Their legs and hands were tied; then when they were stretched on the
ground beside one another the elephants were brought back.
Their breasts cracked like boxes being forced; two were crushed at every
step; the big feet sank into the bodies with a motion of the haunches
which made the elephants appear lame. They went on to the very end.
The level surface of the plain again became motionless. Night fell.
Hamilcar was delighting himself with the spectacle of his vengeance, but
suddenly he started.
He saw, and all saw, some more Barbarians six hundred paces to the
left on the summit of a peak! In fact four hundred of the stoutest
Mercenaries, Etruscans, Libyans, and Spartans had gained the heights at
the beginning, and had remained there in uncertainty until now. After
the massacre of their companions they resolved to make their way through
the Carthaginians; they were already descending in serried columns, in a
marvellous and formidable fashion.
A herald was immediately despatched to them. The Suffet needed soldiers;
he received them unconditionally, so greatly did he admire their
bravery. They could even, said the man of Carthage, come a little
nearer, to a place, which he pointed out to them, where they would find
provisions.
The Barbarians ran thither and spent the night in eating.
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