he royal sportsman, who
would probably have fallen a victim, gored by a tusk or trampled to
death under the huge beast's feet, had not Amenemheb hastened to the
rescue, and by wounding the creature's trunk drawn its rage upon
himself. The brute was then, after a short struggle, overpowered and
captured.

Further expeditions were led by Thothmes into Asia in his thirty-fourth,
thirty-fifth, thirty-eighth, thirty-ninth, fortieth, and forty-second
years; but in none of them does he seem to have outdone the exploits of
the great campaign of the year 33. The brunt of his attacks at this time
fell upon the Zahi, or Tahai, of northern Phoenicia, and upon the Nairi
of the Mesopotamian region, who continually rebelled, and had to be
reconquered. The Rutennu seem for the most part to have paid their
tribute without resistance and without much difficulty. This may have
been partly owing to the judicious system which Thothmes had established
among them, whereby each chief was forced to give a son or brother as
hostage for his good behaviour, and if the hostage died to send another
in his place. It was certainly not because the tribute was light, since
it consisted of a number of slaves, silver vases of the weight of 762
pounds, nineteen chariots, 276 head of cattle, 1,622 goats, several
hundredweight of iron and lead, a number of suits of armour, and "all
kinds of good plants." The Rutennu had also to supply the stations along
the military road, whereby Thothmes kept up the communications between
Egypt and Mesopopotamia, with bread, wine, dates, incense, honey, and
figs.

While thus engaged in enlarging the limits of his empire towards the
north and the north-east, the careful monarch did not allow the regions
brought under Egyptian influence by former rulers to escape him. He
took a tribute of gold, spices, male and female slaves, cattle, ivory,
ebony, and panther skins from the land of Punt, of cattle and slaves
from Cush, and of the same products from the Uauat. Altogether he is
said to have carried off from the subject countries above 11,000
captives, 1,670 chariots, 3,639 horses, 4,491 of the larger cattle, more
than 35,000 goats, silver to the amount of 3,940 pounds, and gold to the
amount of 9,054 pounds. He also conveyed to Egypt from the conquered
lands enormous quantities of corn and wine, together with incense,
balsam, honey, ivory, ebony and other rare woods, lapis lazuli,
furniture, statues, vases, dishes, basins, te