To Himilco's suggestion that we had wine enough to meet our need, I vouchsafed no other reply than a shrug of the shoulders, and continued:
"My intention was to take in a fresh supply this very evening, but this skirmish has frustrated everything. Go ashore we must; and this is the scheme that I propose; we will re-enter the river by the Sebennitic mouth, which is nearest to us now; they will never suspect us of venturing on land so soon; probably they will not be there at all; if they are, we must use main force; but water we must have."
My companions approved my plan, but expressed their anxiety as to what was to happen afterwards.
"I do not think," I said, "that because we have lost the gaoul that we need at all contemplate abandoning our expedition. Failing to find us at either Canope or Pharos, the Egyptians will watch for us all along the coast; and at last Bodmilcar, who knows our destination, will get reinforcements from Pharaoh and will chase us right on to Tarshish. Sooner or later we shall be pretty sure of falling in with him; but for the present, at least, we can elude him thoroughly. Here is my project. The wind is north-east and favourable; by steering by the sun in the daytime, and by keeping the Cabiros a little to our left at night, I do not fear but that in five days at most we might reach the shores of the great island, Crete."
Himilco and Hasdrubal stared at me in mingled admiration and surprise.
"From Egypt to Crete! Across the open sea! An unheard-of thing! Can it be possible?"
Such were the exclamations with which they heard my proposition.
"Aye, harder things than that may be done," I continued; "the wind isn't likely to change till next new moon; but even should it change and we happen to miss Crete, we shall only run upon the mainland, or on one of the islands of the Archipelago. Thence we can get round Cape Malea to Sicily, from Sicily to Carthage, from Carthage direct to Tarshish. That's our course, now."
"By our goddess Ashtoreth, your scheme is beautiful!" cried Hannibal; "and meanwhile the Egyptian rascals will be floundering about the Syrtes."