OF THE ROMAN EMPIRE 363 it was in vain that the camels of Abu Sophian explored a new road through the desert and along the Euphrates ; they were overtaken by the diligence of the Musulmans ; and wealthy must have been the prize, if twenty thousand drachms could be set apart for the fifth of the apostle. The resentment of the public and private loss stimulated Abu Sophian to collect a body of three thousand men, seven hundred of whom were armed with cuirasses, and two hundred were mounted on horse- back ; three thousand camels attended his march ; and his wife Henda, with fifteen matrons of Mecca, incessantly sounded their timbrels to animate the troops, and to magnify the greatness of Hobal, the most popular deity of the Caaba. The standard of ofohud. God and Mahomet was upheld by nine hundred and fifty be- [625, Jan.] lievers ; the disproportion of numbers was not more alarming than in the field of Beder ; and their presumption of victory prevailed against the divine and human sense of the apostle. The second battle was fought on mount Ohud, six miles to the north of Medina ; ^^^ the Koreish advanced in the form of a crescent ; and the right wing of cavalry was led by Caled, the [KhaUd] fiercest and most successful of the Arabian warriors. The troops of Mahomet were skilfully posted on the declivity of the hill ; and their rear was guarded by a detachment of fifty archers. The weight of their charge impelled and broke the centre of the idolaters : but in the pursuit they lost the advantage of their ground ; the archers deserted their station ; the Musul- mans were tempted by the spoil, disobeyed their general, and disordered their ranks. The intrepid Caled, wheeling his cavalry on their flank and rear, exclaimed with a loud voice, that Mahomet was slain. He was indeed wounded in the face with a javelin ; two of his teeth were shattered with a stone ; [one tooth] yet, in the midst of tumult and dismay, he reproached the infidels with the murder of a prophet ; and blessed the friendly hand that staunched his blood and conveyed him to a place of safety. Seventy mai'tyrs died for the sins of the people ; they fell, said the apostle, in pairs, each brother embracing his life- less companion ; '*- their bodies were mangled by the inhuman females of Mecca; and the wife of Abu Sophian tasted the entrails of Hamza, the uncle of Mahomet. They might applaud their superstition and satiate their fury ; but the Musulmans ^•*^ Geograph. Nubiensis, p. 47. FThe disproportion of numbers at Ohud was rather greater than at Bedr. At Bedr it was 305 to 950 ; at Ohud 700 to 3000 (for 30Q of the thousand followers with whom Mohammad started had turned back before the battle).] '*2 In the iiid chapter of the Koran (p. 50-53, with Sale's notes) the prophet alleges some poor excuses for the defeat of Ohud,
