its weight. Notwithstanding these precautions,
and the prodigious muscular power with which they were carried into
effect, some of the men were crushed. The great body of the army was,
however, unharmed; as soon as the force of the wagons was spent, they
rushed up the ascent, and attacked their enemies with their pikes. The
barbarians fled in all directions, terrified at the force and
invulnerability of men whom loaded wagons, rolling over their bodies
down a steep descent, could not kill.

Alexander advanced from one conquest like this to another, moving
toward the northward and eastward after he had crossed the mountains,
until at length he approached the mouths of the Danube. Here one of
the great chieftains of the barbarian tribes had taken up his
position, with his family and court, and a principal part of his army,
upon an island called Peuce, which may be seen upon the map at the
beginning of this chapter. This island divided the current of the
stream, and Alexander, in attempting to attack it, found that it would
be best to endeavor to effect a landing upon the upper point of it.

To make this attempt, he collected all the boats and vessels which he
could obtain, and embarked his troops in them above, directing them to
fall down with the current, and to land upon the island. This plan,
however, did not succeed very well; the current was too rapid for the
proper management of the boats. The shores, too, were lined with the
forces of the enemy, who discharged showers of spears and arrows at
the men, and pushed off the boats when they attempted to land.
Alexander at length gave up the attempt, and concluded to leave the
island, and to cross the river itself further above, and thus carry
the war into the very heart of the country.

It is a serious undertaking to get a great body of men and horses
across a broad and rapid river, when the people of the country have
done all in their power to remove or destroy all possible means of
transit, and when hostile bands are on the opposite bank, to embarrass
and impede the operations by every mode in their power. Alexander,
however, advanced to the undertaking with great resolution. To cross
the Danube especially, with a military force, was, in those days, in
the estimation of the Greeks and Romans, a very great exploit. The
river was so distant, so broad and rapid, and its banks were bordered
and defended by such ferocious foes, that to cross its eddying tide,
and penetra