tory. Already a year ago, after the disaster of Bedr, the grandees of Mecca had agreed that the bulk of the profit accruing from the caravan which Abu Sofyan's clever management had brought back in safety, should be devoted to war preparations against Medina, and Abu Sofyan himself is reported to have contributed the large sum of 40 ounces of gold. But nothing decisive was done, till now it had become plain that either trade must cease, or Medina be severely chastised. By enlisting the neighbouring Bedouin tribes, Mecca raised an army of 3000 men, amongst them 700 clad in armour, with 3000 camels and 200 horses. The chief command of these troops was deservedly intrusted to the dexterous hand of Abu Sofyan, and they reached the neighbourhood of Medina early in spring 625. They laid waste the barley fields; but found that the rural population, with their implements and cattle, had taken shelter in the city. For Mohammed had been informed of their approach, and there may be some truth in the tradition that his uncle Abbas, looking to future contingencies, was already acting a double part, and had sent timely warning to his nephew of the war preparations going on in Mecca.

Mohammed, advised by men of experience like Abd Allah Ibn Obei, at first wished to act on the defensive, by letting his men protect the town and placing the women and children on the tops of the houses, supplied with stones and other missiles, to be used against an attacking foe. But the younger and more daring men did not wish to remain quiet whilst their fields were being devastated by the enemy. They were afraid their Bedouin neighbours might interpret it as cowardice and afterwards likewise venture to attack them. Moreover, they alluded to the supernatural aid so repeatedly promised by their prophet. Mohammed yielded to these representations, and adopted the plan of quitting the town and meeting the enemy in the open field. Events proved this change to have been an unwise one; and had the Koreish shown more pluck during the battle, and made a sudden rush on the city, it might have led to a catastrophe.

Mohammed relied on the daring courage of his followers, though they amounted to only one thousand. Seeing the Jewish confederates join his army in a disorderly crowd, he

bade them stop behind. He evidently no longer entertained any confidence in the fidelity of the Jews, and already meditated getting rid of them altogether. When he had advanced three miles from the city, to the foot of the rugged mountain of Ohod, he found himself face to face with the enemy. Abd Allah Ibn Obei was now struck still more forcibly with the great mistake made by Mohammed in rejecting his counsel; and he avenged himself by at once returning to Medina with 300 partisans from the Beni Salama and Beni Haritha. Thereby the Moslem army became indeed reduced to 700 combatants, of whom 100 were clad in armour, but they were all the more firmly united by a common sense of their extreme danger. Their rear was protected by the mountain, on a spur of which Mohammed had placed himself with fifty well-trained archers, to ward off the hostile cavalry.

The battle began, as usual, with a series of single combats in which several of the Koreishite champions were killed by Moslem heroes. Abu Amir, the Christian monk, began the attack. He led a company of from fifty to sixty, or, according to other accounts, of only fifteen, like-minded compatriots who had all been forced to leave their home in Medina and seek an asylum in the rival city. They opened the battle by a vigorous discharge of arrows and stones, but met with so stubborn a resistance that they had to retreat. The Moslem warriors now made a desperate onslaught, sword in hand, and, according to the account of their own historians, completely put the Meccans to flight and sent their women, who had been brought to stimulate them with their music, clambering up the mountains, screaming with terror. But considering the very small number of the slain, it would rather seem that this flight was a mere feint, for entrapping the Moslems into the ditches which had previously been dug for this very purpose. The Moslems, in the joy of their supposed victory, had no sooner begun what always had an irresistible attraction for them, namely, to plunder the enemy's camp, when the clever cavalry leader Khalid, who had been carefully watching the enemy's movements, swept round with his horsemen and took the Moslems in the rear. By this manœuvre he caused such consternation amongst