The Adventures of Captain Mago

"The army of the Assyrians!" cried Himilco.

"The gods be praised!" said Hannibal, in an ecstasy of delight; "now shall I set eyes upon something like an army once again. See, how admirable their position! how skilful their groupings! I must make the acquaintance of their officers."

He was stopped short in his panegyric by the shouts of a troop of horsemen who were galloping towards us, and ordering us, in Chaldean, to bring our ships immediately to a standstill, and to tell them who we were. From the stern of my ship I answered the officer in command as courteously as I could, and he, in reply, ordered me to remain where I was whilst he reported my statement to his superior. In about a quarter of an hour he returned from the camp whither he had gone, and brought with him a troop of cavalry, at the head of which rode a burly fellow armed in a complete suit of mail, and carrying a lance.

Hannibal again began to praise the order and accoutrements of the troop and their leader to Chamai, who, while admitting the superiority of Assyrian cavalry, contended that the infantry of Judah was second to none; but before they had finished their military discussion, the Chaldean had halted just opposite our ships, and was calling out that our principal officers must come ashore and state our demands in the presence of Belesys, the King's commander-in-chief.

Hanno knew enough of Chaldean to remember that the word "belesys" in that language signified "terrible," and muttered that it was a formidable name for a man to have.

Taking the Queen of Sheba's letters, and followed by eight sailors carrying her presents to the King, and escorted by my own officers, I went on shore. The Chaldean was tall and stout; he had a wide face, with a strong jaw and great deep-set eyes; his beard was thick and frizzled like the rest of his company, and his manners were extremely coarse and insolent.

"Come, now, you sailor fellows, stir yourselves a little briskly, will you?" he cried; "I'm not fond of walking my horse."

He conducted us first of all through an enclosure filled with war-chariots, and then past an encampment of infantry, composed of Mesopotamians armed with maces and spears, and in physiognomy bearing a striking likeness to the people of Judæa. A little removed from us was a regiment of Medes, the representatives of a nation recently subjugated, but whose ancestors had given Nineveh her line of kings. They were thick-set, and had round heads, scanty beards, and obliquely-set eyes. Their fierce expression of countenance attracted our notice, and armed with their swords and short, strong bows, they must be very formidable in battle. As we passed, we were near enough to hear that they were making coarse jokes upon us in their own tongue. A noisy band of half-naked Arabs next caught our attention. These, with their camels, always form part of the contingent of the King of Assyria, and mingling with them I recognised some Midianite slave-dealers and some Phœnician merchants, who act as purveyors to the army, but make their chief profits by purchasing slaves and plunder from the soldiers.

We proceeded to the cavalry encampment, and when we were about in the middle of it, we were ordered to halt. We found ourselves in front of a large circular tent made of rich hangings, the entrance of which was guarded by Kardook infantry carrying maces, and equipped with breast-plates, greaves, crested helmets, and round shields. This was the tent of Belesys, the terrible.

"Enter," said the officer who had been conducting us, adding in a jeering tone: "I hope the general will give you a handsome reception; perhaps he will put on a good temper for the occasion."

He burst into a roar of laughter and galloped off.

"Stop!" cried Chamai, wrathfully; "is that the way you speak to a Phœnician captain?"

But his words were wasted. The Chaldean was out of hearing, far away.

The Kardook guards scrutinised us narrowly, and consulted each other in an undertone. They appeared especially attracted by the dress of Hanno, who had arrayed himself in the costly presents of the Queen of Sheba. Turning to him, one of them said:

"Are you captain?"

"No," replied Hanno, pointing to me; "there is our captain."

The Kardooks stared in astonishment.

I was dressed in my ordinary naval attire; but as the Assyrians always associate dignity of place with costliness of apparel, they could only account for my appearance by conjecturing that I was in disguise.

"You wish to see Belesys?" said the guard; and having entered the tent, returned again immediately with permission for us to be admitted.

The Assyrian commander-in-chief was at the farther extremity of the tent, surrounded by a number of officers and slaves, and was reclining, or rather lolling, upon a luxurious couch; he was superbly dressed, but wore no armour. Armed men stood on both sides of him, and two cup-bearers were in attendance holding goblets of wine, of which, however, he was in no need, as he was already very drunk.

With the exception of Bichri, we all made a low bow on entering the tent; but the young archer, who was not always in a conciliating mood, did not feel disposed on this occasion to exhibit any sign of courtesy.

Pushing aside one of the cup-bearers who was obstructing his view, Belesys stared straight at us. He was a tall man, with a great frizzled beard, thick lips, and a heavy jaw, and his hair was glossy with perfumed ointment. A heavy mace which lay by his side was surmounted by the figure of a bull's head. As he gazed at us, he shook his head, screwed up his eyes, and, indeed, distorted all his features; while his attendants, as if to flatter him by imitation, did precisely the same. We waited some time for him to speak, and at last, in a tone that quite confirmed our suspicion that he was intoxicated, he roared out:

"You see those two big fellows? and you see that youngster with the bow? Take them, and give them five-and-twenty lashes apiece; and then put them amongst my archers. I don't dislike the look of them."

Utterly astounded, I held my tongue. Taking no notice of Hanno's clenched fist and gleaming eye, he went on, hiccupping as he spoke:

"That young man with the gold shoulder-belt, strip him to the skin, and pack him off to the slaves. I don't care for the other old scarecrows; do as you like with them; there's an ugly one-eyed rascal among them; hang him or behead him as you please, the sooner the better."

"What?" shrieked Himilco, in ungovernable rage; "what? do you call me a one-eyed rascal? and our captain, a Phœnician admiral, do you call him a scarecrow? By all the gods!" —

Belesys burst into a roar of laughter, repeated his orders that we should be put under arrest, and taking a cup from the nearest cup-bearer, drained it at a gulp and flung it back into the man's face.

"Handcuff them, I say!" he bawled again.

Several of his men approached to execute his bidding, but I shook off the hands of the Chaldean who ventured near me; Hannibal floored the man who was about to assail him, by planting his fist heavily in the fellow's eyes after the Cymri fashion in Prydhayn; Chamai, in genuine Celtic style, knocked down another by butting at him with his head in the middle of the stomach; but Bichri, the most agile of us all, took a much more determined measure. Bounding like a cat upon the couch, he fixed his knee firmly upon the general's breast, and with one hand caught hold of his beard, while with the other he held the point of his knife close enough to his throat to be felt.

"Capital, Bichri! well done!" shouted Hannibal, drawing his sword.

"Keep your hold, Bichri, and long live the King!" cried Chamai, following Hannibal's example.

Hanno and myself, resolved to act on the defensive, also drew our swords; Himilco tripped up another of the Chaldeans by one of those adroit turns of the hand with which a sailor knows so well how to take a landsman by surprise; and all my own sailors, seeing the aspect of affairs, in a moment set down their packages and unsheathed their cutlasses.

"Shall I cut his throat?" asked Bichri, coolly, appealing to me.

"No; wait a little," I answered; "let me talk to him a bit first."

Approaching near enough for him to hear me distinctly, I said:

"Belesys, you have only to cry out or make the least resistance, and in one instant that knife severs your head from your body."

"Soldiers," I continued, turning myself to his guard, "the moment you call for assistance or lift up your hands to attack us, that moment, mark me, your general is a dead man."

The proximity of Bichri's knife to the general's gullet seemed to have a sobering influence upon him, and in a voice very much subdued, he implored his soldiers and slaves to keep perfectly quiet, and at his wish they retreated to the sides of the tent.

Bichri began to whistle one of his Benjamite airs, and deliberately brought up his other knee on to the general's chest.

"You are stifling me, young man; let me breathe, let me breathe."

"O nonsense, I know better than that," replied Bichri, without stirring an inch; "I am a very light weight."

"Let me go," gasped Belesys. "Believe me, I was only joking; let me free, and I will recompense you liberally."

"As to letting you free, that's not my concern; that depends upon Captain Mago; no one but the captain gives orders; you should sue to him."

At a hint from me that he should allow the Assyrian room to breathe, Bichri removed his feet to the ground, but without relaxing his hold upon his beard or lifting the knife from his throat. Belesys was breathing heavily; his face was pale; his forehead moist with a cold sweat; there was no doubt about his being sober now; and he piteously asked for our captain to speak to him. Without waiting for me, Himilco began to jeer him.

"Ah! you would like to see the old scarecrow, would you? and here am I, too, the one-eyed rascal; it is a long way to come, all round Libya, to cut your throat, but it is quite worth the trouble if it teaches you that you shouldn't get drunk all by yourself."

And snatching the goblet from one of the cup-bearers he drained it off, and pitched the empty cup at the nose of the general.

"Gently," I said, and laid my hand upon the irascible pilot. "Belesys is mistaken altogether; he did not understand that we were conveying presents to his King."

The Assyrian gave so violent a start that his neck was actually grazed by Bichri's knife. He was beginning to bawl out something about his illustrious sovereign Belochus II., when I admonished him that he had better not speak so loud, a warning that Bichri enforced by tightening his grasp upon his throat.

"I was but jesting; you should take a joke," he gasped. "Only tell your young man to loose his hold upon my throat, and I swear by the almighty Nisroch, I will not hurt a hair of your heads. Can you not trust me now?"

"Not quite," I answered, smiling.

It was now my turn to assume the tone of irony, and with mock reverence I turned to him and said:

"And now, most valiant Belesys, servant of the mighty Belochus, will you condescend to do me the favour of visiting our ships?"

"By all means. I am ready; I will come at once."

"We will take our time," I continued. "Just attend to me: you must have, you know, every proper mark of respect; on your way to the vessels you shall walk between Hannibal and Chamai; they shall show their respect by drawing their swords, and Bichri shall walk close behind you; that will be another sign of respect: and when you get on board you shall remain on board until I have had an interview with the King. On board ship, you have heard, it is the captain who gives orders."

"I think I understand your terms," he replied. "I am to go with you; if I cry out you will murder me; and when I am on your ship I am to be kept as a hostage."

"Precisely so," I said.

The incorrigible Himilco renewed his jeering, and asked whether he could not produce a little more wine, but the general made no reply, and closed his eyes as if he were in deep thought. Bichri took his seat upon the breast of his prisoner, who, in spite of the indignity he was receiving, seemed to be so much struck with admiration for the young man, that he promised to make his fortune if he would enter his service.

"But get up, get up, I entreat you," he begged him, in an imploring tone. "I assure you that you are a great deal heavier than you seem to imagine."

Bichri made no answer, but whistled an air, and jolted himself up and down upon his seat.

Himilco, meanwhile, filched a flask of wine from one of the cup-bearers, whom he rewarded by some good hard knocks, and then professed that he was enjoying himself extremely.

"Come now, general," I said at length; "we can't spend all day waiting here; we shall have some one coming in. Is your mind made up?"

He made an ambiguous movement. Bichri frowned, and jerked his knife.

"Yes, I will come," he said, abruptly. "After all, I was in fault."

We now arranged our party as I had proposed. Assuming all the appearance of respect, Hannibal and Chamai placed themselves one on each side of Belesys, and Bichri, still whistling gently to himself, followed alone behind. I followed with Hanno and Himilco, and the sailors, taking up their packages, brought up the rear.

As we passed along the ranks, the soldiers all prostrated themselves in honour of their general, and I could scarcely suppress a smile at their ignorance of the true state of things. Belesys did not utter a word or make a sign, and in half an hour's time he was on board the Ashtoreth, witnessing the respectful salute with which my own people always acknowledged my return.

"To your posts, men!" I cried, cheerily; "here is the noble commander-in-chief of the Assyrian army; he does us the honour to inspect our ships."

"And he intends," said Himilco, "to treat you to a double ration of wine."

"Long live the King of Assyria! long live his illustrious general!" rose in acclamation from a chorus of voices.

Belesys, who was still rather pale, smiled uneasily, but with a forced hilarity professed himself ready not only to give my brave men the double allowance of wine, but to provide them with some sheep and oxen besides. Once again a general cheer was raised, and Hannibal made him a military salute. Chamai merely shrugged his shoulders and Bichri could not help confiding to Dionysos that the man before them was nothing but a drunken coward, who ruled the 50,000 men under his command by blows and lashes.

"They are not Hellenes, then," said the young Phocian, proudly; "no Hellenes submit to blows!"

Belesys bit his lip; he had overheard what was said, and it mortified him; he tried to conceal his annoyance, and remarked to me that he had thought Phœnicians were too much engrossed by commerce to have any concern in the affairs of states. Hannibal was on the point of quoting the case of Adonibal, the naval suffect of Utica, as an instance to the contrary, when our attention was arrested by the transit of a section of the Assyrian army from one bank of the river to the other. The water was covered with boats and with large rafts, on which were placed all the war-chariots, and at the stern of every one of them was a group of men holding the heads of the horses that were swimming behind. The passage of the infantry was made on inflated goat-skins. The utmost confusion prevailed; several poor fellows were drowned, but that seemed a matter of utter indifference to the officers that stood upon the bank lashing the men with whips to make them quicken their movements. At one place we observed that a large bevy of prisoners was being conducted before an official who was seated on a kind of open air tribunal, surrounded by guards. Some town had evidently been lately captured. All the gods, and a quantity of booty, were first laid at the officer's feet, and then the prisoners – men, women, and children – were brought before him. They were a wretched, dejected set, many of the men fettered with heavy bronze chains, and nearly all with their hands bound behind their backs, the whole of them being compelled to prostrate themselves in turn before the officer, who placed his foot upon their necks. In a few cases a respite was granted and life was spared; but as a general rule the captives were forthwith hanged or beheaded in the presence of their fellow-sufferers. I observed that out of the number of miserable objects, four were selected and sent off to be tied to stakes that were driven into the ground on an adjacent eminence.

It was truly a heartrending spectacle. Chamai and Hannibal had seen something of the kind before in the course of the warfare in their own land; but to Aminocles and his countrymen, with their Hellenic ideal of liberty, the sight was intolerably shocking, and they were loud in their asseverations that they would die before they would incur the risk of any such utter degradation.

While we were looking on at this humiliating exhibition, a messenger arrived from the King to ascertain the object of my coming. I stated it as briefly as possible, and in another hour the man came again to summon us into the presence of Belochus. I took no one with me except Hanno, and the sailors to carry the Queen's gifts. As we walked along Hanno was silent, evidently preparing some graceful compliment; but his painstaking in this way was of no avail, as we were only permitted to view the splendour of the Assyrian sovereign from a distance. At about a hundred paces from the throne we were commanded to halt, and prostrate ourselves to the ground.

Belochus II. was seated beneath a group of trees, surrounded so closely by guards, cup-bearers, attendants with fans and parasols, and slaves, with fly-whisks, that for a long time I could see nothing of him except his tiara, which was very dazzling, his robes, which were very elaborate, and his unshod feet sparkling with gems. But at last the mass of gorgeous pomp seemed to open, and I could plainly distinguish the majestic countenance of the King, encircled with long hair, and conspicuous with a thick frizzled beard.

An avenue of soldiers was formed; some officers were sent to receive whatever documents and presents we had brought; we were bidden a second time to prostrate ourselves to the earth, and were then escorted back to our ships. I found Belesys very impatient to be released from his imprisonment, and he looked much chagrined when I told him that it was necessary for me to detain him a while longer as a hostage for my own safety.

In about an hour afterwards some letters, enclosed in a casket of gold, arrived from King Belochus for the Queen of Sheba; the present for the Queen was accompanied by a meagre gift of provisions and stuffs for myself and my people.

My mission was now accomplished, and I prepared again to set sail.

"You may go," I said to my prisoner; "let us part friends."

Belesys gave a sigh of relief.

"I am glad you are a man of your word," he said.

I laughed heartily.

"Did you suppose I should keep you? What good could you do me?"

"Revenge is sweet," he answered. "I feared you would not let my injustice go unpunished."

"Ah, you mean that would have been your course."

Belesys smiled.

"The hand that cannot be cut off must be caressed," he said.

I took good care that before he left he should see the scorpions filled with missiles and put ready for action, and then I dismissed him with the most punctilious observance of outward respect.

Before quitting the ship he made another attempt to induce Bichri to join his service, an honour which was coolly and firmly declined.