The confusion of weapons was as great as that of garments and peoples.
There was not a deadly invention that was not present--from wooden
daggers, stone hatchets and ivory tridents, to long sabres toothed
like saws, slender, and formed of a yielding copper blade. They handled
cutlasses which were forked into several branches like antelopes' horns,
bills fastened to the ends of ropes, iron triangles, clubs and bodkins.
The Ethiopians from the Bambotus had little poisoned darts hidden in
their hair. Many had brought pebbles in bags. Others, empty handed,
chattered with their teeth.
This multitude was stirred with a ceaseless swell. Dromedaries, smeared
all over with tar-like streaks, knocked down the women, who carried
their children on their hips. The provisions in the baskets were pouring
out; in walking, pieces of salt, parcels of gum, rotten dates, and
gourou nuts were crushed underfoot; and sometimes on vermin-covered
bosoms there would hang a slender cord supporting a diamond that the
Satraps had sought, an almost fabulous stone, sufficient to purchase
an empire. Most of them did not even know what they desired. They were
impelled by fascination or curiosity; and nomads who had never seen a
town were frightened by the shadows of the walls.
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