scended into the valley of the Scamander. Some losses were
incurred from the effects of a violent thunderstorm amid the mountains;
but they cannot have been of a any great consequence. On reaching the
Scamander the army found its first difficulty with respect to water.
That stream was probably low, and the vast host of men and animals
were unable to obtain from it a supply sufficient for their wants. This
phenomenon, we are told, frequently recurred afterwards; it surprises
the English reader, but is not really astonishing, since, in hot
countries, even considerable streams are often reduced to mere threads
of water during the summer.

Rounding the hills which skirt the Scamander valley upon the east, the
army marched past Rhoeteum, Ophrynium, and Dardanus to Abydos. Here
Xerxes, seated upon a marble throne, which the people of Abydos had
erected for him on the summit of a hill, was able to see at one glance
his whole, armament, and to feast his eyes with the sight. It is not
likely that any misgivings occurred to him at such a moment. Before him
lay his vast host, covering with its dense masses the entire low ground
between the hills and the sea; beyond was the strait, and to his left
the open sea, white with the sails of four thousand ships; the green
fields of the Chersonese smiled invitingly a little further on; while,
between him and the opposite shore, the long lines of his bridges lay
darkling upon the sea, like a yoke placed upon the neck of a captive.
Having seen all, the king gave his special attention to the fleet, which
he now perhaps beheld in all its magnitude for the first time. Desirous
of knowing which of his subjects were the best sailors, he gave orders
for a sailing-match, which were at once carried out. The palm was borne
off by the Phoenicians of Sidon, who must have beaten not only their own
countrymen of Tyre, but the Greeks of Asia and the islands.

On the next day the passage took place. It was accompanied by religious
ceremonies. Waiting for the sacred hour of sunrise, the leader of the
host, as the first rays appeared, poured a libation from a golden goblet
into the sea, and prayed to Mithra that he might effect the conquest of
Europe. As he prayed he cast into the sea the golden goblet, and with it
a golden bowl and a short Persian sword. Meanwhile the multitude strewed
all the bridge with myrtle boughs, and perfumed it with clouds of
incense. The "Immortals" crossed first, wearing garlands