o be employed as slaves in the mines. The
governor acquainted Malchus with the decision.

"I am sorry," he said, "indeed, that it is so; but the senate are
determined that they will exchange no prisoners. Of course their view
of the matter is, that when a Roman lays down his arms he disgraces
himself, and the refusal to ransom him or allow him to be exchanged is
intended to act as a deterrent to others. This may be fair enough in
cases where large numbers surrender to a few, or where they lay down
their arms when with courage and determination they might have cut their
way through the enemy; but in cases where further resistance would be
hopeless, in my mind men are justified in surrendering. However, I can
only obey the orders I have received, and tomorrow must send you and
your men to the mines."

As Malchus had seen the Iberian captives sent to labour as slaves in the
mines in Spain, the fate thus announced to him did not appear surprising
or barbarous. In those days captives taken in war were always made
slaves when they were not put to death in cold blood, and although
Hannibal had treated with marked humanity and leniency the Roman and
Italian captives who had fallen into his hands, this had been the result
of policy, and was by no means in accordance with the spirit in which
war was then conducted. Accordingly, the next day the Carthaginians
were, under a strong guard, marched away to the mines, which lay on the
other side of the island, some forty miles due west of the port, and
three miles from the western sea coast of the island. The road lay for
some distance across a dead flat. The country was well cultivated and
thickly studded with villages, for Rome drew a heavy tribute in corn
annually from the island.

After twenty miles' march they halted for the night, pursuing their way
on the following morning. They had now entered a wide and fertile valley
with lofty hills on either side. In some places there were stagnant
marshes, and the officer in charge of the guard informed Malchus that in
the autumn a pestilential miasma rose from these, rendering a sojourn in
the valley fatal to the inhabitants of the mainland. The native people
were wild and primitive in appearance, being clad chiefly in sheepskins.
They lived in beehive shaped huts. The hills narrowed in towards the
end of the day's march, and the valley terminated when the party arrived
within half a mile of their destination. Here stood a small town na