hibit the superiority of Ormazd to all the
"gods of the nations;" and, as the temple of Ammon in the oasis had the
greatest repute of all the African shrines, this design would be best
accomplished by its pillage and destruction. It is probable that he
further looked to the subjugation of all the tribes on the north coast
between the Nile valley and the Carthaginian territory; for he would
undoubtedly have sent an army along the shore to act in concert with his
fleet, had he decided ultimately on making the expedition. An unexpected
obstacle, however, arose to prevent him. The Phoenicians, who formed
the main strength of his navy, declined to take any part in an attack
on Carthage, since the Carthaginians were their colonists, and the
relations between the two people had always been friendly. Cambyses
did not like to force their inclinations, on account of their recent
voluntary submission; and as, without their aid, his navy was manifestly
unequal to the proposed service, he felt obliged to desist from the
undertaking.

While the Carthaginian scheme was thus nipped in the bud, the
enterprises which Cambyses attempted to carry out led to nothing but
disaster. An army, fifty thousand strong, despatched from Thebes against
Ammon, perished to a man amid the sands of the Libyan desert. A still
more numerous force, led by Cambyses himself towards the Ethiopian
frontier, found itself short of supplies on its march across Nubia, and
was forced to return, without glory, after suffering considerable loss.
It became evident that the abilities of the Persian monarch were
not equal to his ambition--that he insufficiently appreciated the
difficulties and dangers of enterprises--while a fatal obstinacy
prevented him from acknowledging and retrieving an error while retrieval
was possible. The Persians, we may be sure, grew dispirited under such
a leader; and the Egyptians naturally took heart. It seems to have
been shortly after the return of Cambyses from his abortive expedition
against Ethiopia that symptoms of an intention to revolt began to
manifest themselves in Egypt. The priests declared an incarnation of
Apis, and the whole country burst out into rejoicings. It was probably
now that Psammenitus, who had hitherto been kindly treated by his
captor, was detected in treasonable intrigues, condemned to death, and
executed. At the same time, the native officers who had been left in
charge of the city of Memphis were apprehended and