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CHAPTER XII
I CONSULT THE ORACLE

I made it my first business on the following morning to go to the great market-place, near the trade-harbour and the temple of Achmon. It is surrounded by lofty houses upon an arcade, under which are the retail shops of the tradespeople, their warehouses being in courts at the back. In these shops every variety of Libyan merchandise was exhibited for sale. There were hides, dressed and undressed; stones prepared for engraving; Numidian copper; lion-skins from Mount Atlas; thongs of hippopotamus-hide from Lake Tritonis; elephants' tusks from the Macar; corn from Zeugis and Byzatium, and wool from the land of the Garamantines. I spent a considerable time in making purchases of ivory, and procured a good supply at a very fair price; and later in the day went with Hannibal and Hamilcar to fulfil the engagement I had made on the previous night. Hanno and Chamai preferred escorting Chryseis and Abigail about the city; and Bichri went for an evening's diversion with Gisgo, Hasdrubal, and Himilco.

Barca, our host, one of the richest shipowners in the colony, had prepared us an elegant entertainment in a handsome tent pitched upon the terrace of his house. As soon as the meal was ended, wine was brought in, and musicians and dancing-girls performed for our amusement; and one of Barca's slaves, an old Libyan, who was well versed in the songs and traditions of his people, repeated his tales about the mystery and wonders of their origin.

According to his account, there had formerly, south of Libya, been an extensive sea, which received the water of several rivers, and to the south of which again lay the land of the negroes, who had faces like monkeys. This sea was the original Lake Tritonis, or Pallas, and the chain of lakes, at the foot of the Atlas Mountains, extending from the vicinity of Gades to Karth,³⁵ in Byzatium (now known to us as the Tritons), are either marshes formed by the overflow of two great rivers from the south, whose waters have been diverted by Mount Atlas, or, when salt, are probably the remains of the same great sea. There are then, he represented, two mountainous ridges, the more southernly of which outpours its streams as far as the Tritonis and Mount Atlas, and the other sends its rivers, the Macar and the Bagradas, into our own Great Sea. Further west, issuing also from Mount Atlas, are other important rivers, which lose themselves in the sands. These, however, long centuries back, had an outlet into the inland branch of the great Atlantic Ocean, which, at that remote period, was the southern boundary of Libya, and extending eastwards towards the confines of Egypt, ultimately joined the Syrtes. Libya was thus a great peninsula, connected with the mainland only by a narrow isthmus, now the Straits of Gades, and enclosed on every other coast by water; on the north and east by the Syrtes, by which it was separated from Egypt; on the south by the inland sea that covered the present sandy desert; and on the west by the ocean itself.

But as time went on great changes were evolved. His face beaming with intelligence as he spoke, the old man told of mighty convulsions of the earth, and how they changed the isthmus of Gades into a strait, and how the waters were swept back by the shock, so that the whole flood of the ocean rushed through to the Great Sea, and the Great Sea receded and yielded to the upheaving of the land.

I listened with increasing interest. I knew already how the sea could overwhelm the land. I was also aware how the Siculians maintain that long ages back a neck of solid land had joined their country to the continent of the Vitalians. Many times, too, I had heard amongst Phœnicians how a deluge had detached the isle of Chittim from the mainland. And now I was hearing the wondrous tale of how the sea had retreated from the south of Libya.

He went on to say that when the waters rolled away they submerged an immense number of islands, leaving the Fortunate Islands³⁶ (of which I shall have to speak hereafter) as the sole representatives of what had previously been a vast archipelago, that had made communication easy, even in small boats, not only with the land of the Atlantides, but with that other great country that lies still further to the west. Now, however, that Atlantis has disappeared, all intercourse has been dropped with that remote land, from which both the red and white Libyans assert that they originally came, and whence migrating eastwards they founded cities as they advanced, became the first settlers in Egypt, and spread far and wide the knowledge of their gods, which were really the Dionysus and Minerva of the Hellenes and Vitalians, and Zeus, known among us Phœnicians as Baal-Hamon. According to their own account (which is confirmed by the Hellenes), the Pelasgians, under the leadership of Melkarth-Ouso, came into Libya, but afterwards retreated to the east. Then came the great convulsion when the land was upheaved and the waters receded, and the earth subsided into its present configuration; then, too, the Sidonians, protected by their gods, began to assert their sovereignty on the sea, and sending forth ships to every region of the world, opened emporiums of commerce, discovered mines, founded cities, taught the art of writing, and disseminated knowledge of every kind.

More and more as the aged Libyan recited his ancient legends had we become rapt in attention. Hannibal sat with his eyes wide open, and from time to time gave vent to ejaculations of astonishment; and I, though less surprised, for I had already speculated very much on these matters, was nevertheless deeply impressed with the clearness with which they had been laid before us. I retired that night with my brain agitated by excitement, and dreamed that I was commanding a magnificent fleet, and that we discovered the land beyond Atlantis; and when I woke in the morning, I made a vow in my mind that no sooner should my present expedition to Tarshish be completed, than I would set out on a voyage of discovery to the west.

We had been in Utica three days when Adonibal sent me a message that he wished to speak to me. Without loss of time I presented myself at the palace, and was conducted to the apartment from which the admiral can at once overlook the city, the harbour, and the sea. To his enquiry how long it would be before I took my departure, I replied that having taken in my cargo I hoped to sail in two days.

"Here, then," he said, "are letters for the suffects of Rusadir and Gades; and I intend to give you ten seamen to supply the places of those you have lost. I am sure there ought not to be any deficiency in your numbers in the event of your coming into collision with Bodmilcar."

I was proceeding to thank him for his liberality, but he stopped me, and said that he should have to trouble me for fifty shekels that I owed him.

I professed myself quite ready to pay anything that was due, but said that I was very much amazed to learn that I was in his debt.

"It is a mere trifle," said Adonibal, in his usual facetious way; "it will not ruin you. I should not mention it at all, only you know it is a matter of principle with a true Phœnician to keep his accounts straight. The truth is, it is a little fine. Some of your men have been half-killing a couple of my Ligurians. The knaves are down in the dungeon sleeping off the effects of their drinking-bout; but just pay their fines, and I will give you an order for their release, and, if you like, you may go yourself and fetch them out."

"Ah," said I, laughing, "you wanted to show off the efficiency of your police."

I could not help asking him whether the circumstance did not remind him of the time when I was his helmsman, and he had himself come to liberate me from the prison in Chittim, where I had been locked up for smashing the skull of the grand merchant from Seir.

"You mean when I was captain of the Achmon– and a noble ship she was," said Adonibal. "Yes, to be sure – I remember it perfectly: we were both of us younger then than we are now. When I was a youngster I was always getting into scrapes as often as I went on shore with a purse-full of money; now I am only a poor hulk, dismasted and stranded here on the shore. Such is life! while we are young we entertain ourselves with breaking each other's heads, and when we are old we busy ourselves with cutting them off."

"But, seriously, how have my men been committing themselves?" I asked.

"As far as I understand the matter," replied the suffect, "they took it into their heads to play pranks with one of the priests of Dionysos; they treated him to some wine, made him perfectly tipsy, smeared his face all over with red and blue paint, and then insisted upon making him dance. Some of my Ligurian soldiers, seeing what was going on, tried to protect the priest – an interference that your men were not in the mood to allow. They had tripped up two of the soldiers, when the Admiralty-guard came to the rescue, and quietly walked off four of your drunken fellows to me. I sent them to the dungeon, but I have not had them flogged; I am generally as indulgent as possible in the case of a sailor's spree. I am an admiral now, and old in the service, but I do not forget that I was once a young pilot."

The subterranean vaults to which I now descended were very dark: most of them were used as armouries or storehouses, but a few were set apart for prisons. The turnkey opened the door of one of these, and by the light of his torch I could distinguish Bichri and three of my sailors, all looking very sheepish, and I had some difficulty in repressing my inclination to laugh. However, I assumed a serious air, gave them a severe reprimand, and sent them out with a notice that they were not to quit their ships. They did not wait for any second bidding to be off; the Admiralty dungeons are no enviable quarters, and those who find their way into them rarely leave except for the cross or the gallows.

Returning to the quay, I passed along the subterranean passage to the arsenal, and spent the remainder of the day in directing the repairs of my ships. By the evening everything was finished; and I was so gratified by the rapidity with which the work had been done, that in my good humour I not only forgave my four men who were in disgrace, but allowed them, on promise of good behaviour, to have another holiday on the following day.

For myself, I resolved to spend that day in an expedition to a small temple of Baal-Hamon, a short distance from the city, and to take with me no companion whatever except my friend Barca's old Libyan slave.

This temple is situated in the gloomy recesses of a forest; it is oblong in shape, and has neither door nor window; its only external aperture is a hole in the roof to allow an escape for the smoke of the sacrifices; and it is entered by an underground passage, the mouth of which is closed by a large stone concealed by the brushwood. Three old and half-naked Libyans were waiting outside, and after a brief consultation, in whispers, with the slave I had brought with me, quietly raised the stone and pointed to the orifice. I entered the passage, followed by the men, and in a short time found myself in a small dim chamber, in the further wall of which was a flat stone, which turned on a hinge and formed a door, just affording room to pass, and opening into a second chamber, that was at once misty and red with the glare of two smoking lamps. Let into the wall of this compartment was another flat stone with a hole in its centre, which one of the men turned slightly round upon its pivot, allowing me to peep into a third chamber, which was a mere cell, containing a niche, where a shapeless notched stone was deposited, which my guide informed me was the god himself. In obedience to the directions that were given me, I prostrated myself three times before the deity, and remained waiting where I was. After a time, a black sheep that I had brought with me was conducted into the cell, and slaughtered before the niche in such a way that its blood flowed into a hollowed stone let into the ground to receive it. When the sacrifice was finished, the stone was turned back, shutting the god with his newly-slain victim into the inner cell. I was told to apply my ear to the hole in the stone, and to listen for the voice of the deity. The lamps were then extinguished, and I was left in silence and in total darkness.

Presently a deep muffled voice, that seemed to issue from the abysses of the earth, came to my ear:

"Phœnician mariner, what wouldst thou ask of me?"

Awestruck, I could scarcely speak, but making an effort to reply, I said:

"Oracle of Hamon! I would know whether it be possible to sail westward beyond the Straits of Gades, and whether there is land."

"There is land," the voice repeated.

"Is it to be found north, west, or south?" I inquired.

"There is land to the north, there is land to the west, there is land to the south," the oracle replied.

Emboldened by the answers I obtained, I asked again:

"And the proper route – is it by the sacred promontory, or must I sight the head of Gades?"

"Mortal!" the voice declared, "you ask more than it is permitted mortal to know. Go; I tell no more."

The stone doorway turned on its hinge, and we groped our way back through the gloom out into the open air. I recompensed the attendants liberally, and returned to the city – perplexed, it is true, but confirmed in my resolution to explore the ocean and seek for land, far or near, beyond the Straits of Gades.

In the course of our walk back, I inquired of my companion whether there were many of these subterranean temples in Zeugis and Byzatium. He told me that in the interior there were several very much more elaborate, with arches and domes, but they were not nearly so ancient; the true temples of the Atlantides were all like the one which we had just left. Some there were, indeed, that were still more simple, consisting only of three stones, flat and unhewn, of which two were placed upright on their ends, and the third laid horizontally across them; others were formed of stones arranged in a long covered avenue. Of these, some were in the open air and some concealed under mounds of earth, at the top of which several stones were reared, while round the base circles of still larger stones were grouped symmetrically. No doubt some of these erections were not temples, but tombs, and were occasionally found in such numbers as to cover a large extent of ground, and were laid out in set figures, representing men, serpents, eggs, and scorpions.

Such was the Libyan's account of his religious edifices. When, however, I began to question him about their signification, and why some were underground and some above, and what was the design of their peculiar construction, I could elicit nothing from him but that it was the result of magic, of which his people had inherited the great secret from their forefathers.

Early the following morning, with the suffect's permission, I set to work to take in a supply of fresh water from the fine cisterns on the quays. Each cistern is divided into two compartments; one to collect the rain-water in its turbid condition from the paved streets, the other to receive the same water when it has undergone the process of filtration; the two tanks being connected by square-headed cocks turned by a wooden key. All the private houses, as well as the public buildings, in the towns, are provided with cisterns of a similar construction, the country villages being supplied with water from open tanks formed by two circular compartments, of which one acts as a receptacle and the other as a reservoir.

Hannibal, who had been paying a visit to the ramparts, returned highly gratified with what he had seen. He informed me that all the forts were built upon cisterns, and that the rubble-work of the walls was twenty-four cubits thick at their base, and eighteen at their top; that the soldiers' quarters were on the second and third storeys, out of the reach of the battering rams, and built in the thickness of the walls; also that about three-quarters of a bowshot in advance of the inner line there was a wall half the height, and outside this again a strong palisade, with a moat and intrenchment. He thought, however, that his eye had been keen enough to discover one weak point to the right of the city, where the arsenal was overlooked by an adjacent hill, and I concurred in his opinion that another fort ought to be built upon the wall to cover any attack from the eminence.

The sundial on the Admiralty palace marked the hour of noon when, having made my roll-call, and satisfied myself that my men were all on board, I went to take leave of Adonibal. The aged suffect bade me a kind farewell, and wished me a prosperous voyage. I lost no time in giving the signal for departure, and as we left the harbour we raised a hearty cheer for the admiral, who was watching us from his balcony. Four other vessels, heavily freighted and bound for Massalia, at the mouth of the Rhone, left Utica immediately after us.

The distance from Utica to the Straits of Gades is 8800 stadia, and by fast vessels can be accomplished in about a week. A strong west wind, however, had made the sea so turbulent that all navigation was very difficult, and it was not until after four days that we sighted the Cabiri (or the Seven Capes), a point which is usually reached in two; and even then, in order to clear the promontory, we were obliged to make such long tacks that we quite lost sight of land, and were carried far towards the north. But at length, on the seventh day, I recognised the first great cape³⁷ on the mainland, south of the Pityusai Islands.

"Tarshish!" shouted Himilco, who had been so fully occupied that he had scarcely spoken before. "Tarshish at last!"

There was a rush to the deck; but so blinding were the rain and the spray, that it was impossible to distinguish anything on shore.

I had taken in enough water to last us for a fortnight, and it was well that I had done so, for we found ourselves experiencing the difficulty, not at all infrequent, of approaching this dangerous coast, and had to continue to make very long tacks.

After three days' perpetual struggle with the elements we were still off the Libyan coast, but the wind then moderated, and the rain gave place to sunshine. In the course of the next night Himilco and I, whilst well-nigh every one was asleep, recognised the tall perpendicular peaks of Calpe and Abyla, and soon afterwards we passed under the wall of rock that forms the southern limit of Tarshish; by the morning we were within sight of the level tongue of land south of the magnificent bay of Gades. All along the headland rose the white domes and terraces of the town, imbedded in luxuriant foliage; high above all was the semaphore beside the temple of Ashtoreth. As we entered the basin of what serves equally for trade-harbour and war-port, our trumpets were sounded, and we saluted the town with three ringing cheers.

We had reached our goal, and were in Tarshish at last.

CHAPTER XIII
THE SILVER MINES OF TARSHISH

The town of Gades, though not large, is neat and trimly built, and in the well-kept gardens in the environs, pomegranates, oranges, and lemons, which have all been introduced by the Phœnicians, flourish in great abundance. About the centre of the town, and in direct communication with the harbour, is the market, the emporium not only for the wedges of silver brought from the mines in the interior, but for barrels of the salted murenæ that are caught on the neighbouring shore; for Tarshish cats,³⁸ to be used in rabbit-hunting; for iron, which is obtained in small quantities from the north; and for the promiscuous curiosities in which the strange and remote region abounds. The market-place is surrounded by the offices of the rich merchants and money-changers, who, as proprietors of the mines, were ready to exchange their silver for copper, manufactured articles, and fancy goods. I was not long in making my way thither.

Having seen my ships properly moored in the places assigned them at the quay, handed their pay to my seamen and soldiers, and notified my arrival to the naval suffect, I turned into the thoroughfare that leads to the town, and had no difficulty in finding the office of Balshazzar, the rich merchant with whom I had had many business transactions during my previous visit. Balshazzar was dead, but Ziba, his widow, was carrying on the business in partnership with several other merchants. She received me very cordially, and insisted that I should send for the two women, and for my sub-captains and pilots, to come and take refreshment at her house. She provided a handsome entertainment, during which I had the opportunity of explaining to her the object of my voyage, and of asking her advice as to the best means of obtaining silver, either in lumps or ingots. I found that, according to her statement, the current price of silver was just then very low, so that I might hope to purchase on favourable terms, either in the town, or by going inland and bartering with the savages. Some large mines, she informed me, had quite recently been discovered on the River Bœtis,³⁹ about four days' march up the country, and the only reason why they had not been opened and worked was the scarcity of labour; the great bulk of the population of the town being either merchants or mariners.

"We ought," she concluded, "to have plenty of soldiers stationed here."

"Beyond a question," exclaimed Hannibal, warmly, "the prosperity of a country is to be measured by the number of soldiers it maintains."

Ziba's long residence in the colonies had rendered her quite unaccustomed to the ideas and manners of military men, and she looked at him in some amazement.

"Yes," she said, "we do require a large number of slaves, soldiers, and transported felons here."

It was now Hannibal's turn to look amazed.

"Soldiers and felons! What do you mean? Do you suppose that soldiers are to be associated with slaves and malefactors?"

In explanation of her remark, she said that in order to establish a firm footing in the silver-producing districts, she thought that the merchants ought to club together, and either buy or hire soldiers to drive back the native barbarians. The prisoners they took ought to be sent to the mines, and to these there should be added as many slaves as could be bought, and any number of transported criminals who would cost nothing but their keep.

Seeing that Hannibal was about to make some indignant rejoinder, I interposed by asking her whether it was possible to obtain slaves here, and whether the natives were hostile or well-disposed.

"Not a slave will you find in the market," she said; "they have been purchased as fast as they have been brought to us. As to the savages, they have hitherto been tolerably peaceable; but, aware of the value we set upon their silver, they demand most exorbitant wages for their labour."

"Peaceable you call them, do you?" broke in Himilco; and pointing to the empty socket of his eye, said, "Yes; perhaps if using their lances to scoop out people's eyes is a proof of peaceableness, the Iberians of Tarshish are supremely peaceable; but I confess I don't quite see it."

Ziba smiled. Although she was a thorough woman of business, she had a keen appreciation of a joke.

"Yes, pilot," she replied; "I very well recollect your misfortune when you were here before; indeed, it was I myself who dressed your wounds with oil and rosemary. But you may take my word for it that the tribes on the Bœtis are far more anxious to take your goods than to do you any bodily injury. In time, I have no doubt, they will become perfectly submissive to our rule."

"And then," I exclaimed, "Tarshish, like Zeugis, will be one of the brightest jewels in the crown of our glorious Sidon."

And every one, as I spoke, filled and drained his wine-cup to the honour of our noble city.

"But to return to business," said Ziba; "I think that the best plan for you will be to come with me to the naval suffect, who may probably suggest some plan by which you can get labour to open some fresh mines. The Bœtis is quite wide enough to allow your ships to ascend within a day's march of the best districts, and your soldiers and sailors ought to be quite enough to protect you from any hostilities on the part of the Iberians."

I readily acquiesced in her proposal; and the widow, having put on a veil, mounted a richly-caparisoned mule led by two well-dressed slaves, and preceded by a running footman carrying a long staff. She went in front, and we all sallied forth after her to the Admiralty palace. The suffect received us in the large hall, where he was seated in his painted chair; and when I had explained the object of my visit, he said:

"Had you come four days sooner, you might have arranged to accompany a Tyrian merchant who passed through this port on his way to the mines."

The suspicion flashed instantly on my mind, and I said:

"You mean Bodmilcar?"

"Yes," replied the suffect, "Bodmilcar; and a rare rough-looking set he had with him. We are not generally very particular in looking into the character of men who go to the diggings, but I confess I never set eyes upon a worse-looking lot. They looked like thieves and assassins."

"Just what they were," I said; "and their leader is no better than themselves. You have only to read this, and you will learn what he really is;" and I handed him Adonibal's letter.

"By Ashtoreth!" he swore, "what a scoundrel the fellow is!"

After pondering a few minutes, he continued:

"I will tell you what I can do. I will lend you fifty armed men to help you to improve the villain off the face of the earth. I would, if I could, lend you more, as I know how advisable it is for expeditions into the interior to be well guarded; all kinds of people are at work in the mines, and nothing is easier for them than to conspire to overpower a new comer. But I really cannot spare any more. The time will come, I hope, when we shall have reinforcements enough here to make our authority properly felt in the mining districts."

Ziba now mentioned that she had made a contract with one of the Iberian chiefs, named Aitz, by which he had engaged to find porters and labourers to assist the twelve hundred slaves which she had provided to excavate the soil of a new mine; and having explained that she had erected a fortress in which were stationed a hundred soldiers, and put up a residence for an overseer of the works, she said that she was perfectly willing to hand over the contract to me under certain conditions. She was ready to surrender her sole interest, to give me an introduction to her overseer, and to allow me the protection of her little garrison, if I would stipulate to pay her a fifth part of the gross profits.

The suffect seemed to think that the proposal was reasonable; but I demurred to the proportion of the profits which she demanded, and insisted upon her accepting a sixth instead of a fifth.

After a short debate, which ended in Ziba's yielding to my terms, I made Hanno draw out two copies of the agreement which we mutually signed, and then all adjourned to the temple of Ashtoreth, where we offered a sacrifice to the goddess, and made a vow to remain faithful to the various covenants of the contract.

The time of the year was very favourable, and I was anxious to lose no time in starting. Accordingly, four days did not elapse after our arrival at Gades before our ships were again on the sea, making way towards the mouth of the Bœtis, which we reached after two days' easy sailing.

Beyond the Straits of Gades the sea is subject to tides which are even more considerable than those in the Jam Souph, and it was necessary to wait until high-water before we could pass the bar of the river. As soon, however, as the bar was passable, the river presented a very animated scene, and vessels of every description got into motion, both ascending and descending the stream; Phœnician craft, from the ponderous gaoul to the slim fishing-smack; Iberian piroques, carrying their great brown or black sails of woven bark; and the long Celtic coracles, composed of hide. Of all these, none were empty; whatever provisions are consumed in the mining regions have all to be brought from Gades, and the same ships that convey the supplies into the interior always return laden with the ore.

Having crossed the bar, as there was no wind and the current was strong, I lowered my sails and rowed up the river. The yellow waters of the river flow rapidly between banks that are sometimes wooded and sometimes barren flats. The country on both sides is mountainous and wild, and only at long intervals are to be seen any of the Iberian villages, which, consisting of hovels made of mud and branches of trees, are most frequently nothing more than roofs to holes which have been dug in the ground. The miners' villages are very similar, the chief difference being that the huts are higher and more commodious, and in the centre of each community there is a palisade enclosing a redoubt, or embattled fortress built of brick.

"Not particularly lively here," said Hanno; "the getting of silver seems rather a more dreary business than the spending of it."

Hannibal remarked that all the villages seemed to occupy positions that were naturally very strong, observing that the Bœtis itself formed a good line of defence, and that there might be a great deal of hard fighting in such a country.

"I can answer for that," said Himilco; "I know that these Tarshish barbarians would sooner pluck out a man's eye than give him a cup of wine. Here come some of the rascals. Look at them."

Every one looked where Himilco was pointing, and there, walking, or rather shambling, along the bank were rather more than a score of savage-looking creatures evidently watching our ships. They were almost naked, their only covering being a strip of woven bark around their loins, and a sort of turban of the same material on their heads; they had sunburnt skins, black hair, and small black eyes, obliquely set; they were of moderate height, and appeared to be extremely agile. But we observed that some of them seemed to be quite of a distinct race, being very tall and thin, with thick shaggy beards and very revolting countenances. All were armed with long shields, and carried either bludgeons, slings, or strong lances pointed with flint or bone.