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: