The Barbarians constantly expected to see Matho appear,--and from
discouragement, from languor, and from the obstinacy of sick men who
object to change their situation, they would not leave the mountain;
at last the provisions were exhausted and the Zuaeces went away. It was
known that they numbered scarcely more than thirteen hundred men, and
there was no need to employ soldiers to put an end to them.
Wild beasts, especially lions, had multiplied during the three years
that the war had lasted. Narr' Havas had held a great battue, and--after
tying goats at intervals--had run upon them and so driven them towards
the Pass of the Hatchet;--and they were now all living in it when a man
arrived who had been sent by the Ancients to find out what there was
left of the Barbarians.
Lions and corpses were lying over the tract of the plain, and the dead
were mingled with clothes and armour. Nearly all had the face or an arm
wanting; some appeared to be still intact; others were completely dried
up, and their helmets were filled with powdery skulls; feet which had
lost their flesh stood out straight from the knemides; skeletons still
wore their cloaks; and bones, cleaned by the sun, made gleaming spots in
the midst of the sand.
The lions were resting with their breasts against the ground and both
paws stretched out, winking their eyelids in the bright daylight, which
was heightened by the reflection from the white rocks.
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