y a queen named Tomyris. She was a
widow, past middle life. She had a son named Spargapizes, who had,
like the sons of Cyrus, attained maturity, and was the heir to the
throne. Spargapizes was, moreover, the commander-in-chief of the
armies of the queen.

The first plan which Cyrus formed for the annexation of the realm of
the Massagetae to his own dominions was by a matrimonial alliance. He
accordingly raised an army and commenced a movement toward the north,
sending, at the same time, embassadors before him into the country of
the Massagetae, with offers of marriage to the queen. The queen knew
very well that it was her dominions, and not herself, that constituted
the great attraction for Cyrus, and, besides, she was of an age when
ambition is a stronger passion than love. She refused the offers, and
sent back word to Cyrus forbidding his approach.

Cyrus, however, continued to move on. The boundary between his
dominions and those of the queen was at the River Araxes, a stream
flowing from west to east, through the central parts of Asia, toward
the Caspian Sea. As Cyrus advanced, he found the country growing more
and more wild and desolate. It was inhabited by savage tribes, who
lived on roots and herbs, and who were elevated very little, in any
respect, above the wild beasts that roamed in the forests around them.
They had one very singular custom, according to Herodotus. It seems
that there was a plant which grew among them, that bore a fruit, whose
fumes, when it was roasting on a fire, had an exhilarating effect,
like that produced by wine. These savages, therefore, Herodotus
says, were accustomed to assemble around a fire, in their convivial
festivities, and to throw some of this fruit in the midst of it. The
fumes emitted by the fruit would soon begin to intoxicate the whole
circle, when they would throw on more fruit, and become more and more
excited, until, at length, they would jump up, and dance about, and
sing, in a state of complete inebriation.

Among such savages as these, and through the forests and wildernesses
in which they lived, Cyrus advanced till he reached the Araxes. Here,
after considering, for some time, by what means he could best pass
the river, he determined to build a floating bridge, by means of boats
and rafts obtained from the natives on the banks, or built for the
purpose. It would be obviously much easier to transport the army by
using these boats and rafts to _float_ the men acros