466 THE DECLINE AND FALL Oriental arms ; and, as they possessed neither gold nor silver, the richest spoil was the beauty of the female captives, some of whom were afterwards sold for a thousand pieces of gold. The career, though not the zeal, of Akbah was checked by the pros- pect of a boundless ocean. He spurred his horse into the waves, and, raising his eyes to heaven, exclaimed with the tone of a fanatic : " Great God ! if my course were not stopped by this sea, I would still go on, to the unknown kingdoms of the West, preaching the unity of thy holy name, and putting to the sword the rebellious nations who worship any other gods than thee ".^'^ Yet this Mahometan Alexander, who sighed for new worlds, was unable to preserve his recent conquests. By the universal de- [Deathof fection of the Greeks and Africans, he was recalled from the Tehuda. 683] shorcs of the Atlantic, and the surrounding multitudes left him only the resource of an honourable death. The last scene was LajiTi'""""' dignified by an example of national virtue. An ambitious chief, who had disputed the command and failed in the attempt, was led about as a prisoner in the camp of the Arabian general. The insurgents had trusted to his discontent and revenge ; he dis- dained their offers, and revealed their designs. In the hour of danger the grateful Akbah unlocked his fetters and advised him to retire ; he chose to die under the banner of his rival. Em- bracing as friends and martyrs, they unsheathed their scymetars, broke their scabbards, and maintained an obstinate combat, till they fell by each other's side on the last of their slaughtered [A.D. 688] countrymen. ^^*^ The third general or governor of Africa, Zuheir, avenged and encountered the fate of his predecessor. He van- quished the natives in many battles ; he was overthrown by a powerful army which Constantinople had sent to the relief of Carthage. Foundation It had been the frequent practice of the Moorish tribes to join A.D. 670.675 the invadcrs, to share the plunder, to profess the faith, and to revolt to their savage state of independence and idolatry on the first retreat or misfortune of the Moslems. The prudence of Akbah had proposed to found an Arabian colony in the heart of Africa : a citadel that might curb the levity of the barbarians, a place of refuge to secure, against the accidents of war, the wealth and the families of the Saracens. With this view, and under the '^9 Otter (p. 119) has given the strong tone of fanaticism to this exclamation, which Cardonne (p. 37) has softened to a pious wish o'i preaching the Koran. Yet they had both the same text of Novairi before their eyes. 180 [Novairi, loc cit. p. 334-6. ]
