Page:Xenophon by Alexander Grant.djvu/28

18 ass like venison, but more tender, and that of the bustard delicious. The ostrich by its running flight entirely beat them, and not one could be caught. They halted at the river Mascas, and again laid in provisions before entering for a second time the desert, which lasted for a march of thirteen days, during which beasts died for want of fodder, corn failed, and the soldiers lived entirely on flesh. Cyrus pushed along over this part of the way with the utmost expedition. The marches were forced; and at one place where the baggage-waggons had stuck in some mud, Cyrus impatiently ordered the Persian nobles who were round him to assist in extricating them. In an instant they doffed their purple cloaks, and, all arrayed as they were in splendid vests and embroidered trousers, and with their gold chains and bracelets on, they plunged into the mire and executed his orders.

The "Anabasis" was now nearly concluded. They came to Pylæ, or "the Gates," a defile leading from Mesopotamia into the Babylonian territory, only a hundred and eight miles north of the great city. Opposite to this, over the Euphrates, was a town called Charmande, from which the soldiers, on rafts, got provisions, and wine made from dates. Here, on the eve of the conclusion of the march, the safety of the whole army was endangered by a brawl between the soldiers of Meno and those of Clearchus. They were with difficulty appeased by Cyrus, who assured them that "if anything goes wrong with you Greeks, all these natives whom you see about you will instantly be-