him in his army, and so under his own personal observation
and command. Smerdis evinced, on various occasions, so much strength
and skill, that Cambyses feared his influence among the officers and
soldiers, and was rendered continually watchful, suspicious, and
afraid. A circumstance at last occurred which excited his jealousy
more than ever, and he determined to send Smerdis home again to
Persia. The circumstance was this:

After Cambyses had succeeded in obtaining full possession of Egypt, he
formed, among his other wild and desperate schemes, the design of
invading the territories of a nation of Ethiopians who lived in the
interior of Africa, around and beyond the sources of the Nile. The
Ethiopians were celebrated for their savage strength and bravery.
Cambyses wished to obtain information respecting them and their
country before setting out on his expedition against them, and he
determined to send spies into their country to obtain it. But, as
Ethiopia was a territory so remote, and as its institutions and
customs, and the language, the dress, and the manners of its
inhabitants were totally different from those of all the other nations
of the earth, and were almost wholly unknown to the Persian army, it
was impossible to send Persians in disguise, with any hope that they
could enter and explore the country without being discovered. It was
very doubtful, in fact, whether, if such spies were to be sent, they
could succeed in reaching Ethiopia at all.

Now there was, far up the Nile, near the cataracts, at a place where
the river widens and forms a sort of bay, a large and fertile island
called Elephantine, which was inhabited by a half-savage tribe called
the Icthyophagi. They lived mainly by fishing on the river, and,
consequently, they had many boats, and were accustomed to make long
excursions up and down the stream. Their name was, in fact, derived
from their occupation. It was a Greek word, and might be translated
"Fishermen."[B] The manners and customs of half-civilized or savage
nations depend entirely, of course, upon the modes in which they
procure their subsistence. Some depend on hunting wild beasts, some on
rearing flocks and herds of tame animals, some on cultivating the
ground, and some on fishing in rivers or in the sea. These four
different modes of procuring food result in as many totally diverse
modes of life: it is a curious fact, however, that while a nation of
hunters differs very essentially f