uneven 
 streaks, a black charcoal dust, lifted by their horses' 
 feet, rose behind them in clouds. Sometimes they 
 Came to peaceful nooks, a brook that ran amid long 
 
258 SALAMMBO. 
 
 grasses, and on climbing up the opposite bank, 
 Salammbo, to refresh her hands, would pluck the 
 
 wet leaves. 
 
 At the corner of a wood of laurel-roses she was 
 nearly unseated by her horse shying at a corpse 
 stretched upon the ground in the roadway. The 
 slave readjusted her on the cushions. He was one 
 of the servitors of the temple of Tanit, a man whom 
 Schahabarim employed in perilous missions. With 
 an excess of precaution he now went on foot beside 
 her, between the two horses, now and then touch- 
 ing them up with the end of a leather lash, wound 
 around his arm ; or pulled from a pannier hung on 
 his breast balls of wheat, dates, and yolks of eggs, 
 wrapped up in lotus leaves, which he would proffer to 
 Salammbo, without speaking or pausing. 
 
 In the middle of the day, three Barbarians dressed 
 in animals' skins crossed their path ; gradually 
 others appeared, wandering in bands of ten, twelve, 
 or twenty-five, many driving she-goats or cows, 
 which limped. Their heavy clubs were studded 
 with brass points ; cutlasses glittered on their filthy 
 savage clothing. Seeing the riders, they opened their 
 • eyes wide with a menacing and amazed air. 
 
 As they passed along, some shouted after them 
 a commonplace benediction, others obscene pleasant- 
 ries ; and the guide replied to each group in their 
 own idiom, telling them that he was conducting an 
 ill youth to be healed at a distant temple. 
 
 Meantime the day fell. The baying of a dog was 
 heard, and they directed their steps towards the 
 sound. Through the twilight they perceived an 
 enclosure of uncemented stones surrounding a 
 
IN THE TENT. 
 
 259 
 
 shapeless building. A dog ran along on the wall ; 
 the slave stoned it, and they entered a high, vaulted 
 hall. In the centre a crouching woman was warm- 
 ing herself at a brushwood fire, the smoke from 
 which curled up, making its escape through a hole 
 in the roof. Her white hair, which fell to her 
 knees, half concealed her, and without caring to 
 answer the guide, she mumbled in an idiotic manner 
 words of vengeance against the Barbarians and the 
 same against the Carthaginians. 
 
 After the guide had ferreted about from right to 
 left, he came back to the old woman, and demanded 
 something to eat. She shook her head, keeping her 
 eyes fixed on the fire, and murmured : 
 
 " I was the hand ; the ten fingers are cut off. The 
 mouth can eat no more." 
 
 The guide showed her a handful of gold pieces ; 
 she threw herself upon them, but quickly resumed 
 her motionless attitude. 
 
 Finally he drew a poniard from his girdle, and 
 placed it across her throat ; then she tremblingly 
 went and lifted up a large slab, and brought out from 
 concealment an amphora of wine and some fish pre- 
 served in honey from Hippo-Zarytus. 
 
 Salammbo turned away from this unclean food, 
 and, being sorely fatigued, slept on the caparisons 
 taken from her horse, and heaped in a corner of the 
 hall. 
 
 Before daybreak the guide awoke her. 
 
 The dog growled, and the guide stole softly up 
 behind it, and with a single well-directed blow 
 with his poniard, cut off its head. He rubbed the 
 blood on the horses' nostrils to reanimate them 
 
 s 9. 
 
260 SALAMMB6. 
 
 The old hag threw after them a curse. Salammbo 
 perceived it, and pressed the amulet she wore to her 
 heart. 
 
 They retook their journey. Urged, by impatience, 
 now and again she asked the guide if they should 
 not soon reach their destination. The road rolled 
 over little hills. The chirping of the cicadas was alone 
 audible. The sun heated the yellowed grasses. The 
 ground was riven by crevices, which divided it into 
 immense slabs. 
 
 Sometimes a viper crawled by, or an eagle flew over- 
 head. The guide always ran alongside of Salammbo, 
 who mused beneath the veils, and, despite the heat, 
 refrained from casting them aside, fearful of soiling 
 her beautiful vestments. 
 
 At regular distances towers loomed up, built by 
 the Carthaginians for the purpose of watching the 
 movements of the tribes. From time to time the 
 two travellers entered one of these, to avail them- 
 selves of the shade, but, when once refreshed, started 
 on again. 
 
 The previous day, by way of precaution, they had 
 made a wide detour, but at present they met no 
 one ; as the region was barren, the Barbarians had not 
 passed this way. 
 
 Gradually the devastation commenced anew ; and 
 sometimes in the midst of a field there appeared a 
 mosaic floor, the sole relic of a vanished .chateau. 
 The olive-trees, stripped of foliage, seemed in the 
 distance like broad thorn-bushes. They passed 
 through a town where all the houses had been 
 burnt flat to the ground. Along on the wall-sides 
 could be seen human skeletons, as well as those of 
 
IN THE TENT. 26 1 
 
 dromedaries and mules ; and half-devoured carrion 
 blocked the streets. 
 
 Night fell ; the sky hung low, covered with clouds. 
 
 During the space of two more hours they ascended 
 in a westerly direction ; when all at once appeared 
 before them quantities of small flames. 
 
 At the bottom of an amphitheatre, here and there 
 golden plates gleamed as they moved about. These 
 were the polished cuirasses of the Clinabarians in 
 the Punic camp. Then they distinguished in the 
 same vicinity other and more numerous lights, for 
 the armies of the Mercenaries were now combined 
 and massed together, extending over a vast area. 
 
 Salammbo made a movement to advance, but 
 the guide led her further on, and they skirted the 
 terrace that enclosed the Barbarians' camp. A breach 
 was discovered : the slave disappeared. 
 
 At the top of the entrenchments patrolled a sen- 
 tinel, carrying a bow in one hand and a pike over 
 his shoulder. 
 
 Salammbo continued to advance. The sentinel 
 knelt down, and a long arrow pierced the end of 
 her mantle. Then she halted, motionless ; he called 
 out, asking what she wanted. 
 
 " To speak to Matho," she replied. " I am a fugi- 
 tive from Carthage." 
 
 He whistled ; the signal was repeated again and 
 again in the distance. 
 
 Salammbo waited ; her frightened horse snorted 
 and wheeled. 
 
 When Matho arrived, the moon was rising behind 
 her, but her face was concealed under a yellow 
 veil covered with black flowers, and so many ample 
 
262 SALAMMB6. 
 
 draperies enveloped her entire body, it was im- 
 possible to divine aught of it. From the top of the 
 terrace he contemplated this vague form rising like 
 a phantom through the evening shadows. 
 
 A,t length she said to him : 
 
 " Take me to your tent. I wish it." 
 
 A recollection which he could not -clearly define 
 passed through his memory. He felt his heart beat. 
 This air of command intimidated him. 
 
 "Follow me !" said he. 
 
 The barrier was lowered ; soon she was within 
 the Barbarians' encampment. 
 
 It was replete with a great tumult and a surging 
 crowd. Fires burned brightly under suspended 
 camp kettles, and their crimson reflections weirdly 
 illuminated certain places, while permitting others 
 to remain in complete darkness. 
 
 People were shouting and calling on all sides ; 
 the horses were tethered in long, straight rows 
 between the tents, that were round or square, con- 
 structed of leather or canvas ; there were also reed 
 huts, and holes dug in the ground, like burrows of 
 animals. 
 
 The soldiers were carting faggots for the fires, or 
 were squatting on the ground, or, wrapped up in 
 their mats, were disposing themselves for sleep ; and 
 Salammbo's horse, in order to step over their forms, 
 sometimes was forced to stretch out his legs and 
 leap. 
 
 Salammbo recalled having previously seen these 
 very same men ; but now their beards were much 
 longer, their faces more tanned, and their voices 
 harsher. Matho walked in front of her, and at a 
 
IN THE TENT. 263 
 
 gesture of his arm that lifted his red mantle, the men 
 scattered. Some kissed his hands, others bowed 
 down and accosted him, to request his commands, 
 as he ranked now as the veritable, the only Chief of 
 the Barbarians : Spend ins, Autharitus, and Xarr' 
 Havas had been discouraged, but he had shown 
 such audacity and determination, that all obeyed 
 him. 
 
 Salammbo in following him traversed the entire 
 camp, as his tent was pitched at the end, and only 
 three hundred paces distant from Hamilcar's en- 
 trenchments. 
 
 She noticed on the right a broad ditch, and it 
 seemed to her that faces leaned on the edge at the 
 level of the ground, resembling decapitated heads ; 
 yet their eyes moved, and from their half -opened 
 mouths moans in the Punic language escaped. 
 
 Two Negroes, holding cressets filled with burning 
 resin, stood on either side of Matho's tent. He 
 advanced, and brusquely casting aside the fall of 
 canvas, entered. She followed him. It was a deep 
 tent, supported by a pole in the middle, and lighted 
 by a large sconce in the form of a lotus, filled with 
 yellow oil, on which floated handfuls of burning 
 tow; in the shadows could be distinguished shin- 
 ing military accoutrements. A naked blade leaned 
 against a stool, beside a buckler ; whips of hippo- 
 potamus hide, cymbals, little bells and collars, were 
 thrown pell-mell into baskets of esparto-grass : 
 crumbs of black bread soiled a felt coverlet ; in one 
 corner, on a round stone, copper money was care- 
 lessly heaped ; and through the rents of the tent- 
 canvas the wind brought from without the dust, 
 
264 SALAMMB6. 
 
 and the scent of the elephants, which could be heard 
 rattling their chains as they were feeding. 
 
 " Who are you ?" asked Matho. 
 
 Without reply she slowly looked round the tent, 
 and her glance was arrested at the far end, where, on 
 a bed of palm-branches, la^ something bluish and 
 scintillating. 
 
 She advanced quickly : a cry escaped her. Matho, 
 behind her, stamped his foot. 
 
 " What brings you ? Why do you come ?" 
 
 She replied, pointing to the Zaimph : 
 
 " To take it !" and with the other hand pulled off 
 her veils. Matho recoiled, his elbows thrown back, 
 with mouth open, and almost terrified. 
 
 She felt herself sustained as if by the power of the 
 Gods, and gazing at him face to face, she demanded 
 the Zaimph, claiming it with profuse and haughty 
 words. 
 
 Matho did not hear : he was contemplating her, 
 and her garments, that were to him blended with 
 her body : the sheen of the fabrics was like the 
 splendour of her skin, something special, appertain- 
 ing to her alone : her eyes and her diamonds equally 
 sparkled ; the polish of her finger-nails continued 
 the lustre of the jewels that bedecked her fingers ; 
 the two agraffes fastening her tunic raised her 
 breasts a trifle up and pressed them closer ; he lost 
 himself in a reverie as his eye followed a slender 
 thread that fell between them, to which was sus- 
 pended an emerald medallion that he perceived 
 revealing itself lower down under the violet gauze. 
 She wore for ear-rings two tiny balances of sapphires, 
 supporting a hollow pearl filled with liquid per- 
 
IN THE TENT. 265 
 
 fume, which percolated through minute perforations 
 and from moment to moment fell in a drop, which 
 moistened her bare shoulders. Matho with fascina- 
 tion watched it slowly trickle down. 
 
 An indomitable curiosity attracted him, and like 
 a child who puts its hand on an unknown fruit, 
 tremblingly he touched her lightly with the tip of 
 his finger on the upper part of her bosom ; at the 
 touch her flesh, slightly cold, yielded with an elastic 
 resistance. 
 
 This contact, although scarcely perceptible, shook 
 Matho to the depths of his soul. An insurrection 
 of his whole being impelled him towards her. He 
 desired to envelope her, absorb her, drink her. His 
 breast heaved, his teeth chattered. 
 
 He took her by the wrists and gently drew her to 
 him, and then sat down on a cuirass beside the couch 
 of palm-branches, covered with a lion's skin, while 
 she remained standing. Thus holding her between his 
 knees, he scanned her from head to foot, repeating : 
 
 " How beautiful you are ! How beautiful you 
 are !" 
 
 His eyes continually fixed on hers, made her 
 suffer, and this embarrassment, this repugnance, 
 increased in a manner so keen that Salammbo 
 had to restrain herself from screaming out. The 
 thought of Schahabarim came to her ; she resigned 
 herself. 
 
 Matho kept holding her little hands in his, and 
 from time to time, in spite of the priest's edict, she 
 averted her face, and tried to throw him off by shak- 
 ing her arms. He dilated his nostrils to inhale more 
 freely the perfume exhaled from her person — an 
 
266 SALAMMB6. 
 
 indefinable emanation, fresh, yet it made him dizzy, 
 like the fumes from a censer — a diffusion of honey, 
 pepper, incense, roses, and yet another odour. 
 
 But, how came he to find her thus beside him in 
 his tent, at his discretion ? Some one doubtless had 
 brought her. She had not come for the Zaimph ? 
 His arms fell, and he lowered his head, overwhelmed 
 by a sudden reverie. 
 
 In order to move him, Salammbo said, in a plaintive 
 voice : 
 
 "What, then, have I done, that you wish my 
 death ?" 
 
 "Your death !" he exclaimed. 
 
 She resumed : 
 
 " I saw you one night, by the flames of my burning 
 gardens, between the steaming cups and my slain 
 slaves; and at that time your wrath was so fierce that 
 you bounded towards me, and made me fly ! Then 
 a terror entered Carthage — devastation of the cities 
 — burning? of the countries — massacre of the sol- 
 diers. It is you who have destroyed them ! It 
 is you who have assassinated them ! I hate you ! 
 Your name alone gnaws me like remorse ! You are 
 more execrable than the pest ! Aye, than the 
 Roman 'war ! The provinces quake before your 
 fury ; the ditches are full of dead ! I have followed 
 the trace of your fires as though I walked behind 
 Moloch !" 
 
 Matho rose at a bound; a tremendous pride swelled 
 his heart ; he felt himself lifted to the height of a 
 God. 
 
 With palpitating nostrils, and teeth set, she con- 
 tinued: 
 
IN THE TENT. 267 
 
 " As if there had not already been enough of your 
 sacrilege, you came to my palace during my sleep, 
 enveloped in the Zaimph ! Your words I did not 
 comprehend ; but I saw very well that you desired to 
 drag me towards something frightful — to plunge me 
 to the bottom of an abyss !" 
 
 Matho, wringing his hands, cried out : 
 
 "No! no! It was to give the Zaimph to you ! 
 To render it back to you ! For it seemed to me 
 that the Goddess had left her vestment for you, and 
 that it belonged to you! In her temple or in your 
 mansion, what matter ? Are you not all-powerful, 
 immaculate, radiant and beautiful as Tanit ?" And 
 with a look full of infinite admiration : 
 
 "At least — perhaps — if you may not be Tanit her- 
 self ?" 
 
 "I, Tanit !" Salammbo exclaimed to herself. 
 
 They talked no more. The distant thunder rum- 
 bled. The sheep bleated, frightened by the storm. 
 
 "Oh! come near! 1 ' he resumed. "Come near; 
 fear nothing ! 
 
 " Formerly I had been but a soldier, confounded 
 among the common Mercenaries, and even so mild 
 that I freely carried upon my back the wood for my 
 comrades. Do I trouble myself about Carthage ? The 
 crowd of her men tosses to and fro as though lost in 
 the dust of your sandals, and all the Carthaginian trea- 
 sures, with her provinces, her waters, and her islands. 
 do not entice me like the freshness of your lips and 
 the turn of your shoulders. But I wanted to pull 
 down her walls, in order that I might come near to 
 you and possess you ! Besides, while 1 wait I revenge 
 myself ! At present, 1 crush men like shells. 1 
 
2 68 SALAMMBO. 
 
 throw myself on the phalanxes ; I scatter the sarissas 
 with my hands, and arrest the stallions by their nos- 
 trils ; a catapult even is powerless to kill me ! Oh ! 
 if you only knew how in the midst of this war I 
 have thought of you ! Sometimes the memory of a 
 gesture — of a fold in your robes, has suddenly seized 
 me and entangled me like a net ! I perceived your 
 eyes in the flames of the fire-lances and above the 
 gilding of the shields. I hear your voice in the re- 
 sounding of the cymbals ; I turn round — you are not 
 there ! And then I plunge again into the thick of 
 battle!" 
 
 He lifted his arms in his emotion, and the swollen 
 veins intercrossed like ivy creeping over the 
 branches of trees ; the perspiration rolled down on his 
 chest between his squared muscles, while his rapid 
 breathing made his sides heave beneath his belt of 
 bronze, fitted with straps that hung to his knees, 
 which were firmer than marble. Salammbo, 
 accustomed to the eunuchs, allowed herself to be 
 overcome by the force of this man. 
 
 It was the chastisement of the Goddess, or the 
 influence of Moloch, circulating around her in the 
 five armies. Overwhelmed by a certain lassitude, 
 she indistinctly heard through her stupor the inter- 
 mittent call of the sentinels answering one another. 
 
 The flames of the lamp wavering fitfully under 
 gusts of warm air, became at moments bright 
 flashes of light, then almost extinguished, intensify- 
 ing the obscurity ; and she saw only Matho's eyeballs 
 like two glowing coals in the night. Now she felt, 
 indeed, that a fatality encompassed her, that she 
 had attained a supreme moment which was irrevoc- 
 
IN THE TENT. 269 
 
 able, and with one effort went towards the Zaimph, 
 and raised her hands to seize it. 
 
 "What are you doing ?" cried Matho. 
 
 She answered with placidity : 
 
 " I return to Carthage with the Zaimph." 
 
 He advanced, and folded his arms with an air so 
 terrible that she was immediately as nailed to the 
 ground. 
 
 "You return with it to Carthage !" he stammered; 
 and repeated, grinding his teeth : " You return with 
 it to Carthage ! Ah ! you came to take the Zaimph, 
 to conquer me, then to disappear ! No ! no ! you 
 belong to me ! and at present, no one can tear you 
 from here ! Ah! I have not forgotten the insolence 
 of your large, tranquil eyes, and how you crushed 
 me with your haughty beauty ! Ah ! it is my turn 
 now ! You are my captive, my slave, my servant ! 
 Call, if you will, your father, and his army, the Elders, 
 the Rich, and your entire execrable people ! I am 
 the master of three hundred thousand soldiers ! I 
 will go and seek them in Lusitania, among the Gauls* 
 and in the depths of the desert. I will overthrow 
 your city, and burn all its temples ! The triremes 
 shall float on streams of blood ! I do not choose that 
 a single house, a stone, or a palm-tree remain ! 
 And if men fail me, I will draw the bears from the 
 mountains, and turn the lions upon your people ! 
 Do not attempt to fly, or I shall kill you !" 
 
 Ghastly, and with fists clenched, he quivered like 
 a harp when the over-tense strings are about to snap. 
 Suddenly sobs suffocated him, and he sank down 
 on his haunches before her. 
 
 " Ah ! forgive me, I am a wretch, viler than the 
 
2/0 SALAMMBO. 
 
 scorpions, than the mud or the dust ! Just now, as 
 you were speaking, your breath passed over my face, 
 and I delighted in it as a dying man who, prone on 
 his face, drinks at the edge of a stream. Crush me, 
 that I may feel your feet ! Curse me, that I may 
 hear your voice ! Do not go ! Pity me ! I love 
 you ! I love you !" 
 
 He fell upon his knees on the ground before her, 
 and encircled her waist with his arms, his head 
 thrown back and his hands wandering listlessly about 
 her ; the gold discs suspended from his ears shone 
 on his bronzed throat ; large tears rolled in his eyes, 
 like silver balls ; he sighed in a caressing manner, 
 and murmured vague speeches lighter than a breeze, 
 as savoury as a kiss. 
 
 Salammbo was invaded by a softness in which she 
 lost all consciousness of herself. Something at once 
 from within, and from on high, an order of the Gods, 
 forced her to self-abandonment ; clouds lifted her 
 up, and fainting she fell back on the couch in the 
 midst of the lion's skin. Matho seized her in a fran- 
 tic embrace ; her golden chainlet snapped, and the 
 two ends flew apart, striking against the tent like two 
 leaping vipers. The Zaimph fell and enveloped her, 
 Seeing Matho's face bending over her, she exclaimed : 
 
 " Moloch, thou burnest me !" and the kisses of the 
 soldier, more devouring than fire, coursed over her. 
 She was as if lifted up in a storm, or as consumed by 
 the force of the sun. 
 
 He kissed all the fingers of her hands ; her arms, 
 her feet, and the long tresses of her hair from end to 
 end. 
 
 "Take the Zaimph," he said: " how can 1 resist? 
 
IN THE TENT. 2JI 
 
 Take me with it ! I will renounce everything ! 
 Beyond Gades, twenty days by sea, there has been 
 found an island covered with gold-dust, with ver- 
 dure, and birds. On the mountains large flowers 
 full of perfume swing mid-air, fuming like eternal 
 censers ; in citron trees taller than the cedars, milk- 
 white serpents with the diamonds of their jaws 
 make the fruit fall to the ground. The air is so soft 
 that it wards off death. Ave, I will find it : von 
 shall see this haven. We shall live in crystal grottos 
 hewn out at the foot of the hills. No one has 
 ever inhabited this country, where I shall become 
 king." 
 
 He brushed off the dust from his cothurnes ; then 
 besought her to allow him to put a quarter of a 
 pomegranate between her lips ; he piled up clothing 
 behind her head to make a pillow ; in fact he sought 
 in every imaginable way to serve her, to humiliate 
 himself, and even went so far as to spread over her 
 knees the Zaimph as a simple rug. 
 
 "Do you still keep," said he, ''those little ga- 
 zelle horns on which your necklaces are si nended ? 
 Give them to me ! I love them !" Jovous laughter 
 escaped him, and he talked as though the war was 
 at an end : and the Mercenaries, Hamilcar, and all 
 obstacles, had now disappeared. 
 
 Through an opening in the tent they saw the moon 
 as she glided between two clouds. 
 
 u Ah! but I have passed nights in contemplating 
 her ! She seemed to me a veil which hid your face : 
 von looked at me through it : memories of vou were 
 mingled with her rays. Then I could distinguish 
 you there no more !" And with his head upon her 
 
272 SALAMMBO. 
 
 bosom, carried away again by his emotion, he wept 
 freely. 
 
 " Then this is he," she thought, " the formidable 
 man who makes Carthage tremble !" 
 
 Finally he slept ; then, disengaging herself from 
 his arms, she placed one foot on the ground, when 
 she saw that her chainlet was broken. 
 
 In grand families the virgins were accustomed to 
 respect these little shackles with almost the same 
 reverence as though they were religious symbols. 
 Salammbo blushingly rolled around her ankles the 
 two ends of her dishonoured gold chainlet. Car- 
 thage, Megara, her mansion, her room and the tract 
 of country through which she had recently traversed, 
 rushed in whirlwinds through her memory, in 
 images tumultuous, and yet withal distinct. But a 
 supervening abyss removed them far from her, to an 
 infinite distance. 
 
 The storm was passing away; rare heavy drops 
 of rain, spattering one by one, made the tent-top 
 sway. 
 
 Matho slept as a man intoxicated, extended on 
 his side, one arm flung out beyond the edge of the 
 couch ; his pearl bandeau, thrust a trifle up, ex- 
 posed his forehead. A smile parted his lips, 
 disclosing his glittering teeth in the midst of his 
 black beard, and in his half -closed eyes lurked a 
 silent, almost outrageous gaiety. Salammbo re- 
 garded him, her head down, her hands clasped, 
 motionless. 
 
 At the head of the couch a poniard lay on a 
 cypress table ; the sight of this shining blade in- 
 flamed her with murderous desire. Lamenting 
 
IN THE TENT. 273 
 
 voices came from afar through the darkness, and like 
 a choir of spirits solicited her. She drew near and 
 seized the haft of the weapon, but at the rustle of 
 her robe Matho partially opened his eyes, moved his 
 lips over her hands, and the poniard dropped. 
 
 Screams burst out ; a frightful light flashed behind 
 the tent. Matho lifted the tent cloth ; they perceived 
 that a vast conflagration enveloped the Libyan camp. 
 Their reed cabins were burning, the stems twisting, 
 splintered through the smoke, flying like arrows ; over 
 the red horizon black shadows ran frantically beyond. 
 Yells issuing from those within the cabins were 
 heard ; the elephants, the cattle, and the horses leaped 
 and plunged among the distracted crowd, crushing 
 the soldiers with the munitions and baggage that 
 they dragged out of the fire. Trumpets sounded the 
 alarm. Voices called out : 
 
 " Matho ! Matho ! " Men tried to enter, shouting : 
 
 " Come ! come ! Hamilcar is burning the camp of 
 Autharitus." 
 
 At this he made one bound. Salammbo now 
 found herself alone. 
 
 Then she closely examined the Zaimph ; after she 
 had contemplated it well, she was surprised not to 
 experience that measure of happiness she had for- 
 merly thought should be hers. She remained melan- 
 choly before her dream accomplished. 
 
 Just then the end of the tent was lifted and a 
 hideous form appeared. At first Salammbo could 
 only discern two eyes, and a long white beard, which 
 hung down to the ground, for the rest of the body, 
 entangled in the rags of a tawny garment, dragged 
 along the earth : and at every forward movement the 
 
 T 
 
2 74 SALAMMBO. 
 
 two hands were buried in his beard, and then fell 
 back. In crawling thus he gradually arrived at 
 Salammbo's feet, and she recognised old Gisco. 
 
 In fact, the Mercenaries, to prevent the captive El- 
 ders from escaping, had broken their legs with a metal 
 bar, then had thrown them all promiscuously to rot 
 in a ditch of filth. The most robust, when they 
 heard the rattle of the bowls, used to raise them- 
 selves up and yell : it was thus that Gisco had per- 
 ceived Salammbo. 
 
 When Matho led Salammbo across the camp to 
 his tent Gisco had seen her, and had conjectured her 
 to be a Carthaginian woman by the little beads of 
 sandastruptth&t clattered on her buskins, andactuated 
 by the presentiment of some great mystery, with 
 the aid of his companions he had succeeded in get- 
 ting out of the ditch, and he had dragged himself 
 on his hands and elbows twenty yards or more to 
 Matho's tent. 
 " It is you !" finally she said, almost appalled. 
 Lifting himself up on his hands, he replied : 
 " It is 1 ! All believed me to be dead, is it not so ?" 
 She bowed her head, and he continued : 
 " Ah ! why have not the Baals granted me this 
 grace !" — and he drew so close that he touched her 
 robe — " they would have thus spared me the pain of 
 cursing you !" 
 
 Salammbo threw herself quickly backward ; she 
 had such fear of this unclean being, who seemed as 
 hideous as a larva and as terrible as a phantom. 
 
 " I shall soon be one hundred years old," he said. 
 " I have seen Agathocles, I have also seen Regulus 
 and the Roman eagles pass over the Punic harvest 
 
IN THE TENT. 275 
 
 fields ! I have seen all the horrors of battles, the 
 sea encumbered with the wrecks of our fleets ! 
 The Barbarians whom I formerly commanded have 
 captured and chained me by my four limbs like 
 a homicide slave ; my companions one by one are 
 dying about me ; the odours of their corpses awaken 
 me at night ; I drive away the birds that swoop 
 down to peck out their eyes ; and yet not for one 
 single day have I despaired of Carthage ! Although 
 I should have seen all the armies pitted against 
 her and the flames of the siege overtop the temples, 
 even then I should have believed in her eternity ! 
 But now all is ended ! All is lost ! The Gods curse 
 her ! Malediction on you who have hastened her 
 ruin by your ignominy !' 
 
 She opened her lips. 
 
 "Ah ! I was there !" cried he. "I heard you pant 
 with lust as a prostitute, when he told you of his 
 passion, and you permitted him to kiss your hands ! 
 But if the madness of yourunchastity impelled you, at 
 least you should have behaved as well as the wild 
 beasts, which hide themselves to couple, and you 
 would not thus have displayed your shame almost 
 before the eyes of your father !" 
 
 " What ?" she exclaimed. 
 
 " Ah, then you do not know that the two entrench- 
 ments are within sixty cubits one to the other, — that 
 your Matho, from exce.-s of audacious pride, has 
 established himself in front of Hamilcar ? Your 
 father is just there behind you, and if I could only 
 have crawled up the pathway leading to the platform 
 I could have cried, ' Come now, see your daughter in 
 the embrace of a Barbarian ! She has put on the 
 
 t2 
 
276 SALAMMBO. 
 
 vestments of the Goddess to please him, and aban- 
 dons her body to his lust; thus she betrays the 
 glory of your name and the majesty of the Gods, the 
 vengeance of her country, even the salvation of Car- 
 thage !' " 
 
 The movements of his toothless mouth agitated 
 his long white beard to its very end ; his eyes were 
 fastened upon her and seemed to devour her, as he 
 said : 
 
 " Oh ! Sacrilege ! Be accursed ! Accursed ! Ac- 
 cursed !" 
 
 Salammbo cast aside at arm's length the tent cloth, 
 held it thus uplifted without answering Gisco. She 
 looked in the direction of Hamilcar's encampment. 
 I " It is this way, is it not ?" she asked. 
 
 " What matter is it to you ? Turn aside ! Away 
 with you ! Rather crush your face against the 
 earth ! It is a holy place, which your look would 
 profane !" 
 
 She hastily threw the Zaimph around her waist, 
 gathered up her veils, mantle, and scarf — " I go 
 there !" she ejaculated, and disappeared. 
 
 At first she ran along in the darkness without 
 meeting anyone, as all had rushed towards the fire, 
 and the uproar increased as the far-reaching flames 
 of the conflagration impurpled the sky behind. 
 Presently a long terrace hindered her progress. She 
 turned from right to left at hazard, searching for a 
 rope, a ladder, a stone, anything, in fact, to help her 
 to mount over the wall. She was afraid of Gisco, 
 and it seemed that cries and steps pursued her. The 
 day began to dawn. She discerned by the feeble 
 light a pathway in the entrenchments ; taking her 
 
IN THE TENT. 277 
 
 robe between her teeth, as it greatly encumbered her, 
 with three bounds she attained the platform. 
 
 A sonorous signal sounded below her in the shade, 
 the same signal that she had heard at the foot of 
 the stairway of the galleys. Leaning over the 
 terrace, she recognised the man sent by the priest 
 Schahabarim, holding two saddled horses. 
 
 All night he had wandered between the two 
 entrenchments, but becoming greatly disquieted by 
 the conflagration, he had gone back, trying to dis- 
 cover what happened in Matho's camp ; and as he 
 knew that this place was nearest to his tent, in 
 obedience to the priest's orders he had not left the 
 vicinity, but there awaited Salammbo. 
 
 He mounted and stood upright on the back of one 
 of the horses, and Salammbo slipped down from the 
 terrace to him ; at once they spurred their horses 
 into a sharp gallop, making the circuit of the Punic 
 camp, searching for an entrance. 
 
 Matho re-entered his tent. The smoking lamp 
 scarcely burned, and as he believed Salammbo 
 slept, he patted delicately all over the lion's skin 
 spread out on the couch of palm-branches. Not find- 
 ing her, he called, and she answered not ; he quickly 
 jerked down a strip of canvas to admit the daylight. 
 The Zaimph had disappeared. 
 
 The earth trembled under the tread of the mul- 
 titude. Yells, neighs, the clash of armours sounded 
 through the air, and the fanfare of the clarions rung 
 out the signal for a charge. All was like a fierce 
 hurricane eddying around him. An inordinate fury 
 
278 SALAMMBO. 
 
 overtook him ; he seized his weapons and mndly 
 dashed outside. 
 
 Long files of Barbarians were descending the moun- 
 tain sides double quick, and the Punic squares ad- 
 vanced against them with a heavy, regular oscilla- 
 tion. The fog, torn by the sun's rays, formed little 
 detached clouds that hung in the air, and gradually 
 rising, disclosed standards, helmets, and the points 
 of pikes. Under the rapid evolutions, portions of the 
 field still in shadow seemed to change place as a single 
 piece. Elsewhere it appeared as if torrents were cross- 
 ing each other, and between them thorny masses re- 
 mained motionless. Matho distinguished the captains, 
 the soldiers, and the heralds, as far as to the range 
 of varlets in the rear who were mounted on asses. 
 But Narr 1 Havas, instead of holding his position and 
 covering the foot-soldiers, abruptly wheeled to the 
 right, as though he deliberately aimed to be crushed 
 by Hamilcar's troops. 
 
 His cavalry passed beyond the elephants, which 
 had slackened their speed, and all the horses stretched 
 out their heads, uncurbed by reins, galloping at 
 a pace so furious that their bellies fairly seemed 
 to graze the earth. Then suddenly Narr' Havas 
 rode resolutely towards a sentinel, threw down his 
 sword, his lance, his javelins, and vanished thus un- 
 armed in the midst of the Carthaginians. 
 
 The king of the Numidians entered Hamilcar's 
 tent and said to him, pointing out his men, who had 
 halted at a distance : 
 
 " Barca ! I bring them to you — they are for you !" 
 
 Then he prostrated himself on the ground in sign 
 of subjugation ; afterwards recalled, as proof of his 
 
IN THE TENT. 279 
 
 fidelity to Hamilcar, his line of conduct since the 
 beginning of the war. 
 
 At first, he recounted how he had prevented the 
 siege of Carthage and the massacre of the Punic 
 captives ; then, how he had not profited by the vic- 
 tory over Han no after the defeat at Utica. As to 
 the Tyrian cities, they were on the frontier of his 
 own realm. In short, he had not participated at the 
 battle of Macar, had even absented himself expressly, 
 to avoid the obligation of combatting the Suffete. 
 
 In truth, Narr' Havas had ever desired to aggran- 
 dise himself by encroachments on the Punic pro- 
 vinces, and, according to the chances of victory, he 
 had succoured or forsaken the Mercenaries. But 
 seeing that Hamilcar would ultimately be the 
 strongest, he had determined to ally himself to him ; 
 and perhaps there might also be in his present de- 
 fection a grudge against Matho, either because he 
 was in command, or by reason of his former love. 
 
 Without interruption the Suffete listened, for this 
 man who presented himself thus with all his forces in 
 an army to which he owed a debt of vengeance, was 
 an auxiliary not to be disdained. Hamilcar divined at 
 once the utility of such an alliance for the advance- 
 ment of his great projects. For with the Numidians 
 he would at once extricate himself from the Libyans, 
 then he could draw with him the West to the con- 
 quest of Iberia : hence, without asking why he had 
 not come sooner, or remarking any of his falsehoods, 
 Hamilcar kissed Narr' Havas, clasping him three 
 times to his breast. 
 
 As a last resort and in despair Hamilcar had fired 
 the Libyans 1 camp. This army came to him like 
 
280 SALAMMBO. 
 
 succour from the Gods ; but dissimulating his joy, 
 the Suffete craftily rejoined: 
 
 " May the Baals favour you ! I know not what 
 the Republic will do for you, but know this, that 
 Hamilcar is not ungrateful." 
 
 The tumult redoubled ; the captains entered ; he 
 armed himself while speaking : 
 
 " Let us go ! Return, you with your cavalry will 
 destroy their infantry, between your elephants and 
 mine ! Courage ! Exterminate them I" 
 
 Narr' Havas was dashing forth just as Salammbo 
 appeared. She quickly dismounted and threw open 
 her wide mantle, and spreading her arms she dis- 
 played the Zaimph. 
 
 The leathern curtain of the tent, looped up at the 
 four corners, allowed the entire circuit of the moun- 
 tains covered with soldiers to be seen, and as it 
 stood in the centre, from all sides Salammbo was 
 beheld. An immense clamour burst forth, a long 
 cry of triumph and of hope. Those who were 
 moving stopped; the dying leaned on their elbows, 
 and turned round to bless her. 
 
 All the Barbarians now knew that she had retaken 
 the Zaimph ; from the distance they saw her, or 
 believed that they saw her, and their yells of 
 rage and vengeance also resounded, despite the 
 applause of the Carthaginians. Thus these five 
 armies swarming on the mountains stamped and 
 howled with joy or rage on all sides of Salammbo. 
 
 Hamilcar, powerless to speak, thanked him by 
 nodding his head. His eyes alternately scanned her 
 and the Zaimph ; and he remarked that her chainlet 
 was broken. Then he quivered, seized by a terrible 
 
IN THE TENT. 28 I 
 
 suspicion. But quickly resuming his impassibility, 
 he considered Narr 1 Havas askance without turning 
 his face. 
 
 The king of the Numidians held himself apart in 
 a discreet attitude ; on his forehead was a little dust 
 where he had touched the ground when he had pros-, 
 trated himself. Finally the Suffete advanced towards 
 him, and, with an air full of gravity : 
 
 " In recompense for the services that you have 
 rendered me, Narr' Havas, I give you my daughter !" 
 adding, " Be my son, and protect your father !" 
 
 Narr' Havas made a gesture of great surprise, after- 
 wards, throwing himself before Salammbo, covered 
 her hands with kisses. 
 
 Salammbo, calm like a statue, seemed not to com. 
 prebend : she blushed slightly and dropped her 
 eyes, and her long lashes made shadows upon her 
 cheeks. Hamilcar desired to unite them immediately 
 by an indissoluble betrothal. In Salammbo's hands 
 a lance was placed, which she offered to Narr' Havas ; 
 their thumbs were tied together by a leather lace, 
 then corn was poured over their heads, and the grains 
 which fell around them rang, like hail, rebounding. 
 
CHAPTER XXL 
 
 THE AQUEDUCT. 
 
 TWELVE hours after, there only remained of the 
 Mercenaries heaps of wounded, dying, and dead. 
 
 Hamilcar had suddenly issued from the bottom of 
 the gorge, and descended again upon the western 
 slope looking towards Hippo-Zarytus, whither, as the 
 field broadened out, he had taken care to attract the 
 Barbarians. Narr 1 Havas with his cavalry had sur- 
 rounded them ; the Suffete meanwhile drove them 
 back, and crushed them. Furthermore, they were 
 conquered in advance by the loss of the Zaimph ; 
 even those who did not actually care for it, felt a 
 distress akin to weakness. Hamilcar not making it 
 a poiD j of honour to remain in possession of the 
 battle-Seld, had drawn off a little to the left upon 
 the heights, whence he commanded the enemy. 
 
 The outline of the camps could be recognised 
 by their bent-down palisades. A long mass of black 
 cinders smoked on the site of the Libyans' camp ; 
 the upturned ground undulated like the waves 
 of the sea, and the tents, with their flapping rags of 
 canvas, resembled rudderless ships, half lost among 
 
 282 
 
THE AQUEDUCT. 283 
 
 the breakers. Cuirasses, pitchforks, clarions, frag- 
 ments of wood, iron, and brass, grain, straw, and 
 clothing, were strewn amid the corpses. Here and 
 there some stray fire-lance on the point of extinction 
 was burning against a pile of baggage. The earth in 
 certain places was hidden under the bucklers : the 
 carcases of horses succeeded each other in heaps, 
 like a chain of hillocks. One could perceive legs, 
 sandals, arms, coats-of-mail. and heads in their hel- 
 mets, kept together by the chin-pieces, which rolled 
 about like balls. Human hair hung on the thorn- 
 bushes. In pools of blood disembowelled elephants 
 lay struggling in death-agonies, with their towers 
 yet upon their backs. One trod upon glutinous 
 things: and even though the rain had not fallen, 
 there were pools of mud. 
 
 This confusion of corpses occupied the entire 
 surface of the mountain from top to bottom. 
 
 Those who survived did not stir any more 
 than the dead, but crouched in irregular groups, 
 looking at one another, too much terrified to 
 speak. 
 
 At the end of a long prairie, the lake of Hippo- 
 Zarytus shone under the rays of the declining sun ; 
 to the right, close-packed groups of white houses 
 stood out above a girdle of walls; the sea beyond 
 spread out indefinitely ; and with their chins in 
 their hands, the Barbarians sighed as they thougin 
 of their home land. A cloud of grey dust settled down. 
 The evening wind blew, refreshing and inflating 
 their lungs. As the coolness gradually increased, the 
 vermin could be seen leaving the dead bodies, which 
 sveie growing cold, and crawling along on the warm 
 
284 SALAMMBO. . 
 
 sand ; and ravens perched motionless on the top of 
 large stones, turned towards the dying. 
 
 When night fell, dogs with yellow hair, the un- 
 clean beasts which follow armies, came stealing 
 softly amid the Barbarians. At first they licked 
 the clotted blood from the yet warm stumps of limbs, 
 but soon they set to devouring the bodies, always 
 attacking the bowels first. 
 
 One by one, like shadows, the fugitives appeared ; 
 the women also ventured to return, for there were 
 still some of them left, especially with the Libyans, 
 despite the frightful massacre which the Numidians 
 had perpetrated. 
 
 Some lighted the ends of ropes to serve as torches ; 
 others held their pikes crossed, upon which their 
 dead were placed and carried apart. 
 
 The dead were extended on their backs in long 
 rows, open-mouthed, with their lances hard by, or 
 else were piled up in confusion ; and often, in the en- 
 deavour to discover the missing, it became necessary 
 to dig through quite a heap. Then the torches were 
 moved slowly over the faces : the hideous weapons 
 had inflicted complicated wounds ; greenish shreds 
 of flesh hung from their foreheads : they were cut in 
 pieces, or cloven to the marrow, bluish from strangu- 
 lation, or deeply gashed by the elephants' tusks. 
 
 Even though they had expired almost at the same 
 time, there existed marked differences in the progress 
 of decomposition. Men from the north were bloated 
 with livid swellings : and the Africans, who were 
 more wiry, seemed to have been smoked, and were 
 already drying up. 
 
 The Mercenaries were known by the tattooings on 
 
THE AQUEDUCT. 285 
 
 their hands ; the veterans of Antiochus displayed a 
 sparrow-hawk ; those who had served in Egypt, the 
 head of a cynocephalus ; those who had done duty 
 under the princes of Asia, a battle-axe, a pomegranate, 
 or a hammer ; and those who had served in the 
 Greek Republics, the profile of a citadel or the 
 name of an Archon ; and there were some whose 
 arms were entirely covered by numerous symbols, 
 blending with the cicatrices of old and new wounds. 
 
 For the bodies of men of Latin race — namely, the 
 Samnites, Etruscans, Campanians, and the Bruttians 
 — four large funeral pyres were established. 
 
 The Greeks dug pits for their dead with the 
 points of their swords ; the Spartans took off their 
 own cloaks to wrap about their fallen comrades ; the 
 Athenians turned the bodies of their dead so as to 
 face the rising sun ; the Cantabrians buried their slain 
 under heaps of stones ; the Nasamones doubled the 
 corpses in two, lashing them together with leathern 
 straps ; and the Garamantians went away to bury 
 their dead upon the shore, that the waves might 
 perpetually lave them. But the Latins were in de- 
 spair, because they could not collect the ashes in 
 urns ; the Nomads regretted the absence of the hot 
 sands in which bodies were mummified ; and the 
 Celts missed the three rough stones under a rainy 
 sky at the end of a gulf full of islets. 
 
 Loud cries were raised, followed bv a long silence. 
 This was to force the departed souls to come back. 
 Then the clamour was perseveringly resumed at 
 regular intervals. 
 
 They excused themselves before the dead for 
 being unable to accord them honours, as the rites 
 
286 SALAMMBO. 
 
 prescribed ; for owing to this privation they were 
 doomed, to wander during infinite periods, and to go 
 through all manner of perils and metamorphoses. 
 They questioned them, they asked what they desired, 
 while others overwhelmed them with abuse for 
 allowing themselves to be conquered. 
 
 The light from the great funeral pyres cast a 
 weird pallor over the bloodless faces, upturned here 
 and there upon the fragments of armour ; and tears 
 excited tears, till sobs became more poignant, recog- 
 nitions and embraces more frantic. The women 
 threw themselves upon the bodies, mouth to mouth 
 and forehead against forehead ; they were only forced 
 away with blows when the earth was thrown into 
 the pits over the bodies. They blackened their 
 cheeks ; they cut their hair ; they drew their blood 
 and shed it in the graves. They even gashed upon 
 themselves counterparts of the wounds disfiguring 
 their dead. 
 
 Groans penetrated through the clashing uproar of 
 the cymbals. Some pulled off their amulets and spat 
 upon them. The dying rolled in the bloody miie, 
 furiously biting their mutilated fists ; and forty-three 
 Sainnites, a devoted band, all in the sacred springtime 
 of their youth, cut each other's throats like gladi- 
 ators. Presently the wood for the funeral pyres 
 failed ; all the fires died down ; all the ditches were 
 filled ; and, wearied with crying, enfeebled, tottering, 
 they slept beside their dead brothers, some clinging 
 tenaciously to a life full of troubles, and others desir- 
 ous that they might never awaken. 
 
 In the whiteness of dawn there appeared, outside 
 
THE AQUEDUCT. 287 
 
 the lines of the Barbarians, soldiers defiling with 
 their helmets uplifted on the points of spears : salut- 
 ing the Mercenaries, they asked if they had no mes- 
 sage to send back to their countries. 
 
 Others drew near, and the Barbarians recognised 
 many of their old comrades. 
 
 The Suffete had proposed to all of the captives to 
 serve in his troops. Many had intrepidly refused ; 
 and as he was quite resolved not to feed them, or hand 
 them over to the Grand Council, he had dismissed 
 them, binding them not to again fight against Car- 
 thage. He had distributed the enemies' weapons to 
 those whom fear of torture had rendered tractable, 
 and now they presented themselves to the vanquished, 
 less to win them over, than from an impulse of pride 
 and curiosity. 
 
 They began with a recountal of the good treat- 
 ment bestowed upon them by the Suffete. Much as 
 the Barbarians despised these traitors, they listened 
 to them with envy. Then, at the first words of 
 reproach, the cowards lost temper, displaying from 
 afar their own captured swords and cuirasses: and 
 defied them with insults to come and take them. 
 At which the Barbarians picked up stones: all fled: 
 and nothing more could be seen at the top of the 
 mountain than their spear-points projecting above 
 the palisades. 
 
 Then a pang heavier than that caused by the 
 humiliation of a defeat overtook the Barbarians ; 
 they reflected upon the inanity of their courage, and 
 remained with eyes fixed, grinding their teeth. 
 
 The same idea spontaneously took possession of 
 all : they rushed in a tumultuous crowd upon the 
 
288 SALAMMBO. 
 
 Carthaginian prisoners whom by chance the soldiers 
 of the Suffete had failed to discover ; and as he had 
 withdrawn from the battle-field, they were still 
 secure in the deep pit. These victims were now 
 ranged on a flat stretch of ground, while sentinels 
 made a circle around them, and the women were 
 permitted to enter the enclosure by thirties and 
 forties successively. Eager to profit by the short time 
 allotted to each group, they ran from one victim to 
 another, uncertain, palpitating ; then leaning over the 
 poor wretches, pounded them with all their might, 
 like washerwomen beating linen ; crying aloud their 
 husbands' names, they tore them with their nails, 
 and dug out their eyes with their hairpins. 
 
 Afterwards the men tortured then: from their feet, 
 which they cut off at the ankles, to their foreheads, 
 from which they tore crowns of skin to place upon 
 their own heads. The Eaters -of -Unclean -Things 
 were atrocious in their imaginations : they inflamed 
 the wounds by pouring into them dust, vinegar, and 
 potsherds ; others were waiting behind them ; the 
 blood flowed, and they made merry as do the vin- 
 tagers around the fuming vats. 
 
 In the meantime Matho sat on the ground in the 
 same place where he was when the battle had ended. 
 His elbows on his knees, and his temples pressed 
 between his hands, he saw nothing, heard nothing, 
 and thought no more. 
 
 At the shouts of joy uttered by the crowd, he 
 raised his head. Before him, upon a pole, hung a 
 rag of canvas trailing on the ground, partially 
 screening disordered baskets, rugs, and a lion's 
 skin. He recognised his tent ; and he rivetted his 
 
THE AQUEDUCT. 289 
 
 eyes upon the ground, as if on that spot the daughter 
 of Hamilcar, in vanishing from him, had been en- 
 gulfed in the earth. 
 
 The tattered canvas beat in the wind ; sometimes 
 the long strips fluttered before his face, w hereon 
 he could see a red mark like the print of a hand — 
 aye, the imprint of the hand of Narr' Haras, the 
 sign of their alliance. Then Matho arose : he seized 
 a yet smoking brand, and threw it disdainfully 
 upon the wreck of his tent. Then with the toe of 
 his cothurne he kicked into the flames the articles 
 which were scattered about, so that all should be 
 consumed. 
 
 Suddenly, without anyone having the power to 
 divine from what point he sprang, Spending appeared. 
 The former slave had two splints of a broken lance- 
 butt bound upon his thighs, and he limped about in 
 a piteous way, giving vent to dolorous moans. 
 
 " Take those off," said Matho to him. " I know 
 that you are a brave !" He was so crushed by the 
 injustice of the Gods, that he had not sufficient force 
 to be indignant with mortals. 
 
 Spendius made a sign to him, and led him to the 
 hollow of a peak, where Zarxas and Autharitus were 
 in concealment. 
 
 They had taken flight like the slave— the one, cruel 
 as he was, and the other despite his valour. But 
 who could have expected the treason of Narr' Havas, 
 or the burning of the Libyans' camp, or the taking 
 of the Zai'mph, or the sudden attack of Hamilcar, 
 and above all, his manoeuvres, forcing them to return 
 to the heart of the mountain, under the direct 
 attack of the Carthaginians ? Spendius would not 
 
 u 
 
29O SALAMMBO. 
 
 confess his terror, and persisted in the assertion that 
 his leg was broken. 
 
 Finally the three chiefs and the Schalischim con- 
 sulted as to what course they should determine upon 
 in their present strait. 
 
 Hamilcar closed their road to Carthage ; they were 
 caught between his soldiers and the provinces of 
 Nan*' Havas ; the Tyrian cities would join the con- 
 querors, and this would at once drive them to the 
 sea-coast ; and all the united forces would crush 
 them. This was what would infalliblv befall them. 
 
 No means offered to avoid the war, hence they 
 must pursue it to the uttermost. But, how could 
 they make the necessity for an interminable struggle 
 comprehensible to those discouraged people with their 
 wounds yet bleeding ? 
 
 " I charge myself with that," said Spendius. 
 
 Two hours after a man came from the direction 
 of Hippo-Zarytus, and climbed the mountain at a 
 run. He waved tablets at arm's-length, and as he 
 shouted loudly, the Barbarians surrounded him. 
 
 He bore despatches from the Greek soldiers of 
 Sardinia, recommending their comrades in Africa 
 to keep a surveillance over Gisco, also over the 
 other captives. A merchant of Samos, a certain 
 Hipponax, coming from Carthage, had apprised 
 them that a conspiracy was organised for their 
 escape, and the Barbarians were notified to provide 
 against the emergency, as the Republic was power- 
 ful. 
 
 Spendius' strategy did not at first succeed as he 
 had anticipated. This assurance of a new peril, far 
 from exciting fury, aroused fears. They recalled 
 
THE AQUEDUCT. 29I 
 
 Hamilcar's warning, thrown but lately in their midst ; 
 they now expected something unforeseen, that 
 would be most terrible. The night was passed in 
 greed anxiety ; many even took off their arms, to 
 mollify the Suffete whenever he might present him- 
 self. 
 
 But on the morrow, at the third watch of the day, 
 a second courier appeared, yet more breathless and 
 begrimed with dust than the first. Spendius jerked 
 from his hands a papyrus scroll covered with Phoe- 
 nician characters, wherein the Mercenaries were 
 supplicated not to be discouraged, for the braves of 
 Tunis were coming at once to support them with 
 large reinforcements. 
 
 Spendius first read this letter three times suc- 
 cessively : and sustained by two Cappadocians, who 
 held him sitting upon their shoulders, he was trans- 
 ported from place to place, reading it. For seven 
 consecutive hours he harangued. 
 
 He recalled to the Mercenaries the promises made 
 by the Grand Council: to the Africans the cruelties 
 of the intendants : to all the Barbarians the general 
 injustice of Carthage. The Suffete's gentleness was 
 an allurement to capture them. Those who should 
 surrender would be sold as slaves ; the vanquished 
 would perish in tortures. As for flight, what road 
 was open ? No people would receive them. Where- 
 as, if they persisted in their efforts, they w r ould obtain 
 at once their liberty, revenge, and money ! And they 
 would not be compelled to wait long, since the people 
 of Tunis and the entire of Libya were hurrying 
 to their help. 
 
 He displayed the unrolled papyrus, saving, " Look 
 
 u 2 
 
292 SALAMMBO. 
 
 upon this ! Read ! Here are their promises ! I do 
 not lie !" 
 
 Dogs prowled, their black muzzles plastered with 
 red. The high sun heated the bare heads. A nau- 
 seous odour exhaled from the imperfectly buried 
 dead ; some of the corpses protruded from the ground 
 to their waists. Spending called them to bear witness 
 to the truth of what he said ; then menacingly raised 
 his fists in the direction of Hamilcar. 
 
 Matho was watching him, and, in order to mask 
 his true cowardice, he made a display of anger, by 
 which he was himself gradually overtaken: he dedi- 
 cated himself to the Gods, while he heaped curses 
 upon Carthage. " The torture of captives was mere 
 child's-play. Why, therefore, spare them, only to 
 drag after the army these useless cattle ? No ! we 
 must make an end of them ! their projects are known. 
 Only one escaping could betray us ! No quarter ! 
 The good men will be recognised by the fleetness of 
 their legs, and the strength of their blows." 
 
 Then they returned to the captives, many of whom 
 were still in death-throes ; they finished them by 
 thrusting their heels into the victims' mouths, or 
 else stabbed them with javelins. Finally they thought 
 of Gisco ; no one had seen him anywhere ; this 
 caused them uneasiness. All desired to be convinced 
 of his death, and to participate in its consummation. 
 At last three Samnite herdsmen discovered him at 
 twelve paces from the site where recently Matho's 
 tent had stood ; they recognised him by his long 
 beard, and called the others. 
 
 Lying down on his back, his arms against his hips, 
 and his knees pressed together, he had the appear- 
 
THE AQUEDUCT. 2Q3 
 
 ance of one dead, laid out for the sepulchre. How- 
 ever, his thin sides rose and fell, and his eyes opened 
 widely, contrasting with the pallor of his face, as he 
 glared with a fixed, intolerable stare. 
 
 At first the Barbarians contemplated him with 
 great astonishment. During the period that he had 
 lived in the pit almost everyone had forgotten him ; 
 disturbed by old memories, they kept at a distance, 
 not daring to lift a hand against him. 
 
 But those who were behind, murmured and thrust 
 themselves forward ; when a Garamantian passed 
 through the crowd, brandishing a sickle, all under- 
 stood his intent ; their faces grew crimson, and seized 
 with shame, they yelled, "Yes ! yes!" 
 
 The man with the sickle went up to Gisco, took 
 him by the head, and leaning it on his knee, he 
 reaped it with a few rapid strokes; it fell, and two 
 great gushing jets of blood made a hole in the dust. 
 Zarxas had sprung upon it, and, more agile than a 
 leopard, he ran towards the Carthaginians. 
 
 Then, when he was two-thirds up the mountain, he 
 pulled Gisco's head from his breast, and holding it by 
 the beard, twirled his arm rapidly many times, and 
 the head finally launched forth, describing a long 
 parabola, and disappeared behind the Punic en- 
 trenchment. 
 
 Very soon on the edge of the palisades were 
 erected two standards intercrossed, an acknowledged 
 sign for reclaiming the dead. Then four heralds, 
 chosen because of their deep voices, came forward 
 with large clarions, and through the brass trumpets 
 they declared that henceforth there could be nothing 
 more between the Carthaginians and the Barbarians, 
 
2 94 SALAMMBO. 
 
 neither faith, nor pity, nor Gods ; that they refused 
 in advance all overtures, and that all messengers of 
 truce should be returned with their hands cut off. 
 
 Immediately afterwards, Spendius was deputed to 
 Hippo-Zarytus, in order to arrange for provisions. 
 The Tyrian city sent them supplies the same evening. 
 They ate greedily ; and when thus comforted, they 
 quickly packed up the remnants of their baggage 
 and their broken weapons, placing the women in the 
 centre, and, without heeding the wounded wailing 
 behind them, they started by the river-bank at a 
 quick march, like a pack of departing wolves. 
 
 They marched upon Hippo-Zarytus, deciding to 
 take it, as they very much nee led a city. 
 
 Hamilcar saw the Barbarians from the distance, 
 and was overtaken with despair, in spite of the pride 
 he felt to see them fly before him. He should have 
 been able to attack them at once with fresh troops. 
 Another such a day, and the war was at an end ! If 
 events dragged, the enemy would return stronger, as 
 the Tyrian cities would doubtless join them. His 
 clemency to the vanquished had served for nothing, 
 therefore he was resolved henceforth to be merciless 
 
 The same evening he sent to the Grand Council a 
 dromedary laden with bracelets gathered from the 
 dead enemy ; and, with horrible threats, he ordered 
 that they should despatch another army to him. 
 
 For a long time all believed him to be lost, so that 
 when they learned of his victory, they experienced a 
 stupefaction that amounted almost to a terror. The 
 vaguely announced return of the Za'imph completed 
 
THE AQUEDUCT. 295 
 
 the marvel. Thus the Gods and the strength of 
 Carthage seemed now to belong to Hamilcar. 
 
 Not one amongst his enemies dared venture a 
 complaint or a recrimination. By the enthusiasm of 
 his friends, and the pusillanimity of his enemies, 
 before the prescribed time had elapsed an army of 
 five thousand men was ready. 
 
 This reinforcement promptly gained Utica to sup- 
 port the Suffete in the rear, while three thousand 
 of the most important citizens embarked on vessels 
 which were to land at Hippo-Zarytus, whence they 
 proposed to drive the Barbarians back. 
 
 Hanno had accepted the command, but he confided 
 the army to his lieutenant, Magdassan, in order to 
 conduct the naval forces himself, as, in consequence 
 of his malady, he could no longer endure the jolting 
 of his litter. His disease had eaten away his lips 
 and nostrils, and had thus made a large hole in his 
 face, so that at ten paces the back part of his throat 
 was visible. Knowing himself that he was hideous, 
 he wore a veil, like a woman, to conceal his head. 
 
 Hippo-Zarytus heeded not his summons, neither 
 did it that of the Barbarians ; but each morning the 
 inhabitants let down to them baskets filled with 
 provisions, and calling from the height of the towers, 
 excused themselves on account of the exigencies of 
 the Republic, and implored them to be gone. They 
 addressed by signs the same protestations to the Car- 
 thaginians stationed on the sea. 
 
 Hanno contented himself with blockading the port, 
 without risking an attack. Meantime, he persuaded 
 the judges of Hippo-Zarytus to receive in the city 
 three hundred soldiers. Afterwards, he sailed to- 
 
296 SALAMMBO. 
 
 wards the cape of Grapes, making a long detour in 
 order to surround the Barbarians, — an inopportune 
 and even dangerous proceeding. His jealousy hin- 
 dered him from aiding Hamilcar : he arrested the 
 Suffete's spies, disturbed all his plans, and compro- 
 mised his enterprise. At length Hamilcar wrote to 
 the Grand Council to relieve Hanno of his command, 
 and he was therefore recalled to Carthage, furious 
 against the baseness of the Elders and the folly of his 
 colleague. Then, after so much hope, they found 
 themselves in a situation even more deplorable ; but 
 they all endeavoured not to reflect, and even avoided 
 speaking on the topic. 
 
 As if they had not for the time being enough 
 misfortunes, they learned that the Mercenaries of 
 Sardinia had crucified their general, had seized the 
 fortified towns, and evervwhere had slain the men 
 of Canaanite race. The Romans threatened the Re- 
 public with immediate hostilities if she did not 
 give them twelve hundred talents, with the entire 
 island of Sardinia. Rome had accepted an alli- 
 ance with the Barbarians, and had sent to them flat 
 boats freighted with flour and dried meats. The 
 Carthaginians pursued them, and captured five hun- 
 dred men ; but, three days later, a fleet coming from 
 the country of Bysancium, carrying provisions to Car- 
 thage, foundered in a tempest. The Gods evidently 
 were against Carthage. 
 
 Then the citizens of Hippo-Zarytus, feigning an 
 alarm, made Hanno's three hundred men mount on 
 the walls, when they surprised them from behind, 
 seized them by the legs, and suddenly hurled them 
 over the ramparts. Those who were not instantly 
 
THE AQUEDUCT. 297 
 
 killed, being pursued, drowned themselves in the 
 sea. 
 
 Utica was suffering from the presence of the 
 soldiers, for Magdassan had acted like Hanno, and 
 according to his orders he surrounded the city, deaf 
 to Hamilcar's prayers. His soldiers were given wine 
 mixed with mandrake, and during their sleep, their 
 throats were cut. At the same time the Barbarians 
 arrived, and Magdassan took flight. The gates were 
 opened, and from this moment the two Tyrian cities 
 showed a persistent devotion for their new friends, 
 and an inconceivable hatred for their former allies. 
 
 This abandonment of the Punic cause was a warn- 
 ing and an example. Hopes of future deliverance 
 were rekindled. Populations heretofore uncertain, 
 hesitated no more. All gave way. The Suffete 
 learned it, and expected no succour. He was now 
 irrevocably lost. 
 
 At once he dismissed Narr' Havas, who had to 
 defend, henceforth, the boundaries of his own king- 
 dom. For his own part he resolved to return to 
 Carthage and obtain soldiers to recommence the 
 war. 
 
 The Barbarians established at Hippo-Zarytus per- 
 ceived his army as it descended the mountain. 
 
 Whither were the Carthaginians going? Doubtless 
 hunger drove them ; and maddened by their suffer- 
 ings, despite their weakness, they were coming to 
 offer battle. But they turned to the right : then it 
 must be that they were retreating. They could be 
 reached and utterly crushed. The Barbarians dashed 
 in pursuit. 
 
 The Carthaginians were retarded by the stream ; 
 
298 SALAMMBO. 
 
 it was swollen wide, and the west wind had not 
 been blowing. Some swam across, others floated on 
 their bucklers, and they resumed their march. Night 
 fell. They could no longer be seen. 
 
 However, the Barbarians did not pause, but as- 
 cended the stream, searching for a shallow place 
 to ford. The people of Tunis hurried up to help 
 them, bringing those of Utica with them. At 
 every clump of bushes their number increased, 
 and the Carthaginians, lying on the ground, could 
 hear the tramp of feet in the darkness. From time 
 to time, in order to make their pursuers slacken 
 their pace, Barca fired back upon them a volley of 
 arrows, thereby killing many. When day broke 
 they were in the Mountains of Ariana, at the point 
 where the road made an elbow. 
 
 Then Matho, marching at the head of his troops, 
 believed that he distinguished in the horizon some- 
 thing green on the summit of an eminence. The earth 
 sloped ; obelisks, domes, and houses appeared ! It 
 was Carthage ! His heart beat so furiously, that he 
 supported himself against a tree to keep from falling. 
 
 He thought of all that had happened in his exis- 
 tence since the last time that he had passed there ! 
 It was an infinite surprise, an amazement. Then 
 a joy carried him away at the idea that he should 
 again see Salammbo. His past reasons for execrat- 
 ing her now flooded his memory, but he peremp- 
 torily rejected them. Quivering in every fibre, and 
 with straining eyes, he contemplated beyond Esch- 
 moun the high terrace of a palace above the palms. 
 An ecstatic smile illumined his face, as though some 
 great radiant light had fallen over him ; he opened 
 
THE AQUEDUCT. 299 
 
 his arms, and sent kisses on the breeze, murmuring, 
 "Come! Come!" A sigh swelled his bosom, and 
 two tears, long, like pearls, fell upon his beard. 
 
 " What restrains you ?" cried Spendius. " Hasten ! 
 March on ! The Suffete will escape us ! But your 
 knees shake, and you look to me like a drunken 
 man !" 
 
 Stamping his feet with impatience, he urged Matho 
 to advance, and blinking his eyes, as at the approach 
 to an end seen far away, he cried : " Ah ! we are 
 there ! We are there ! I hold them !" 
 
 He had such a convincing, triumphant manner, 
 that Matho, surprised out of his torpor, felt himself 
 drawn on. These words coming unexpectedly in the 
 crisis of his distress, drove his despair to vengeance, 
 and opened a field for his wrath. He sprang on 
 one of the camels in the baggage train, tore off the 
 halter, and with the long cord he struck with his 
 full force the laggards, running alternately from right 
 to left in the rear of the troops, like a dog driving 
 a flock. 
 
 At his voice of thunder the men closed up the 
 lines, and those on crutches hastened their steps : 
 half-way across the isthmus the interval diminished. 
 Then the vanguard of the Barbarians marched in 
 the dust of the Carthaginians. The two armies drew 
 nearer and nearer, until they almost touched. But 
 the gates of Malqua and Tagaste, and the great gate 
 of Khamoun, spread open their ponderous valves. 
 The Punic squares divided; three columns were 
 therein swallowed up and eddied under the porches. 
 Soon the masses closed in too much upon themselves, 
 and were choked in the entrances, so that they could 
 
300 SALAMMBO. 
 
 not advance. Spears struck against spears in the air, 
 and the Barbarians' arrows splintered against the 
 walls. 
 
 Hamilcar was seen on the threshold of Khamoun ; 
 he turned, and cried to his men to scatter ; then he 
 dismounted, and with his sword pricked his horse 
 on the crupper, letting him loose upon the Barbarians. 
 It was an Orynx stallion, nourished on balls of flour, 
 and so well trained that he would bend his knees 
 to permit his master to mount him. Why, then, 
 did he thus send away this fine animal ? Was this 
 a sacrifice ? 
 
 The noble horse galloped amidst the lances, knock- 
 ing over the men, and entangling his feet in their 
 entrails ; he fell down, then struggled up on his feet 
 with furious bounds ; and while they scattered, en- 
 deavoured to arrest him, or looked at him full of 
 surprise, the Carthaginians rejoined their lines and 
 entered the enormous gate, that resoundingly reclosed 
 behind them. 
 
 It did not yield ; the Barbarians plunged and 
 battered against it ; and during the lapse of some 
 minutes the entire length of the army presented an 
 oscillation that became gentler and gentler, and at 
 last entirely subsided. 
 
 The Carthaginians having stationed soldiers on 
 the aqueduct, commenced hurling stones, balls, and 
 beams. Spendius averred that it was useless to 
 persist ; therefore they pitched their encampment at 
 a greater distance from the walls, fully resolved to 
 besiege Carthage. 
 
 Meanwhile the rumour of the war had travelled 
 
Till AQUEDUCT. 3OI 
 
 beyond the confines of the Punic dominion; and 
 from the Pillars of Hercules, as far as the other 
 side of Cyrene, the herdsmen guarding their herds 
 dreamed of it, and the caravans talked about it 
 at night in the starlight. This grand Carthage, 
 Mistress of the Sea, splendid as the sun, awful as a 
 God, had found men who dared to attack her ! Even 
 her downfall had frequently been reported, and all 
 had believed it probable, as all were longing for it, 
 — the subject peoples, tributary villages, allied pro- 
 vinces, and independent tribes : those who cursed 
 her for her tyranny, or who were jealous of her 
 power, or who coveted her wealth. 
 
 The bravest had very quickly joined themselves 
 to the Mercenaries. The defeat at the Macar, how- 
 ever, prevented all the others. Finally they regained 
 confidence, and gradually making advance?, had come 
 nearer ; and now the inhabitants of the eastern 
 regions had posted themselves in the sand-hills of 
 Clypea, on the other side of the gulf. 
 
 As soon as the Barbarians appeared, they showed 
 themselves. 
 
 These were not the Libvans from the environs of 
 Carthage, who had for a long time constituted the 
 third army, but the Nomads from the plateau of 
 Barca, bandits of the cape of Phiscus and the pro- 
 montory of Derne, and those from Phazania and 
 from Marmarica. They had crossed the desert, sus- 
 taining themselves by drinking from the brackish 
 wells built of camels' bones : the Zuaeces, covered 
 with ostrich plumes, had come in their quadrigae ; 
 the Garamantes, masked with black veils, riding far 
 back on their painted mares ; others mounted on asses 
 
302 SALAMMBO. 
 
 on onagers, on zebras, or on buffaloes : and some 
 dragged the roofs of their cabins, shaped like a 
 shallop, with their families and idols. 
 
 There were also Ammonians, whose limbs were 
 wrinkled by the hot water of the fountains ; the 
 Atarantes, who cursed the sun ; the Troglodytes, 
 who laughingly interred their dead under branches 
 of trees ; and the hideous Auseans, who ate 
 locusts ; the Achrymachidas, who ate lice ; and the 
 Gysantes, painted over with vermilion, and who 
 ate monkeys. 
 
 All were ranged on the sea-coast in a great, straight 
 line. They advanced in succession, like whirlwinds 
 of sand raised by the wind. In the middle of the 
 isthmus their crowd stopped ; the Mercenaries esta- 
 blished before them near the walls did not wish to 
 move. 
 
 Then from the direction of Ariana appeared men 
 from the west, the people of Numidia, — for, in fact, 
 Nan*' Havas only governed the Massylians : and 
 furthermore, a custom permitting them after a reverse 
 to abandon their king, they had reassembled on the 
 Zainus, then at the first movement Hamilcar had 
 made, they had crossed it. First were seen running 
 all the hunters of the Malethut-Baal and of the Gara- 
 phos, clothed in lions' skins, and driving with the 
 shafts of their pikes little, thin horses with long 
 manes ; following these came the Gaetulians, encased 
 in breast-plates made of serpents 1 skins ; then the 
 Pharusians, wearing tall crowns made of wax and 
 resin ; these were followed by the Caunians, Macares, 
 and Tillabares, each holding two javelins and a 
 round buckler of hippopotamus hide. They halted 
 
THE AQUEDUCT. 30 
 
 ■> 
 
 at the base of the Catacombs, near the first pools of 
 the Lagoon. 
 
 But when the Libyans had moved off, on the 
 ground that they had occupied there appeared, like .a 
 cloud, lying flat on the earth, a multitude of Negroes : 
 they had come from White-Haroush and Black- 
 Haroush, from the desert of Augila, and even from 
 t he vast country of Agazymba, which was four months 1 
 journey to the south of the Garamantes, and even more 
 distant ! In spite of their redwood ornaments, the 
 filth on their black skins made them resemble mul- 
 berries that had been rolled a long time in the dust. 
 
 They wore breeches made from the fibres of bark, 
 tunics of dried grass, and on their heads the muzzles 
 of wild animals : they howled like wolves, shaking 
 triangles ornamented with dangling rings, and bran- 
 dished cow-tails on the end of a pole by way of 
 banners. 
 
 Behind the Numidians, the Maurusians, and the 
 Gaetulians, thronged the yellow men who were scat- 
 tered over the country beyond Taggir in the cedar 
 forests. Cat-skin quivers beat over their shoulders, 
 and they led in leashes enormous do?s as tall as 
 asses, which never barked. 
 
 In short, as if Africa had not sufficiently emptied 
 itself, and in order to gather up more furies, they 
 had even recruited the lowest races : in the rear of 
 all the others could be seen men with profiles of 
 animals, who laughed in an idiotic manner, wretches 
 ravaged by hideous diseases, deformed pigmies, 
 mulattoes of doubtful sex, Albinos blinking their 
 pink eyes in the sunlight, — all stammering unintelli- 
 gible sounds, and putting a finger in their mouths 
 
304 SALAMMBO. 
 
 to signify their hunger. The medley of weapons 
 was not less confused than the people, or their ap- 
 parel. Not a deadly invention that could not be found 
 here, from wooden poniards, stone battle-axes, ivory 
 tridents, to long sabres toothed like saws, slender, and 
 made of a pliable sheet of copper. They wielded 
 cutlasses divided in many branches, like antelopes' 
 horns ; they carried bill-hooks attached to cords, 
 iron triangles, clubs and stilettoes. 
 
 The Ethiopians of Bambotus hid in their hair 
 tiny poisoned darts. Many had brought stones in 
 sacks ; others, who were empty-handed, gnashed 
 their teeth. 
 
 A continual surging swayed this multitude. 
 Dromedaries, daubed with tar like the hulls of 
 ships, upset the women who carried their children 
 on their hips. Provisions were spilled out of their 
 baskets ; and in walking one stepped on morsels of 
 rock salt, packages of gum, rotten dates, and gourou- 
 nuts. Sometimes on a bosom alive with vermin 
 could be seen, suspended from a fine cord, a diamond, 
 a fabulous gem worth an entire empire, which satraps 
 had coveted. The majority of these people did not 
 know what they desired : a fascination, a curiosity 
 impelled them : the Nomads, who had never seen 
 a city, were frightened by the vast shadows cast by 
 the massive walls. 
 
 Now the isthmus was obscured by this multitude 
 of men, and the long span of tents, resembling cabins 
 during an inundation, spread out to the first lines of 
 the other Barbarians, who were streaming with 
 metal, and symmetrically established on the two 
 flanks of the aqueduct. 
 
THE AQUEDUCT. 305 
 
 The Carthaginians were still in terror of those who 
 had already arrived, when they perceived coming 
 straight towards the city, like monsters, and like 
 edifices, with their shafts, weapons, cordage, articula- 
 tions, capitals, and carapaces — the engines sent for the 
 siege by the Tyrian cities : sixty carrobalistas, eighty 
 onagers, thirty scorpions, fifty tollenones, twelve rams. 
 and three gigantic catapults, with the capacity of 
 throwing rocks weighing fifteen talents. 
 
 Masses of men clutched at their base, pushed, 
 pulled, and toiled to propel the engines, that quivered 
 and shook at each step : thus they came in front of 
 the walls. 
 
 But it would still require many days to complete 
 the preparations for the siege. The Mercenaries, fore- 
 warned by their previous defeats, did not wish to 
 risk themselves in fruitless engagements ; and on 
 neither one side nor the other was there any hurry, 
 as all knew that a terrible action was about to ensue, 
 which would result either in victory or complete 
 extermination. 
 
 Carthage could hold out for a long time ; her broad 
 walls offered a series of salient and re-entering angles 
 — an arrangement full of advantages for repelling an 
 assault. 
 
 However, on the side of the Catacombs a portion of 
 the wall had crumbled ; and during obscure nights, 
 between the disjointed blocks could be seen the 
 lights in the dens of Malqua. In certain places they 
 overlooked the top of the ramparts, and here lived 
 those who had taken for new wives the women of 
 the Mercenaries chased by Matho out of the camp. 
 When the women saw again their own people, their 
 
 x 
 
306 SALAMMBO. 
 
 hearts melted, and they waved from afar long 
 scarves ; then they came in the darkness to chat with 
 the soldiers through the rift in the walls, and the 
 Grand Council were apprised one morning that they 
 had all taken flight. Some had crawled between the 
 stones; others, more intrepid, had descended by ropes. 
 
 Spendius finally resolved to accomplish his cher- 
 ished project. 
 
 The war, by keeping him at a distance, had, up to 
 the present, debarred him from it ; and since they had 
 returned before Carthage, it seemed to him that the 
 townsmen suspected his enterprise ; but soon they 
 diminished the sentinels on the aqueduct, as they 
 did not possess too many guards for the defence 
 of the enceinte. During many days the former 
 slave practised aiming arrows at the flamingoes 
 standing on the lake shore. Then one evening, when 
 the moon shone bright, he entreated Matho to have 
 lighted during the middle of the night a huge bon- 
 fire of straw, and cause all his men simultaneously to 
 utter shrieks ; then taking Zarxas, he went off by 
 the shore of the gulf in the direction of Tunis. 
 
 When abreast of the last arches, they turned back, 
 going straight towards the aqueduct. As the road 
 was exposed, they advanced, creeping along up to the 
 base of the pillars. The sentinels on the platform 
 patrolled tranquilly. 
 
 High flames darted up ; clarions were sounded. 
 The soldiers in the watch-towers, believing that it 
 was an assault, rushed towards Carthage. 
 
 One man remained. He appeared as a black 
 figure against the dome of the sky ; the moonlight 
 was behind him, and his disproportionate shadow 
 
THE AQUEDUCT. 307 
 
 fell afar on the plain, like a moving obelisk. They 
 waited until he was exactly in front of them. Zarxae 
 seized his sling, but Spendius stayed him, actuated 
 by prudence or ferocity, and whispered : " No ! the 
 whirring of the ball will make a noise ! I will do 
 it!" Then he strung his bow with all his might 
 supporting the end against his left instep, took aim 
 and the fatal arrow flew. 
 
 The man did not fall. He disappeared. 
 
 " If he were wounded we should hear him," said 
 Spendius, and he sprang fleetly up, story after 
 story, as he had done the first time, by the aid of 
 the harpoon and cord, and when he reached the top, 
 beside the corpse, he let the cord fall. The Bale- 
 arian fastened to it a pick and mallet, and returned. 
 The trumpets no longer sounded : all had subsided 
 into perfect quiet. Spendius had lifted one of the 
 stones, entered the water, and replaced the stone 
 over himself. 
 
 Estimating the distance by paces, he came exactly 
 to the spot where he had previously noticed a slanting 
 fissure, and for three hours — in fact, till morning — 
 he worked in a continuous, furious way, breathing 
 with great difficulty through the interstices of the 
 superior stones ; assailed with violent pains, twenty 
 times he believed he was dying. 
 
 At last a cracking was heard, an enormous stone 
 bounded on the inferior arches and rolled down to 
 the bottom — and all at once a cataract, an entire river 
 of great volume, fell as from the sky into the plain ! 
 The aqueduct, cut in the middle, was emptying itself. 
 This was the death of Carthage and the victory of 
 the Barbarians. 
 
 x2 
 
308 SALAMMBO. 
 
 In an instant, the Carthaginians, aroused in terroi\ 
 appeared on the walls, the house-tops, and on the 
 temples. The Barbarians gave vent to joyous shouts, 
 danced around the vast waterfall in delirium, and in 
 the extravagance of their delight wetted their heads 
 in the rushing water. 
 
 At the summit of the aqueduct a man was perceived 
 wearing a torn, brown tunic, leaning over the edge, 
 his hands upon his hips, gazing beneath him to the 
 very bottom, as though astonished at his own work. 
 
 Then he stood erect, traversing the horizon with 
 a proud, impressive air, which seemed to say — 
 " Behold ! this is all my work ! " Applause burst 
 from the Barbarians. At last the Carthaginians com- 
 prehended the cause of their disaster, and howled in 
 despair. Spendius ran from end to end of the plat- 
 form, distracted by pride, raising his arms, like 
 the driver of a victorious chariot in the Olympian 
 games. 
 
CHAPTER XIII. 
 
 MOLOCH. 
 
 The Barbarians had no need to cireumvallate on 
 the side toward Africa, as it belonged to them. 
 But to render the approach to the walls easier, they 
 pulled down the entrenchments bordering the moat. 
 Afterwards Matho divided the army into large semi- 
 circles, as a method to more effectually beleaguer 
 Carthage. The hoplites of the Mercenaries were 
 stationed in the front rank; behind them, the slingers 
 and cavalry ; at the rear, the baggage, the chariots, 
 and the horses ; and in front of this multitude, at 
 three hundred paces from the towers, bristled the 
 war-engines, designated by an infinity of names that 
 changed frequently in the course of ages; however, 
 they could always be reduced to two systems — 
 those which acted like slings, and the others which 
 operated like bows. 
 
 The first, the catapults, were composed of a square 
 frame with two vertical standards and a horizontal 
 bar at the top. At its anterior portion a cylinder 
 wound with cables held down a large beam carrying 
 a ladle to receive the projectiles ; the base of the 
 
 3°9 
 
3IO SALAMMBO. 
 
 beam was caught in a hank of twisted horse-hair ; 
 and when the cords were loosened, the beam flew up, 
 struck against the bar, which, checking it by a sud- 
 den shock, multiplied its force. 
 
 The second system offered a more complicated 
 mechanism. On a small column a cross-piece was 
 fixed by its centre, where ended a channel at right 
 angles to it : at the ends of the cross-piece rose two 
 frames, which contained a twisted hank of hair : two 
 small beams were fastened therein to hold the ends 
 of the cord, which was drawn to the bottom of the 
 channel over a bronze tablet ; by a spring, this plate 
 of metal was detached, and sliding over grooves, drove 
 out the arrows in all directions. 
 
 Catapults were as frequently called onagers, be- 
 cause they were like wild asses which threw stones 
 by kicking ; and the ballistas were called scor- 
 pions because of a hook fastened on the tablet, 
 which, on being lowered with a blow, disengaged 
 the spring. 
 
 Their construction required the calculations of ex- 
 perts. The timber must be selected of the hardest 
 grain ; the gearing was all of brass. They were 
 tautened with levers, pulleys, capstans, or drums ; 
 strong pivots changed the direction of their aim. 
 They were moved forward on cylinders ; and those 
 of the largest size, which were transported in sec- 
 tions, were remounted in front of the enemy. 
 
 Spendius placed the three large catapults to face 
 the three principal angles ; before each gate he placed 
 a ram, before each tower a ballista ; and farther 
 back were wheeled the carrohalistce. But it was 
 necessary to preserve them from being fired by the 
 
MOLOCH. 31 I 
 
 besieged, and also to fill up the moat which sepa- 
 rated them from the walls. 
 
 They pushed forward galleries made of green 
 wattles and oaken ribs, like enormous bucklers 
 sliding on three wheels ; little cabins, covered with 
 fresh hides and padded with wrack, sheltered the 
 workmen. The catapults and ballistas were protected 
 by curtains of cordage that had been soaked in vine- 
 gar to render them incombustible. 
 
 The women and the children went to the beach to 
 gather stones, which they collected with their hands 
 and brought to the soldiers. 
 
 The Carthaginians also made preparations for the 
 siege. 
 
 Hamilcar had very quickly reassured them, by 
 declaring that there yet remained enough water for 
 one hundred and twenty-three days. This affirma- 
 tion, his presence in their midst, and that of the 
 Za'imph, above all, imparted great hope. Carthage 
 recovered from her dejection, and those who were 
 not of Canaanite origin were carried away by the 
 passion of the others. 
 
 The slaves were armed, the arsenals were emptied, 
 each citizen had his allotted post and employment. 
 Twelve hundred men survived of the refugees : the 
 Suffete made them all captains ; and the carpenters, 
 armourers, blacksmiths, and the silversmiths were 
 appointed to superintend the engines. The Cartha- 
 ginians had retained some of these implements, not- 
 withstanding the conditions of the Roman peace. 
 Understanding their construction, they repaired them 
 readily. 
 
 The northern and eastern sides, being protected by 
 
3 I 2 SALAMMBO. 
 
 the sea and the gulf, were inaccessible. On the wall 
 facing the Barbarians were placed trunks of trees, 
 mill-stones, vases full of sulphur, and vats full of oil, 
 and furnaces were built. Stones were heaped up on 
 the platforms of the towers, and the houses imme- 
 diately adjoining the rampart were crammed with 
 sand to increase its strength and thickness. 
 
 The sight of all these preparations irritated the 
 Barbarians. They desired to engage in combat at 
 once. The weights they put into the catapults were 
 of such an exorbitant size that the beams broke, 
 thereby retarding the attack. 
 
 Finally, on the thirteenth day of the month of 
 Schabar, at sunrise, a tremendous bang was heard at 
 the gate of Khamoun. 
 
 Seventy-five soldiers were hauling ropes arranged 
 at the base of a gigantic beam horizontally sus- 
 pended by chains, descending from a gallows, and 
 terminating in a brazen ram's head. It was swad- 
 dled in hides ; bands of iron encircled it from place 
 to place, and it was three times larger than a man's 
 body, one hundred and twenty cubits long, and 
 advanced or receded under the crowd of naked 
 arms, pushing it forward or hauling it backwards, 
 with a regular swing. 
 
 The rams before the other gates also began to 
 move, and in the hollow wheels of the drums men 
 could be seen going up step by step. Pulleys and 
 capitals creaked ; the cordage screens were lowered, 
 and volleys of stones and arrows simultaneously 
 shot forth. All the scattered slingers ran up ; some 
 of them approached the ramparts, carrying hidden 
 under their shields pots of ignited resin ; then they 
 
MOLOCH. 3 I 3 
 
 hurled them with all their might upon the enemy. 
 This terrific hail of balls, darts, and fire passed be- 
 yond the front ranks, and made a curve which fell 
 within the walls. But on their summits were erected 
 huge cranes used for masting vessels ; from them 
 descended enormous pinchers, which ended in two 
 semicircles, toothed on the inside edge. These bit 
 fast to the rams. The soldiers, clinging to the beam, 
 dragged it back. The Carthaginians panted in their 
 efforts to draw it up, and the struggle continued till 
 evening. 
 
 When the Mercenaries resumed their task the 
 next day they found the top of the walls entirely 
 hung with bales of cotton, cloth, and cushions ; the 
 battlements were closed with mattings, and between 
 the cranes could be distinguished lines of pitch- 
 forks and sharp blades set in sticks. Immediately a 
 furious resistance began. 
 
 Tree-trunks fastened to cables fell and rose alter- 
 nately, battering the rams ; grappling-irons shot past 
 the ballistas, and tore off the roofs of the cabins ; 
 and from the platforms of the towers torrents of flint 
 and pebbles poured down. 
 
 At length the rams burst the gate of Khamoun 
 and that of Tagaste ; but the Carthaginians had 
 heaped the inner side with such an abundance of 
 materials that the valves could not open : they re- 
 mained upright. 
 
 Tenebras were then forced against the walls, 
 and applied to the joints of the massive blocks 
 until they were loosened. The engines were 
 governed the better because their crews worked in 
 relays ; from morning till evening they plied un- 
 
314 SALAMMBO. 
 
 interruptedly, with the monotonous precision of a 
 weaver's loom. 
 
 Spendius never wearied managing these engines. 
 He personally tautened the cordage of the ballistas. 
 In order that there should be an exact equality in 
 their twin tensions, their cords were wound up and 
 tapped in turn on the right and left side till both 
 sounded in unison. He mounted on their frames, 
 and delicately tapped them with the end of his 
 foot, bending his ear, like a musician tuning a 
 lyre. Then when the beam of the catapult rose, 
 when the columns of the ballista trembled at the 
 shock of the spring, as the stones poured out in 
 streams, and the arrows darted forth like rays, he 
 leaned his entire body over the platform, throwing 
 his arms up in the air, as if he would follow the 
 flight of the missiles. 
 
 Admiring his skill, the soldiers willingly executed 
 his orders. In the gaiety of their labour they made 
 jokes on the names of the engines. Thus the 
 pinchers for seizing the rams were called wolves, 
 and the covered galleries, vines ; they were lambs, 
 they were going to the vintage ; and in loading 
 their pieces they said to the onagers, " Go now, 
 kick well!' 1 — and to the scorpions, "Go through 
 the enemies' hearts !" This facetiousness, always 
 the same, sustained their courage. 
 
 However, the engines did not demolish the ram- 
 part. It was formed of a double Avail and filled with 
 earth ; they battered down its upper works, but the 
 besieged each time built them up again. Matho 
 ordered the construction of wooden towers of an 
 equal height with the enemies' stone towers. Into the 
 
MOLOCH. 3 I 5 
 
 moat were thrown turf, stakes, and chariots with the 
 wheels on, to fill it up more rapidly ; before it was 
 full the immense crowd of Barbarians undulated 
 over the plain in a single movement, and advanced 
 to batter the base of the walls like an inundating 
 sea. 
 
 They brought forward rope-ladders, straight lad- 
 ders, and sambucd', which were composed of two 
 masts from which were lowered by tackles a series 
 of bamboos ending in a movable bridge. They 
 were all ranged in numerous straight lines, supported 
 against the walls, and the Mercenaries in file, one 
 after another, mounted, holding their weapons in 
 their hands. Not one Carthaginian was espied 
 until they had attained two-thirds of the height of 
 the ramparts. Then the battlements opened, vomit- 
 ing forth like dragons' jaws fire and smoke ; sand 
 scattered, filtering through the joints of their armour ; 
 the petroleum adhered to their clothing, the molten 
 lead skipped over their helmets, burning cruel holes 
 in their flesh ; a shower of sparks Hashed into their 
 faces, — and orbits without eyes seemed to weep 
 tears as large as almonds. The hair of some men, 
 yellow with oil, was blazing. They started to run, 
 and set the others on fire. From a distance cloaks 
 •soaked in blood were thrown over their faces and 
 extinguished the flames. Some who were not 
 wounded remained motionless, stiff er than stakes, 
 with open mouth and both arms thrown out. 
 
 For many successive days the assault continued, 
 and the Mercenaries hoped to triumph by excess of 
 force and audacity. 
 
 Sometimes a man, standing on the shoulders of 
 
3 I 6 SALAMMBO. 
 
 another, drove an iron pin between the seams of the 
 stones to serve as a step to reach higher, where he 
 drove a second, and a third, and so on, protected by 
 the overhanging eaves of the battlements ; by this 
 means they gradually climbed up : but ever at a cer- 
 tain height they were smitten and fell. 
 
 Presently the broad ditch became so full of human 
 beings that it overflowed ; under the feet of the 
 living the wounded were heaped pell-mell with the 
 dead and dying. Amid entrails, oozing brains, and 
 pools of blood, calcined trunks made black spots ; 
 arms and legs, half protruding from a heap, stood 
 straight upright like vine-stakes in a burnt vine- 
 yard. 
 
 As the ladders proved insufficient, they employed 
 the tollenones — instruments constructed with a long 
 beam placed transversely on an upright post, and 
 carrying at the extremity a square basket, in whicli 
 thirty foot-soldiers fully equipped could be held. 
 
 Matho wanted to go up in the first that was ready, 
 but Spendius prevented him. 
 
 Men turned a small wheel, and responsively the 
 large beam became horizontal, then appeared almost 
 vertical ; but being too heavily laden at the end, it 
 bent like a reed. The soldiers, concealed up to their 
 chins, crowded together ; nothing but the plumes 
 waving over their helmets could be seen. Finally, 
 when the basket was fifty cubits in the air, it swayed 
 from right to left several times, then fell ; and like 
 the arm of a giant holding on his hand a cohort of 
 pigmies, it deposited on the edge of the wall the 
 basketful of men, who leaped out in the midst of 
 the enemies, but never returned. 
 
MOLOCH. 3 i 7 
 
 All the other toUenones were speedily stationed ; 
 but it would require a hundred times as many to 
 take the city. They were utilised in a murderous 
 manner : Ethiopian archers were stationed in the 
 baskets ; then the cables were so adjusted that they 
 should remain suspended mid-air, while the occu- 
 pants fired upon the foe poisoned arrows. The fifty 
 toUenones thus dominated the battlements surround- 
 ing Carthage like monstrous vultures, and the Negroes 
 laughed to see the guards on the ramparts die in 
 horrible convulsions. 
 
 Hamilcar immediately despatched hoplites thither, 
 and made them each morning drink the juices of 
 certain herbs which were well-known antidotes for 
 poisons. 
 
 One evening, during a dark period, Hamilcar 
 embarked the best of his soldiers on lighters and 
 rafts, and turned to the right of the port, landing 
 on the Taenia. From thence they advanced as far as 
 the first lines of the Barbarians, and, taking them in 
 the flank, made a terrible carnage. Men suspended 
 by ropes descended the walls during the night, and 
 set fire to the Mercenaries' works, and remounted in 
 safety. 
 
 Matho was enraged ; each obstacle, in fact, plunged 
 him deeper in wrath: terrible and extravagant things 
 befell him. Mentally he entreated Salammbo for 
 a rendezvous ; then waited for her. She did not 
 come : this was a new treason, and henceforth he 
 cursed her. And perhaps if he had seen her dead 
 body he might have gone away. 
 
 He doubled his outposts, planted pitchforks at the 
 base of the rampart, buried caltrops in the ground, 
 and commanded the Libyans to bring: to him an 
 
3 I 8 SALAMMBO. 
 
 entire forest, in order to set fire to Carthage and burn 
 it like a den of foxes. 
 
 Spendius persisted in the siege, seeking to in- 
 vent frightful machines such as had never been 
 constructed before. The other Barbarians who were 
 encamped at a distance on the isthmus were amazed 
 at these delays. They murmured ; they were let 
 loose. 
 
 Then they rushed forward, battering against the 
 gates with their cutlasses and javelins. But the 
 nakedness of their bodies made it easy to wound 
 them, and the Carthaginians freely massacred them, 
 while the Mercenaries exulted over it, doubtless 
 from greed of the plunder. There resulted quarrels 
 and fights between themselves. The country being- 
 no w laid waste, stung by hunger they soon wrested 
 the provisions from each other.' They became dis- 
 couraged. Numerous hordes went away ; but the 
 crowd was so dense that their absence was not 
 noticed. 
 
 The best of the men endeavoured to dig mines ; 
 the ground, badly propped, caved in ; then they would 
 begin again elsewhere. Hamilcar always discovered 
 the direction of their operations by applying his ear 
 to a bronze buckler. He dug counter-mines under 
 the road over which the wooden towers had to be 
 wheeled, so that when they were moved they would 
 be buried in the holes. 
 
 At length all acknowledged that the city was im- 
 pregnable unless they erected a long terrace to the 
 height of the city walls, which should permit them 
 to combat on the same level ; the top should be 
 paved, in order to facilitate the shifting of the 
 
MOLOCH. m 319 
 
 engines. Then it would be impossible for Carthage 
 to resist. 
 
 Carthage began to suffer from thirst. Water 
 valued at the outbreak of the siege at two kesitah 
 a barrel sold now for a shekel of silver. The supplies 
 of meat and grain were also being exhausted ; they 
 feared a famine ; some even talked of useless mouths, 
 which terrified everyone. 
 
 From the square of Khamoun as far as the temple 
 of Melkarth, corpses encumbered the streets ; and 
 as it was the end of summer, large black flies tor- 
 mented the combatants. Old men transported the 
 wounded off the field, and the devout people con- 
 tinually performed fictitious funeral rites for their 
 relatives and friends deceased far away during the 
 wars. Statues of wax with hair and clothes were laid 
 out before the house entrances. These images were 
 melted by the heat of the tapers burning close to them, 
 and the paint trickled down over their shoulders : 
 and tears coursed the cheeks of the living as they 
 intoned lugubrious hymns beside these effigies. 
 During these times the crowd ever ran hither and 
 thither ; troops were constantly in motion ; captains 
 shouted orders, and the shocks of the rams battering 
 the rampart were incessantly heard. 
 
 The temperature became so heavy that the dead 
 were too swollen to be placed in the coffins, and were 
 burned in the middle of the courts. But these fires 
 in the too confined spaces ignited the neighbouring: 
 walls, and long flames suddenly escaped from the 
 houses, like blood spurting from an open artery. 
 Thus Moloch possessed Carthage, he embraced the 
 
320 SALAMMBO. 
 
 ramparts, he rolled through the streets, he even 
 devoured the dead. 
 
 Men who wore in sign of despair mantles of rags, 
 picked up anywhere, stationed themselves at the 
 convergence of the streets, declaiming against the 
 Elders and against Hamilcar, predicting total ruin 
 for the entire people, and inviting them to general 
 destruction and licence. The most dangerous were 
 the drinkers of henbane, who in their crises fancied 
 themselves to be Avild beasts, and sprang upon the 
 passers-by, whom they mangled cruelly. Mobs col- 
 lected around them, forgetting the defence of 
 Carthage. The Suffete conceived the idea of pay- 
 ing others of their class to support his policy. 
 
 In order to retain the Genii of the Gods in the 
 city, their images were covered with chains, black 
 veils were thrown over the Dii Patceci, and sackcloth 
 around the altars. Some endeavoured to excite the 
 pride and jealousy of the Baals by dinning in their 
 ears, " You will be conquered ! The other Gods are 
 more powerful than you, perhaps ! Show your 
 power ! Aid us ! in order that the peoples may not 
 say, ' Where are now their Gods ?' " 
 
 A constant anxiety disturbed the pontiffs ; those of 
 Rabbetna were especially frightened, for the re-esta- 
 blishment of the Zaimph had not sufficed ; they re- 
 mained sequestered in the third enclosure, as inex- 
 pugnable as a forest ; only one of their number, the 
 high priest, Schahabarim, risked going outside. 
 
 He went to Salammbo's palace, but remained silent, 
 ever contemplating her with fixed gaze ; or else 
 lavished upon her words of reproach, harder than 
 ever. 
 
MOLOCH. 32 1 
 
 By an inconceivable contradiction, he did not par- 
 don this young girl for having- followed his orders. 
 Schahabarim had divined all — and this besetting idea 
 heightened the jealousy of his impotency. He ac- 
 cused her of being the cause of the war. Matho, 
 according to his account, was besieging Carthage to 
 recapture the Zaimph ; and he poured forth impreca- 
 tions and sarcasms upon this Barbarian for essaying 
 to possess sacred objects. That, however, was not 
 what the priest wanted to say. 
 
 At this period Salammbo did not experience any 
 terror of the priest. The agonies she formerly 
 suffered had all vanished, being now replaced by an 
 ineffable tranquillity : even her gaze was less wan- 
 dering, and burned with a limpid light. 
 
 Meanwhile the Python had again fallen ill, and as. 
 on the contrary. Salammbo appeared to improve, the 
 aged Taanach rejoiced over it, feeling sure that by 
 its decline it had taken the weakness from her 
 mistress. 
 
 One morning the slave found it behind the cow- 
 hide couch, coiled up on itself, colder than marble, 
 its head hidden under a mass of worms. At her 
 screams Salammbo came, and turned it over for some 
 time with the toe of her sandal ; her indifference 
 amazed the slave. 
 
 Hamilcar's daughter no longer prolonged her fasts 
 with her former fervour or rigour. She spent her 
 days on the top of her terrace, leaning on her elbows 
 over the balustrade, amusing herself watching the ob- 
 jects before her. The top of the walls at the end of the 
 city cut against the sky irregular ziz-zags, and the 
 sentinels' lances all along looked like a border of 
 
 y 
 
32 2 SALAMMB6. 
 
 spikes. She could see beyond, between the towers, 
 the manoeuvres of the Barbarians. On the days 
 when the siege was suspended she could even dis- 
 tinguish their occupations, as they mended their 
 weapons, or oiled their hair, or washed their bloody 
 arms in the sea. Their tents were closed, and the 
 beasts of burden were eating ; and far away the 
 scythes of the chariot wheels, ranged in a semicircle, 
 seemed like a silver scimitar extended at the base of 
 the hills. 
 
 Schahabarim's discourses revolved through her 
 brain. She waited for her betrothed, Narr' Havas. 
 Despite her hatred, she had a lurking wish to see 
 Matho again. Of all the Carthaginians, she was, 
 perhaps, the only person who had spoken to him 
 without fear. 
 
 Frequently her father came into her room and sat 
 on the cushions, considering her with an air almost 
 tender, as though he found in the spectacle an im- 
 munity from his fatigues. Sometimes he interrogated 
 her as to the incidents of her journey to the camp of 
 the Mercenaries, asking her if no one had by chance 
 compelled her to go thither ; and with a shake of 
 the head, she answered, " No," so proud was Sal- 
 ammbo of having rescued the Za'iinph. 
 
 But the Suft'ete always reverted to Matho, under 
 the pretext of acquiring military information. He 
 could not comprehend how she had employed the 
 hours passed in his tent. In fact, Salammbo did not 
 speak of Gisco ; for as words contain in themselves 
 an effective power, curses that are repeated to any- 
 one else might return to their detriment. She like- 
 wise kept silent concerning her desire to assassinate 
 
MOLOCH. 323 
 
 Matho, fearful lest she should be censured for not 
 having yielded to it. She said that the Schalischim 
 appeared furious, that he had shouted a good deal 
 and afterwards went to sleep. Salammbo told nothing 
 more about it, perhaps from shame, or possibly from 
 an excess of innocence, which did not allow her to 
 attach any importance to the kisses of the soldier. 
 Besides, it all floated through her melancholy and 
 misty brain like the remembrance of an overwhelm- 
 ing dream, and she would not have known in what 
 manner or by what words to express it. 
 
 One evening, when father and daughter were thus 
 facing each other in conversation, Taanach, all amaze- 
 ment, entered, announcing that an old man, accom- 
 panied by a child, was in the courts, and wanted to 
 see the Suffete. 
 
 Hamilcar turned pale, but promptly replied : 
 
 "Let him come up." 
 
 Iddibal entered, without prostrating himself, 
 holding by the hand a young boy covered with a 
 cloak of goat's skin, and at once raising the hood 
 which concealed the boy's face, said : 
 
 " Here he is, master ! Take him !" 
 
 The Suffete and the slave retired to a corner. 
 The bov remained standing in the middle of the 
 room with a gaze more attentive than astonished : 
 he looked at the ceiling, the furniture, the pearl 
 collars hung over purple draperies, and at the ma- 
 jestic young woman who leaned forward towards 
 him. 
 
 He was, perhaps, ten years old, and no taller than 
 a Roman sword : his curly hair overshadowed his 
 convex forehead ; his eyes seemed to penetrate space ; 
 
 Y2 
 
324 SALAMMBO. 
 
 his thin nostrils diluted widely, and over all his per- 
 son spread that indefinable splendour belonging to 
 those beings destined for grand careers. When he 
 had thrown aside his heavy cloak, he remained clad 
 in a lynx-skin fastened around his body, and stood 
 resolutely pressing his small, bare feet, white with 
 dust, upon the pavement. Doubtless he surmised 
 that important topics were being discussed by those 
 present, as he maintained a motionless posture, hold- 
 ing one hand behind his back, his chin lowered on 
 his breast, with one finger in his mouth. 
 
 At last Hamilcar attracted Salammbo's attention 
 by a sign, and said in a low voice to her : 
 
 "Keep him with you. Do you understand ? No 
 one, not even of the household, must know of his 
 existence." 
 
 Then retiring behind the door, he again asked 
 Iddibal if he was certain that no one had noticed 
 them. 
 
 " No one, 1 ' said the slave ; " the streets were de- 
 serted.'' 
 
 As the war filled all the provinces with danger, 
 he had feared for the safety of his master's son. 
 Then, not knowing where to securely hide him, 
 Iddibal had brought him along the coast in a 
 shallop, and for three days they had cruised about 
 in the gulf, watching the ramparts : finally, upon 
 this evening, when the neighbourhood of Khamoun 
 seemed deserted, he had ventured to slowly cross 
 the channel and land in the vicinity of the arsenal, 
   — the entrance to the port being free to all. 
 
 But soon the Barbarians established, opposite the 
 port, an immense raft, to prevent the Carthaginians 
 
MOLOCH. 325 
 
 leaving it. They threw up the proposed terrace, and 
 erected the wooden towers. 
 
 Communication between the city and the outside 
 was intercepted, and an intolerable famine began. 
 
 All the dogs, mules, and asses were killed ; after- 
 wards the fifteen elephants that the Suffete had 
 brought back. The lions of the temple of Moloch 
 became furious, and the keepers no longer dared 
 approach them ; at first they were fed with wounded 
 Barbarians ; then corpses yet warm were thrown to 
 them; but these they refused; and finally they all 
 perished. At twilight people wandered along the 
 old enclosures, plucking from between the stones 
 grasses and flowers, which they boiled in wine, as 
 wine was less costly than water. Others slipped up 
 to the advanced posts of the enemy, and, crawling 
 under the tents, stole food. Sometimes the Bar- 
 barians were so stupefied by this audacity that they 
 permitted them to get away unmolested. 
 
 At length a day came when the Elders resolved 
 between themselves to slaughter the horses of 
 Eschmoun, the sacred animals in whose manes the 
 Pontiff's braided gold ribbons, and whose existence 
 signified the movements of the sun — the idea of fire 
 under its most exalted form. Their flesh was divided 
 into equal portions, and secreted behind the altar : 
 then every evening the Elders, alleging some re- 
 ligious service, ascended to the temple, regaled them- 
 selves in secret, and brought back, concealed under 
 their tunics, some morsels for their children. 
 
 In the deserted quarters far from the walls, th. 1 
 less miserable inhabitants, from fear of the rest, had 
 barricaded themselves. 
 
326 SALAMMBO. 
 
 The stones from the catapults, and the demolitions 
 ordered for their defences, had accumulated heaps of 
 ruins in the streets. 
 
 During the most tranquil hours, masses of people 
 suddenly rushed out, yelling at the top of their 
 voices ;. and from the summit of the Acropolis fires 
 appeared, like purple rags contorted by the wind, dis- 
 persed over the terraces. 
 
 The three great catapults did not stop : their 
 ravages were extraordinary ; for instance, a man's 
 head rebounded on the pediment of the Syssites ; in 
 the street of Kinisdo a woman in accouchement was 
 crushed by a block of marble,, and her infant, with 
 her couch, were carried as far as the forum of 
 Cynasyn, where the coverlet was found. 
 
 The slingers' balls proved to be the most vexa- 
 tious missiles ; these fell upon the roofs, into gardens, 
 and the middle of courtyards, while the people were 
 at table before their meagre repasts, with their 
 hearts swollen with anguish. These atrocious pro- 
 jectiles were engraved with letters that left an 
 imprint on the victim's flesh ; on the dead could 
 be read such appellations as "swine, 11 "jackal," 
 "vermin" and sometimes such pleasantries as 
 " catch!" or " / hare quite merited it /" 
 
 That portion of the rampart extending from the 
 angle of the ports abreast of the cisterns was 
 battered in. Then the people of Malqua found them- 
 selves caught between the old enceinte of Byrsa in 
 the rear, and the Barbarians in front. Hamilcar had 
 enough to do to strengthen the wall and raise it as 
 high as possible, without troubling himself about 
 the emergencies of these people. They were aban- 
 
MOLOCH. 327 
 
 cloned, and all perished : and although they were 
 generally hated, in consequence of this calamity the 
 Carthaginians conceived a great horror for Handi- 
 cap. 
 
 The following day he opened the pits wherein he 
 had stored his corn : his intendants gave it freely to 
 the people, and for three days they gorged them- 
 selves. However, their thirst only became more in- 
 tolerable, and they always saw before them the 
 long cascade of pure "water falling from the aqueduct : 
 while under the sunshine, the fine mist floated up 
 from its base with a rainbow beside it, and a little 
 serpentine stream flowed over the plain and into the 
 gulf. 
 
 Hamilcar did not give way. for he was counting upon 
 an event — something decisive and extraordinary. His 
 own slaves tore off the silver plates from the temple 
 of Melkarth. Four long boats were taken from the 
 port and dragged by means of capstans to the foot 
 of Mappals, the wall abutting on the shore was 
 pierced, and they departed to Gallia, to hire Merce- 
 nary soldiers, no matter at what price. 
 
 In the meantime Hamilcar was disturbed, because 
 he could not communicate with the Numidian king, 
 as he knew full well that he was stationed behind 
 the Barbarians, and ready to fall upon them. But 
 Narr' Havas's forces were too weak to risk making an 
 attack alone. 
 
 The Suffete caused the rampart to be heightened 
 twelve palms, all the munitions of war in the arse- 
 nals to be collected in the Acropolis, and the engines 
 to be repaired once more. 
 
 They were wont to use for the cordage of the cata- 
 
328 SALAMMBO. 
 
 pults tendons taken from the necks of bulls, or else 
 from the legs of stags ; but in Carthage there no 
 longer existed either bulls or stags, therefore Hamil- 
 car demanded from the Elders their wives' tresses ; 
 and though all made the sacrifice, the quantity was 
 insufficient. There were, in the buildings of the 
 Syssites, twelve hundred marriageable slaves, des- 
 tined for the brothels of Greece and Italv, 
 whose hair had become peculiarly elastic from the 
 constant use of unguents, and was admirably suited 
 for the war machines. But later on the loss would be 
 too considerable. Then it was determined to select 
 the finest heads of hair among the wives of the 
 plebeians. Regardless of their country's needs, all 
 the women cried out in despair when the servitors 
 of the Hundred came with scissors to lay hands 
 upon them. 
 
 A redoubled fury animated the Barbarians, for 
 from a distance they could be seen taking out the 
 fat from the dead bodies, to oil their machines, and 
 pulling out the finger and toe nails of the corpses, 
 which they sewed one over-lapping another, to make 
 breastplates for themselves. 
 
 They conceived the idea of charging their cata- 
 pults with vases full of vipers brought by the 
 Negroes ; these clay vessels shattered, in falling 
 upon the paving-stones, and the serpents crawling 
 about were so numerous that they seemed to swarm, 
 and to come naturally out of the walls. Discon- 
 tented with this invention, they perfected it, and 
 threw all kinds of filth — such as human excrement, 
 morsels of carrion, and corpses — upon their enemy. 
 The plague broke out. The teeth of the Cartha- 
 
MOLOCH. 329 
 
 ginians dropped out, and their gums became colour- 
 lees, like those of the camels after a too protracted 
 journey. 
 
 The Barbarians' war machines were mounted upon 
 the new terrace, even though it failed as yet to 
 attain at every point the height of the rampart. In 
 front of the twenty-three towers on the fortifications 
 were erected twenty-three wooden towers ; all the 
 tollenones were remounted, and in the centre, a little 
 further back, loomed up the formidable helepolis of 
 Demetrius Poliorcetes, which Spendius had at last 
 reconstructed. Pyramidal, like the lighthouse at 
 Alexandria, it was one hundred and thirty cubits 
 high and twenty-three wide, with nine stages that 
 diminished towards the top, and were protected 
 by brass scales pierced by numerous sally-ports, 
 and filled with, soldiers : on the topmost stage a cata- 
 pult flanked by two ballistas was erected. 
 
 Hamilcar planted crosses upon which to crucify 
 all those who talked of surrender. Even the women 
 were formed in brigades. People slept in the streets, 
 and wailed, full of anguish. 
 
 Then one morning, a little before sunrise, on the 
 seventh day of the month of Nyssan, they heard a 
 loud cry uttered simultaneously by all the Bar- 
 barians ; the lead trumpets blared, and the great 
 Paphlagonian horns bellowed like bulls. There was 
 a universal rush for the rampart. 
 
 A forest of lances, pikes, and spears bristled at 
 its base ; it leaped against the walls, ladders were 
 grappled on, and in the openings of the battlements 
 Barbarians' heads appeared. 
 
 Beams, carried by long files of men, battered the 
 
330 SALAMMBO. 
 
 gates ; and in spots where the terrace was wanting, 
 the Mercenaries, in order to breach the wall, 
 arrived in close cohorts, the first line crouching 
 down, the second bending their hips, while the others 
 rose in succession, in gradual inclinations of their 
 bodies, until the last stood bolt upright ; while 
 elsewhere, to climb up, the tallest advanced at the 
 head, the shortest in the rear : and they all sup- 
 ported with their left arms above their helmets their 
 shields, locked together so closely by the rims that 
 they appeared like an assemblage of large tortoises. 
 The projectiles slid over these slanting masses. 
 
 The Carthaginians hurled mill-stones, pestles, vats, 
 casks, couches, everything, in fact, that could make a 
 weight and crush. Some watched in the embrasures 
 with fishing nets, and when a Barbarian came up 
 he found himself entangled in the meshes, and 
 struggled like a floundering fish. They themselves 
 demolished their own battlements ; portions of the 
 walls crumbled down, and in their passage stirred 
 up a blinding dust. The catapults on the platform 
 and those on the rampart fired one against the other, 
 the stones clashed together and shattered into a 
 thousand fragments, falling in a wide shower upon 
 the combatants. 
 
 Presently the two crowds formed but one thick 
 chain of human bodies, overflowing in the intervals 
 of the terrace, and a little relaxed at the two ends, 
 revolved perpetually without advancing. 
 
 They grappled each other, lying flat on the ground 
 like wrestlers, and were crushed. Women leaned 
 over the battlements and screamed. They were 
 dragged forward by their veils, and the whiteness 
 
MOT,orH. 331 
 
 of their sides, suddenly uncovered, shone between the 
 arms of the Negroes, as they plunged their poniards 
 into them. 
 
 Some corpses were too closely packed in the crowd 
 to fall, but, borne up by the shoulders of their com- 
 rades, they moved for some minutes quite upright, 
 their eyes staring wide open. 
 
 Some, pierced through and through both temples 
 with javelins, swayed their heads like bears ; their 
 mouths opened to scream, but remained silently 
 agape ; hands that were cut off flew through the air. 
 There were mighty blows, of which the survivors 
 spoke many a long day afterwards. 
 
 Mean while arrows were flying from the tops of 
 the wooden and stone towers. The long yards of the 
 tollmones moved rapidly : and as the Barbarians had 
 pillaged the ancient cemetery of the Autochthones 
 beneath the Catacombs, they hurled the tombstones 
 upon the Carthaginians. Under the weight of the 
 baskets, too heavily laden, the cables sometimes 
 broke, and numbers of men, wildly throwing up 
 their arms, fell from a great height. 
 
 Until the middle of the day the veterans of the 
 hoplites had fiercely attacked the Taenia, in order to 
 penetrate the Port and destroy the fleet. Hamilcar 
 had lighted on the roof of Khamoun a fire of humid 
 straw, the smoke from which blinded them ; they 
 fell back to the left, increasing the horrible crowd 
 which struggled in Malqua. Some syntagmas, com- 
 posed of robust men expressly chosen, had forced 
 three of the gates. Then high barriers, constructed 
 with boards studded with nails, barred their way ; 
 a fourth entrance readily yielded : they darted be- - 
 
332 SALAMMBO. 
 
 Yond, and ran forward, only to roll into a moat in 
 which snares had been hidden. 
 
 At the south-east corner Autharitus and his men 
 beat down the rampart, where the fissure had been 
 stopped up with bricks. The ground behind rose ; 
 they slowly climbed up, but found on the top a 
 second wall, composed of stones and long beams 
 lying flat, alternating like the squares on a chess- 
 board. This was a Gallic mode adapted by the 
 Suffete to the requirements of the situation. The 
 Gauls thought that they were in front of a city of 
 their own country. Their attack was languidly 
 made, and consequently they were repulsed. 
 
 From the street of Khamoun to the Vegetable 
 Market, all the circuit of the Avails now belonged to the 
 Barbarians, and the Samnites finished the dying with 
 blows of their spears, or even with one foot on the 
 wall wonderingly contemplated beneath them the 
 smoking ruins, and in the distance the battle which 
 recommenced. 
 
 The slingers distributed in the rear fired inces- 
 santly, but from long use the springs of the Acar- 
 nanian slings were broken, so, like herdsmen, many 
 slung the stones with their hands ; others shot the 
 lead balls with the handles of whips. Zarxas, with 
 his long black hair covering his shoulders, bounded 
 about everywhere and led on the Baleares ; two 
 pouches were suspended from his hips, into one of 
 Avhich he kept plunging his left hand, while his right 
 arm whirled like the revolving wheel of a chariot. 
 
 Matho at first withheld from the combat, to com- 
 mand more effectually all his forces at once. He 
 had been seen along the gulf shore with the Merce- 
 
MOLOCH. 333 
 
 naries ; near the Lagoon with the Numidians ; then 
 on the border of the lake amongst the Negroes ; al 
 t lie end of the plain he pushed forward masses of 
 soldiers, who kept incessantly coming up against tin.' 
 line of the fortifications. Gradually he approached 
 them : the odour of blood, the spectacle made by 
 the carnage, and the fanfare of clarions, had ended 
 in making his heart bound. Then he entered his 
 tent, threw aside his cumbersome breastplate, taking 
 instead his lion-skin, which he found more conve- 
 nient for battle. The muzzle adapted itself to his 
 head, and surrounded his face with a circle of fangs ; 
 the two fore-paws crossed over his breast, and the 
 claws of the hind-paws reached down to his knees. 
 
 He kept on his strong sword-belt, in which 
 Hashed a double-edged battle-axe: then, holding his 
 large sword in both hands, he plunged impetuously 
 through the breach. Like a primer lopping off wil- 
 low branches, who endeavours to cut as many as 
 possible in order to gain the more money, he moved 
 about, mowing down Carthaginians on all sides of 
 him. Those who tried to seize him by the sides he 
 knocked down with blows of the pommel of his 
 sword : when they attacked him face to face he pierced 
 them through ; and if they took flight he slashed 
 them down. 
 
 Two men simultaneously jumped upon his back : 
 he recoiled at one bound against a door, crushing 
 them. His active sword rose and fell ; at last if 
 shattered against an angle of the wall. Then he 
 took his heavy axe, and from behind and in froi i 
 he disembowelled the Carthaginians like a flock of 
 sheep. They scattered more and more before him, 
 
334 SALAMMBO. 
 
 and, slaying right and left, he arrived alone, before 
 the second enclosure, at the foot of the Acropolis. 
 
 Materials that had been hurled from the summit 
 encumbered the steps, and overflowed beyond the 
 walls. Matho, in the midst of these ruins, turned 
 around to call his comrades ; he saw their plumes 
 scattered through the multitude — they were being 
 surrounded : they would perish. He dashed towards 
 them ; then the vast crown of red plumes congre- 
 gating, quickly rejoined, and surrounded him. But 
 the lateral streets disgorged an enormous throng, 
 and he was taken up by his hips and carried away 
 to the outside of the rampart, in a spot where the 
 terrace was high. 
 
 Matho shouted a command : all the bucklers were 
 levelled above the helmets : he leaped on the top to 
 catch hold of something that might enable him to 
 scale the walls and re-enter Carthage, and brandished 
 his terrible battle-axe as he ran over the bucklers, 
 that resembled bronze waves, like a marine God on 
 the billows shaking his trident. 
 
 Meanwhile a man in a white robe strode on the 
 edge of the rampart, impassive and indifferent to 
 the death surrounding him. At times he extended 
 his right hand to shade his eyes, as if he sought for 
 some one. Matho passed beneath him. All at once 
 his eyes flamed, his livid face contracted, and he 
 lifted his meagre arms, shouting out words of 
 abuse. 
 
 Matho heard them not ; but he felt a look so cruel 
 and furious enter his heart, that he gave vent to a 
 moan. He hurled his long axe towards this man ; 
 people threw themselves about Schahabarim, and 
 
moloch. 335 
 
 Matho, seeing him no more, fell buck wards ex- 
 hausted. 
 
 A fearful creaking drew near, mingled with the 
 rhythm of hoarse voices singing in cadence 
 
 A vast throng of soldiers encompassed the 
 helepolis ; they dragged it with both hands, hauled it 
 with ropes, and pushed it with their shoulders — for 
 the slope rising from the plain to the platform, 
 though it was extremely gentle, proved impracticable 
 for machines of such prodigious weight. Notwith- 
 standing that it had eight iron-bound wheels, since 
 morning it had advanced thus slowly ; it was like a 
 mountain being elevated to the top of a mountain. 
 
 From the base of this machine an enormous 
 ram projected : along the three sides facing the city 
 the ports were lowered, and in the interior appeared 
 mailed soldiers, like iron columns, w r ho could lie 
 seen climbing and descending the two stairways that 
 traversed the stories. Some of these men held them- 
 selves in readiness to spring the moment the 
 grapples of the ports should touch the wall. In the 
 middle of the upper platform the skeins of the 
 ballistas were twisting, and the great beam of the 
 catapult kept descending. 
 
 Hamilcar was at this moment standing on the 
 roof of Melkarth : he judged that the beam would 
 come directly towards him, against the most 
 invulnerable portion of the wall, and on that account 
 denuded of sentinels. Already for a long time his 
 slaves had been carrying leather water-bottles to the 
 circular road, where two transverse partitions of clay 
 had been constructed to form a sort of basin. The 
 water insensibly ran over the terrace, and it was 
 
336 SALAMMBd. 
 
 most extraordinary that Hamilcar did not seem dis- 
 turbed by this waste. 
 
 But when the lielepolis had attained to about thirty 
 paces of the wall, he commanded that boards should 
 be placed between the houses over the streets, from 
 the cisterns down to the rampart, and that the people 
 should form in a file and pass from hand to hand 
 helmets and amphoras filled with water, that were 
 continually emptied. The Carthaginians waxed in- 
 dignant at this exorbitant waste of water. The ram 
 demolished the wall ; suddenly a fountain escaped 
 from the disjointed stones, when the brazen struc- 
 ture of nine stages, containing more than three 
 thousand soldiers, began to sway gently, like a ship 
 rocking on the billows. 
 
 In fact, the water had penetrated the terrace and 
 had undermined the road before the machine ; the 
 wheels were imbedded in mire. Between the leather 
 curtains on the first stage, Spendius's head appeared, 
 blowing lustily through an ivory horn. The mam- 
 moth machine convulsively moved perhaps ten 
 more paces ; but the ground became softer and 
 softer, the mire reached up to the axle-trees, then 
 the huge lielepolh stopped, leaning frightfully over 
 on one side. The catapult rolled to the edge of the 
 platform, and, carried away by the weight of its 
 beam, toppled off, crushing the inferior stages in 
 pieces beneath it. The soldiers standing in the 
 ports slid into the abyss, or by chance some held on 
 at the extremities of the long beam, and by their 
 weight increased the inclination of the lielepolis, 
 which was now going to pieces and cracking in 
 all its joints. 
 
MOLOCH. 1)Z7 
 
 The other Barbarians rushed to rescue them, 
 crowding in a compact mass ; seeing which, the Car- 
 thaginians descended over the rampart and assailed 
 them from behind, killing them at their ease. But 
 the chariots armed with scythes came speedily up, 
 galloping around the outside of this multitude ; 
 they remounted the walls. Night fell, and the Bar- 
 barians gradually retired. 
 
 Nothing could be seen over the plain but a sort 
 of black, swarming mass, from the bluish gulf to 
 the glittering white Lagoon ; and the lake, into 
 which blood had flowed, spread out beyond like a 
 great purple pool. 
 
 The terrace was now so encumbered with the dead 
 that it might have been constructed out of human 
 bodies. In the centre stood the helepolis covered with 
 armour, and from time to time enormous fragments 
 became detached from it, like stones from a crumb- 
 ling pyramid. Broad tracks made by the streams of 
 molten lead could be distinguished on the walls ; a 
 wooden tower here and there had tumbled over, and 
 was burning, and the houses appeared indistinctly 
 like the tiers in a ruined amphitheatre. Heavy 
 clouds of smoke curled up, through which whirled 
 trails of sparks that were ever lost in the black sky. 
 
 Meantime, the Carthaginians, who were devoured 
 by thirst, had rushed to the cisterns. They broke 
 open the doors : a muddy puddle spread over the 
 bottom. 
 
 What would now become of them ? The Barbarians 
 were innumerable, and when they had recovered from 
 their fatigue, would begin again. 
 
 z 
 
338 SALAMMBO. 
 
 All night the people deliberated in groups at the 
 corners of the streets. Some declared that they 
 must send away the women, the sick, and the aged. 
 Others proposed to abandon the city, and found a 
 new colony far away. But ships were wanting ; 
 and the sun rose before any decision had been 
 arrived at. 
 
 That day there was no fighting, everyone being 
 too wearied. While the people slept they appeared 
 to be dead. 
 
 When the Carthaginians reflected upon the cause 
 of their disasters, they recalled the fact that they 
 had neglected to send to Phoenicia the annual offer- 
 ing due to the Tyrian Melkarth, at which an im- 
 mense terror overtook them. The Gods were indig- 
 nant with the Republic, and would doubtless pursue 
 her with vengeance. 
 
 The divinities were considered in the light of 
 cruel masters, only to be appeased with supplica- 
 tions, and who allowed themselves to be corrupted 
 by gifts. All were weak before Moloch — the de- 
 vourer. Human existence, even the flesh of man- 
 kind, belonged to him ; therefore, to preserve it, the 
 Carthaginians were wont to offer him a portion, 
 which calmed his wrath. Children were burned on 
 their foreheads, or on the nape of their necks, with 
 woollen wicks ; and this custom of seeking to satisfy 
 the Baal brought considerable money to the priests, 
 who rarely failed to recommend the easiest and least 
 painful method of sacrifice. 
 
 However, it was now a question of the very exist- 
 ence of the Republic. And as every profit must 
 be purchased by some loss, and every transaction 
 
moloch. 339 
 
 is regulated, by the wants of the weaker and the de- 
 mands of the stronger, there was no suffering too 
 considerable for the God, since he took delight in 
 the most horrible, and they all now lay at his 
 mercy. He must therefore be completely glutted. 
 The precedents showed that carnal sacrifices to him 
 had compelled the scourge to disappear. Besides, 
 they believed an immolation by fire would purify 
 Carthage. The ferocity of the people was enlisted 
 beforehand, inasmuch as the choice of victims must 
 fall exclusively on the grand families. 
 
 The Elders assembled. Their session was long. 
 Hanno had come, but as he was now unable to 
 sit up, he remained lying near the entrance, half lost 
 in the fringes of the lofty tapestry; and when the 
 pontiff of Moloch asked if those convened con- 
 sented to deliver up their children, his voice sud- 
 denly broke forth from the shadows as the roaring 
 of a spirit out of the depths of a cavern, saying, 
 that he regretted that he had none of his own blood 
 to give, and he significantly looked at Hamilcar, 
 who faced him at the other end of the hall. 
 
 The Suffete was so disturbed by this gaze that 
 he dropped his eyes. All, however, approved by 
 nodding their heads successively ; and, according 
 to the rites, he had to reply to the high priest, 
 " Yes, so mote it be !" Then the Elders decreed 
 the sacrifice by a traditional periphrasis — for there 
 are things more troublesome to speak than to 
 execute. 
 
 Almost immediately this decision was known 
 throughout Carthage, and lamentation resounded. 
 Everywhere the women were heard crying, and their 
 
 z2 
 
340 SALAMMBO. 
 
 husbands either consoling them or heaping invectives 
 upon them for offering remonstrance. 
 
 Three hours afterwards an extraordinary news 
 spread about among the people : the Suffete had 
 discovered springs at the base of the cliff. All ran 
 thither : holes had been dug in the sand, showing 
 the water ; and already some were lying flat on their 
 bellies, drinking. 
 
 Hamilcar 'did not himself know whether it was a 
 counsel from the Gods or the indistinct recollection 
 of a revelation his father had formerly made to him, 
 but, on quitting the conference of Elders, he had 
 gone down to the beach with his slaves, and begun 
 digging in the gravel. 
 
 He distributed clothing, shoes, and wine, and the 
 balance of the grain stored in his vaults ; he even 
 made the populace enter his palace, opening the 
 kitchens, magazines, and all the rooms except Sal- 
 ammbo's. He took occasion to announce that six 
 thousand Gallic Mercenaries were coming, and that 
 the king of Macedonia was also sending soldiers to 
 them. 
 
 As early as the second day after the discovery of 
 the springs, the volume of water had considerably 
 diminished, and the evening of the third day they 
 were completely dry. Then the Elders 1 former de- 
 cree circulated anew on all lips, and the priests of 
 Moloch commenced preparations for the sacrifice. 
 
 Men in black robes presented themselves at the 
 houses ; many of the inhabitants had previously 
 deserted them on pretence of business, or of some 
 dainty that they must go and buy. The servitors 
 of Moloch surprised and took the children. Other 
 
MOLOCH. 341 
 
 parents, stupidly scared, delivered them up. The 
 victims were all conveyed to the temple of Tanit, 
 to the priestesses, who were ordered to amuse and 
 feed them until the solemn day. 
 
 They arrived suddenly at Hamilcar's palace, and 
 finding him in his gardens, said ; 
 
 " Barca ! we come for that you wot of — your son !" 
 They added, that some people had met the boy one 
 night during the last moon, crossing the middle of 
 Mappals, led by an old man. 
 
 At first he felt as if suffocating ; but very quickly 
 understanding that denial would be in vain, he in- 
 clined his head, and introduced them into his house 
 of commerce. His slaves, at a gesture from him, ran 
 to keep watch over its neighbourhood. 
 
 He entered Salammbo's room, bewildered, seized 
 Hannibal by one hand, and with the other tore from a 
 trailing robe some strings, with which he fastened 
 the boy's hands and feet together, placing the ends 
 of the strings in his mouth as a gag, and concealed 
 him under the cowhide couch, adjusting some wide 
 drapery so that it fell all about the couch to the 
 floor. 
 
 Then he paced the room from right to left, lifted 
 his arms, turned around, bit his lips ; then he halted, 
 with his eyes fixed, and gasping as though he was 
 dying. 
 
 At length, he clapped his hands three times. Gid- 
 denem appeared. 
 
 " Listen ! " said he. " Go and take from amongst 
 the slaves a male child of eight or nine years, with 
 black hair and projecting forehead ! Bring him ! 
 Hasten !" 
 
342 SALAMMB6. 
 
 Giddenem soon returned, and presented a boy. 
 
 He was a poor child, at the same time thin and 
 bloated ; his skin greyish, like the noisome rags that 
 clung to his loins. He hung his head, and rubbed 
 with the back of his hands his eyes, which were full 
 of flies. 
 
 " How could anyone possibly mistake him for 
 Hannibal ! and time fails to choose another !" 
 Hamilcar looked at Giddenem with the desire to 
 strangle him. 
 
 " Go !" cried he; and the Master of Slaves fled. 
 
 The sorrow which the Suffete had for so long 
 a time apprehended had come, and he sought with 
 immeasurable efforts to discern if there was no man- 
 ner, no way of averting it. 
 
 Abdalonim all at once spoke from the other side 
 of"the door : the servitors of Moloch were becoming 
 impatient, and demanded the Suffete. 
 
 Hamilcar suppressed a cry ; he experienced a pang 
 akin to the seething burn from a red-hot iron ; he 
 began anew to pace the floor like a madman ; then he 
 sank down near the balustrade, and with his elbows 
 on his knees, pressed his temples between his 
 clenched hands. 
 
 The porphyry basin in the centre yet contained a 
 small quantity of clean water for Salammbo's ablu- 
 tions. Despite his repugnance and all his pride, the 
 Suffete plunged the child into the basin, and like a 
 slave merchant washed and scrubbed the boy with 
 strigils and red earth. Afterwards he took from the 
 cases surrounding the walls two squares of purple ; of 
 these he put one on his breast, the other on his back, 
 pinning them over the collar-bone with two diamond 
 
molocii. 343 
 
 agrafes ; he poured perfumes over his head, clasped 
 an electrum necklace around his throat, and thrust 
 his plebeian feet into sandals with pearl heels — his 
 daughter's own sandals ; but he stamped with shame 
 and rage. Salammbo, w T ho was eagerly assisting him, 
 was quite as pale as he. The child smiled, pleased 
 with these splendours, and even growing bolder, 
 commenced to clap his hands and leap with glee, 
 when Hamilcar led him forth. 
 
 He held him firmly by the arm, as though he 
 feared he should lose the boy ; and the child, hurt 
 by his fierce grasp, whimpered slightly as he ran 
 beside the Suffete. 
 
 Abreast of the ergastulum, under a palm tree, a 
 voice rose, a lamenting, supplicating voice, murmur- 
 ing, " Master ! oh, master !" 
 
 Hamilcar turned, and saw at his side a man most 
 abject in appearance — one of the wretches who lived 
 at hazard in his gardens. 
 
 " What do you want ?" asked the Suffete. The 
 slave, trembling horribly, stammered : 
 
 " I am his father !" 
 
 Hamilcar kept on walking; the slave followed, with 
 bent back, and head thrust forward ; as his loins 
 seemed to give way, his face was convulsed by an 
 indescribable agony, and his suppressed sobs stifled 
 him, so strong was his desire at once to question him 
 and to cry out " Mercy !" 
 
 At length he dared to touch the Suft'ete's elbow 
 lightly with one finger. 
 
 " Do you take him to the ?" He had no1 
 
 the strength to finish, and Hamilcar stopped, amazed 
 by this outburst of grief. 
 
344 SALAMMB6. 
 
 He had never thought — so immense was the gulf 
 separating the one from the other — that there could 
 be anything in common between them. It even 
 appeared to him to be a sort of outrage, an encroach- 
 ment on his own privileges. He replied by a look, 
 colder and more crushing than the axe of an execu- 
 tioner ; the slave fainted, falling in the dust at his 
 feet. Hamilcar stepped over him. 
 
 The three black-robed men waited for the Suffete 
 in the great hall, standing against the stone disc. 
 All at once he tore his garments, and rolled upon 
 the stones, uttering sharp cries. 
 
 " Ah ! poor little Hannibal ! Oh ! my son ! my 
 consolation ! my hope ! my life ! kill me also ! Take 
 me ! Misery ! misery !" he ploughed his face with his 
 finger-nails, and tore out his hair, howling like the 
 mourners at the funerals. " Take him away ! I suf- 
 fer too much ! Go ! go ! kill me with him !" The 
 servitors of Moloch were astonished that the great 
 Hamilcar possessed such a faint heart. They were 
 almost touched. 
 
 Just then, the noise of bare feet was heard, and 
 with a jerking rattle, like the panting of a ferocious 
 beast when running in pursuit, on the threshold of 
 the third gallery, between the ivory door-posts, a 
 man appeared, pallid, terrible, with outstretched 
 arms, and screamed : 
 
 " My child !" 
 
 With a bound Hamilcar fell upon him, covering 
 his mouth with his hands, and cried out, even 
 louder : 
 
 " He is the old slave who brought Hannibal up ! 
 he calls him 'mv ^V 1 -v .' Via w ; 11 become mad! 
 
moloch. 345 
 
 Enough ! enough !" And pushing out by the shoul- 
 ders the three priests and their victim, he went out 
 with them, and closed the door behind him with a 
 tremendous kick. 
 
 For some time Hamilcar listened attentively, still 
 fearing to see them return. He next thought of rid- 
 ding himself of the slave, to make quite sure of his 
 not speaking : but the peril bad not completely 
 passed, and his death, if the Gods were angered at it, 
 might return upon his own son. Then changing his 
 purpose, he sent to him by Taanach the daintiest 
 things from his kitchen — a quarter of a goat, some 
 beans, and some preserved pomegranates. The slave, 
 who had not eaten for a long time, flung himself 
 upon the food, whilst his tears fell into the dishes. 
 
 Hamilcar at length returned to Salammbo, and 
 unknotted Hannibal's fastenings. The child was 
 in such a state of exasperation that he bit the 
 Suffete's hand until he drew blood ; he repressed 
 him with a caress. 
 
 To keep the boy quiet Salammbo tried to frighten 
 him with stories of Lamia — an ogress of Cyrene. 
 "Where then is she ?" he asked. Then he was told 
 that the brigands would come to put him in prison ; 
 to which he replied, " When they come I shall kill 
 them." 
 
 Hamilcar then told him the frightful truth, but he 
 grew furious with his father, declaring that he was 
 able to utterly destroy all the people, since he was 
 the master of Carthage". 
 
 At last, exhausted by his struggles and anger, he 
 slept a savage sleep, talking in his dreams, as he lay 
 with his back propped up against a scarlet pillow, 
 
346 SALAMMBO. 
 
 his head thrown a trifle backwards, and one of his 
 little arms extended out straight from his body in an 
 imperious attitude. 
 
 When the night grew dark Hamilcar lifted the 
 child softly up in his arms, and descended the 
 stairway of the galleys without a torch. In passing 
 through the commercial house he took a bunch of 
 grapes and a jug of pure water. The child awakened 
 before the statue of Aletes, in the vault filled with 
 gems, and smiled, as the other child had smiled, in 
 the arms of the Suffete, at the play of splendours sur- 
 rounding him. 
 
 Hamilcar was very certain that no one had now 
 the power to take his son. li: was an impenetrable 
 spot, communicating with the shore by a subterranean 
 passage, that he alone knew : he cast his eyes about 
 him, respiring a long breath, and placed the boy on a 
 stool beside the golden bucklers. 
 
 No one at present saw them ; he had nothing more 
 to heed, and he gave way to his feelings. Like a 
 mother who finds her lost firstborn, he embraced 
 his son, pressing him to his heart ; he laughed and 
 cried at the same time, called him by the most endear- 
 ing names, and covered him with kisses. The 
 little Hannibal, frightened by this terrible tenderness, 
 remained quiet. 
 
 Hamilcar returned with silent steps, by feeling 
 along the walls around him, until he reached the large 
 hall, wherein the moonlight streamed through one 
 of the slits in the dome : in the middle the sated 
 slave slept, lying at full length on the marble slabs. 
 He regarded him, and was moved by a kind of pity. 
 With the toe of his buskin he pushed a rug under 
 
moloch. 347 
 
 his head. Then he lifted his eyes to contemplate 
 Tanit, whose slender crescent was shining in the sky ; 
 and he felt himself stronger than the Baals, and full 
 of contempt for them. 
 
 The preparations for the sacrifice had already 
 begun. 
 
 A section of the wall of the temple of Moloch was 
 removed in order to pull the brazen God through 
 without disturbing the ashes on the altar. As soon 
 as the sun rose the sacred slaves of the temple pushed 
 him to the square of Khamofm. 
 
 He moved backwards, sliding over cylinders ; his 
 shoulders overtopped the walls ; from the farthest 
 point the Carthaginians who perceived him fled 
 with speed, for it was impossible to contemplate with 
 impunity the Baal save in the exercise of his wrath. 
 
 An odour of aromatics was wafted through the 
 streets. All the temples were thrown open simul- 
 taneously, and tabernacles upon chariots, or on litters 
 which pontiffs carried, issued forth. Great plumes 
 of feathers nodded at their corners, and rays flashed 
 from their pointed spires, terminated by globes of 
 crystal, gold, silver, or copper. 
 
 These were the Canaanite Baalim, reproductions of 
 the supreme Baal, returning towards their essence to 
 humble themselves before his power, and be lost in 
 his splendour. The canopy of Melkarth, of fine pur- 
 ple, sheltered a flame of bitumen oil : while upon 
 that of Khamoun, which was of hyacinth colour, was 
 erected an ivory phallus bordered with a circle of 
 gems : between the curtains of Eschmoun, blue as the 
 ether, a Python slept, describing a circle as it bit its 
 
348 SALAMMBO. 
 
 tail ; and the Dii-Patceci, held in the arms of their 
 priests, their heels dragging on the ground, resembled 
 large babies in swaddling clothes. 
 
 Following came all the inferior forms of divinity: 
 Baal-Samin, God of celestial spaces ; Baal-Peor, God 
 of sacred mounts ; Baal-Zeboub, God of corruption ; 
 and those of the neighbouring countries and of cog- 
 nate races : the Iarbal of Libya ; the Adrammelech 
 of Chaldea ; the Kijun of the Syrians ; Derceto, with 
 the maiden's face, ramping upon her fins : and the 
 body of Tammouz was transported on a catafalque 
 between torches and heads of hair. To subject 
 the kings of the firmament to the sun, and prevent 
 their individual influence from impeding his, metal 
 stars of divers colours were brandished on the ends 
 of long staves. In this collection all varieties were 
 found, from the black Nebo, which was the genius 
 of Mercury, to the hideous Rahab, which was the 
 constellation of the Crocodile. 
 
 The Abaddirs, stones fallen from the moon, turned 
 in silver filigree slings : small loaves reproducing 
 the female sex were carried in baskets by the priests 
 of Ceres ; others brought their fetiches, their amu- 
 lets ; forgotten idols reappeared ; and they had even 
 taken from the vessels their mystic symbols, as 
 though Carthage was desirous to collect herself com- 
 pletely in one thought of death and desolation. 
 
 Before each of the tabernacles a man balanced on 
 his head a vase, in which fumed incense ; cloudlets 
 hovered here and there, and through the dense va- 
 pours could be discerned the hangings, the pendants, 
 and the embroideries of the sacred pavilions. 
 
 In consequence of their enormous weight, they 
 
Moloch-. 349 
 
 advanced slowly. The axle-trees of the chariots 
 sometimes got caught in the narrow streets ; then 
 the devotees profited by the opportunity to touch 
 the Baalim with their clothing, Which they ever 
 afterwards treasured as something sacred. The bra- 
 zen statue continued to move towards the square of 
 Khamoun. The Rich, carrying sceptres with emerald 
 apples, started from the far end of Megara ; the 
 Elders, crowned with diadems, assembled in Kinisdo ; 
 and the masters of finance, the governors of pro- 
 vinces, merchants, soldiers, sailors, and the numerous 
 horde employed at funerals, all displaying the in- 
 signia of their magistracy or the instruments of their 
 avocations, converged towards the tabernacles that 
 descended from the Acropolis between the colleges 
 of pontiffs. 
 
 In deference to Moloch, they were all bedecked 
 with their most splendid jewels. Diamonds sparkled 
 over their black apparel : but their rings, now too 
 wide, loosely fell from their emaciated hands, and 
 nothing could be more lugubrious than that silent 
 concourse, where brilliant ear-rings struck against 
 pallid faces, and where gold tiaras encircled fore- 
 heads wrinkled b} T an atrocious despair. 
 
 Finally the Baal attained the centre of the square. 
 His pontiffs made an enclosure with trellises to keep 
 back the multitude, and remained themselves a1 
 his feet, surrounding him. 
 
 The priests of Khamoun, in reddish woollen robes, 
 alligned before their. temple under the columns of 
 the portico ; those of Esehmoim, in white limn 
 mantles, with collars of the heads of hoopoes, wearing 
 conical tiaras, established themselves on the steps of 
 
350 SALAMMBO. 
 
 the Acropolis ; the priests of Melkarth, in violet 
 tunics, took their position on the western side ; the 
 priests of the Abaddirs, swathed in bands of Phrygian 
 stuffs, placed themselves on the eastern side ; and 
 ranged on the southern side with the necromancers, 
 all covered with tattooings, were the howlers in 
 patched mantles, the priests of the Dii-Patceci, and 
 the Yidonim, who divined the future by placing a 
 bone of a dead body in their mouths. The priests 
 of Ceres, habited in blue robes, had prudently stopped 
 in Satheb street, intoning in a low voice a thesmo- 
 phorion in Megarian dialect. 
 
 From time to time files of men arrived, com- 
 pletely naked, with arms stretched out, holding each 
 other by the shoulders, giving vent from the depths 
 of their chests to hoarse, cavernous intonations ; their 
 eyes turned toward the Colossus, which glittered 
 through the dust, and at intervals they swayed their 
 bodies all together, as if shaken by a single move- 
 ment. These men were so furious, that in order to 
 establish quiet among them, the sacred slaves struck 
 them roughly with clubs, making them lie flat on 
 the ground with their faces against the brazen trel- 
 lises. 
 
 At this moment, from the back part of the square, 
 a man in a white robe came forward. As he slowly 
 pierced through the throng, he was recognised as a 
 priest of Tanit— the high-priest Schahabarim. Yells 
 were raised, for the tyranny of the male principle 
 prevailed upon this occasion in all minds, and the 
 Goddess was so completely forgotten that no one 
 had even noticed the absence of her pontiffs. But 
 the amazement redoubled when her high-priest was 
 
MOLOCH. 351 
 
 seen to open one of the gates of the trellis, intended 
 only for those to enter who would offer victims for 
 the sacrifice. 
 
 The priests of Moloch, believing that he came to 
 offer an insult to their God, with violent gestures 
 endeavoured to expel him. Nourished as they were 
 by the viands of the holocausts, clothed in purple 
 like kings, and wearing triple crowns, they spat upon 
 this pale eunuch priest, attenuated by macerations, 
 and a contemptuous laughter of rage shook their 
 black beards, spread out over their breasts in the 
 sunlight. 
 
 Schahabarim, without response, continued to walk 
 forward, and crossing, step by step, the whole enclo- 
 sure, he arrived beneath the legs of the Colossus ; 
 then he threw out his arms and touched it on both 
 sides : this was a solemn act of adoration. 
 
 For a long period the Rabbet had tortured him, 
 and in despair, or perhaps in default of a God com- 
 pletely satisfying his thoughts, he had decided at 
 last to accept Moloch. 
 
 The concourse were shocked by this apostacy, and 
 uttered a prolonged murmur. There was a feeling 
 that the last tie had been severed that attached their 
 souls to a clement Deity. 
 
 But Schahabarim. because of his mutilation, could 
 not participate in the cult of the Baal. The men 
 in red mantles expelled him from the enclosure ; 
 then, when he was outside, he turned around to all 
 the other colleges successively, and the priest, now 
 without a God, disappeared in the crowd, that scat- 
 tered at his approach. 
 
 Meantime a fire of aloes, cedar, and laurel woo. I 
 

 burned Ten the legs f the Colossus. His long 
 
 wii _~ iried their points in the flame : iheunguei. > 
 with which he had been rubbed now trickled like 
 s fat over his brazen limbs. A boot the round stone 
 upon which his feel este L children, enveloped in 
 ._ . ■: -f:^. :.:"jlt." .. m::::'_I--s- .::_~r : .v.... li> 
 inordinately long arms allowed the palms of his 
 hai - .ich down to them, isif 1 - ethifi rown 
 
 and eonvev it 1 the sky 
 
 The Rich, the I s, the women, and in fact the 
 
 T --: ;;•... r- : - - The large, painted stars 
 
 revolved no longer : the tabernacles were placed on 
 the around, and the smoke from the censers rase on 
 high perpendicularly, like gigantic trees - read- 
 ing their bluish bou e _i- tc :he centre of the azure. 
 Many of the sp-r rs fainted : others became in 
 and petrified in theii ecstasy; an infinite agony 
 pressed heavi^T upon their hearts. The clamours 
 one by one died out, and the people of Carth;._ 
 panted in silence, absorbed in the terror of their 
 desire. 
 
 las! .he high-priest of Moloch passed his right 
 hand beneath the ehildrei. 's veils, and pulled out a 
 lock of hair from each of their foreheads, which he 
 threw into the flames. Then the men in red mantles 
 
 "Homa^- - thee S~ . : 7. 
 
 - . Father and Moth- Father 
 
 - oddess and Gc 
 and their -: in th< losion of count- 
 
 less instrument - ending all _-:her to smother 
 the cries of the victims. The scheminith with eight 
 
-'r: :__*■-. :i- > ;:_;_ * v-;-.L -^i. .„-_ i -__ -__ ._/ -- •-;- 
 tw- ranged, whistled, and thundered : 
 
 ■-- y- ---'---:...-.:•—. -;_ i- :. — : 1 i--" :rv . I '-. . . 
 and despi~ -zzi'.zjz. - -- -,- -- 
 
 The aac. with a long hoot opened the 
 
 --"■- - : its. 
 
 ihe second, two tarde-dor ma: 
 
 - - . ". '-—-'-. 
 
 ---'-—- '.oasem an ox. a tanned 
 
 - :; —--- - -L'^-irrr -_--- - - .. 
 
 -'.\r7-.zj- :--_. ,;n- ' _•:-: :: _ 
 
 Before a human victim should he offeree 
 1— rii-i \-~- ' ~ — " "Jir .-.::_- : '_- - .♦! ^ItLIt: 
 :l :.:-.-'- - ;---.-. _■::._-"_- - :_.-:- ~-:L - -_ Til-rT? 
 t-:t: .".-.". :-«" :hr \.-:k ~~~ " " ~~ i_t:. ".^ll-ri ~~: - 
 
 wards, raisin. _ 
 
 .'--.- LiLis. -I,-. Ln i-TT ...!::_-: -:..i "It?. ::--~- 
 
 opposiT^ Li? -i;~ 7_--~ - -j^eaa -- ~al 
 
 t--:~t. _ "~-j_ ~ __-:. jit 
 
 roared n r : aetx 
 
 M :1 :>:Ji ™ . . ir*: •:■— The 
 
 _ :_ - 
 
 - - - _ - " - - 
 
 7 :I HI .1*7 r_ - 
 
 ward, and ihe seven alleys leadi: 
 
 . 3SSUS remained completely emr 7 
 
 r -It z-. --_—'-[' '   
 
 1 
 
354 SALAMMB6. 
 
 girdles little stilettoes, with which they slashed their 
 faces. The Devotees, who had been stretched on 
 the ground outside, were introduced into the en- 
 closure, and a packet of horrible irons was thrown 
 to them : each one chose his torture. They passed 
 spits through their breasts, slit their cheeks, put 
 upon their heads crowns of thorns ; then they en- 
 laced their arms together, and surrounding the 
 children, they formed another great circle, ever con- 
 tracting and expanding. Having reached the balus- 
 trade, they threw themselves back, only to eddy out- 
 wards again, continually -attracting to them the 
 crowd, by .the vertigo of their movements, full of 
 blood and cries. 
 
 Gradually the people, thus incited, came into the 
 end of the alleys, and threw into the flames, pearls, 
 gold vases, cups, all their treasures, and flambeaux. 
 
 These offerings became more and more splen- 
 did, and kept multiplying. Presently a man who 
 staggered, a man pale and hideous from terror, 
 pushed forward a child ; then could be distinguished 
 between the hands of the Colossus a little black 
 mass — it sank into the dark opening. The priests 
 leaned over the edge of the large slab, and a new 
 chant burst out, celebrating the joys of death and 
 the renascence of eternitv. 
 
 mi 
 
 The children mounted up slowly, and as the 
 smoke rose in lofty, whirling masses, they seemed 
 from afar to disappear in a cloud. Not one moved. 
 All had been securely bound hand and foot, and the 
 dark drapery prevented them from seeing anything, 
 and from being recognised. 
 
 Hamilcar, in a red mantle, like that of the priests 
 
MOLOCH. 
 
 155 
 
 of Moloch, remained near the Baal, standing before 
 the great toe of his right foot. When the fourteenth 
 child was put in, all the people saw that he made 
 a demonstrative gesture of horror; but quickly resum- 
 ing his attitude of composure, he crossed his arm.-, 
 and gazed on the ground. On the other side of the 
 Colossus the grand pontiff likewise remained motion- 
 less, bowing his head, upon which was an Assyrian 
 mitre, and observing on his breast the gold plaque 
 covered with prophetic stones, which threw out 
 iridescent lights as the flames struck across them. 
 He grew pale and abstracted. 
 
 Hamilcar inclined his head, and they were both 
 so near the pyre that the hem of their robes in 
 rising from time to time swept it. 
 
 Moloch's brazen arms moved more rapidly; they 
 no longer paused. Each time a child was placed 
 upon them, the priests of Moloch extended their 
 hands over the victim to charge upon it the sins of 
 the people, vociferating : 
 
 " These are not men, but oxen !" and the multitude 
 around repeated, " Oxen ! Oxen !" The Devotees 
 screamed out, " Lord ! Eat !" and the priests of Pro- 
 serpine, conforming in terror to Carthage's need, 
 mumbled their Eleusinian formula : " Pour forth 
 rain ! conceive !" No sooner were the victims placed 
 on the verge of the aperture than they vanished, 
 like a drop of water on a red-hot plate, and whiffs 
 of white smoke curled up through the scarlet glow. 
 Yet the appetite of the God was not appeased : he 
 still wanted more. In order to supply him, the 
 children were piled on his hands, and were retained 
 there by a great chain. 
 
 A a2 
 
356 SALAMMBQ. 
 
 In the beginning, Devotees tried to count them, in 
 order to note if the total number corresponded to the 
 days of the solar year ; but now so many were 
 piled on that it was impossible to distinguish them 
 during the dizzy movements of those horrible arms. 
 All this lasted a long time, until nightfall. Then 
 the interior divisions gave a most sombre glare. 
 For the first time, the burning flesh was visible. 
 Some people even fancied that they recognised hair, 
 limbs, and entire bodies. 
 
 The day fell : clouds gathered over the head of the 
 Baal. The pyre, now nameless, made a pyramid of 
 glowing embers that reached to his knees : and all 
 crimson, like a giant covered with blood, with head 
 bent backward, he seemed to reel under the weight of 
 his intoxication. According as the priests urged 
 haste, the frenzy of the people augmented ; as the 
 number of victims decreased, some cried out to spare 
 them, others that Moloch must have more. It seemed 
 as though the walls, with their masses of spectators, 
 would crumble beneath the yells of horror and of 
 mystic voluptuousness. Then came into the alleys 
 some faithful ones, dragging their children, who clung 
 to them ; and they beat the little hands to make them 
 loose their hold, that they might deliver them to the 
 red men. 
 
 Occasionally the musicians paused from sheer 
 exhaustion ; and in the lull could be heard the 
 screams of mothers and the crackling of the grease 
 spattering on the coals. The mandrake-drinkers crept 
 on all-fours around the Colossus, roaring like tigers. 
 The Yidonim prophesied : the Devotees chanted 
 with their cleft lips. The railings were broken, 
 
moloch. 357 
 
 for now all wanted to participate in the sacrifice ; 
 and fathers whose children were deceased, cast into 
 the yawning furnace their effigies, toys, and pre- 
 served bones. Those who possessed knives rushed 
 upon the others ; they cut each other's throats in 
 their voracious rage, maddened by the holocaust. 
 The sacred slaves, with bronze winnowing-baskets, 
 took from the edge of the stone slab the fallen cin- 
 ders, which they tossed high in the air, that the 
 sacrifice should be dispersed over the entire city, 
 and attain to the region of the stars. 
 
 The tumultuous noise and vast illumination had 
 attracted the Barbarians to the very foot of the 
 walls. Climbing upon the ruins of the helepolis, 
 they looked on, gaping with horror. 
 
CHAPTER XIV. 
 
 THE DEFILE OF THE BATTLE-AXE. 
 
 The Carthaginians had not re-entered their dwell- 
 ings before the clouds gathered thickly, and those 
 who turned their faces up towards the Colossus felt 
 great drops upon their foreheads — and the rain fell. 
 
 All night it rained profusely — in floods; the thunder 
 growled like the voice of Moloch triumphant over his 
 vanquishment of Tanit ; and now pregnant, she 
 opened from high heaven her vast breast. Occasion- 
 ally she was seen in a luminous light extending 
 over pillows of clouds, then the darkness reclosed, 
 as though, yet too weary, she would sleep again. 
 The Carthaginians all believed water to be a pro- 
 duction of the moon, and uttered cries to facilitate 
 her labour. 
 
 The deluging rain beat upon the terraces, over- 
 flowing everywhere, forming lakes in the courts, 
 cascades over the stairways, and whirlpools at the 
 street corners. It poured down in heavy, warm 
 masses and spouting streams ; from the corners of all 
 the buildings leaped great, foaming jets; against the 
 walls it was like white sheets vaguely suspended, and 
 
 358 
 
THE DEFILE OF THE BATTLE-AXE. 359 
 
 the roofs of the temples were cleansed till they shone 
 brilliantly black under the flashes of lightning. By 
 a thousand channels torrents descended from the 
 Acropolis ; houses suddenly crumbled ; beams, rub- 
 bish, and household furniture swept by in the resist- 
 less streams gushing impetuously over the pavements. 
 
 People exposed amphoras, jugs, and canvases to 
 catch the water : the torches became extinguished ; 
 and to light their pathways they took brands from 
 the pyre of the Baal. In order that they might 
 drink, they turned their faces upwards and opened 
 their mouths. Some, by the edges of miry pools, 
 plunged their arms in up to their armpits, and 
 gorged themselves so Copiously with the water that 
 they vomited it like buffaloes. 
 
 Gradually a freshness spread abroad ; all breathed 
 the humid air, giving full play to their limbs ; and 
 in the happiness of their intoxication an immense 
 hope sprang up. All their miseries were forgotten. 
 Their country was once more revived. 
 
 They experienced the desire to throw back upon 
 others the excess of their fury, which they had 
 been unable to employ against themselves. Such a 
 sacrifice ought not to be useless — even though they 
 had no remorse, they found themselves carried away 
 by that frenzy created by complicity in irreparable 
 crimes. 
 
 The storm fell upon the Barbarians in their badly 
 closed tents ; and the next day all, still benumbed, 
 were floundering about in the deep mud, search- 
 ing for their munitions and weapons, spoiled and 
 lost. 
 
 Hamilcar himself went to seek Hanno, and, in 
 
360 SALAMMBO. 
 
 pursuance of his full powers, confided to him the 
 command. The old Suffete hesitated some minutes 
 between his rancour and his appetite for authority ; 
 however, he consented. 
 
 Subsequently Hamilcar sent out a galley, equipped 
 with a catapult on both ends, and anchored her in 
 the gulf, facing the raft. Then on all the disposable 
 vessels he embarked the most robust of his troops. 
 Then he was flying ; and making sail towards the 
 north, he gradually disappeared in the mist. 
 
 But three days after, when the}' were about to 
 renew the attack, the people from the Libyan coast 
 arrived in a tumultuous state. Barca had come 
 upon them. He had levied for provisions on all 
 sides, and spread his troops throughout the country. 
 
 The Barbarians were as indignant as if he had 
 betrayed them. However, those who were most 
 wearied of the siege, especially the Gauls, did not 
 hesitate to leave the walls in order to endeavour to 
 join the Suffete. Spendius wanted to reconstruct the 
 lielepolis. Matho had traced an imaginary line from 
 his tent to Megara. This course he pledged himself 
 to follow, and not one of their men stirred. But 
 Autharitus' soldiers departed, deserting the western 
 portion of the ramparts. The indifference was so 
 profound, that no one even dreamed of replacing 
 these men. 
 
 Narr' Havas spied them from the distance in the 
 mountains. He moved his troops during the night 
 on the exterior side of the Lagoon by the sea-coast, 
 and he thus entered Carthage. 
 
 He presented himself like a saviour, with six thou- 
 sand men, all carrying under their mantles farina, 
 
THE DEFILE OF THE BATTLE-AXE. 36 1 
 
 and bringing forty elephants freighted with forage 
 and dried meats. Soon the people flocked around 
 them, giving them names. The arrival of such a 
 succour rejoiced the Carthaginians even less than the 
 spectacle of these strong animals consecrated to the 
 Baal : it was a pledge of his sympathy, a proof thai 
 at last he came to defend them, and to intervene in 
 the war in their behalf. 
 
 Narr' Havas received the compliments of the 
 Elders ; then he went up towards Salammbo's palace. 
 He had not seen her since the time when, in 
 Hamilcar's tent, standing between the five armies, 
 he had felt her little, cold, soft hand bound to his. 
 After the betrothal she had gone to Carthage. His 
 love, diverted by other ambitions, had come back to 
 him, and now he counted on enjoying his rights by 
 marrying and taking possession of her. 
 
 Salammbo did not understand how this young 
 man could ever become her master ! Though she 
 prayed nightly to Tanit for the death of Matho, her 
 horror for the Libvan was diminishing. She dimly 
 felt that the hatred with which he had perse- 
 cuted her was something almost religious ; and 
 she would gladly have seen in Nan*' Havas some 
 reflection of that violence which still held her en- 
 thralled. She yearned to know more of him : 
 nevertheless, his presence would have embarrassed 
 her, and she sent word that she could not receive 
 him. 
 
 Besides, Hamilcar had forbidden his people to 
 admit the Numidian king to his daughter : In- 
 withheld this compensation till the conclusion of 
 the war, hoping thereby to preserve his devotion ; 
 
362 SALAMMB6. 
 
 and Narr 1 Havas, fearing Handicap's displeasure, 
 retired. 
 
 But he carried himself haughtily towards the 
 Hundred, changing their plans, and demanding pre- 
 rogatives for his men, and had them appointed to 
 important posts. 
 
 With wide-open eyes, the Barbarians discerned the 
 Numidians on the towers. 
 
 However, the Carthaginians' surprise was even 
 greater when there came sailing into their port an 
 old Punic trireme bearing four hundred of their 
 men, who had been taken prisoners during the war 
 in Sicily. In fact, Hamilcar had secretly sent back 
 to the Quirites the crews of the Latin vessels taken 
 before the defection of the Tyrian cities, and Rome, 
 in exchange for this fair dealing, had now returned 
 to him these captives. Rome disdained the overtures 
 of the Mercenaries in Sardinia, refusing even to re- 
 cognise as subjects the inhabitants of Utica. 
 
 Hiero, who ruled at Syracuse, was led on by this 
 example. In order to preserve his states, he required 
 a balance of power between the two peoples ; hence he 
 was interested for the safety of the Canaanites, and 
 he declared himself their friend by sending to them 
 twelve hundred head of cattle and fifty-three thou- 
 sand nebel of wheat. 
 
 A deeper reason caused help to be sent to 
 Carthage : it was thoroughly perceived that, if the 
 Mercenaries triumphed, all, from the soldiers to the 
 scullions, would rise in revolt, and that no govern- 
 ment, no household, would be able to resist the 
 movement. 
 
 During this time Hamilcar reduced the eastern 
 
THE DEFILE OF THE BATTLE-AXE. ^6 
 
 -> 
 
 countries. He drove back the Gauls ; and all the 
 Barbarians found themselves besieged on every 
 side. 
 
 Then he set himself to work to harass them. He 
 would march up, then depart ; and continually re- 
 newed this manoeuvre, until gradually he drew them 
 out from their encampments. Spendius was obliged 
 to follow : then MaLtho as well, in the end, yielded. 
 
 He did not pass beyond Tunis. He shut him- 
 self within the city walls. This obstinacy was full 
 of sagacity ; for soon they saw Narr 1 Havas leave 
 by the gate of Khamoun with his elephants and sol- 
 diers. Hamilcar recalled him. But already the other 
 Barbarians were wandering about the provinces in 
 pursuit of the Suffete. 
 
 At Clypea he had received three thousand Gauls. 
 He had horses brought from Cyrenaica and suits of 
 armour from Bruttium, and recommenced the war. 
 
 Never had his genius been so impetuous, so 
 fertile as now. During five months he drew them 
 in his track. He had a goal to which he desired 
 to lead them. 
 
 The Barbarians had at first tried to surround him 
 by small detachments, but he always escaped them. 
 They split up no more. Their army now numbered 
 forty thousand men all told, and they frequently 
 rejoiced to see the Carthaginians driven to retreat. 
 
 That which tormented them most was the cavalry 
 of Narr' Ha\;is. Often in the most oppressive hours 
 of the day as they traversed the plains, dozing under 
 the weight of their weapons, a great line of dust 
 would rise on the horizon, and horsemen galloped 
 up, and from out of the depths of a cloud full of 
 
364 SALAMMBd. 
 
 flaming eyeballs, a shower of darts was launched 
 upon them. The Numidians, covered in their white 
 mantles, uttered loud yells, lifted up their arms, 
 pressing their knees against their rearing stallions, 
 made them wheel suddenly, and thus disappeared. 
 They always held in reserve provisions and javelins, 
 at some distance off', packed upon dromedaries ; and 
 they returned more terrible, howling like wolves, 
 flying like vultures. 
 
 The Barbarians who were posted on the edge of 
 the files, fell one by one : this continued till the even- 
 ing, when they endeavoured to enter the mountains. 
 
 Although the mountains were perilous for the ele- 
 phants, Hamilcar had involved himself in them. He 
 followed the long chain which extended from the 
 promontory of Hermaeum to the summit of Zagouan. 
 This was, in their belief, a plan to hide the weakness 
 of his troops. But the continual uncertainty in which 
 he kept them ended by exasperating them more 
 than a defeat. Nevertheless, they were not discour- 
 aged, but marched behind him. 
 
 One evening, behind the Silver Mountain and the 
 Lead Mountain, in the midst of huge rocks, and at the 
 mouth of a defile, they surprised a corps of velites, 
 and thought that certainly the whole Punic army 
 was before them, for they could hear the tramp of 
 feet and bluster of clarions ; at once the Carthagi- 
 nians fled through the gorge. This defile sloped 
 down to a plain, formed like an iron axe, environed 
 by high cliffs. To overtake the velites the Barbarians 
 made a charge, dashing into it ; and right at the 
 further end, other Carthaginians were rushing about 
 tumultuously among galloping cattle. A man wear- 
 
THE DEFILE OF THE BATTLE-AXE. 365 
 
 ing a red mantle could be discerned : it was the 
 Suffete, at the sight of whom the pursuers yelled 
 out, transported by an increase of fury and joy. 
 However, many, either from languor or caution. 
 had remained at the entrance of the defile ; but 
 cavalry, debouching from a wood, with blows of 
 lances and sabres drove them back on the others, 
 until speedily all the Barbarians were below in the 
 plain. 
 
 After this vast mass of men had fluctuated about for 
 some time, they halted, but could not discover any 
 outlet. 
 
 Those who were adjacent to the defile turned back, 
 but the passage had in the meantime entirely dis- 
 appeared. They hailed those in the van to make 
 them proceed ; the latter crushed themselves against 
 the mountain, and from afar thev abused their com- 
 rades, who knew not how to refind the passage. 
 
 In fact, scarcely had the Barbarians descended, 
 before men lying in ambush behind the rocks had 
 heaved them up with beams and overset them ; and as 
 the pitch of the ground was very abrupt, the enormous 
 blocks of rocks, rolling down in confusion, com- 
 pletely choked up the narrow orifice. 
 
 At the other extremity of the plain lay a long 
 passage, here and there split by crevices, that led to 
 a ravine beyond, rising to the superior plateau, 
 where the Punic army was stationed. In this 
 passage, against the walls of the cliff, scaling-ladders 
 had previously been arranged; and, protected by the 
 circuitous turnings of the crevices, the velites, befoiv 
 being overtaken, were able to seize the ladders and 
 scale the walls; nevertheless, many became entangled 
 
366 salammb6. 
 
 at the bottom of the ravine, and were pulled aloft 
 with cables, as the earth in that quarter was covered 
 by live sand, and of such a pitch that it would be 
 impossible for any man to crawl up, even on his 
 hands and knees. 
 
 ' Almost immediately the Barbarians reached this 
 spot : but a portcullis, forty cubits high, made to 
 exactly fit in the space, suddenly dropped before 
 them, like a rampart that had fallen from the sky. 
 
 Thus the strategic combinations of the Suffete 
 were successfully accomplished. None of the Mer- 
 cenaries knew the mountain, and, marching at the 
 head of the column, they had thus blunderingly 
 led the others into the trap. The rocks, a little 
 narrower at the base, were easily knocked over, and 
 whilst they all were running, his army in the 
 horizon had yelled as if in distress. Hamilcar, it is 
 true, might have lost all his velites, — half of them 
 only remained down there : and he would willingly 
 have sacrificed twenty times as many men for the 
 success of such an enterprise. 
 
 Until morning the Barbarians marched in com- 
 pact files, from one end to the other of this circum- 
 scribed plain. They tapped the mountain with 
 their hands, trying to find some passage ; but all to 
 no purpose. 
 
 Finally, day broke ; they then saw a large white 
 wall, perpendicularly scarped ; and not a visible 
 means of escape, not a hope ! The tAVO natural 
 passages from this entanglement were closed by the 
 portcullis on one side, and choked by rocks on the 
 other. 
 
 They all looked at each other without a word. 
 
the defile of the battle-axe. 367 
 
 They collapsed, feeling" an Ley cold in their reins, 
 and an overwhelming weight upon their eyelids. 
 
 They rose up and bounded against the rocks : 
 but those at the base, pressed down by 'lie upper- 
 most; were immovable. Then they tried to clutch 
 on to the rocky sides To attain the top ; but the 
 tun-bellied form of these huge masses refused all 
 hold. They tried to split the earth at the sides of 
 the gorge, but their weapons broke : then, as a last 
 resort, they made a vast fire with their tent-poles, but 
 the mountain would not burn. 
 
 Now they turned back to the portcullis ; it was gar- 
 nished with long spikes, thick as boar-spears, and 
 sharp as porcupine quills, set closer together than 
 bristles in a brush. Buttheir rageanimated them so 
 blindly, that they threw them selves upon it : the first 
 were spiked to the very backbone, the secondfell 
 backwards over each other, the whole recoiled, and 
 left human shreds and blood-stained scalps caught 
 on the horrible spikes. 
 
 When their discouragement was a little abated, 
 they examined their provisions. The Mercenar'n -. 
 whose baggage was lost, possessed hardly enough 
 supplies for two days, and all the others found them- 
 selves absolutely destitute, as they had been waiting 
 for a promised convoy from the southern villages. 
 
 Meanwhile, the cattle loosened by the Carthagin- 
 ians in the gorge to decoy the Barbarians into this 
 trap, wandered about : these they killed with their 
 lances: after eating until their stomachs were full, 
 their thoughts became less dismal. 
 
 The next day, they slaughtered the mules, in all 
 forty; then scraped their hides, boiled their entrails, 
 
368 SALAMMBO. 
 
 and pounded up the bones. As yet they did not 
 despair : the army at Tunis would assuredly hear of 
 their dilemma, and come at once to their rescue. 
 
 But the evening of the fifth day their hunger 
 redoubled : they gnawed the shoulder-belts of their 
 swords, and devoured the little sponges edging the 
 bottoms of their helmets. 
 
 These forty thousand men were crowded in a kind 
 of hippodrome formed by the mountain ; some of 
 them persistently remained before the portcullis, or 
 at the base of the rocks ; others confusedly covered 
 the plain of the basin. The strong avoided each 
 other, and the weak sought the brave, who, how- 
 ever, could not save them. 
 
 From fear of the infection, the bodies of the 
 velites had been quickly buried, and the location of 
 the pits remained no longer distinguishable. 
 
 Lying on the ground, all the Barbarians languished. 
 Here and there between their lines, a veteran some- 
 times passed, and they shouted curses against the 
 Carthaginians, against Hamilcar, and also against 
 Matho. Although he was innocent of their present 
 disaster, it seemed to them that the calamity would 
 have been less if he had also shared it. Then they 
 moaned ; some even wept softly and low, like little 
 children. 
 
 They would go to the captains and beg them to 
 L>ive them something to appease their sufferings. 
 The officers made no reply, or, seized with a fit of 
 rage, picked up stones and threw them into their 
 faces. 
 
 In truth, many kept carefully hidden in the ground 
 a reserve of food, possibly only a few handfuls of 
 
THE DEFILE OF THE BATTLE-AXE. 369 
 
 dates, or a little farina, that they ate stealthily during 
 the night, with their heads cautiously covered under 
 their mantles ; those who possessed swords held 
 them drawn, and the more defiant stood upright, 
 with their backs to the wall. 
 
 They accused and threatened their chiefs. Autha- 
 ritus had no fear in showing himself, and with that 
 tenacity peculiar to the Barbarians, which nothing 
 could rebut, twenty times a day he sallied forth to 
 the rocks, each time hoping perhaps to find them 
 displaced, and, swinging his heavy shoulders covered 
 with furs, he reminded his companions of a bear, 
 that leaves its cavern in the spring to see if the snow 
 has melted. 
 
 Spendius, surrounded by Greeks, hid himself in 
 one of the crevices ; and, as he was afraid, he caused 
 the report of his death to be noised about. 
 
 They all had become hideously meagre ; their 
 skin was mottled with bluish patches. The evening 
 of the ninth day three Iberians died, whereupon 
 their frightened comrades quitted the place. The 
 bodies were despoiled, and the white, naked corpses 
 remained on the sand exposed to the sun. 
 
 Then some Garamantes commenced to prowl about 
 these bodies. They were men accustomed to a life 
 in the desert, and reverenced no God. At length the 
 oldest one of the band made a sign, and bending 
 over the corpses, with their knives they cut off strips 
 and devoured them, squatting on their heels. The 
 others looked on, standing aloof. Cries of horror 
 were raised. Many, notwithstanding, in the depth 
 of their hearts were jealous of their courage. 
 
 In the middle of the night some of the others 
 
 B B 
 
1 
 
 JO SALAMMBO. 
 
 approached, and, dissimulating their real desire, 
 asked for a tiny morsel, only to taste. Some braver 
 ones followed ; their number increased ; soon a 
 crowd collected. But almost all, feeling the cold 
 flesh on their teeth, let their hands fall ; others, 
 on the contrary, devoured their portions with de- 
 light. 
 
 In order to be encouraged by example, they mu- 
 tually stimulated each other. Those who had at 
 first refused, came to see the Garamantes, and did 
 not leave ; their morsels were cooked over the em- 
 bers on the point of a spear, and salted with the 
 dust ; they even disputed among themselves as to 
 the best bits. When there remained not a morsel of 
 the three corpses, their eyes roved over the plain to 
 find others. 
 
 But did they not possess some Carthaginians — 
 twenty captives taken in the last skirmish — and 
 whom no one until now had noticed ? They dis- 
 appeared ; it was a piece of revenge, to boot. Then, 
 as they needs must live, and the taste for such food 
 developed itself, and as they were dying, they killed 
 the water-carriers, the grooms, and all the servants 
 of the Mercenaries. Daily some of them perished. 
 A few ate lustily, regained their strength, and were 
 no longer sad. 
 
 Soon this resource failed them ; then their appe- 
 tite turned towards the sick and wounded : since 
 they could not recover, it was as well to deliver 
 them from their sufferings. Hence, as soon as a 
 man tottered, all cried out that he was lost, and 
 should serve the others. To accelerate their deaths 
 they employed all manner of ruses. They stole 
 
THE DEFILE OF THE BATTLE-AXE. 37 1 
 
 from them the last remnants of their unclean por- 
 tion : as if by accident, they trampled upon them. 
 The dying, to raise a belief in their strength, endea- 
 voured to lift their arms, or to rise up, or to laugh. 
 People in swoons were roused by the cold contact 
 of a notched blade sawing off a limb ; and they 
 killed still more out of ferocity, without need, in 
 order to appease their fury. 
 
 On the fourteenth day a warm, heavy fog, such 
 as frequents those regions at the end of winter, set- 
 tled down upon the army. This change of tempera- 
 ture produced many deaths, and corruption developed 
 with frightful speed in the warm humidity retained 
 by the mountain walls. The drizzle, which fell 
 upon the dead and softened them, soon made of the 
 whole plain one great mass of rottenness. White 
 vapour floated above, stinging their nostrils, pene- 
 trating their skin, and troubling their eyes : and the 
 Barbarians fancied that they saw in the breaths that 
 they exhaled the souls of their dead comrades. An 
 immense disgust overwhelmed them. They would 
 have no more of it. They would rather die. 
 
 Two days later the air became pure again, and 
 hunger reseized them. It seemed at times that 
 their stomachs were clawed with hooks ; then they 
 rolled over in convulsions, stuffing their mouths full 
 of dirt, biting their own arms, and then burst into 
 frantic spasms of laughter. 
 
 Yet more, if possible, did their thirst torment 
 them, as they had not a drop of water — for the 
 water-bottles since the ninth day had been com- 
 pletely dry. To deceive this want, they resorted to 
 the trick of applying on their tongues, the metal 
 
 bb2 
 
372 SALAMMBO. 
 
 scales of their sword-belts, the ivory hafts, or the 
 iron of their glaives, while experienced camel -drivers 
 compressed their bellies with ropes ; others sucked 
 a stone, and some drank urine cooled in their brazen 
 helmets. 
 
 And they ever looked for the army from Tunis ! 
 The length of time that it took to come, according 
 to their conjecture, made its speedy arrival certain. 
 Besides, Matho, who was so brave, would not 
 forsake them. " He will come to-morrow !" they 
 said to each other. The morrow came and passed, but 
 he came not. 
 
 At the commencement they had prayed, made 
 vows, and all sorts of incantations ; but at present 
 they did not feel for their Divinities other than 
 hatred, and out of vengeance endeavoured not to 
 believe in them. 
 
 Men of violent characters perished first ; the Afri- 
 cans resisted better than the Gauls. Zarxas, amid the 
 Baleares, remained extended full length, his hair 
 tossed above his arms, inert. Spendius had found a 
 plant with broad leaves full of juice, and, in order 
 to scare the others, declared it to be poisonous ; then 
 he fed himself upon it. 
 
 They were too weak to knock down with a stone the 
 ravens that flew about. Sometimes, when a bearded- 
 vulture perched on a corpse, and had been for a long 
 time tearing it, a man would craw] towards it with a 
 javelin between his teeth, lean upon his arm, and, 
 having taken a good aim, throw the weapon. The 
 bird with white plumage, disturbed by the noise, 
 would pause, look all about in a tranquil manner, 
 like a cormorant on a reef, then, when satisfied no 
 
THE DEFILE OF THE BATTLE-AXE. $J 3 
 
 harm awaited it, plunged again its hideous yellow beak 
 into its prey ; and the man, in despair, would fall flat 
 on his face in the dust. Some succeeded in discover- 
 ing chameleons and serpents. But it was the love 
 of life that kept them alive. They held their minds 
 exclusively fixed on this idea — and clung to exist- 
 ence by an effort of will that in itself prolonged it. 
 
 The most stoical gathered near together, sitting 
 about in the middle of the plain, here and there be- 
 tween the dead ; and, wrapped in their mantles, aban- 
 doned themselves silently to their sorrow. 
 
 Those who had been born in cities recalled the 
 bustling streets full of clatter, the taverns, the theatres, 
 the baths, and the barbers' shops, where stories were 
 told : others, again, saw fields at sundown, where 
 the yellow grain waved and the huge oxen ascended 
 the hills with the ploughshares on their necks. The 
 travellers dreamed of cisterns, the hunters of their 
 forests, the veterans of their battles ; and in the torpor 
 that stupefied them, their fancies jostled each other 
 with all the power and clearness of dreams. Suddenly 
 hallucinations came over them ; they sought a gate in 
 the mountain side to escape, and desired to pass 
 through. Others, believing that they were navigat- 
 ing in a tempest, gave orders for handling a ship ; 
 some even recoiled in terror, perceiving in the clouds 
 Punic battalions ; then again, others fancied that 
 they were figuring at a feast, and sang songs. 
 
 Many in a strange mania repeated the same word, 
 or continually made the same gesture ; then, when 
 they came to raise their heads and look at one another, 
 sobs suffocated them, on discovering the horrible 
 ravages depicted on their faces. Some ceased to suf- 
 
374 SALAMMB'O. 
 
 fer, and sought to employ the tedious hours by re- 
 counting the various perils from which they had 
 escaped. 
 
 Death seemed certain and imminent for all. How 
 often had they not tried to open a passage ! As for 
 imploring terms from the conquerors, by what means 
 could they ? They did not even know where Hamil- 
 car was. 
 
 The wind blew from the direction of the ravine, 
 continually making the sand flow over the portcullis 
 in cascades, and the mantles and hair of the Barbarians 
 were completely covered over with falling sand, as 
 if the rising earth was desirous to engulf them. 
 Nothing budged ; the eternal mountain each morn- 
 ing seemed higher. Sometimes flocks of birds flew 
 swiftly overhead, spreading out their wings across 
 the open blue sky, in the freedom of the air : they 
 closed their eyes to avoid seeing them. They felt 
 at first a buzzing in their ears ; their finger-nails 
 blackened ; the cold seized their breasts. They lay 
 down upon their sides, and expired without a cry. 
 
 On the nineteenth day, two thousand Asiatics were 
 dead, and fifteen hundred men from the Archi- 
 pelago, eight thousand Libyans, the youngest Mer- 
 cenaries, and complete tribes — in all, twenty thousand 
 soldiers, one half of the army. 
 
 Autharitus, who had only fifty Gauls surviving, 
 was about to kill himself, thereby putting an end to 
 it all, when at the summit of the mountain facing 
 him, he believed he saw a man. The great height 
 made this man look like a dwarf. However, Autha- 
 ritus recognised on his left arm a trefoil-shaped 
 buckler, and cried out, "A Carthaginian !" In the 
 
THE DEFILE OF THE BATTLE-AXE. 375 
 
 plain below the portcullis, and under the rocks, 
 instantly all rose to their feet. The soldier march- 
 ing on the edge of the precipice was eagerly watched 
 by the Barbarians. 
 
 Spendius picked up an ox skull, and with two 
 girdles fashioned a diadem, placing it on the horns 
 at the end of a pole, in witness of peaceful intentions. 
 The Carthaginian disappeared. They waited ex- 
 pectantly. 
 
 At last, in the evening, like a stone detached 
 from the cliff, there suddenly fell from above a 
 baldric made of red leather covered with embroidery 
 and three diamond stars ; in the centre it bore stamped 
 upon it the seal of the Grand Council — a horse under 
 a palm tree. This was Hamilcar's response, the 
 safe conduct that he sent. 
 
 They had nothing to fear ; any change of fortune 
 brought an end to their ills. A measureless 
 rapture agitated them ; they embraced and wept. 
 Spendius, Autharitus, Zarxas, four Italians, one 
 Negro, and two Spartans, offered themselves as 
 envoys. They were at once accepted ; however, they 
 knew no way by which to gain exit. 
 
 In the midst of this dilemma, a crash resounded 
 in the direction of the rocks, and the topmost crag, 
 having swayed on its base, bounded down to the 
 bottom. In fact, though from the side of the Bar- 
 barians the rocks were immovable — for it would have 
 been necessary to ascend an inclined plane : besides, 
 they were closely packed by the narrowness of the 
 gorge — from the other side, on the contrary, it was 
 enough to push them vigorously to make them de- 
 scend. 
 
376 SALAMMB6. 
 
 The Carthaginians pushed them forward, and at 
 daybreak they had shifted into the plain, resembling 
 the steps of a gigantic stairway in ruins. 
 
 Yet the Barbarians could not climb up, so ladders 
 were thrown over. All rushed for these ; but the 
 prompt discharge of a catapult forced them back ; 
 and only the Ten were taken up. 
 
 These marched between Clinabarians, leaning 
 their hands on the cruppers of the horses to sustain 
 themselves. Now that their first joy was over, they 
 began to experience uneasiness. The demands of 
 Hamilcar would be cruel ; but Spendius reassured 
 his companions, saying : — 
 
 " It is I who will speak !" Then he vaunted his 
 knowledge of admirable things to say for the welfare 
 of the army. 
 
 Behind all the bushes they encountered sentinels 
 in ambush ; all, however, prostrated themselves be- 
 fore the baldric Spendius had put over his shoulder. 
 
 When finally they arrived at the Punic encamp- 
 ment, the crowd pressed about them, and they heard 
 significant whispers and laughter. 
 
 The door of a tent opened ; Hamilcar was at 
 the back part, sitting on a bench near a low table, 
 on which shone a naked blade. His captains stood 
 about him. When he saw these men, he started 
 backwards, then leaned forward to examine them. 
 
 The pupils of their eyes were extraordinarily large, 
 and a wide black ring encircled them, extending to 
 the lower part of their ears ; their bluish noses pro- 
 jected between their hollow cheeks, furrowed by 
 deep wrinkles ; the skin of their bodies, too loose 
 for their flabby muscles, was hidden under a coat of 
 
THE DEFILE OF THE BATTLE-AXE. $JJ 
 
 slate-coloured dust ; their lips stuck against their 
 yellow teeth ; they exhaled an infectious odour, 
 imparting the idea that they were half-open tombs, 
 living sepulchres. 
 
 In the middle of the tent, on a mat, round which 
 the captains were about to sit down, there was a 
 smoking dish of pumpkins. The Barbarians rivetted 
 their gaze on it, quivering in every limb, as the tears 
 started to their eyes. Nevertheless they restrained 
 themselves. 
 
 Hamilcar turned round to speak to some one, 
 when instantly they all rushed upon the dish, throw- 
 ing themselves flat on the ground, their faces 
 steeped in the grease ; noises of deglutition mingled 
 with sobs of delight, which they could not sup- 
 press. Rather from astonishment than in pity. 
 they were permitted to finish the contents of the 
 bowl. Then, when they again stood up, Hamilcar 
 commanded by a sign that the man who wore the 
 baldric should speak. Spendius was frightened, 
 and stammered. 
 
 Hamilcar, in listening, constantly twirled around 
 on one finger a large gold ring, the same which had 
 imprinted the seal of Carthage on the baldric ; he 
 accidentally dropped it on the ground. Spendius 
 at once stooped down and picked it up : before his 
 master the habits of a slave returned to him. The 
 others shuddered indignantly at this baseness. 
 
 But the Greek raised his voice, and recounted the 
 crimes of Hanno, whom he knew to be a foe of 
 Barca. He tried to move Hamilcar's pity with the 
 details of their sufferings, and spoke on for a long 
 time in a style rapid, insidious, and violent. To- 
 
 
3y8 SALAMMBO. 
 
 wards the end he forgot himself, and was carried 
 away by the fervour of his imagination. 
 
 Hamilcar replied that he accepted their excuses. 
 Peace, therefore, was about to be concluded, and 
 this time it would be final ! But he required that 
 ten Mercenaries chosen by himself, without weapons 
 and without tunics, should be delivered to him. 
 
 They had not expected such clemency, and Spen- 
 dius exclaimed : 
 
 " Yes ! twenty, if you will, master !" 
 
 " No ! ten suffice me," mildly replied Hamilcar. 
 
 In order that they could deliberate, they were 
 dismissed from his tent. As soon as they were 
 alone, Autharitus objected on behalf of his sacri- 
 ficed companions, and Zarxas said to Spendius : 
 
 " Why did you not kill him ? — his sword was 
 within your reach !" 
 
 " Him !" exclaimed Spendius, and repeated fre- 
 quently, " Him ! him !" as if the thing had been an 
 utter impossibility, and Hamilcar were a divinity. 
 
 So thoroughly were they overcome by their pro- 
 tracted fatigue, that they gladly stretched themselves 
 on their backs upon the ground ; sorely perplexed as 
 to what course to determine upon. 
 
 Spendius persistently urged them to yield ; after 
 some parley they consented, and they returned to the 
 Suffete. 
 
 Then the Suffete put his hand in the hands of the 
 ten Barbarians one after another, and pressed their 
 thumbs ; afterwards he rubbed his hands on his 
 clothes, for their clammy skins had presented to his 
 touch a sensation harsh and soft, that made a slimy, 
 creeping impression. Subsequently he said : 
 
THE DEFILE OF THE BATTLE-AXE. 379 
 
 "Yon all, then, are the chiefs of the Barbarians, 
 and you have sworn for them ?" 
 
 " Yes !" they answered. 
 
 " Without reservation, from the bottom of your 
 souls, with the intention of fulfilling your promises ?" 
 
 They assured him that they would return to the 
 others, and execute their pledges. 
 
 "Ah ! well !" said the Suffete, "according to the 
 convention which has passed between me, Barca, 
 and you, the ambassadors of the Mercenaries, it is 
 you whom I choose, and I shall keep you !" 
 
 Spendius fell fainting on the mat. The Barbarians, 
 as if abandoning him, pressed close together ; and 
 there was not a word, not a murmur. 
 
 Their comrades who awaited them, when they did 
 not return, believed that they were certainly betrayed. 
 Without doubt the envoys had given themselves up 
 to the Suffete. 
 
 They waited two days longer; then, on the morning 
 of the third, their resolution w r as taken. With ropes, 
 picks, and arrows fitted like rungs of a ladder between 
 strips of canvas, they succeeded in scaling the rocks ; 
 and leaving behind them the weaker ones, about 
 three thousand in number, they set out to rejoin the 
 army at Tunis. 
 
 At the top of the gorge spread out a prairie, lightly 
 sprinkled with shrubs, the buds of which the Barba- 
 rians devoured ; then they came upon a field of beans : 
 these also disappeared as if a cloud of locusts had 
 passed over the region. Three hours later, they came 
 to a second plateau, bounded by a belt of green 
 hills. 
 
"5 
 
 80 SALAMMBO. 
 
 Between the undulations of these hillocks, sheaves 
 the colour of silver shone, stacked at regular 
 distances : the sun so dazzled the Barbarians that 
 they could but confusedly discern under them, large, 
 black masses, that sprang up, as though they were 
 blooming out of the earth. They were the lances in 
 the towers, on the backs of the formidably equipped 
 elephants. 
 
 Besides the spear of their breastplate, the pointed 
 ferrules on their tusks, the brazen plates which 
 covered their sides, and the daggers fastened to their 
 knee-caps, they had on the end of their trunks a 
 band of leather, in which was fixed the hilt of a 
 large cutlass. Starting all at the same time from 
 the bottom of the plain, they advanced from each 
 side in parallel lines. 
 
 A nameless terror froze the Barbarians ; they 
 could not take a step, to flee. Already they found 
 themselves enveloped. 
 
 The elephants entered this mass, and with the 
 spears on their breastplates clove it ; the lance-like 
 tusks overturned it like plough-shares. They cut, 
 they hewed, they hacked with the scythes extending 
 from their trunks ; the towers full of fiery darts 
 seemed like moving volcanoes. Nothing could be 
 distinguished but a broad mass, on which were 
 visible white patches of human flesh, grey spots of 
 fragments of brass, and red splashes of blood. The 
 horrible animals passed through it all, ploughing 
 in it back furrows. 
 
 The most furious were led by a Numidian, 
 crowned with a diadem of plumes. He hurled jave- 
 lins with terrific rapidity, while uttering at intervals 
 
THE DEFILE OF THE BATTLE-AXE. 38 1 
 
 a long, shrill whistle ; — the monstrous beasts, docile 
 as dogs, in the midst of the carnage kept turning an 
 eye in his direction. 
 
 Their circle gradually narrowed. The weakened 
 Barbarians could not resist : soon the elephants 
 reached the centre of the plain. There was not room 
 enough, and the animals crowded together, half rear- 
 ing up, and clashed their tusks. Suddenly Narr' 
 Havas quieted them, and turning round they trotted 
 back towards the hills. 
 
 Meanwhile two syntagmas, taking refuge at the 
 right in a hollow, had thrown down their weapons, 
 and were now upon their knees : turning towards 
 the Punic tents, with uplifted arms, they implored 
 mercy. 
 
 Their arms and legs were shackled ; then, when 
 they were flat on the ground, close together, the 
 elephants were led over them. 
 
 Their breast-bones cracked like coffers being 
 broken ; the huge animals at each step crushed two 
 men ; their cumbrous feet plunged into their bodies 
 with a movement of their haunches, that made them 
 appear lame. They continued to go in this way to 
 the end of the group. 
 
 The level of the plain became motionless ; night 
 fell. Hamilcar was exultant before the spectacle of 
 his vengeance, but suddenly he started. 
 
 He saw, and all saw, six hundred paces distant, on 
 the left at the summit of a peak, yet more Barba- 
 rians! In fact, four hundred of the stoutest Mer- 
 cenaries, Etruscans, Libyans, and Spartans, early in 
 the beginning of the fray had gained the heights, 
 and until now had been uncertain what to do. 
 
3&2 SALAMMBO. 
 
 After the massacre of their comrades, they had re- 
 solved to cut through the Carthaginians ; already 
 they were descending in close columns in a mar- 
 vellous and formidable fashion. 
 
 A herald was instantly sent by the Suffete, stating 
 that he required soldiers, and would receive them 
 without condition, so much had he admired their 
 bravery. They could even, added the man of Car- 
 thage, come a little nearer, to a certain spot, which he 
 pointed out, and where they would find provisions. 
 
 The Barbarians ran thither and passed the night in 
 eating ; then the Carthaginians burst out into mur- 
 murs against the partiality of the Suffete for the 
 Mercenaries. Did he yield to the promptings of an 
 insatiable hatred, or was it possibly a refinement of 
 perfidy ? 
 
 The following day he came himself, unarmed, bare- 
 headed, with an escort of Clinabarians, and declared 
 to the Barbarians that, having more men than he 
 could afford to feed, his intention was not to retain 
 them. However, as he required good soldiers, and 
 knew not by what method to choose the best, they 
 must fight among themselves till death, and he would 
 admit the victors to his own body-guard. Such a 
 mode of death was preferable to any other. Then he 
 parted his troops — for the Punic standards hid the 
 horizon from the Mercenaries — and showed them 
 Narr' Havas's one hundred and ninety-two ele- 
 phants, forming a single straight line, and brand- 
 ishing with uplifted trunks cutlasses, like giants' 
 arms poising axes over their heads. 
 
 The Barbarians scrutinised each other silently. It 
 was not the fear of death that made them pale, but 
 
THE DEFILE OF THE BATTLE-AXE. 383 
 
 the horrible duress they found themselves reduced 
 to. 
 
 The community of their hazardous existence had 
 established between these men profound, singular 
 friendships. For the most part the camp replaced 
 their country ; and living without families, they trans- 
 ferred to a comrade their instincts of tenderness, and 
 they slept side by side under the same mantle, beneath 
 the starlight. In this perpetual wandering, as they 
 traversed all sorts of countries, full of murders and 
 adventures, they formed strange loves — unnatural 
 unions as serious as marriage, wherein the stronger 
 protected the younger amid the din of battle, aided 
 him to leap across precipices, sponged from his brow 
 the sweat of fevers, stole food for him ; and the 
 other, a child picked up on the roadside and be- 
 come a Mercenary, would repay this devotion by a 
 thousand delicate cares, and by the complaisances of 
 a wife. 
 
 In the hours of their intoxication they exchanged 
 their necklaces and ear-rings, gifts they had formerly 
 bestowed upon each other after some great peril. 
 
 All begged to die, but no one would strike the 
 blow. Here and there a youth said to another man, 
 whose beard was grey : " No ! no ! you are more 
 robust ! You will revenge us ! Kill me !" And the 
 elder answered : " I have fewer years to live ! Strike 
 to the heart, and think no more about it I" 
 
 Brothers contemplated each other, with hands 
 clasped ; lovers uttered to lovers eternal farewells, 
 standing upright, weeping on each other's shoulders. 
 They took off their breastplates, that the points 
 might bury themselves more quickly, revealing the 
 
384 SALAMMBO. 
 
 scars of terrific blows received for Carthage, resem- 
 bling historic inscriptions on columns. 
 
 Placing themselves in four rows, in the fashion of 
 gladiators, they began by timid engagements ; some 
 even bound up their eyes, moving their swords 
 gently, like the staves of the blind. The Cartha- 
 ginians gave vent to yells, crying out that they were 
 cowards. The Barbarians grew excited, and soon 
 the conflict became general, headlong, and terrible. 
 
 Occasionally two men stopped covered with blood, 
 fell into each other's arms, and expired kissing. Not 
 one recoiled. They rushed determinedly upon the 
 extended blades. Their delirium became so furious 
 that the Carthaginians even at a distance experienced 
 fear. 
 
 At length they stopped. A loud, hoarse noise was 
 emitted from their chests ; and their eyeballs could 
 be seen amidst their long hair, which hung down as 
 if they had emerged from a bath of purple dye. 
 Some turned rapidly round and round, like panthers 
 wounded in the forehead. Others stood motionless, 
 regarding a corpse at their feet ; then suddenly they 
 tore their faces with their finger-nails, seized their 
 swords with both hands, and buried them in their 
 abdomens. Sixty yet remained. They asked for 
 drink. They were bidden to throw down their 
 swords ; when they had done so, water was brought 
 to them. 
 
 While they were drinking, their faces buried in 
 the vessels, sixty Carthaginians leaped upon them, 
 and slew them, by stabbing them with stilettoes in 
 the back. 
 
 Hamilcar had permitted this, to gratify the in- 
 
THE DEFILE OF THE BATTLE-AXE. $^5 
 
 stincts of his troops, and by this treason, to attach 
 them to him personally. 
 
 Thus was the war ended, or so at least he be- 
 lieved it to be. Matho would certainly not resist, 
 and in his impatience, the Suffete gave immediate 
 command for departure. 
 
 His scouts came to inform him that a convoy 
 had been observed, going towards the Lead Moun- 
 tain. Hamilcar did not care — for, once the Mer- 
 cenaries were annihilated, the Nomads would trouble 
 him no longer. The important thing was to take 
 Tunis ; so by forced marches he advanced tow aids 
 it. 
 
 He sent Narr' Haras back to Carthage, to carry 
 the news of his victory. And the king of the 
 Numidians, proud of his success, presented himself 
 at Salammbo 'spalace. 
 
 Salammbo received him in her gardens, under a large 
 sycamore tree, sitting between yellow leather cushions, 
 
 with Taanach in attendance. Her face was covered 
 with a white scarf, that passed over her mouth and 
 forehead, allowing only her eyes to be seen : but 
 through the transparency of the tissue, her brilliant 
 lips looked like the gems on her fingers — for Salammbo 
 kept both hands likewise enveloped, and all the 
 time they conversed, never made a gesture. 
 
 Narr' Havas announced to her the defeat of th»> 
 Barbarians. She thanked him, with a benediction, 
 for the services he had rendered to her father. Then 
 he recounted the whole campaign. 
 
 The doves in the palms around them cooed Boftly, 
 and other birds, such as the ringed galeoles, quails 
 
 c c 
 
386 SALAMMBO. 
 
 from Tartessus, and Punic guinea-fowls, fluttered 
 about. The gardens, uncultivated for so long a 
 time, had grown rank with verdure ; the colocynth 
 sprang up through the branches of the cassia trees ; 
 the dragon - wort sprinkled the rose-fields ; all 
 species of vegetation formed tangled bowers, and 
 the sun's rays, descending slantingly, outlined here 
 and there upon the ground, as in a wood, the shadow 
 of a leaf. 
 
 The domestic animals having become wild, boun- 
 ded away at the slightest noise. Sometimes a 
 gazelle might be seen dragging with its little black 
 hoofs the peacocks' feathers scattered about. The 
 noise of the distant city was lost in the murmur of 
 the waves. The sky was perfectly blue : not a sail 
 appeared on the sea. 
 
 Narr' Havas ceased speaking. Without respond- 
 ing, Salammbo looked at him. He wore a linen 
 robe over which flowers were painted, with a golden 
 fringe at the hem : and two silver arrows held back 
 his hair, braided close against his ears. He rested 
 his right hand on the wooden shaft of a pike 
 ornamented with bands of electrum and tufts of 
 hair. 
 
 In contemplating him a host of thoughts absorbed 
 her. This young man, with a sweet voice and femi- 
 nine figure, captivated her eyes by the grace of his 
 fine person, and he seemed like an elder sister sent 
 by the Baals to protect her. The memory of Matho 
 seized her : she did not resist the desire to inquire 
 what had become of him. 
 
 Narr' Havas responded that the Carthaginians 
 were advancing on Tunis, in order to capture him. 
 
THE DEFILE OF THE BATTLE-AXE. 387 
 
 While he explained their chances of success and 
 Matho's weakness, she appeared to rejoice with 
 an extraordinary hope; her lips quivered, her breast 
 palpitated. When at last he vowed to kill Mat ho 
 himself, she cried out: 
 
 "Yes! Kill him! It must be so!" 
 
 The Numidian replied that he ardently desired 
 his death, inasmuch as when the war was once ter- 
 minated he should many her. 
 
 Salammbo trembled, and bowed her head. 
 
 But Narr' Havas went on to compare his love 
 and his desires to the flowers that languished for 
 rain; to travellers lost in the night awaiting the 
 dawn. He also told her that she was more beautiful 
 than the moon : more to be preferred than th<- morn- 
 ing breezes, or than the face of the host. He would 
 have rare objects, not to be found in ( larthage, brought 
 for her from the country of the Blacks, and the 
 apartments of their mansion should be sprinkled 
 with gold dust. 
 
 Evening fell. Balmy odours filled the air. For 
 a long time they looked at one another in silence, 
 and Salammbo's eyes, in the depth of her long, ample 
 draperies, had the appearance of two stars, seen 
 through a rift in a cloud. Before sunset, he retired 
 from her presence. 
 
 The Elders felt relieved from a vast anxiety when 
 he left Carthage, for the people this time had re- 
 ceived him with even more enthusiastic acclamations 
 than upon the former occasion. If Hamilcar and 
 the Numidian king triumphed alone over the Mercen- 
 aries, it would be impossible to resist them. Then 
 thev resolved to weaken Barca, by making old 
 
 c ( 2 
 
^SS SALAMMBO. 
 
 Hanno, the one whom they loved, participate in the 
 honours of the deliverance of the Republic. 
 
 Hanno went immediately towards the western pro- 
 vinces, so as to revenge himself in the same regions 
 which had witnessed his shame : but the inhabit- 
 ants, as well as the Barbarians, were either dead, or 
 hiding, or had taken flight. Then his wrath poured 
 itself forth upon the country ; he burned the ruins 
 of ruins, leaving not a solitary tree, not a spear of 
 grass : the children and the infirm whom they met 
 were tortured ; he gave the women to the soldiers, 
 1o violate before slaying them, having the most 
 beautiful always thrown into his own litter — for his 
 atrocious malady inflamed his desires, and he would 
 ploat over his victims with all the rage of a mad- 
 man. 
 
 Often, on the crest of the hills, black tents sank 
 down, as if overthrown by the wind, and broad 
 discs with shining edges, which were recognised as 
 the wheels of chariots, revolved with a doleful 
 sound as they gradually disappeared in the valleys. 
 
 The tribes which had abandoned the siege of 
 •Carthage were thus wandering through the pro- 
 vinces, waiting for an opportunity, for some victory 
 of the Barbarians, to return. But from terror, or 
 because of famine, they all retraced the roads lead- 
 ing to their own countries, and disappeared. 
 
 Hamilcar was not jealous of Hanno's successes, 
 nevertheless he hastened to end them, ordering him 
 to fall back on Tunis ; and Hanno, who loved his 
 country, on the appointed day was found under the 
 walls of that city. 
 
 Tunis had for her defence her aboriginal popu- 
 
THE DEFILE OF THE BATTLE-AXE. 389 
 
 lation, twelve thousand Mercenaries, and all the 
 Eaters-of -Unclean-Things. They, like Matho, had 
 their eyes rivetted on the horizon of Carthage, and 
 the populace, as well as the Schulischim, beheld her 
 lofty walls from afar, dreaming of the infinite joys 
 behind them. In the agreement of hatred, the re- 
 sistance was quickly organised. Leather-bottles were 
 used to make helmets, all the palms in the gardens 
 were hewn down to furnish lances, cisterns were 
 excavated ; and as for food, they fished along the 
 lake shore, catching large white fish which fed on 
 the corpses and filth. 
 
 Their ramparts, kept in ruins by the jealousy 
 of Carthage, were so weak that one might throw 
 them over with a push of the shoulder. Matho 
 ordered the breaches to be filled up with the stones 
 from dwellings. It was the supreme struggle ; he 
 hoped for nothing, and yet, he said to himself, that 
 Fortune was fickle. 
 
 As the Carthaginians drew near, they noticed a 
 man on the rampart, who from his waist overtopped 
 the battlements. The arrows flying abont him 
 seemed not to frighten him more than a flight of 
 swallows. Most extraordinarily, not one touch**' 1 
 him. 
 
 Hamilcar pitched his camp on the southern Bide ; 
 Narr 1 Havas on his right occupied the plain of 
 Rhades ; Hannow as stationed on the lake shore: and 
 the three generals were bound to retain their respect- 
 ive positions so that all should attack the walls at one 
 and the same time. 
 
 But Hamilcar, in the first place, desired to show 
 the Mercenaries that he would chastise them like 
 
1 
 
 90 SALAMMBO. 
 
 slaves, therefore he had the ten ambassadors cruci- 
 fied close together on a hillock facing the city. 
 
 At this spectacle the besieged abandoned the ram- 
 parts. 
 
 Matho had believed, that if he could pass between 
 the Avails and Narr' Havas's tents so expeditiously 
 that the Numidians would not have time to sally 
 forth, he would fall on the rear of the Carthaginian 
 infantry, who would thus be caught between his 
 division and the troops within the town. He dashed 
 out with his veterans. 
 
 Narr' Havas saw him : he crossed the lake shore, 
 and went to warn Hanno to despatch his men to 
 succour Hamilcar. Did he think Barca too weak to 
 resist the Mercenaries ? Was this a perfidy, or a 
 folly ? No one ever knew. 
 
 Hanno, desiring to humiliate his rival, did not 
 hesitate ; he ordered the trumpets to be sounded, and 
 all his troops rushed upon the Barbarians. They 
 wheeled round and charged straight upon the 
 Carthaginians ; they overthrew them, trampled 
 them under foot, and driving them back, reached 
 the tent of Hanno, who then was surrounded bv 
 thirty Carthaginians, the most illustrious of the 
 Elders. 
 
 Hanno appeared stupefied by their audacity ; he 
 called his captains ; the assaulters thrust their fists 
 forward to seize him by the throat, vociferating abuse. 
 The crowd pushed each other, and those who had their 
 hands on him could scarcely hold him. However, 
 he tried to whisper to them : " I will give you all 
 you want ! I am rich ! Save me ! " They dragged 
 him away, and, heavy as he was, his feet did not 
 
THE DEFILE OF THE BATTLE-AXE. 39 1 
 
 touch the ground. They had also dragged away the 
 Elders. His terror redoubled. 
 
 ''You have defeated me ! I am your captive ! I 
 wi 11 ransom myself ! Listen to me, my friends !" and, 
 carried along by their shoulders pressed againsl his 
 sides, he repeated: "What are you i_r * »   1 1 l_* to do? 
 What do you want? You sec well, I do not resisl ! 
 I have always been complaisant !" 
 
 A gigantic cross was erected at the gate ; the Bar- 
 barians howled out, "Here! here!' Then he raised 
 his voice louder, and in the name of their Gods he 
 commanded them to take him to their Schalischim, 
 because he had something to confide to him, upon 
 which depended their welfare. 
 
 They paused, some declaring it would be wise to 
 call Matho ; and he was sent for. 
 
 Hanno sank down upon the grass, and he saw- 
 around him still more crosses, as if the torture under 
 which he was going to perish had multiplied itself 
 beforehand. He made strenuous efforts to com ince 
 himself that he was deceived, that there was only 
 one cross, and even that there was not one. Finally. 
 the Mercenaries lifted him up as M&tho appeared. 
 
 "Speak!" cried Matho. 
 
 He offered to deliver over Hamilcar : then tiny 
 ■would enter Carthage, and both be kings. 
 
 Matho turned away, making a sign for the men 
 to hasten ; he thought this was a stratagem t<> gain 
 time. 
 
 The Barbarian was deceived, for Hanno was in one 
 of those dire extremities where a man no longer con- 
 siders anything but self-preservation. Besides, he 
 hated Hamilcar so thoroughly, that for the slight* 3 
 
392 SALAMMBO. 
 
 hope of safety he would have sacrificed hini and all 
 his soldiers. 
 
 At the foot of thirty crosses the Elders languishe 
 upon the ground ; already ropes had been passed 
 under their armpits. Then the old Suffete, fully 
 realising that he was to be put to d^ath, wept bit- 
 terly. 
 
 His captors pulled off what remained of his cloth- 
 ing, revealing the horrors of his person. Ulcers 
 covered this nameless mass ; the fat of his legs con- 
 cealed his toe-nails ; the flesh hung like green rags 
 to his fingers ; the tears which ran between the 
 tubercles of his cheeks, made his visage something 
 shockingly deplorable, and had the appearance of 
 occupying more space than on any other human 
 face. His royal bandeau, half untied, trailed with 
 his long white hair in the dust. 
 
 Believing that the ropes were not sufficiently 
 strong to swing him up to the top of the cross, they 
 nailed him to it before it was erected, in the Punic 
 mode. But his pride was aroused in his misery ; he 
 began to overwhelm them with abuse. He frothed 
 and writhed like a marine monster stranded and 
 killed on the shore. He predicted that they should 
 all end even more horribly than he, and in that 
 he should be revenged. He was right : for on the 
 other side of the city, whence now escaped jets of 
 flames mingled with columns of smoke, the envoys 
 of the Mercenaries were in the agonies of death. 
 
 Some who had fainted at first, were revived by the 
 coolness of the breeze ; but they remained with 
 their chins on their breasts, their bodies lagging a 
 little, in spite of the nails through their arms, which 
 
THE DEFILE OF THE BATTLE-AXE. 393 
 
 were fastened above their heads. From their hands 
 and feet blood slowly fell in big drops, like ripe fruit 
 dropping off from the branches of a tree ; and Car- 
 thage, the gulf, the mountains, and the plains, 
 appeared to them to be all revolving as an immense 
 wheel ; sometimes a cloud of dust lifted from the 
 earth, and enveloped them in its eddies. They 
 were consumed by a horrible thirst ; their parched 
 tongues curled up in their mouths, and they felt an 
 icy sweat trickling over them with their departing 
 souls. Meanwhile, they saw at an infinite depth, 
 streets, soldiers marching, blades waving ; and, the 
 tumult of battle came indistinctly to them, as the noise 
 of the sea to shipwrecked sailors dying in the rigging 
 of their ships. The Italiots, more robust than the 
 others, continued to shriek; the Lacaedemonians 
 kept silent, with eyes closed ; Zarxas, formerly so- 
 vigorous, drooped like a broken reed ; the Ethiopian 
 alongside of him had his head reversed backward 
 over the arm of the cross ; Autharitus, motionless, 
 rolled his eyes ; his heavy, long hair was caught in 
 a crack in the wood and drawn straight over his 
 forehead, and the death-rattle that escaped his lip- 
 seemed rather like a growl of wrath. 
 
 As for Spendius, a strange courage had come to him; 
 now he despised life, because of the certainty that he 
 should have an almost immediate and eternal release; 
 he awaited death with impassibility. 
 
 In the midst of their swoonings, sometimes thej 
 shuddered at the touch of feathers as they grazed 
 against their lips. Huge wings cast long, waving 
 shadows about them, croakings sounded in the air; 
 and as the cross of Spendius was the highest, it was 
 
394 S A LAMM BO. 
 
 thereon the first vulture alighted. Then he turned 
 his face towards Autharitus, saying slowly, with an 
 indefinable smile : 
 
 " Do you recall the lions on the road to Sicca ?" 
 
 "They were our brothers !" answered the Gaul, as 
 he expired. 
 
 The Suft'ete during this period had broken through 
 the walls, and attained the citadel. Under a gust of 
 wind the smoke suddenly flew upwards, disclosing 
 the horizon as far as the walls of Carthage ; he be- 
 lieved even that he could distinguish the people who 
 w^atched from the platform of Eschmovm ; then he 
 turned his eyes, and perceived to the left, on the lake 
 shore, thirty immense crosses. 
 
 In fact, to render the crosses more frightful, they 
 had constructed them out of tent-poles lashed end to 
 end ; so that the thirty bodies of the crucified Elders 
 appeared high up in the sky. On their bosoms 
 gleamed, like white butterflies, the feathers of the 
 arrows shot at them from below. 
 
 On the summit of the tallest shone a broad, gold 
 hllet ; it hung upon the shoulder of the crucified one, 
 for the arm on that side was wanting ; and Hamilcar 
 with difficulty recognised Hanno. His spongy bones 
 giving way under the iron nails, portions of his limbs 
 had become detached, and there only remained on 
 the cross shapeless fragments, like portions of 
 animals hung upon a hunter's door. 
 
 The Suffete had been unable to learn anything 
 of Matho's sally : the city before him concealed all 
 that a lay beyond at the back.; and the captains sent 
 successively to the two generals had not returned. 
 Then the fugitives came, recounting the rout ; and 
 
THE DEFILE OF THE BATTLE-AXE. 3Q5 
 
 the Punic army halted. This catastrophe falling in 
 the midst of their victory, stupefied theni. They 
 no longer heeded Hamilcar's commands. Matho 
 profited by it to continue his ravages upon the 
 Numidians. 
 
 Hanno's camp having been overthrown, he had 
 turned again on them. The elephants charged ; but 
 the Mercenaries, with firebrands snatched from bhe 
 burning Avail, advanced on the plain, agitating the 
 flames : the huge animals were frightened, and 
 fled, precipitating themselves into the gulf, killed 
 each other in their struggles, or were drowned 
 under the weight of their breastplates. Already 
 Narr' Havas had ordered his cavalry to charge ; the 
 Mercenaries threw themselves flat down with their 
 faces against the ground, then, when the horses were 
 within three steps of them, they sprang under their 
 bellies and ripped them open with poniards ; half of 
 the Numidians had thus perished when Barca unex- 
 pectedly came up. 
 
 The Mercenaries, now exhausted, could not hold 
 oat against his troops. They retreated in good order 
 as far as the Hot-Springs Mountain. The Suffete had 
 the prudence not to follow them. He moved towards 
 the embouchures of the Macar. 
 
 Tunis belonged to him; but the city remained 
 merely a heap of smoking rubbish. The ruins had 
 tumbled down through the breaches in the walls 
 out into the plain ; beyond, between the shores 
 of the gulf, the elephants' carcases, driven by the 
 wind, intershocked, like an archipelago of black 
 rocks floating on the water. 
 
 Narr' Havas. in order to sustain this war, had ex- 
 
 
1 
 
 96 SALAMMB6. 
 
 hausted his forests, taking alike young and old, male 
 and female elephants, and the military strength of his 
 kingdom could not be reinforced. The people, who 
 saw these animals perish from afar, were in despair; 
 men lamented in the streets, calling them by their 
 names, as deceased friends : " Ah ! Invincible ! 
 Victor! Thunderbolt! Swallow!" And during the 
 first day everyone spoke of only the dead citizens.. 
 The next day, seeing the Mercenaries' tents pitched 
 on the Hot-Springs Mountain, their despair became 
 so deep that many of the people, especially the 
 women, hurled themselves headlong down from the 
 top to the bottom of the Acropolis. 
 
 All were ignorant of Hamilcar's designs ; he lived 
 alone in his tent, having no one near him but a 
 young boy, never admitting anyone, not even Narr* 
 Havas, to eat with them. Nevertheless, he manifested 
 towards him extraordinary attentions since Hanno's 
 defeat ; and the king of the Numidians had too- 
 much interest in becoming his son to be distrustful 
 of them. 
 
 This inaction veiled crafty intrigues. By all sorts. 
 of artifices he won over the chiefs of villages ; and 
 the Mercenaries were hunted, repulsed, and tracked 
 like ferocious beasts. As soon as they had entered 
 into a wood, the trees were fired about them, the 
 waters of the springs they drank from were 
 poisoned, and they were walled up in caverns 
 wherein they had taken refuge to sleep. People who 
 had formerly protected them, even their recent 
 acconrplices, now pursued them ; they could always 
 recognise in these bands Carthaginian armour. 
 
THE DEFILE OF THE BATTLE AXE. 397 
 
 Numbers of the Mercenaries' faces were eaten by 
 red-tetter; this they thought had attacked them from 
 touching Hanno. Others imagined it was because 
 they had eaten the fish of Salammbo ; and, far from 
 repenting, they dreamed of yet more abominable 
 sacrileges, that the humiliation of the Punic Gods 
 might be greater. They would have liked to exter- 
 minate them. 
 
 Thus, for the term of three months, they marched 
 wearily along the eastern coast, from behind 
 the mountain of Selloum, and as far as the first 
 sands~ of the desert, seeking a place of refuge, no 
 matter where. Utica and Hippo-Xarytus alone had 
 not been treacherous ; but alas, Hamilcar surrounded 
 both of these cities. Then they reascended to the 
 north at hazard, without knowing the roads. By 
 dint of miseries, their brains were disturbed. 
 
 Their only sentiment was one of exasperation. 
 which continued developing itself. One day they 
 found themselves again in the gorges of Cobus, once 
 more before Carthage ! 
 
 Then the engagements multiplied. Fortune in- 
 clined to neither side ; both armies were so worn 
 out that they wished, instead of skirmishing, i«» 
 engage in a great pitched battle, provided that it 
 should certainly be the last. 
 
 Matho had desired to carry the challenge himself 
 to the Suifete. How ever, one of his Libyans devoted 
 himself to the mission. At his departure all were 
 convinced that he would not return. 
 
 He returned the same evening. 
 
 Hamilcar accepted the challenge. They would 
 meet the next day at sunrise, on the plain of Rhadep. 
 
398 SALAMMBO. 
 
 The Mercenaries wanted to know if he had said 
 nothing more, and the Libyan added : 
 
 — "As I stood before him, he asked me why I 
 waited. I answered, — ' For some one to kill me !' 
 Then he replied : — ' No ! go now ; that shall be to- 
 morrow, with the others.' " 
 
 This generosity astonished the Barbarians ; some 
 were terrified at it, and Matho regretted that the 
 envoy had not been killed. 
 
 Matho's army still contained three thousand Afri- 
 cans, twelve hundred Greeks, fifteen hundred Campa- 
 nians, two hundred Iberians, four hundred Etrus- 
 cans, five hundred Samnites, forty Gauls, and a 
 band of Naffur — Nomad bandits met with in the 
 date region : all told, seven thousand, two hundred, 
 and nineteen soldiers ; but not one complete syn- 
 tagma. They caulked up the holes in their breast- 
 plates with the shoulder-blades of animals, and they 
 replaced their brazen cothurnes with ragged sandals. 
 Copper or iron plates weighed down their garments ; 
 their coats-of-mail hung in tatters about them, 
 revealing scars that seemed like purple threads, be- 
 tween the hair on their arms, and upon their faces. 
 
 The resentment for their dead comrades came 
 back upon their souls, and increased their strength. 
 They felt confusedly that they were the ministers 
 of a God who dwelt in the hearts of the oppressed, 
 like the pontiffs of a universal vengeance ! Then 
 the misery of an exorbitant injustice enraged them, 
 and especially as they gazed at Carthage on the 
 horizon. They made solemn oaths to fight for one 
 another to the death. 
 
TI 
 
 Ii: DEFILE OF THE BATTLE-AXE. 399 
 
 The}' slaughtered the beasts of burden, eating as 
 much as possible in order to acquire strength ; after 
 wards they slept. Some prayed, turning themseh 
 towards different constellations. 
 
 The Carthaginians were first on the battle-field. 
 They rubbed the surface of their bucklers with oil, 
 to make the arrows glance off more easily ; the 
 foot-soldiers who had long hair, prudently cut it of] 
 close over the forehead ; and Hamilcar, as early as 
 the fifth hour, ordered his men to overturn all the 
 bowls, knowing the disadvantage of entering a 
 combat with too full stomachs. His army amounted 
 to fourteen thousand men, about double the entin 
 number of the Barbarians. Still he had never ex- 
 perienced an equal anxiety : if he succumbed, it 
 would certainly be the annihilation of the Re- 
 public, and he would perish on the cross : if he 
 triumphed, on the contrary, by the Pyrenees, G-aul, 
 and the Alps, he would conquer Italy, and the empire 
 of the Barcas would become eternal. Twenty times 
 during the night he got up to survey everything 
 personally, even to the most minute details. As for 
 the Carthaginians, they were exasperated by the pro- 
 longed terror. 
 
 Narr' Havas doubted the fidelity of his Xumi- 
 dians ; furthermore, he thought that the Barbarians 
 might conquer them; a strange weakness possessed 
 him, and every moment he quaffed large cups of 
 water. 
 
 A man whom he did not know, opened his tent, 
 and placed on the ground a crown of rock salt, orna- 
 mented with hieratic designs made in sulphur, and 
 lozenges of mother-of-pearl. One sent sometimes 
 
400 "S A LAMM BO. 
 
 to her betrothed his marriage-crown as a proof of 
 love or manner of invitation. 
 
 Nevertheless, Hamilcar's daughter had no affec- 
 tion for Narr' Havas, for the memory of Matho 
 embarrassed her in an intolerable way ; it seemed 
 to her that the death of this man could alone dis- 
 entangle her thoughts : like seeking to cure the 
 sting of a viper by crushing the viper on the wound. 
 
 The king of the Numidians was at her disposal. 
 He waited impatiently for his marriage, and as it 
 was to follow the victory. Salammbo had sent him 
 this present in order to inspire his courage. Then 
 his anxieties disappeared, and he thought only of 
 the happiness of possessing so beautiful a wife. 
 
 The same vision had assailed Matho ; but he re- 
 jected it at once ; and his love, which he drove 
 back, diffused over his comrades-in-arms. He cher- 
 ished them like a portion of his own person — 
 aye, of his hate — and he felt his genius loftier, his 
 arm more powerful ; all that he must execute ap- 
 peared now clear before him. If occasionally sighs 
 escaped from him, it was because he recalled the 
 fate of Spendius. 
 
 He ranged the Barbarians in six equal lines, 
 stationing the Etruscans in the centre, all attached 
 to one bronze chain ; the archers were kept in the 
 rear, and on the wings he distributed the Naffur, 
 mounted on camels with short-clipped hair and 
 covered with ostrich plumes. 
 
 The Suffete disposed his soldiers in a similar 
 order ; outside of the infantry, beside the velites, he 
 placed the Clinabarians, and beyond them the Nu- 
 midians. When day appeared, the two armies were 
 
THE DEFILE OF THE BATTLE-AXE. 401 
 
 both thus drawn up in line of battle, face to luce. 
 All along these lines the foes contemplated each 
 other with large, wild eyes. At first, there was 
 evident hesitation ; at length the two armies simul- 
 taneously were put in motion. The Barbarians 
 advanced slowly, in order to avoid getting out of 
 breath, beating the ground with their feet. The 
 centre of the Punic army formed a convex cnrve. 
 Then a terrible shock burst, like the crashing of two 
 fleets running foul of each other. The first rank of 
 the Barbarians was soon opened, and the archers, 
 sheltered behind the others, hurled their balls, arrows, 
 and javelins. Meanwhile, the curve of the Punic 
 army gradually straightened : it became a right line, 
 afterwards was inflected; next, the two sections of 
 velites approached each other in parallel lines like 
 the branches of closing compasses. 
 
 The Barbarians, charging the phalanx furiously, 
 entered into the break : they were ruining them- 
 selves. Matho halted them, and whilst the Car- 
 thaginian wings continued to advance, he caused 
 the three interior ranks of his army to retire out- 
 wardly ; soon they overlapped his flanks ; his 
 army then appeared in a long line of three ranks. 
 But the Barbarians placed at the two ends were the 
 weakest, especially those on the left, who had ex- 
 hausted their quivers ; and the troop of velites, which 
 had at last come hand-to-hand with them, slaughtered 
 them freely. 
 
 Matho drew them back. His right wing contained 
 the Campanians, armed with battle-axes ; these he 
 pushed against the left of the Carthaginians ; the 
 centre forces attacked the enemy, and those on the 
 
 I) D 
 
4-02 SALAMMBO. 
 
 other extremity, out of danger, kept the velites at 
 bay. 
 
 Then Hamilcar divided his cavalry by squadrons, 
 set the hoplites between them,. and let them charge 
 the Mercenaries. 
 
 These conical masses presented a front of horses, 
 and their broader sides bristled with lances. It 
 was impossible for the Barbarians to resist, for 
 only their Greek foot-soldiers were equipped in 
 brazen armour, all the others being merely armed 
 with cutlasses on the end of poles, scythes taken 
 from the farmhouses, and swords forged from the 
 felloes of wheels ; the blades, too soft, bent in 
 striking ; and while they were straightening them 
 under their heels, the Carthaginians on the right and 
 left easily massacred them. 
 
 But the Etruscans, rivetted to their chain, did not 
 swerve. Those who were slain, unable to fall, made 
 a barrier with their corpses ; and this vast line of 
 bronze alternately spread out and closed in, supple 
 .as a serpent, and as unshakable as a wall. The Bar- 
 barians came behind it to re-form, took breath for a 
 minute, and rushed on again, with their shattered 
 weapons in their hands. 
 
 Many already were weaponless, and sprang upon 
 the Carthaginians, biting them in their faces like 
 rabid dogs. The Gauls with pride stripped off their 
 tunics, showing from a distance their fine, large, 
 white bodies, and endeavoured to terrify the enemy 
 by enlarging their wounds. In the middle of the 
 Punic syntagma, the voice of the crier repeating the 
 orders was no longer heard. The standards above 
 the dust repeated their signals, and everyone moved 
 
THE DEFILE OF THE BATTLE-AXE. 403 
 
 along, impelled by the oscillation of the vast mass 
 encompassing him. 
 
 Hamilcar commanded the Ntimidians to advance, 
 but the Nafftir precipitated themselves to meet the 
 encounter. These men, habited in ample black rob 
 with a tuft of hair on the top of their heads, carrying 
 rhinoceros leather-bucklers, wielded a blade with- 
 out haft, held by a rope ; and their camels, stuck all 
 over with feathers, gave vent to long, loud, gurgling 
 plaints. Their blades fell in exact places, and then 
 were lifted up with a sharp stroke, each time carry- 
 ing off a limb. The furious camels galloped through 
 the syntagma ; those with broken legs hopped awk- 
 wardly, like wounded ostriches. 
 
 The entire Punic infantry fell again on the Bar- 
 barians, and broke their line. Their maniples 
 wheeled, separating one from another. The more 
 glittering arms of the Carthaginians encircled them 
 like crowns of gold ; a swarming agitation filled tin- 
 centre ; the sun shone down on them, tipping the 
 sword-points with white, dancing gleams. Sonic 
 files of the slain Clinabarians lay stretched on the 
 plain ; the Mercenaries stripped oil' their armour 
 and put it on themselves ; then they returned to tin- 
 combat. The Carthaginians, deceived, frequently 
 entangled themselves in the midst of them. Stu] - 
 faction kept them motionless, or else they fell back 
 and the triumphant cheers which arose from a dis- 
 tance seemed to drive them like wrecks in a storm. 
 Hamilcar was in despair, for all was going to he 
 wrecked by the genius of Matho and the invincible 
 courage of the Mercenaries ! 
 
 A noise of tambourines rang out on the horizon. 
 
 D D 2 
 
404 SALAMMBO. 
 
 It was a crowd of old men, invalids, and youths 
 fifteen years old, and even women, who, no longer 
 able to restrain their anxietv, had left Carthage. In 
 order to place themselves under the protection of 
 something formidable, they had taken out of Hamil- 
 car's park the only elephant in the possession of the 
 Republic — the same one whose trunk had been cut 
 off. 
 
 Then it seemed to the Carthaginians that their 
 City, abandoning her walls, came to command them 
 to die valiantly for her. Redoubled fury seized 
 upon them, and the Numidians led on all the others. 
 
 In the middle of the plain the Barbarians were 
 ranged with their backs to a hillock. They had no 
 chance of success, nor even of surviving ; but 
 they were the best, the most intrepid, and the 
 strongest. 
 
 The people of Carthage began to throw over the 
 Numidians' heads, spits, larding-pins, and hammers ; 
 and those who had made consuls tremble, died under 
 sticks thrown by women : the Punic populace exter- 
 minated the Mercenaries. 
 
 The Barbarians took refuge on the top of the hill : 
 their circle at every fresh breach closed in. Twice 
 they descended, but at each encounter were quickly 
 driven back, and the Carthaginians, pell-mell, ex- 
 tended their arms, and reached out their spears 
 between their comrades' legs, and thrust at random 
 in front of them. They slipped in the blood, and 
 the steep decline of the hill caused the dead to roll 
 down. The elephant, endeavouring to climb the 
 beleaguered hill, trod upon them up to his belly, and 
 seemed to spread himself over them with delight 
 
THE DEFILE OF THE BATTLE-AXE. 405 
 
 The large end of his amputated trunk from time to 
 time was lifted overhead like an enormous blood- 
 sucker. 
 
 All halted. The Carthaginians ground their teeth, 
 contemplating the top of the hill, where the Bar- 
 barians held their position, standing firmly; finally, 
 they rallied, and charged abruptly forward : the fray 
 raged again. 
 
 Often the Mercenaries allowed the enemy to ap- 
 proach near, crying out that they would surrender, 
 then with frightful sneers, at one blow they killed 
 themselves; and as the dead fell, others jumped on 
 them to defend themselves. The hill became like a 
 pyramid that gradually grew higher. 
 
 Soon only lift}' Barbarians were left, then twenty, 
 then but three ; then two only survived — a Samnite 
 armed with a battle-axe, and Mdtho, who still had his 
 sword. 
 
 The Samnite, bent on his haunches, swung his 
 battle-axe alternately from right to left, constantly 
 warning Matho of blows directed at him : " Master ! 
 this way ! that way ! bend down !" 
 
 Matho had lost his shoulder-pieces, helmet, and 
 breastplate, and stood completely naked, more livid 
 than the dead ; his hair was perfectly straight, the cor- 
 ners of his mouth were covered with froth, and hia 
 sword whirled with such velocity, that it made an 
 aureole about him. A stone shattered it close up to 
 the guard; the Samnite was killed; the wave of 
 Carthaginians closed in, touching him. Then he 
 lifted his empt}- hands towards the sky, closed his 
 eyes, and with arms thrown wide open, like a man 
 about to spring from the summit of a promontory 
 
406 SALAMMBO. 
 
 into the sea, he darted headlong into the midst of 
 the lances. 
 
 The foe scattered before him. Frequently he 
 rushed against the Carthaginians ; but they always 
 recoiled, turning away their weapons. 
 
 Matho's foot struck against a sword, and as he 
 bent to seize it, he felt himself trammelled by the 
 wrists and knees, and he fell. 
 
 Narr' Havas had followed him for some time, 
 step by step, with a wide net used for trapping wild 
 beasts, taking advantage of the moment when 
 Matho bent towards tfye weapon to ensnare him in 
 the toils. 
 
 He was then fastened on the elephant's back, his 
 four limbs cross-wise, -.and all those who were not 
 wounded escorted him, hurrying with great tumult 
 on to Carthage. j 
 
 The news of this victory had already travelled 
 there — an inexplicable thing — as early as the third 
 hour of the night, and the water-clock of Khamoun 
 marked the fifth hour as they arrived at Malqua. 
 Here Matho reopened his eyes ; there were such 
 quantities of lights on the houses that the city 
 appeared all in flames. 
 
 An immense clamour came vaguely to him, and. 
 lying on his back he gazed at the stars. 
 
 Then a door closed upon him, and darkness enve- 
 loped him. 
 
 The next day, at the same hour, the last of the 
 men who had remained in the Defile of the Battle- 
 axe expired. 
 
 Tiie day that their comrades had departed, some 
 
THE DEFILE OF THE BATTLE-AXE. 407 
 
 Zuaeces who were returning home had rolled away 
 the rocks. These men Had supplied them with food 
 for some time. 
 
 The Barbarians always expected to see Matho 
 appear — and they would noi quil the mountain, from 
 dejection, from weakness, and thai obstinacy of sick 
 men who refuse to stir. A I length, when their pro- 
 visions were exhausted,- the Zuaeces wentaway. It 
 was known that they scarcely numbered thirteen 
 hundred, and that there was no need to employ 
 soldiers to make an end of them. 
 
 Ferocious beasts, especially lions, in the three years 
 of the duration of this war. had greatly multiplied. 
 Narr' Havas made an extensive bush-beat, then chas- 
 ing them, alter having baited them by tethering 
 goats at regular distances, he had drawn theni into 
 the Delile of the Battle-axe : and all these animals 
 were still living there when the man arrived who 
 had been sent by the Elders to find out who of the 
 Barbarians remained. 
 
 Over the extent of the plain the lions and corpses 
 were lying, and the dead were confounded with the 
 clothing and armour. From almost all, the face, 
 or else an arm, was missing. Some appeared still 
 untouched ; others were completely dried up, and 
 the dusty skulls tilled the helmets ; fleshless feel 
 stuck straight out of the greaves ; skeletons kept 
 their mantles ; bones bleached by the sun made 
 shining patches on the sand. 
 
 The lions lay, their chests against the -round. 
 their two fore-paws' stretched out. blinking their 
 eyes in the glare of daylight, intensified by it< rever- 
 beration from the white rocks, others, sitting on 
 
408 SALAMMBO. 
 
 their haunches, looked fixedly before them, or, half 
 lost in their profuse manes, slept, rolled up like 
 a ball. All appeared to be satiated, wearied, and 
 listless. They were as motionless as the mountain, 
 or as the dead. Night fell ; wide red bands streaked 
 the western sky. 
 
 In one of the heaps irregularly embossing the 
 plain, something more weird than a spectre arose ; 
 then one of the lions commenced to move, cutting 
 with his monstrous form a black shadow on the back- 
 ground of the impurpled sky. When he was near 
 the man he felled him with a single blow of his paw. 
 Then, stretched flat on his belly, with his fangs he 
 slowly drew out the entrails. 
 
 Afterwards he opened his jaws wide, and for 
 some minutes uttered a long, deep roar, which re- 
 echoed in the mountains repeatedly, and was lost at 
 last in the solitude. 
 
 All at once gravel rolled from above ; then came 
 the pattering of many rapid steps, and from the 
 side of the portcullis and from the gorge appeared 
 pointed snouts and straight ears, and yellow eyeballs 
 gleamed. These were the jackals, come to devour 
 the remains. 
 
 The Carthaginian who was watching as he leant 
 over the edge of the precipice, returned to Carthage. 
 
CHAPTER XV. 
 
 MATHO. 
 
 Joy — a profound, immoderate, universal, frantic 
 joy — reigned in Carthage. The statues of the Gods 
 had been repainted, the breaches in the ruins re- 
 paired, and the streets strewn with branches <>f 
 myrtle ; at the corners of the converging streets 
 incense burned; and the multitude, pressing on tin* 
 terraces in their motley apparel, resembled masses 
 of flowers blooming in the open air. 
 
 The continual yelping of voices was dominated by 
 the cry of the water-carriers as they sprinkled the 
 streets. Hamilcar's slaves, in his name, distributed 
 roasted barley and pieces of raw meat. People accost*- 1 
 each other, and embraced in tears ; the Tyrian 
 cities were taken, the Nomads were dispersed, and 
 all the Barbarians were annihilated. The Acropolis 
 was hidden beneath coloured canopies ; the beak- 
 heads of the triremes, drawn up outside of the mole, 
 glittered like a bank of diamonds ; everywhere one 
 felt order re-established, a new existence commenced. 
 A vast happiness spread over all, for it was the wed- 
 dingday of Salammbd and the king of the Numidians. 
 
 409 
 
4IO SALAMMBO. 
 
 On the terrace of the temple of Khamoun, gigantic 
 gold plate laded three long tables, where the 
 Priests, the Elders, and the Rich were to sit : and 
 a fourth still higher table was arranged for Hamil- 
 car, Narr' Havas, and Salammbo : for by the restora- 
 tion of the Sacred Yeil she had saved her country, 
 therefore the people made her wedding celebration 
 a national rejoicing, and on the square below they 
 awaited her appearance. 
 
 But another desire, much keener, excited their 
 impatience, for the death of Miitho was promised 
 for this ceremony. 
 
 It had been at first proposed to flay him alive, to 
 run molten lead into his bowels, or to starve him to 
 death; others wished to attach him to a tree with a 
 monkey pinioned behind him, to beat his brains out 
 with a stone — for he had offended Tanit,and it was but 
 just that the cynocephales of Tanit should avenge 
 her. Some even advised placing him on the back of 
 a dromedary, and after having inserted in various 
 parts of his body flaxen wicks steeped in oil, 
 that he should be paraded about ; and they 
 were amused at the idea of the large animal wan- 
 dering through the streets with this man writhing 
 under the fire, like a lighted candelabrum agitated 
 by the wind. 
 
 But to which of the citizens should his torture 
 be committed, and why frustrate the others ? They 
 would wish to find a mode of death wherein the 
 entire city could participate, that in every way all 
 hands, all weapons, all Carthaginian things, even to 
 the pavement stones of the streets, and the water 
 of the gulf, should unite to rend him, crush him. 
 
MAT HO. 41 1 
 
 annihilate him. Therefore the Elders decided thai 
 he should go from his prison to the square of 
 Khamoun without an escort, his arms fastened 
 behind his back ; but the people were forbidden to 
 strike him to the heart, as ii was desired to prolong 
 his life ; or to pierce his eyes, for they wouldhavi 
 him see his torture until the end: or to throw 
 anything against his person, or strike him with 
 more than three fingers at a single blow. 
 
 Although he would not appear until the close of 
 the day, frequently the crowd fancied they caught 
 sight of him, and rushed towards the Acropolis, 
 deserting the streets : then they returned with a pro- 
 longed murmur. Since the previous evening many 
 people had remained standing in the same plac* 
 and from a distance called out to each other, 
 significantly displaying their finger-nails, which thej 
 had let grow long to more surely lacerate the victim's 
 flesh. Others walked about excitedly. Some were 
 pale, as if they awaited their own execution. 
 
 Suddenly, behind the Mappals, great feather fans 
 rose above the heads. It was Salammbo leaving 
 her palace : a sigh of relief was exhaled. 
 
 But the cortege occupied a long time coming. 
 it moving step by step. 
 
 At first, defiled the priests of the Dii-Patceci, then 
 those of Eschmoun, and those of Melkarth, succes- 
 si vely followed by all the other colleges, with the same 
 insignia and in the same order as they had observed 
 at the time of the procession to the sacrifice. The 
 pontiffs of Moloch passed by with heads lowered, and 
 the multitude, as in a species of remorse, shrank back 
 from them. But the priests of the Rabbetna advanced 
 
412 SALAMMBO. 
 
 with a proud step, holding their lyres in their hands : 
 the priestesses, wearing robes of yellow or black 
 transparent stuffs, followed, uttering cries like birds, 
 writhing like vipers, or to the sound of flutes they 
 turned about, imitating the dance of the stars, and 
 their light, fluttering vestments wafted delicate puffs 
 ■of perfume softly through the streets. The people 
 wildly applauded. Amid these women were hailed 
 with cheers the Kedeschim with their painted eye- 
 lids, symbolic of the hermaphrodism of the Divinity; 
 perfumed and clothed like the women, they resem- 
 bled them, in spite of their flat breasts and their 
 narrower hips. 
 
 The female principle dominated, overpowering all 
 «lse. A mystic lasciviousness floated in the heavy 
 air ; already the flambeaux were lighted in the 
 depths of the sacred woods, for during the night 
 11 grand debauchery would be held there ; — three 
 vessels had brought courtesans from Sicily, and 
 others had come from the desert. 
 
 As the various colleges arrived they took up their 
 places in the courts of the temple, on the exterior 
 galleries, or on the length of the double stairway 
 that ascended against the walls, approaching each 
 other at the top. The rows of white robes appeared 
 between the colonnades, and the entire architecture 
 was peopled with human statues, motionless as stone. 
 
 After the priests came the master of finance, the 
 governors of provinces, and all the Rich. Below, 
 surged a vast tumult. From the neighbouring streets 
 the throng poured forth ; the sacred slaves beat them 
 back with their staves ; and in the midst of the Elders, 
 crowned with gold tiaras, Salammbo was perceived 
 
MATH (J 413 
 
 upon a litter, over which a purple canopy was 
 
 borne. 
 
 A tremendous cry arose; the cymbals and casta- 
 nets sounded louder and louder, and the tambourines 
 thundered as the grand purple canopy passed out of 
 sight between the two gate-towers. 
 
 It reappeared on the first story. Salaminbd paced 
 slowly beneath it : then she crossed the terrace to 
 take her seat at the back part, on a tin-one carved 
 out of a tortoise-shell. An ivory stool of three steps 
 was placed under her feet ; on the edge of the firsl 
 step two negro children kneeled, and occasionally 
 she rested her arms, weighted with heavy bracelets 
 upon their heads. 
 
 From her ankles to her hips she was enveloped in 
 a network of tiny links, imitating the scales of a hsh. 
 and lustrous as polished mother-of-pearl. A blue 
 zone compressed her waist, allowing her breasts to 
 be seen through two crescent-shaped slashes, where 
 carbuncle pendants hid their points. Her coiffure 
 was made of peacocks' plumage, starred with jewels ; 
 a wide, ample mantle, white as snow, fell behind 
 her : — her elbows close against her body : her knee- 
 pressed together ; circlets of diamonds clasped high 
 on her arms : she sat perfectly upright in a hieratic- 
 attitude. 
 
 Her father and bridegroom sat on two lower seats. 
 Narr' Havas was robed in a golden-coloured simarre, 
 and wore his rock-salt crown, from beneath which 
 escaped two locks of hair, twisted like the horns of 
 Amnion ; Hamilcar was attired in a tunic of \i<>let. 
 brocaded with golden pampre, and wore his battle- 
 sword girt to his side. In the space enclosed by 
 
414 SALAMMBO. 
 
 the tables, the python of the temple of Eschmoun lay 
 on the ground between puddles of rose-oil, biting its 
 tail, and thus describing a large black circle, in the 
 centre of which was a copper colnmn supporting a 
 crystal egg, and as the sun shone upon it, prismatic 
 rays darted out on all sides. 
 
 Immediately behind Salammbo spread the proces- 
 sion of the priests of Tanit, clothed in flaxen robes. 
 At her right the Elders, bedecked with their tiaras, 
 formed a great golden line. On the left, the Rich, 
 with their emerald sceptres, made a great green line ; 
 and in the extreme background the priests of Moloch 
 were ranged, and seemed, because of their mantles, 
 like a purple wall. The other colleges occupied the 
 inferior terraces. The multitude encumbered the 
 streets or were mounted on the house-tops, and 
 reached in long rows to the summit of the Acropolis. 
 
 Having thus the people at her feet, the firmament 
 over her head, and around her the immensity of the 
 sea, the gulf, and the mountains, and the perspectives 
 of the provinces, Salammbo, resplendent, was con- 
 fused with Tanit, and seemed herself the prevailing 
 genius of Carthage — her soul incarnate. 
 
 The festival was to last all night, and candelabra 
 with many branches were planted like trees upon 
 the painted woollen tapestries that covered the low 
 tables. Large flagons of electrum, amphoras of blue 
 glass, tortoise-shell spoons, and small round loaves, 
 crowded between the double row of plates bordered 
 with pearls ; clusters of grapes with their leaves 
 like thyrsi entwined vine- stocks ; blocks of snow 
 were melting in ebony salvers ; lemons, pome- 
 granates, gourds, and water-melons, were piled in 
 
M ATI 10. 415 
 
 hillocks beneath the tall, massive argentries ; wild 
 boars with open jaws wallowed in the dusl of Bpiccs; 
 hares cooked whole, eovered with their fur, seemed 
 to leap between the flowers; shells were filled with 
 forced meats : pastieswere baked in symbolic forme ; 
 and when the dish-covers were firsi withdrawn, li\«- 
 doves flew out. 
 
 Meanwhile, slaves with their tunics tucked up 
 moved about on tip-toe; from time to time the lyn - 
 sounded a hymn, or a chorus of voices burst forth. 
 The hum of the people, continuous like the roar 1 !' 
 the sea, floated vaguely over the least, and seemed 
 to rock it in a vast harmony. Many recalled the 
 banquet of the Mercenaries; they abandoned them- 
 selves to dreams of happiness ; the sun commenced 
 to decline, and the crescent moon bad already risen 
 in the other part of the sky. 
 
 Salammbo turned her head, as if some one had 
 called her: the concourse, who watched her every 
 act, followed the direction of her gaze. 
 
 At the summit of the Acropolis the door of the 
 dungeon, cut in the rock at the foot of the temple, 
 had just opened ; a man stood on the threshold of 
 this black hole. 
 
 He issued forth bent double, with the frightei 
 air of a captive wild beast suddenly set at liberty. 
 The light dazzled him ; he remained some minim - 
 motionless. All had recognised him, and held their 
 breath. 
 
 The body of this victim was for the populace 
 something specially their own, imbued with a splen- 
 dour almost religious. 
 
 They leaned forward, straining to see him. par- 
 
41 6 SALAMMBO. 
 
 ticularly the women, who burned to contemplate 
 the one who had caused the death of their children 
 and husbands ; but, despite of themselves, in the 
 depths of their souls there arose an infamous 
 curiosity — the desire to know him completely, a 
 longing blended with remorse, which changed into 
 a~i excess of execration. 
 
 Finally he advanced ; the bewilderment of the 
 surprise vanished. Numberless arms were raised 
 and for the moment he was no longer seen. 
 
 The stairway of the Acropolis had sixty steps ; he 
 descended them with a pitch forward, as if he was 
 rolled in a torrent from the top of a mountain. 
 Thrice he was seen to bound, then at the bottom he 
 came down on his feet. 
 
 His shoulders bled, his chest heaved with deep 
 pulsations, and he made such struggles to break the 
 shackles, that his arms, which were crossed on his 
 naked loins, swelled like the coils of a serpent. 
 
 The place into which he now walked presented 
 many streets fronting him. Along each street a triple 
 barrier of bronze chains, attached to the navel of 
 the Dii-Pateeci, extended in parallel lines from end 
 to end. The crowd was packed back against the 
 walls and houses ; in the midst of the throng, the 
 slaves of the Elders moved about, brandishing whip- 
 thongs. 
 
 One of these slaves pushed Matho before him with 
 a powerful blow ; he began to move forward. 
 
 The people stretched out their arms beyond the 
 chains, remonstrating the while that he was allowed 
 too wide a path. He passed along, struck, pricked, 
 mansrled by all these revengeful fingers : then when 
 
mAtho. 417 
 
 he reached the end of otic street another appeared. 
 Sometimes he threw himself to the side, striving to 
 Into his tormentors; they would quickly draw hack, 
 and when the chains restrained him, they would 
 burst out in peals of laughter at his thwarted efforts. 
 
 A child tore his ear; a young girl concealed 
 under her sleeve a spindle, with the point of which 
 she slit his cheek ; they pulled out handfuls of his 
 hair, tore strips from his flesh, and others held sticks 
 on which were fastened sponges saturated in filth, 
 with which they buffeted his face. 
 
 A stream of blood gushed from the right side 
 of his throat ; immediately a frenzy began. This 
 last Barbarian represented to them all the Barba- 
 rians, all the army ; they took revenge on him for 
 all their disasters, terrors, and opprobrium. The 
 rage of the people grew with its gratification: tin 
 chains strained too tight as they leaned against them. 
 threatening to part asunder. They were in-nisiM*- 
 to the blows the servitors dealt to force them back ; 
 some clung to the projections of the houses ; all 
 the apertures in the walls were choked up by heads, 
 and the evil they were incapable of doing to his 
 person they howled out upon him. 
 
 Their maledictions teemed with atrocities of ob- 
 scene abuse, with ironical encouragements and im- 
 precations : and as they were dissatisfied with his 
 present agonies, they announced to him others more 
 terrible yet for eternity. 
 
 This vast howling tilled Carthage with a stupid 
 monotony. Often a single syllable, one intonation, 
 harsh, profound, frantic, would lie repeated for 
 many minutes by the entire people. The walls 
 
 r. E 
 
41 8 SALAMMBd. 
 
 vibrated from the base to the top, and the two sides 
 of the streets seemed to Matho to come against him, 
 and rise from the ground like two immense arms, 
 which suffocated him in the air. 
 
 Meanwhile, he remembered that he had previously 
 experienced something similar. It was the same 
 crowd on the terraces, the same fierce looks, the 
 same rage ; but that other time he walked at liberty 
 — all then scattered before him, for the power of a 
 God shielded him. This memory, gradually be- 
 coming vividly distinct, brought to him a crushing 
 sadness. Shadows passed before his eyes. The city 
 whirled in a vertigo through his brain ; blood jetted 
 from a wound in his thigh ; he felt himself to be 
 dying ; his legs doubled under him, and he sank 
 softly upon the pavement. 
 
 Some of his persecutors took from a tripod in the 
 peristyle of the temple of Melkarth a red-hot bar, 
 slipped it through under the first chain, and pressed 
 it against his wound. The scorching flesh was seen 
 to smoke ; the yells of the people drowned his voice ; 
 but again he stood up and advanced. 
 * Six paces further on, and a third, and yet a fourth 
 time he fell : always some new torture goaded him 
 up and on. Boiling oil was squirted through tubes 
 upon him ; fragments of glass were strewn under 
 his feet ; yet he continued to walk. At the corner 
 of the street Sateb he leaned beneath the pent-house 
 of a shop, with his back against the wall, and moved 
 no further. 
 
 ^ The slaves of the Council struck him with whips 
 of hippopotamus hide so furiously, and for so long a 
 time, that the fringes of their tunics were soaked 
 
MAT HO. 419 
 
 with sweat. Matho appeared insensible. Suddenly 
 lie took a fresh impetus, and started to run at hazard, 
 emitting from his lips a shuddering noise, like one 
 suffering from intense cold. Thus he passed through 
 the streets of Boudes, the street of Scepo, crossed 
 the vegetable market, and came into the square of 
 Khamoun. 
 
 From this point, now, he belonged to the priests, 
 and the Elders' slaves scattered the crowd ; here 
 he had more space. Matho looked around him, and 
 his eyes encountered Salammbo. 
 
 At the first step that he had taken she had arisen ; 
 then involuntarily, according as he drew nearer, 
 she had advanced gradually to the edge of the 
 terrace. Soon, for her, all other external things were 
 effaced : she only saw Matho. A silence possessed 
 her soul, one of those abysses wherein the whole 
 world disappears under the impression of a single 
 thought, of one memory — of one look. This man 
 who walked towards her irresistibly fascinated 
 her. 
 
 There remained nothing except his eyes which 
 retained a human appearance : he was a long form 
 completely red ; his broken shackles, hanging the 
 length of his thighs, were so bloody that they could 
 no longer be distinguished from the tendons of his 
 wrists, denuded of flesh ; his mouth remained open ; 
 from his orbits issued two flames, which had the 
 appearance of mounting to his hair : — and yet this 
 wretched creature kept ever moving on. 
 
 He came just to the foot of the terrace. Salammbo 
 was leaning on the balustrade : those frightful eye- 
 balls were staring at her ; and within her awoke 
 
420 SALAMMB6. 
 
 the consciousness of all that he had suffered for 
 her sake. Although he was now agonised in death- 
 throes, she resaw him in his tent, on his knees as 
 he encircled her waist with his arms, babbling 
 sweet speeches ; she yearned to feel those arms 
 again, and hear those words once more. She did 
 not wish that he should die. At this moment 
 Matho was seized with a great tremor. She was 
 about to cry out, when he fell backwards to the 
 earth, and moved no more. 
 
 Salammbo almost swooned ; she was carried back 
 to her throne by the priests who pressed around her. 
 They felicitated her : it was her work. All clapped 
 their hands and stamped their feet, and yelled her 
 name in universal acclamation. 
 
 A man darted upon the body ; although he was 
 beardless, he wore on his shoulders the mantle of the 
 priests of Moloch, and in his girdle the sort of knife 
 used to cut up the sacred viands, the haft terminating 
 in a golden spatula. 
 
 By a single stroke he split open Matho's chest, then 
 tore out his heart, placing it on the spatula ; and 
 Schahabarim — for it was he — raised his arm, offering 
 it to the Sun. 
 
 The sun was sinking behind the waves ; his rays 
 struck like long arrows athwart the crimson heart. 
 He sank beneath the sea as the throbbing dimin- 
 ished, and at the last pulsation disappeared. Then 
 from the gulf to the Lagoon, and from the isthmus 
 as far as the lighthouse, in all the streets, over all 
 the house-tops, and over all the temples, there welled 
 forth a single cry ; sometimes it paused, only to 
 reburst : the edifices trembled — Carthage was con- 
 
mAtho. 42 r 
 
 \ iilsed in the spasm of a Titanic joy, and a hope with- 
 out bounds. 
 Narr* Havas, intoxicated with pride, passed his left 
 
 arm about Salammb<Vs waist, in sign of possession; 
 and in the right hand he took a gold patera, and 
 
 (hank to the genius of Carthage. 
 
 Salammbo arose, like her consort, grasping a cup 
 in her hand, in order also to drink. She fell, with 
 her head leaning over the hack of the throne, pallid, 
 stiff, her lips parted, — and her dishevelled hair hung 
 to the ground. 
 
 Thus died the daughter of Hamilcar, for having 
 touched the Veil of Tan it. 
 
 WHITING A- CO., PRINTERS, 30 A :;_'. SARDINIA SI 
 LINCOLN'S INN FIELDS. LONDON, W I 
 
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