as soon as the united body of Moslems made a determined onslaught. Thus the disgraceful rout becomes fully explicable, without having recourse to hosts of interfering angels, or attributing any efficacy to Mohammed's superstitious act of casting handfuls of sand against the enemy. Ibn Ishak seriously narrates: 'A reliable man told me on the authority of several persons, that Ibn Abbas said, "On the day of Bedr the angels wore white turbans and took part in the fight, whereas in other battles they were only present to increase the number, without fighting themselves,"' and again: 'Mohammed took up a handful of sand, and, turning towards the Koreish, flung it against them, saying, "May God confound their sight!" Then he commanded his people to press upon the enemy, whose defeat was decided. God killed many of the nobles; and others He allowed to be made prisoners.' The slain enemies were ruthlessly cast into one of the wells and covered over with earth. The battle had not been very bloody: it cost the lives of little over a dozen from amongst the Moslems; and the Koreish had seventy, or, according to another account, only forty-nine, men killed mostly cut down, it would appear, after the rout had commenced. About the same number were made prisoners.

The result of the battle proved of immense advantage to the Moslem cause. The spoil, though not so rich as it would have been if the caravan itself had been captured, was yet very considerable, and greatly relieved the pressing poverty in Medina. It consisted of 10 horses, 150 camels, valuable arms, beautiful robes, and a great quantity of leather, besides the captives, for whose ransom large sums were demanded. After Mohammed had taken the fifth part for his own portion, and given sundry prizes for special acts of bravery, the remainder was divided into 313 portions, each of the value of about two camels, and distributed by lot amongst the warriors. Othman, Mohammed's son-in-law, also received his share, though he had not joined the army, but remained at home to attend on his dying wife.

The life of the Meccans taken captive was in jeopardy for a while. Such was the fanaticism of many of the Mussulmans, Omar foremost amongst them, that they wished to

massacre them all forthwith. But, at the end, calmer counsels prevailed, especially by Abu Bekr's influence; and it was agreed upon to allow the captives to be ransomed at a high price, thus consulting at the same time the claims of humanity and the dictates of mercantile self-interest. Only a few of the prisoners who had made themselves specially obnoxious to Mohammed, in Mecca, fell as victims of revenge, being massacred in cold blood, before the victors reached Medina. One of them, just before being killed, asked the vindictive Prophet, 'Who is to be the guardian of my little children?' and received the heartless answer from his lips, 'Hell-fire.' The remaining captives were treated kindly, for Mohammed still felt his family ties connecting him with the Koreish. In consequence, several of them consented to embrace Islam and were set free without a ransom, whilst the rest were allowed to return to Mecca after their ransom had been paid. But, as already intimated, sterner measures would have been so consonant to the fanaticism of early Islam, that even Mohammed soon felt, or perhaps feigned, regret at his temporary leniency. For Omar is reported by a tradition derived from himself, to have visited the Prophet on the following day and to have found him weeping. On asking him the reason of his tears, he received this answer, 'I weep because we have consented to accept a ransom: and verily the punishment which will overtake me for it is nearer than this tree' — he pointing to a tree close by. Mohammed and his victorious party returned to Medina in triumph, where they were welcomed with joyous acclamation.

This signal success was regarded as a sign of Divine approval, and raised the Prophet mightily in the eyes of the whole population. Not only in Medina and Mecca, but also amongst the Bedouin tribes, the victory made a great impression. It was now plain that Mohammed represented a military force not to be despised, and that he had already become a formidable power in the country. Not two years had elapsed since he had come to his new home as a refugee, and already he had inflicted a humiliating defeat on the great rival city of Mecca and made Medina renowned far and wide. No wonder that the battle of