David-Léon Cahun - The Adventures of Captain Mago

When the wine-cups had been distributed and charged, I rose from my seat, and raising my cup on high, drank to the health and welfare of the whole assembly.

"A goodly draught is this!" said Hannibal, when he had drained his cup to the very dregs; "it is the wine of my own city Arvad; it gives life and strength to those that drink it; hence Arvad's wide renown for wits and warriors."

"And Arvad's warriors," I said, turning to the captain, "deserve their fame. By-the-by, have your wide wanderings by sea and land ever taken you into Judæa before? Thither it is, you know, that we first direct our course."

"Truly, yes;" replied Hannibal, with his mouth full; "this very sword that I am wearing, and this purple shoulder-belt, were presents from Joab, the general and cousin of the King. I commanded twenty archers under him at the battle of Gebah, when the Philistines were defeated at the mulberry groves. Nor was that the only time. I was garrisoned for a year or more at Hamath, with the troops of Nahari, Joab's armour-bearer, one of David's thirty-seven mighty men. It was on returning thence that I had the command of the soldiers on board the ship of our friend Hasdrubal here, at the time when the galleys of Sidon were sent to engage the Cilician fleet."

"Aye, I have heard of that expedition," said Himilco; "at that time we were far away at Gades."

"And we," broke in Hamilcar, "were in the service of Pharaoh, sailing along the coast of Ethiopia, beyond the Sea of Reeds. 26 26 Jam Souph, the Red Sea. What splendid shells were there, containing precious pearls! and one great fish there was that could swallow a man entire!"

At this moment one of the young priestesses approached our party, and handed Hanno a small packet, carefully wrapped in linen.

"This," she said to him, "is the image of Baaltis. Over it I have burnt the costliest perfumes; I have anointed it with the rarest ointments; I have laid it before the goddess, who has graciously accepted it. To you, Sidonian, I now entrust it, and may it bring good fortune to yourself and all who share your enterprise."

The high priest came in person to deliver us the other images of the gods, that of Melkarth alone excepted, which Bodmilcar himself was to convey from the temple to which he had separately gone.

The priestess offered to accompany us to our ships, that she might sprinkle the images on board before we took our departure.

Himilco craved permission to carry the image of the Cabiros down to the quay before resigning it to the keeping of the captain.

"How about your vow of twenty shekels and a bullock that you made to the Cabiri?" I asked him, as we rose to go.

"That will have to wait," he answered, "till I have come across that Tarshish rascal who deprived me of my eye. The patient gods, I have no doubt, will give me credit, and not require me to pay at once, or in advance."

Meantime Hanno had been uncovering his image of Ashtoreth, and was standing holding it in both hands and gazing at it with the profoundest admiration. It was an alabaster figure, with a necklace of three rows of gold beads and a pointed cap, beneath which flowed ample masses of wavy hair.

"I, too," said Hanno, "have made a vow to my goddess, but she has promised to abide my time, and to tarry till my expectations and my longings are fulfilled;" and as he spoke, he stooped and kissed the face of the image. I know not whether it was imagination on my part, but I certainly thought the cypresses around gave a soft yet perceptible rustle in response to his words. Perhaps the priestess observed it also, for she smiled on me, and laid her hand on Hanno's shoulder.

"But now, Captain Mago," she cried, "let us start. The time for embarkation is at hand, and the goddess pronounces that it is a favourable hour. Come, let us proceed!"

"To your ships, men; to your ships!" I shouted; and turning for a moment towards the temple, said, "Farewell, Baaltis, Queen of Heaven: to-night thou shalt behold us on the waters of the Great Sea!"

Hannibal, who had resumed his helmet, made a signal to the trumpeters to summon the soldiers and sailors. Hanno and the priestess came on one side of me; Himilco, carrying the image of his god, took his place on the other, and in the same order in which it had come, our cortége wended its way along the decorated streets down towards the port. The roads adjacent to the harbour and all the quays were so densely thronged, that it was only with considerable difficulty that we could force our way along. Every nation seemed to make its contribution to the crowd: besides the native Phœnicians, there were Syrians in their fringed and bordered robes; Chaldeans with their frizzled beards; and Jews in their short tunics and long gaiters, with panther-skins thrown across their shoulders. Again, there were Lydians with bands around their foreheads; Egyptians, some with shorn heads, and some with enormous wigs; Chalybeans, wild in aspect, and half naked; and men of Caucasus, gigantic in size and strength. Many a far distant land had sent its sons to our Phœnician cities as the headquarters and the home of industry and commerce; Arabs and Midianites were here looking with astonishment at the height of the houses, and bewildered at the multitude of the population; whilst the Scythians of Thogarma, their legs strap-bound, moved with heavy strides, and looked around amazed, perplexed at the absence alike of horses and of chariots from the narrow streets.

The air was filled with songs and shouts of many a different tongue; the people jostled one another in their eagerness to catch a sight of whatever company came last in view. Every band of musicians enlisted its own admirers; every troop of priests attracted the closest scrutiny. Every regiment with its painted shield excited a perpetual interest; and as our own procession, with its trumpeters and soldiers and promiscuous groups of sailors, could not fail to draw a large and curious concourse, it was in the midst of a veritable whirl that we passed the arsenal and made our way to the reserved quay, where our ships, poops inward to the shore, had been left under the care of a few sailors.

Bodmilcar and the eunuch had arrived before us, and were standing in eager conversation on the gangway that led to the poop of the Melkarth . As soon as they observed us, they stopped abruptly, and Bodmilcar whistled for his sailors, whilst the eunuch advanced to meet me.

"Is all your baggage duly stowed on board?" I asked Hazael.

"It is," he answered; "but it disappoints me much that our berths have not been made upon this larger ship; here we might have far more space and comfort: however, it matters little; at the first point we touch we can make a change. Bodmilcar thinks it will be best we should."

"It cannot be," I said; "the King's slave has been entrusted to myself, and under my supervision she must be. The Melkarth is a transport, and the captain of a transport has no concern with passengers. I must hear no more of this. Do I understand aright that you have letters for me from the King?"

Without one word in reply, the eunuch handed me a box of sandal-wood, which I opened, and found it to contain several sheets of papyrus, on which were written various instructions to myself.

I was about to give orders to my trumpeter to proclaim silence, but before the words were out of my mouth, Bodmilcar rushed forward and threw himself into my arms.

"I have been sacrificing to Melkarth," he exclaimed; "I have paid my vows to my god, and I must unburden my conscience. I wish to ask pardon of any and of all to whom I have shown insolence or ill-temper."

Without hesitation, Hanno offered him his hand, assuring him that he fully forgave everything that had happened in the past, and that, forgetting all previous quarrels, for the future he would show him all proper deference, and yield to his authority. Pleased with this open reconciliation, I expressed my satisfaction that we were able thus to set out with so universal a spirit of harmony and of concord.