第 19 页

join them with all their forces. The reports as to the passes of the

Alps were less satisfactory. Those who had examined them found that the

difficulties they offered to the passage of an army were enormous, and

that the tribes who inhabited the lower passes, having suffered in

no way yet at the hands of Rome, would probably resist any army

endeavouring to cross.

By far the easiest route would be to follow the seashore, but this was

barred against the Carthaginians by the fact that the Massilians (the

people of Marseilles) were the close allies of Rome. They had admitted

Roman colonists among them, and carried on an extensive trade with the

capital. Their town was strong, and their ports would be open to the

Roman fleets. The tribes in their neighourhood were all closely allied

with them.

Hannibal saw at once that he could not advance by the route by the sea

without first reducing Marseilles. This would be an even more difficult

operation than the siege of Saguntum, as Rome would be able to send any

number of men by sea to the aid of the besieged, and the great struggle

would be fought out in Southern Gaul instead of, as he wished, in Italy.

Thus he decided to march by a route which would take him far north of

Marseilles, even although it would necessitate a passage through the

terrible passes of the Alps.

During the winter Hannibal laboured without intermission in preparing

for his expedition. He was ever among his soldiers, and personally saw

to everything which could conduce to their comfort and well being. He

took a lively interest in every minute detail which affected them; saw

that their clothing was abundant and of good quality, inspected their

rations, and saw that these were well cooked.

It was this personal attention to the wants of his soldiers which, as

much as his genius as a general, his personal valour, and his brilliant

qualities, endeared him to his troops. They saw how anxious he was for

their welfare; they felt that he regarded every man in his army as a

friend and comrade, and in return they were ready to respond to every

appeal, to make every sacrifice, to endure, to suffer, to fight to the

death for their beloved leader. His troops were mercenaries--that is,

they fought for pay in a cause which in no way concerned them--but

personal affection for their general supplied in them the place of the

patriotism which inspires modern soldiers, and transformed these semi

barbarous tribesmen into troops fit to cope with the trained legionaries

of Rome.

Hannibal was far in advance of any of the generals of his time in all

matters of organization. His commissariat was as perfect as that of

modern armies. It was its duty to collect grain from the country through

which the army marched, to form magazines, to collect and drive with the

troops herds of cattle, to take over the provisions and booty brought

in by foraging parties, and, to see to the daily distribution of rations

among the various divisions.

Along the line of communication depots were formed, where provisions,

clothing, and arms were stored in readiness for use, and from which the

whole army could, in case of necessity, be supplied with fresh clothing

and shoes. A band of surgeons accompanied the army, at the head of whom

was Synhalus, one of the most celebrated physicians of the time. So

perfect were the arrangements that it is said that throughout the

long campaign in Italy not a single day passed but that the troops,

elephants, and animals of all descriptions accompanying the army

received their daily rations of food.

CHAPTER X: BESET

During the winter Hannibal made every preparation to ensure the

tranquillity of Spain while he was absent. In order to lessen the number

of possible enemies there he raised a body of twelve hundred horse and

fourteen thousand infantry from among the most turbulent tribes, and

sent them across to Africa to serve as garrisons in Carthage and other

points, while an equal number of African troops were brought over to

garrison Spain, of which Hasdrubal, Hannibal's brother, was to have the

government during his absence.

Hanno, an able general, was to command the force which was to be left in

southern Gaul to keep open the communications between the Pyrenees and

the Alps, while the youngest brother, Mago, a youth of about the same

age as Malchus, was to accompany him to Italy. Hannibal's wife and a

child which had been born in the preceding spring, were sent by ship to

Carthage.

In the early spring the march commenced, the army following the coast

line until it reached the mouth of the Ebro. The mountainous and broken

country lying between this river and the Pyrenees, and now known as

Catalonia, was inhabited by fierce tribes unconquered as yet by Roman or

Carthaginian. Its conquest presented enormous difficulties. There was

no coherence between its people; but each valley and mountain was a

stronghold to be defended desperately until the last. The inhabitants,

accustomed to the mountains, were hardy, active, and, vigourous, ready

to oppose a desperate resistance so long as resistance was possible, and

then to flee across their hills at a speed which defied the fleetest of

their pursuers.

Every man was a soldier, and at the first alarm the inhabitants of the

villages abandoned their houses, buried their grain, and having driven

away their cattle into almost inaccessible recesses among the hills,

returned to oppose the invaders. The conquest of such a people was

one of the most difficult of undertakings, as the French generals

of Napoleon afterwards discovered, to their cost. The cruelty of the

mountaineers was equal to their courage, and the lapse of two thousand

years changed them but little, for in their long struggle against the

French they massacred every detachment whom they could surprise among

the hills, murdered the wounded who fell into their hands, and poisoned

wells and grain.

The army which Hannibal had brought to the foot of this country through

which he had to pass, amounted to 102,000 men, of which 12,000 were

cavalry and 90,000 infantry. This force passed the Ebro in three bodies

of equal strength. The natives opposed a desperate resistance, but the

three columns pressed forward on parallel lines. The towns were besieged

and captured, and after two months of desperate fighting Catalonia was

subdued, but its conquest cost Hannibal twenty-one thousand men, a fifth

of his whole army. Hanno was for the time left here with ten thousand

infantry and a thousand cavalry. He was to suppress any fresh rising, to

hold the large towns, to form magazines for the army, and to keep open

the passes of the Pyrenees. He fixed his headquarters at Burgos. His

operations were facilitated by the fact that along the line of the sea

coast were a number of Phoenician colonies who were natural allies of

the Carthaginians, and aided them in every way in their power. Before

advancing through the passes of the Pyrenees Hannibal still further

reduced the strength of his force by weeding out all those who had in

the conflict among the mountains shown themselves wanting in personal

strength or in military qualities. Giving these leave to return home he

advanced at the head of fifty thousand picked infantry and nine thousand

cavalry.

The company under Malchus had rendered good service during the campaign

of Catalonia. It had accompanied the column marching by the seashore;

with this were the elephants, the treasure, and the heavy baggage of the

army. It had throughout been in advance of the column, feeling the

way, protecting it from ambushes, and dispersing any small bodies of

tribesmen who might have placed themselves on heights, whence with

arrows and slings they could harass the column on its march. The company

had lost comparatively few men in the campaign, for it had taken no part

in the various sieges. Its duties, however, were severe in the extreme.

The men were ever on the watch, scouting the country round, while the

army was engaged in siege operations, sometimes ascending mountains

whence they could command views over the interior or pursuing bands of

tribesmen to their refuges among the hills.

Severely as Malchus had trained himself in every exercise, he found it

at first difficult to support the fatigues of such a life; but every day

his muscles hardened, and by the end of the campaign he was able to keep

on foot as long as the hardest of his men.

One day he had followed a party of the tribesmen far up among the

mountains. The enemy had scattered, and the Arabs in their hot pursuit

had also broken up into small parties. Malchus kept his eye upon the man

who appeared to be the chief of the enemy's party, and pressing hotly

upon him brought him to bay on the face of a steep and rugged gorge.

Only one of the Numidians was at hand, a man named Nessus, who was

greatly attached to his young leader, and always kept close to him in

his expeditions. The savage, a bulky and heavy man, finding he could

no longer keep ahead of his fleet footed pursuers, took his post at a

narrow point in the path where but one could oppose him; and there, with

his heavy sword drawn, he awaited the attack. Malchus advanced to meet

him, sword in hand, when an arrow from Nessus whizzed past him and

struck the chief in the throat, and his body fell heavily down the

rocks.

"That is not fair," Malchus said angrily. "I would fain have fought him

hand to hand."

The Arab bowed his head.

"My lord," he said, "the combat would not have been even; the man had

the upper ground, and you would have fought at a grievous disadvantage.

Why should you risk your life in a fight with the swords, when my arrow

has answered all purposes? What should I have said if I had gone back

without you? What satisfaction would it have been to me to avenge your

fall? What would they have said to me when I told them that I looked on

idly while you engaged in such a struggle? Valour is valour, and we all

know that my lord is the bravest among us; but the life of the cousin of

our general is too valuable to be risked for nought when we are embarked

upon a great enterprise."

"Look, Nessus! what is there?" Malchus exclaimed, his attention

attracted by a dark object which was crossing the narrow path some

distance ahead and ascending the steep side of the gorge. "It is a bear,

let us follow him; his flesh will form a welcome change for the company

tonight."

The bear, who had been prowling in the bottom of the ravine, had been

disturbed by the fall of the body of the savage near him, and started

hastily to return to its abode, which lay high up on the face of the

cliff. Malchus and his companion hurried forward to the spot where it

had crossed the path. The way was plain enough; there were scratches on

the rock, and the bushes growing in the crevices were beaten down. The

path had evidently been frequently used by the animal.

"Look out, my lord!" Nessus exclaimed as Malchus hurried along. "These

bears of the Pyrenees are savage brutes. See that he does not take you

unawares."

The rocks were exceedingly steep; and Malchus, with his bow in his hand

and the arrow fitted and ready to draw, climbed on, keeping his eyes on

every clump of bush lest the bear should be lurking there. At last he

paused. They had reached a spot now but a short distance from the top.

The cliff here fell almost perpendicularly down, and along its face was

a narrow ledge scarcely a foot wide. Along this it was evident the bear

had passed.

"I should think we must be near his den now, Nessus. I trust this ledge

widens out before it gets there. It would be an awkward place for a

conflict, for a stroke of his paw would send one over the edge."

"I shall be close behind you, my lord," said Nessus, whose blood was now

up with the chase. "Should you fall to stop him, drop on one knee that I

may shoot over you."

For some fifty yards the ledge continued unbroken. Malchus moved along

cautiously, with his arrow in the string and his shield shifted round

his shoulder, in readiness for instant action. Suddenly, upon turning a

sharp corner of the cliff, he saw it widened ten feet ahead into a

sort of platform lying in the angle of the cliff, which beyond it again

jutted out. On this platform was a bear, which with an angry growl at

once advanced towards him. Malchus discharged his arrow; it struck the

bear full on the chest, and penetrated deeply. With a stroke of his paw

the animal broke the shaft asunder and rushed forward. Malchus threw

forward the point of his spear, and with his shield on his arm awaited

the onset He struck the bear fairly on the chest, but, as before, it

snapped the shaft with its paw, and rising to its feet advanced.

"Kneel, my lord!" Nessus exclaimed.

Malchus dropped on one knee, bracing himself as firmly as he could

against the rock, and, with his shield above his head and his sword in

his hand, awaited the attack of the enraged animal. He heard the twang

of the bow behind him; then he felt a mighty blow, which beat down his

shield and descended with terrible force upon his helmet, throwing him

forward on to his face. Then there was a heavy blow on his back; and it

was well for him that he had on backpiece as well as breastplate, or the

flesh would have been torn from his shoulder to his loins. As the blow

fell there was an angry roar. For a moment he felt crushed by a weight

which fell upon him. This was suddenly removed, and he heard a crash far

below as the bear, pierced to the heart by the Arab's spear, fell over

the precipice. Nessus hastened to raise him.

"My lord is not hurt, I hope?"

"In no way, Nessus, thanks to you; but my head swims and my arm is well

nigh broken with that blow. Who would have thought a beast like that

could have struck so hard? See, he has dented in my helmet and has bent

my shield! Now, before we go back and search for the body, let us see

what its den is like."

"Do you take my spear, my lord; your own is broken, and your bow has