ge!" he shouted in a voice that was heard above the yells of the
barbarians. "Clear the wood of these lurking enemies, they dare not face
you. Sweep them before your path."

With an answering shout the three bodies of men sprang forward, each in
a different direction. In vain the natives poured in volleys of arrows
and javelins; many fell, more were wounded, but all who could keep their
feet rushed forward with fury upon their assailants.

The charge was irresistible. The natives, fighting each for himself,
were unable for a moment to withstand the torrent, and, vastly superior
in numbers as they were, were driven headlong before it. When they
reached the edge of the wood each of the bodies broke into two. The
Numidians had directed their course towards their horses, which a party
of their own men were still defending desperately against the attacks of
a large body of natives. Through these they cut their way, and springing
upon their steeds dashed out into the plain, and sweeping round the
grove fell upon the natives there, and cut down the parties of men who
emerged in confusion from its shelter, unable to withstand the assaults
of Hamilcar and his infantry within.

The heavy infantry and the Iberians, when they gained the edge of the
wood, had swept to the right and left, cleared the edge of the grove of
their enemies until they met, then joining they again plunged into the
centre. Thus they traversed the wood in every direction until they had
completely cleared it of foes.

When the work was done the breathless and exhausted troops gathered
outside, in the light of the moon. More than half their number had
fallen; scarce one but was bleeding from wounds of arrow or javelin. The
plain beyond was thickly dotted to the foot of the hills with the bodies
of the natives who had been cut up by the Numidian horse or trampled
by the elephants, while the grove within was thickly strewn with their
bodies.

As there was no fear of a renewal of the attack, Hamilcar ordered the
men to fall out of ranks, and the hours until daybreak were passed in
extracting arrows and binding up wounds, and in assisting their comrades
who were found to be still living in the grove. Any natives still
breathing were instantly slain.

Hamilcar found that a party of the enemy had made their way into his own
camp. His tent had been hastily plundered, but most of the effects were
found in the morning scattered over the ground between the groves a