Others regretted their native lands as well as he, even though they might not be so far away.Indeed the Carthaginian captives could distinguish the velaria spread over the courtyards of their houses, beyond the gulf on the slopes of Byrsa.But sentries marched round them continually.They were all fastened to a common chain.Each one wore an iron carcanet, and the crowd was never weary of coming to gaze at them.The women would show their little children the handsome robes hanging in tatters on their wasted limbs.
Whenever Autaritus looked at Gisco he was seized with rage at the recollection of the insult that he had received, and he would have killed him but for the oath which he had taken to Narr' Havas.Then he would go back into his tent and drink a mixture of barley and cumin until he swooned away from intoxication,--to awake afterwards in broad daylight consumed with horrible thirst.
Matho, meanwhile, was besieging Hippo-Zarytus.But the town was protected by a lake, communicating with the sea.It had three lines of circumvallation, and upon the heights which surrounded it there extended a wall fortified with towers.He had never commanded in such an enterprise before.Moreover, he was beset with thoughts of Salammbo, and he raved in the delight of her beauty as in the sweetness of a vengeance that transported him with pride.He felt an acrid, frenzied, permanent want to see her again.He even thought of presenting himself as the bearer of a flag of truce, in the hope that once within Carthage he might make his way to her.Often he would cause the assault to be sounded and waiting for nothing rush upon the mole which it was sought to construct in the sea.He would snatch up the stones with his hands, overturn, strike, and deal sword-thrusts everywhere.The Barbarians would dash on pell-mell; the ladders would break with a loud crash, and masses of men would tumble into the water, causing it to fly up in red waves against the walls.Finally the tumult would subside, and the soldiers would retire to make a fresh beginning.