w no enemy to dispute their passage.
So they went on, rioting upon the abundant supplies they had obtained,
and rejoicing in the double victory they were gaining, over the
hostility of the people and the physical dangers and difficulties of
the way. The poor mountaineers returned to their cabins ruined and
desolate, for mountaineers who have lost their cows and their sheep
have lost their all.

The Alps are not all in Switzerland. Some of the most celebrated peaks
and ranges are in a neighboring state called Savoy. The whole country
is, in fact, divided into small states, called _cantons_ at the
present day, and similar political divisions seem to have existed in
the time of the Romans. In his march onward from the pass which has
been already described, Hannibal, accordingly, soon approached the
confines of another canton. As he was advancing slowly into it, with
the long train of his army winding up with him through the valleys, he
was met at the borders of this new state by an embassage sent from the
government of it. They brought with them fresh stores of provisions,
and a number of guides. They said that they had heard of the terrible
destruction which had come upon the other canton in consequence of
their effort to oppose his progress, and that they had no intention of
renewing so vain an attempt. They came, therefore, they said, to offer
Hannibal their friendship and their aid. They had brought guides to
show the army the best way over the mountains, and a present of
provisions; and to prove the sincerity of their professions they
offered Hannibal hostages. These hostages were young men and boys, the
sons of the principal inhabitants, whom they offered to deliver into
Hannibal's power, to be kept by him until he should see that they were
faithful and true in doing what they offered.

[Illustration: HANNIBAL ON THE ALPS.]

Hannibal was so accustomed to stratagem and treachery himself, that he
was at first very much at a loss to decide whether these offers and
professions were honest and sincere, or whether they were only made to
put him off his guard. He thought it possible that it was their design
to induce him to place himself under their direction, so that they
might lead him into some dangerous defile or labyrinth of rocks, from
which he could not extricate himself, and where they could attack and
destroy him. He, however, decided to return them a favorable answer,
but to watch them very carefully, and to pr