ds,
which Xerxes had dictated to them: "Miserable monster! this is the
punishment which Xerxes your master inflicts upon you, on account of the
unprovoked and wanton injury you have done him. Be assured that he will
pass over you, whether you will or no. He hates and defies you, object
as you are, through your insatiable cruelty, and the nauseous bitterness
of your waters, of the common abomination of mankind."

As for the men who had built the bridge, which had been found thus
inadequate to withstand the force of a wintery tempest, he ordered every
one of them to be beheaded.

The vengeance of the king being thus satisfied, a new set of engineers
and workmen were designated and ordered to build another bridge.
Knowing, as, of course, they now did, that their lives depended upon the
stability of their structure, they omitted no possible precaution which
could tend to secure it. They selected the strongest ships, and arranged
them in positions which would best enable them to withstand the pressure
of the current. Each vessel was secured in its place by strong anchors,
placed scientifically in such a manner as to resist, to the best
advantage, the force of the strain to which they would be exposed. There
were two ranges of these vessels, extending from shore to shore,
containing over three hundred in each. In each range one or two vessels
were omitted, on the Asiatic side, to allow boats and galleys to pass
through, in order to keep the communication open. These omissions did
not interfere with the use of the bridge, as the superstructure and the
roadway above was continued over them.

The vessels which were to serve for the foundation of the bridge being
thus arranged and secured in their places, two immense cables were made
and stretched from shore to shore, each being fastened, at the ends,
securely to the banks, and resting in the middle on the decks of the
vessels. For the fastenings of these cables on the shore there were
immense piles driven into the ground, and huge rings attached to the
piles. The cables, as they passed along the decks of the vessels over
the water, were secured to them all by strong cordage, so that each
vessel was firmly and indissolubly bound to all the rest.

Over these cables a platform was made of trunks of trees, with branches
placed upon them to fill the interstices and level the surface. The
whole was then covered with a thick stratum of earth, which made a firm
and substantial road