The Young Carthaginian: A Story of The Times of Hannibal

by G. A. Henty

  CHAPTER II: A NIGHT ATTACK

  The time seemed to Malchus to pass slowly indeed as he sat waiting thecommencement of the hunt. Deep roars, sounding like distant thunder,were heard from time to time among the hills. Once or twice Malchusfancied that he could hear other sounds such as would be made by a heavystone dislodged from its site leaping down the mountain side; but he wasnot sure that this was not fancy, or that the sound might not be causedby the roaring of lions far away among the hills.

  His father had said that three hours would probably elapse before thecircuit would be completed. The distance was not great, but the troopswould have to make their way with the greatest care along the rockyhills through brushwood and forest, and their advance would be all themore slow that they had to take such pains to move noiselessly.

  It was indeed more than three hours after the column had left the campwhen the sound of a distant horn was heard far up the hillside. Almostinstantaneously lights burst out in a great semicircle along thehillside, and a faint confused sound, as of the shouting of a large bodyof men, was heard on the still night air.

  "That is very well done," the general said in a tone of satisfaction. "Ihad hardly expected it to be so well managed; for the operation on suchbroken and difficult ground was not easy to carry out, even with themoon to help them."

  "But see, father!" Malchus said, "there are many patches of darkness inthe line, and the lions might surely escape through these."

  "It would not be possible, Malchus, to place the parties at equaldistances over such broken ground. Nor are the lions likely to discoverthe gaps in the line; they will be far too much terrified by the uproarand sudden blaze of light to approach the troops. Hark, how they areroaring! Truly it is a majestic and terrible sound, and I do notwonder that the wild natives of these mountains regard the animals withsomething of the respect which we pay to the gods. And now do you keepa sharp eye along the foot of the hills. There is no saying how soon thebeasts may break cover."

  Slowly the semicircle of light was seen to contract as the soldierswho formed it moved forward towards the foot of the hill; but althoughMalchus kept his eyes strained upon the fringe of trees at its foot, hecould see no signs of movement.

  The roaring still continued at intervals, and it was evident that thebeasts inclosed in the arc had descended to the lower slopes of thehill.

  "They may be upon us sooner than you expect, Malchus. Their colour wellnigh matches with that of the sand, and you may not see them until theyare close upon us."

  Presently a Numidian soldier standing behind Malchus touched him on theshoulder and said in a whisper: "There they are!" pointing at the sametime across the plain.

  Malchus could for a time see nothing; then he made out some indistinctforms.

  "There are six of them," the general said, "and they are making for thisgrove. Get your bows ready."

  Malchus could now clearly see the lions approaching. They were advancingslowly, turning occasionally to look back as if reluctant to quitthe shelter of the hills; and Malchus could hardly resist a start ofuneasiness as one of them suddenly gave vent to a deep, threateningroar, so menacing and terrible that the very leaves of the trees seemedto quiver in the light of the moon under its vibrations. The lionsseemed of huge dimensions, especially the leader of the troop, whostalked with a steady and majestic step at their head. When within fiftyyards of the grove the lions suddenly paused; their leader apparentlyscented danger. Again the deep terrible roar rose in the air, answeredby an angry snarling noise on the part of the females.

  "Aim at the leader," the general whispered, "and have your brands inreadiness."

  Immediately behind the party a fire was burning; it had been sufferedto die down until it was a mere pile of glowing embers, and in this theends of a dozen stakes of dried wood were laid. The glow of the fire wascarefully hidden by a circle of sticks on which thick cloths had beenhung. The fire had been prepared in readiness in case the lions shouldappear in numbers too formidable to be coped with. The leading lion waswithin twenty-five paces of the spot where the party was standing whenHamilcar gave the word, and a volley of arrows shot forth from theirhiding place.

  The lion gave a roar of rage and pain, then, crouching for a moment,with a few tremendous bounds he reached the edge of the wood. He couldsee his enemies now, and with a fierce spring threw himself upon them.But as soon as they had discharged their arrows the soldiers had caughtup their weapons and formed in a close body, and the lion was receivedupon the points of a dozen spears.

  There was a crashing of wood and a snarling growl as one of the soldierswas struck dead with a blow of the mighty paw of the lion, who, ere hecould recover himself, received half a dozen javelins thrust deep intohis flanks, and fell dead.

  The rest of the troop had followed him as he sprang forward, but some ofthe soldiers, who had been told off for the purpose, seized the lightedbrands and threw them over the head of the leader among his followers.As the glowing brands, after describing fiery circles in the air, felland scattered at their feet, the lions paused, and turning abruptly offdashed away with long bounds across the front of the grove.

  "Now, Malchus, to horse!" Hamilcar exclaimed. And the general and hisson, leaping upon their steeds, dashed out from the grove in pursuit ofthe troop of lions. These, passing between the two clumps of trees, weremaking for the plain beyond, when from behind the other grove a darkband of horsemen rode out.

  "Let them pass," Hamilcar shouted; "do not head them back."

  The cavalry reined up until the troop of lions had passed. Hamilcar rodeup to the officer in command.

  "Bring twenty of your men," he said; "let the rest remain here. Therewill doubtless be more of them yet."

  Then with the twenty horsemen he rode on in pursuit of the lions.

  The chase was an exciting one. For a time the lions, with their longbounds, kept ahead of the horsemen; but the latter, splendidly mountedon their well bred steeds, soon began to gain. When they were withina hundred yards of them one of the lions suddenly faced round. TheNumidians, well accustomed to the sport, needed no orders from theirchief. They scattered at once and broke off on each flank so as toencircle the lion, who had taken his post on a hummock of sand and laycouched on his haunches, with his tail lashing his sides angrily, like agreat cat about to make his spring.

  The horsemen circled round him, dashing up to within five-and-twentyyards, discharging their arrows, and then wheeling away. Each time thelion was struck he uttered a sharp, angry growl, and made a spring inthe direction of the horsemen, and then fell back to his post.

  One of the soldiers, thinking that the lion was now nearly crippled,ventured to ride somewhat closer; he discharged his arrow, but before hecould wheel his horse the lion with two tremendous springs was upon him.

  A single blow of his paw brought the horse to the ground. Then the lionseized the soldier by the shoulder, shook him as a cat would a mouse,and throwing him on the sand lay with his paw across him. At this momentMalchus galloped past at full speed, his bow drawn to the arrow head andfixed. The arrow struck the lion just behind its shoulder. The fiercebeast, which was in the act of rising, sank down quietly again; itsmajestic head drooped between its forepaws on to the body of the Numidian,and there it lay as if overtaken with a sudden sleep. Two more arrowswere fired into it, but there was no movement.

  "The brave beast is dead," Malchus said. "Here is the arrow with which Islew it."

  "It was well done, Malchus, and the hide is yours. Let us set off afterthe others."

  But the stand which the lion had made had been sufficiently long toenable the rest of the troop to escape. Leaving two or three of theircomrades to remove the body of the soldier, the horsemen scattered invarious directions; but although they rode far over the plain, theycould see no signs of the troop they had pursued.

  After a time they gave up the pursuit and rode back towards the camp.When they reached it they found that another troop of lions, eight innumber, had approached the other gr
ove, where two had been killed by theparty commanded by Adherbal and Giscon, and the rest of the cavalry werestill in pursuit of the others. They presently returned, bringing infour more skins; so that eight lions in all had fallen in the night'swork.

  "Well, Malchus, what do you think of lion hunting?" Adherbal asked asthey gathered again in the general's tent.

  "They are terrible beasts," Malchus said. "I had not thought that anybeast could make so tremendous a roar. Of course I have heard thosein captivity in Carthage, but it did not seem nearly so terrible as itsounded here in the stillness of the desert."

  "I own that it made my blood run cold," Adherbal said; "and their chargeis tremendous--they broke through the hedge of spears as if they hadbeen reeds. Three of our men were killed."

  "Yes," Malchus agreed; "it seemed almost like a dream for a minute whenthe great beast was among us. I felt very glad when he rolled over on tohis side."

  "It is a dangerous way of hunting," Hamilcar said. "The chase onhorseback in the plains has its dangers, as we saw when that Numidianwas killed; but with proper care and skill it is a grand sport. But thiswork on foot is too dangerous, and has cost the republic the loss offive soldiers. Had I had nets with me I would have adopted the usualplan of stretching one across the trees ten paces in front of us. Thisbreaks the lion's spring, he becomes entangled in its meshes, and can bedestroyed with but little danger. But no skill or address avails againstthe charge of a wounded lion. But you are wounded, Giscon."

  "It is a mere nothing," Giscon said.

  "Nay," Hamilcar replied, "it is an ugly scratch, Giscon; he has laidopen your arm from the shoulder to the elbow as if it were by the cut ofa knife."

  "It served me right for being too rash," Giscon said. "I thought hewas nearly dead, and approached with my sword to give him a finishingthrust. When he struck viciously at me I sprang back, but one of hisclaws caught my shoulder. A few inches nearer and he would have strippedthe flesh from my arm, and perhaps broken the limb and shoulder bone."

  While he was speaking a slave was washing the wound, which he thencarefully bandaged up. A few minutes later the whole party lay down tosleep. Malchus found it difficult to close his eyes. His pulse was stillthrobbing with excitement, and his mind was busy with the brief butstirring scene of the conflict.

  Two or three hours passed, and he felt drowsiness creeping over him,when he heard a sudden challenge, followed instantly by a loud andpiercing yell from hundreds of throats. He sprang in an instant to hisfeet, as did the other occupants of the tent.

  "To arms!" Hamilcar cried; "the enemy are upon us."

  Malchus caught up his shield and sword, threw his helmet on his head,and rushed out of the tent with his father.

  A tremendous din had succeeded the silence which had just before reignedin the desert, and the yells of the barbarians rose high in the air,answered by shouts and loud words of command from the soldiers in theother grove. The elephants in their excitement were trumpeting loudly;the horses stamped the ground; the draught cattle, terrified by the din,strove to break away.

  Large numbers of dark figures occupied the space some two hundred yardswide between the groves. The general's guards, twenty in number,had already sprung to their feet and stood to arms; the slaves andattendants, panic stricken at the sudden attack, were giving vent toscreams and cries and were running about in confusion.

  Hamilcar sternly ordered silence.

  "Let each man," he said, "take a weapon of some kind and stand steady.We are cut off from the main body and shall have to fight for our lives.Do you," he said to the soldiers, "lay aside your spears and shootquickly among them. Fire fast. The great object is to conceal from themthe smallness of our number."

  Moving round the little grove Hamilcar posted the slaves at shortdistances apart, to give warning should the enemy be attempting anattack upon the other sides, and then returned to the side facing theother grove, where the soldiers were keeping up a steady fire at theenemy.

  The latter were at present concentrating their attention upon theirattack upon the main body. Their scouts on the hills during the previousday had no doubt ascertained that the Carthaginian force was encampedhere, and the occupants of the smaller grove would fall easy victimsafter they had dealt with the main body. The fight was raging furiouslyhere. The natives had crept up close before they were discovered by thesentries, and with a fierce rush they had fallen upon the troops beforethey had time to seize their arms and gather in order.

  The fight raged hand to hand, bows twanged and arrows flew, the lightjavelins were hurled at close quarters with deadly effect, the shrillcries of the Numidians mingled with the deeper shouts of the Iberiansand the yells of the natives. Hamilcar stood for a minute irresolute.

  "They are neglecting us," he said to Adherbal, "until they have finishedwith the main body; we must go to their assistance. At present our menare fighting without order or regularity. Unless their leaders are withthem they are lost, our presence will encourage and reanimate them.Bring up the elephants quickly."

  The three elephants were at once brought forward, their drivers mountedon their necks. Four soldiers with their bows and arrows took theirplaces on the back of each, the general with the rest of the fightingmen followed closely behind.

  At the orders of their drivers the well trained animals broke into atrot, and the party advanced from the shadow of the grove. The nativesscattered between it and the wood fired a volley of arrows and thenbroke as the elephants charged down upon them. Trained to warfarethe elephants dashed among them, catching some up in their trunks anddashing them lifeless to the ground, knocking down and trampling uponothers, scattering terror wherever they went, while the archers on theirbacks kept up a deadly fire. As soon as the way was open Hamilcar ledthe little party on foot at full speed towards the wood.

  As he entered it he ordered his trumpeter to blow his horn. The wellknown signal revived the hopes and courage of the sorely pressed troops,who, surprised and discouraged, had been losing ground, great numbersfalling before the arrows and javelins of their swarming and activefoes. The natives, surprised at the trumpet sound in the rear, pauseda moment, and before they could turn round to face their unexpectedadversaries, Hamilcar with his little band burst his way through themand joined his soldiers, who, gathered now in a close body in the centreof the grove, received their leader with a shout of welcome.

  Hamilcar's measures were promptly taken. He saw that if stationary hisband must melt away under the shower of missiles which was being pouredupon them. He gave the command and the troops rapidly formed into threegroups, the men of each corps gathering together. Adherbal, who was incommand of the Numidians, placed himself at their head, Giscon led theIberians, and Hamilcar headed the heavily armed troops, Malchus takinghis place at his side. Hamilcar had already given his orders to theyoung officers. No response was to be made to the fire of the arrows andjavelins, but with spear, sword, and battleaxe the troops were to fallupon the natives.

  "Charge!" he shouted in a voice that was heard above the yells of thebarbarians. "Clear the wood of these lurking enemies, they dare not faceyou. Sweep them before your path."

  With an answering shout the three bodies of men sprang forward, each ina different direction. In vain the natives poured in volleys of arrowsand javelins; many fell, more were wounded, but all who could keep theirfeet rushed forward with fury upon their assailants.

  The charge was irresistible. The natives, fighting each for himself,were unable for a moment to withstand the torrent, and, vastly superiorin numbers as they were, were driven headlong before it. When theyreached the edge of the wood each of the bodies broke into two. TheNumidians had directed their course towards their horses, which a partyof their own men were still defending desperately against the attacks ofa large body of natives. Through these they cut their way, and springingupon their steeds dashed out into the plain, and sweeping round thegrove fell upon the natives there, and cut down the parties of men whoemerged in confusion from its shelter, unab
le to withstand the assaultsof Hamilcar and his infantry within.

  The heavy infantry and the Iberians, when they gained the edge of thewood, had swept to the right and left, cleared the edge of the grove oftheir enemies until they met, then joining they again plunged into thecentre. Thus they traversed the wood in every direction until they hadcompletely cleared it of foes.

  When the work was done the breathless and exhausted troops gatheredoutside, in the light of the moon. More than half their number hadfallen; scarce one but was bleeding from wounds of arrow or javelin. Theplain beyond was thickly dotted to the foot of the hills with the bodiesof the natives who had been cut up by the Numidian horse or trampledby the elephants, while the grove within was thickly strewn with theirbodies.

  As there was no fear of a renewal of the attack, Hamilcar ordered themen to fall out of ranks, and the hours until daybreak were passed inextracting arrows and binding up wounds, and in assisting their comradeswho were found to be still living in the grove. Any natives stillbreathing were instantly slain.

  Hamilcar found that a party of the enemy had made their way into his owncamp. His tent had been hastily plundered, but most of the effects werefound in the morning scattered over the ground between the groves andthe hills, having been thrown away in their flight by the nativeswhen the horsemen burst out of the wood in pursuit. Of the slaves andattendants several had been killed, but the greater portion had, whenHamilcar left the grove with the troops, climbed up into trees, andremained there concealed until the rout of the assailants.

  It was found in the morning that over one hundred and fifty of the threehundred Carthaginian troops had fallen, and that four hundred of thenatives had been slain either in the grove or in the pursuit by cavalry.

  The following day two envoys arrived from the hostile tribe offering thesubmission of their chief.

  As pursuit in the hills would be useless Hamilcar offered themcomparatively easy terms. A heavy fine in horses and cattle was to bepaid to the republic, and ten of the principal members of the tribe wereto be delivered up as hostages for their future good behaviour. Thenext day the hostages were brought into the camp with a portion of theransom; and Hamilcar, having thus accomplished the mission he had beencharged to perform, marched away with his troops to Carthage.

  As they approached the coast the whole character of the scenery changed.The desert had been left behind them, and they entered a fertile tractof country which had been literally turned into a garden by the skilland industry of the Carthaginian cultivators, at that time celebratedthroughout the world for their knowledge of the science of agriculture.The rougher and more sterile ground was covered with groves of olivetrees, while rich vineyards and orchards of fig and other fruit treesoccupied the better soil. Wherever it was possible little canals leadingwater from reservoirs and dammed up streams crossed the plains, andevery foot of the irrigated ground was covered with a luxuriant crop.

  The villages were scattered thickly, and when the troops arrived withina day's march of Carthage they came upon the country villas and mansionsof the wealthy inhabitants. These in the richness of their architecture,the perfection and order of their gardens, and the beauty and taste ofthe orchards and grounds which surrounded them, testified alike to thewealth and taste of their occupants.

  Fountains threw their water into the air, numerous waterfalls splashedwith a cool, soothing sound over artificial rocks. Statues wroughtby Greek sculptors stood on the terraces, shady walks offered a coolretreat during the heat of the day, the vine, the pomegranate, and thefig afforded refreshment to the palate as well as pleasure to the eye.Palm trees with their graceful foliage waved gently in the passingbreezes. All the countries with which the Carthaginians traded hadsupplied their contingent of vegetation to add to the beauty andproduction of these gardens, which were the admiration and envy of thecivilized world.

  Crossing the brow of a low range of hills the detachment came in sightof Carthage. The general and his three companions, who were ridingin the rear of the column, drew in their horses and sat for a whilesurveying the scene. It was one which, familiar as it might be, it wasimpossible to survey without the deepest feeling of admiration.

  In the centre stood the great rock of Byrsa, a flat topped eminencewith almost perpendicular sides rising about two hundred feet above thesurrounding plain. This plateau formed the seat of the ancient Carthage,the Phoenician colony which Dido had founded. It was now the acropolisof Carthage. Here stood the temples of the chief deities of the town;here were immense magazines and storehouses capable of containingprovisions for a prolonged siege for the fifty thousand men whom theplace could contain. The craggy sides of the rock were visible but infew places. Massive fortifications rising from its foot to its summitdefended every point where the rock was not absolutely perpendicular.These walls were of enormous thickness, and in casemates or recesses intheir thickness were the stables for the elephants, horses, and cattleof the garrison.

  Round the upper edge of the rock extended another massive wall, abovewhich in picturesque outline rose the temple and other public edifices.At the foot of this natural citadel stretched the lower town, with itscrowded population, its dense mass of houses, its temples and forum.The style of architecture was peculiar to the city. The Carthaginiansabhorred straight lines, and all their buildings presented curves. Therooms were for the most part circular, semicircular, or oval, and allexterior as well as interior angles were rounded off. The material usedin their construction was an artificial stone composed of pieces ofrock cemented together with fine sand and lime, and as hard as naturalconglomerate. The houses were surmounted by domes or cupolas. Theirtowers were always round, and throughout the city scarce an angleoffended the eye of the populace.

  Extending into the bay lay the isthmus, known as the Tana, some threemiles in length, communicating with the mainland by a tongue of land ahundred yards wide.

  This was the maritime quarter of Carthage; here were the extensive docksin which the vessels which bore the commerce of the city to and from theuttermost parts of the known world loaded and unloaded. Here were thestate dockyards where the great ships of war, which had so long madeCarthage the mistress of the sea, were constructed and fitted out. Thewhole line of the coast was deeply indented with bays, where rode atanchor the ships of the mercantile navy. Broad inland lakes dottedthe plain; while to the north of Byrsa, stretching down to the sea andextending as far as Cape Quamart, lay Megara, the aristocratic suburb ofCarthage.

  Here, standing in gardens and parks, were the mansions of the wealthymerchants and traders, the suburb presenting to the eye a mass of greenfoliage dotted thickly with white houses. Megara was divided from thelower town by a strong and lofty wall, but lay within the outer wallwhich inclosed Byrsa and the whole of Carthage and stretched from sea tosea.

  The circumference of the inclosed space was fully twenty miles; thepopulation contained within it amounted to over eight hundredthousand. On the north side near the sea, within the line of the outerfortifications, rose a low hill, and here on the face which slopedgently down to the sea was the great necropolis--the cemetery ofCarthage, shaded by broad spreading trees, dotted with the gorgeousmausoleums of the wealthy and the innumerable tombs of the poorerfamilies, and undermined by thousands of great sepulchral chambers,which still remain to testify to the vastness of the necropolis ofCarthage, and to the pains which her people bestowed upon the buryingplaces of their dead.

  Beyond all, from the point at which the travellers viewed it, stretchedthe deep blue background of the Mediterranean, its line broken only inthe foreground by the lofty citadel of Byrsa, and far out at sea by thefaint outline of the Isle of Zinbre.

  For some minutes the party sat immovable on their horses, then Hamilcarbroke the silence:

  "'Tis a glorious view," he said; "the world does not contain a sitebetter fitted for the seat of a mighty city. Nature seems to have markedit out. With the great rock fortress, the splendid bays and harbours,the facilities for commerce, the fertile country
stretching away oneither hand; give her but a government strong, capable, and honest, apeople patriotic, brave, and devoted, and Carthage would long remain themistress of the world."

  "Surely she may yet remain so," Adherbal exclaimed.

  "I fear not," Hamilcar said gravely, shaking his head. "It seems to bethe fate of all nations, that as they grow in wealth so they lose theirmanly virtues. With wealth comes corruption, indolence, a reluctanceto make sacrifices, and a weakening of the feeling of patriotism. Powerfalls into the hands of the ignorant many. Instead of the destinies ofthe country being swayed by the wisest and best, a fickle multitude,swayed by interested demagogues, assumes the direction of affairs, andthe result is inevitable--wasted powers, gross mismanagement, finalruin."

  So saying Hamilcar set his horse in motion and, followed silently byhis companions, rode with a gloomy countenance after his little columnstowards the capital.