When they had come within a stadium of me I had ample opportunity of examining the details of their boats and equipments. Although the boats were long, they were very ill-constructed; they had only a single deck, and were each manned by thirty rowers; the stern was somewhat raised, but the deck was almost level with the sea; on the prow was painted a pair of huge red and white eyes which seemed to stare fixedly at the waves. The men on board were very tall; they had large heads, wide flat faces, reddish complexions and thin beards; although their limbs were muscular and well-developed, their gait was very awkward. They were armed with ponderous lances, hatchets, bucklers, and round helmets which had no crests; whilst their legs were protected either by sandals or by pointed gaiters. Most of them wore tunics of some dark colour, which, though longer than our kitonets, were shorter than those worn by the Syrians. On their arms and throats was a profusion of bracelets and necklaces, and their girdles, which were very wide, were ornamented with plates of polished bronze. After looking at them steadily for a time, Abigail declared that she would rather die than fall into the hands of such revolting creatures.
Coming within hail, the Rasennæ began shouting furiously at us, but we took no heed. Finding that their challenge was unanswered, they sent one of their boats in front of me, whilst the other passed round the stern intending to cut me off from the shore; but they reckoned without their host. The former boat dashed itself violently against the stockade of concealed boats, and after two or three ineffectual efforts to disengage herself, heeled over on her side, and remained with her stern considerably sunk below the sea.
My trumpet sounded, my oars dipped, my warriors started to their feet, and a shout of triumph rang through the air.
Thoroughly taken aback by our sudden revival, the other boat endeavoured to tack about to get out of our way; but so clumsily did she set about the manœuvre, that she only succeeded in running her stern aground, and being thus entirely at my mercy, I poured into her such a shower of missiles as probably her commander and crew had never before conceived possible.
"Here, Tyrrhenians, Rasennæ, or whatever you call yourselves," shouted Hannibal, as he worked away at his scorpions; "here is a heavenly shower of manna for you! If these arrows and Cretan pebbles are not to your taste, we can find you a nice little lot of spiked stakes."
Bichri, too, was quite in his element. With such an immovable mark within bowshot, he selected his victims just as he pleased, and was careful to choose those who wore any article of apparel or any ornament that particularly struck his fancy.
"Look at that fellow," I heard him say, "with the necklace of gold beads inlaid with blue and enamelled with white: I must have him; but I must hit him on the head, or I shall be spoiling that charming bit of embroidery he is wearing."
As our deck was several cubits higher than that of our antagonists, their archers were comparatively powerless; and in order to protect themselves under the incessant discharge of our missiles, they took refuge in their hold. Observing their retreat, Hannibal, Chamai and Bichri, with a few followers, leaped down upon their deck; Jonah, in his impetuous haste to go after them, came sprawling down headlong with a tremendous thud, but rising rapidly to his feet, caught hold of the heels of an unhappy Tyrrhenian who had not had time to make his escape, twirled him round and round in the air like a sling, and dashed out his brains against the side of the vessel. Short work was made with the few who still remained above board, and in a few minutes more, our people, who had forced their way down the hatchway, reappeared, bringing with them twenty men, of whom, to my surprise I found that no less than eleven were Phœnicians. Their costume and physiognomy revealed this at a glance.
Free now to turn my attention from the shore to the sea, I found that the Dagon had already sunk one of the privateers, and in concert with the Cabiros was driving the remaining two fast inland. I joined in the pursuit, and after a short chase, one of the boats, overwhelmed by the volleys of stones which we threw from our engines, found all further resistance useless, and made signs of surrender. The capture of this vessel cost us the lives of two of our men, and while we were engaged in securing our prize, the remaining boat took advantage of our occupation to effect an escape.
We lost as little time as possible in making our way back to the coast towards the prizes we had left there. We were only just in time. The Samnites had been watching the issue of the contest, and were hastening down from the heights to pillage the abandoned vessels; but as I sent some detachments of men to keep guard, they had for the present to keep their distance, and to be content to bide their time before they could enjoy the crumbs of the expected feast.