the imperial power. This had been discovered by the Romans, and Honoria had been forthwith closely imprisoned. Attila now pretended to take up arms in behalf of his self-promised bride, and proclaimed that he was about to march to Rome to redress Honoria's wrongs. Ambition and spite against her brother must have been the sole motives that led the lady to woo the royal Hun; for Attila's face and person had all the natural ugliness of his race, and the description given of him by a Byzantine ambassador must have been well known in the imperial courts. Herbert has well versified the portrait drawn by Priscus of the great enemy of both Byzantium and Rome:

،، Terrific was his semblance, in no mould
Of beautiful proportion cast; his limbs
Nothing exalted, but with sinews braced
Of Chalybean temper, agile, lithe,

And swifter than the roe; his ample chest

Was over-brow'd by a gigantic head,

With eyes keen, deeply sunk, and small, that gleam'd

Strangely in wrath, as though some spirit unclean

Within that corporal tenement install'd

Look'd from its windows, but with temper'd fire

Beam'd mildly on the unresisting. Thin

His beard and hoary; his flat nostrils crown'd
A cicatrized, swart visage,-but withal
That questionable shape such glory wore
That mortals quail'd beneath him."

Two chiefs of the Franks, who were then settled on the Lower Rhine, were at this period engaged in a feud with each other; and while one of them appealed to the Romans for aid, the other invoked the assistance and protection of the Huns. Attila thus obtained an ally, whose co-operation secured for him the passage of the Rhine; and it was this circumstance which caused him to take a northward route from Hungary for his attack upon Gaul. The muster of the Hunnish hosts was swollen by warriors of every tribe that they had subjugated; nor is there any reason to suspect the old chroniclers of wilful exaggeration in estimating Attila's army at seven hundred thousand strong. Having crossed the Rhine, probably a little below Coblentz, he defeated the King of the Burgundians, who endeavoured to bar his progress. He then divided his vast forces into two armies,-one of which marched north-west upon Tongres and Arras, and the other cities of that part of France; while the main body, under Attila himself, marched up the Moselle, and destroyed Besançon, and other towns in the country of the Burgundians. One of the latest and best biographers of Attila well observes, that "having thus conquered the eastern part of France, Attila prepared for an invasion of the West Gothic territories beyond the Loire. He marched upon Orléans where he intended to force the passage of that river, and only a little attention is requisite to enable us to perceive that he proceeded on a systematic plan: he had his right wing on the north for the protection of his Frank allies; his left wing on the south for the purpose of preventing the Burgundians from rallying, and of menacing the passes of the Alps from Italy; and he led his centre towards the chief object of the campaign-the conquest of Orléans, and an easy passage into the West Gothic dominion. The whole plan is very like that

Biographical Dictionary commenced by the Useful Knowledge Society in 1844.

of the allied powers in 1814, with this difference, that their left wing entered France through the defiles of the Jura, in the direction of Lyons, and that the military object of the campaign was the capture of Paris.”

It was not until the year 451 that the Huns commenced the siege of Orléans; and during their campaign in Eastern Gaul the Roman general Aetius had strenuously exerted himself in collecting and organising such an army as might, when united to the soldiery of the Visigoths, be fit to face the Huns in the field. He enlisted every subject of the Roman Empire whose patriotism, courage, or compulsion could collect beneath the standards; and round these troops, which assumed the once proud title of the legions of Rome, he arrayed the large forces of barbaric auxiliaries, whom pay, persuasion, or the general hate and dread of the Huns, brought to the camp of the last of the Roman generals. King Theodoric exerted himself with equal energy. Orleans resisted her besiegers bravely as in after times. The passage of the Loire was skilfully defended against the Huns; and Aetius and Theodoric after much manoeuvring and difficulty, effected a junction of their armies to the south of that important river.

On the advance of the allies upon Orleans, Attila instantly broke up the siege of that city, and retreated towards the Marne. He did not choose to risk a decisive battle with only the central corps of his army against the combined power of his enemies; and he therefore fell back upon his base of operations; calling in his wings from Arras and Besançon, and concentrating the whole of the Hunnish forces on the vast plains of Chalons-sur-Marne. A glance at the map will show how scientifically this place was chosen by the Hunnish general, as the point for his scattered forces to converge upon; and the nature of the ground was eminently favourable for the operations of cavalry, the arm in which Attila's strength peculiarly lay.

It was during the retreat from Orleans that a Christian hermit is reported to have approached the Hunnish king, and said to him, "Thou art the Scourge of God for the chastisement of the Christians." Attila instantly assumed this new title of terror, which thenceforth became the appellation, by which he was most widely and most fearfully known.

The confederate armies of Romans and Visigoths at last met their great adversary, face to face, on the ample battle-ground of the Châlons plains. Aetius commanded on the right of the allies; King Theodoric on the left; and Sangipan, King of the Alans, whose fidelity was suspected, was placed purposely in the centre, and in the very front of the battle. Attila commanded his centre in person, at the head of his own countrymen, while the Ostrogoths, the Gepidæ, and the other subject allies of the Huns, were drawn up on the wings. Some manœuvring appears to have occurred before the engagement, in which Aetius had the advantage, inasmuch as he succeeded in occupying a sloping hill, which commanded the left flank of the Huns. Attila saw the importance of the position taken by Aetius on the high ground, and commenced the battle by a furious attack on this part of the Roman line, in which he seems to have detached some of his best troops from his centre to aid his left. The Romans, having the advantage of the ground, repulsed the Huns, and while the allies gained

this advantage on their right, their left, under King Theodoric, assailed the Ostrogoths, who formed the right of Attila's army. The gallant king was himself struck down by a javelin, as he rode onward at the head of his men, and his own cavalry charging over him trampled him to death in the confusion. But the Visigoths, infuriated, not dispirited, by their monarch's fall, routed the enemies opposed to them, and then wheeled upon the flank of the Hunnish centre, which had been engaged in a sanguinary and indecisive contest with the Alans.

In this peril Attila made his centre fall back upon his camp; and when the shelter of its intrenchments and waggons had once been gained, the Hunnish archers repulsed, without difficulty, the charges of the vengeful Gothic cavalry. Aetius had not pressed the advantage which he gained on his side of the field, and when night fell over the wild scene of havock, Attila's left was still undefeated, but his right had been routed, and his centre forced back upon his camp.

Expecting an assault on the morrow, Attila stationed his best archers in front of the cars and waggons, which were drawn up as a fortification along his lines, and made every preparation for a desperate resistance. But the "Scourge of God" resolved that no man should boast of the honour of having either captured or slain him; and he caused to be raised in the centre of his encampment a huge pyramid of the wooden saddles of his cavalry: round it he heaped the spoils and the wealth that he had won; on it he stationed his wives who had accompanied him in the campaign; and on the summit Attila placed himself, ready to perish in the flames, and baulk the victorious foe of their choicest booty, should they succeed in storming his defences.

But when the morning broke and revealed the extent of the carnage, with which the plains were heaped for miles, the successful allies saw also and respected the resolute attitude of their antagonist. Neither were any measures taken to blockade him in his camp, and so to extort by famine that submission, which it was too plainly perilous to enforce with the sword. Attila was allowed to march back the remnants of his army without molestation, and even with the semblance of success.

It is probable that the crafty Aetius was unwilling to be too victorious. He dreaded the glory which his allies the Visigoths had acquired; and feared that Rome might find a second Alaric in Prince Thorismund, who had signalised himself in the battle, and had been chosen on the field to succeed his father Theodoric. He persuaded the young king to return at once to his capital; and thus relieved himself at the same time of the presence of a dangerous friend, as well as of a formidable though beaten foe.

Attila's attacks on the Western Empire were soon renewed; but never with such peril to the civilized world as had menaced it before his defeat at Chalons. And on his death two years after that battle, the vast empire which his genius had founded, was soon dissevered by the successful revolts of the subject nations. The name of the Huns ceased for some centuries to inspire terror in Western Europe, and their ascendancy passed away with the life of the great king, by whom it had been so fearfully augmented.

273

AN ADVENTURE IN THE GREAT CAVERN OF

SERK.

BY ROBERT POSTANS.

"I can believe any tale about the sagacity of a dog."-SCOTT.

On a brilliant day in August I left Guernsey, and after about an hour's sail was driven by a fresh breeze under the perpendicular granite walls of Serk. It was worth the voyage to see how dexterously the island boatmen avoided the multitude of bristling jagged rocks with which this singular spot is barricaded. Their sharp points make a sort of marine cheveaux de frize, whereupon any luckless mariner, unacquainted with their intricate navigation, would be sure to be impaled. Even with the skill and local knowledge which the Serk pilots possess, destruction often seems inevitable, for the tidal currents literally race through the confused and winding channels formed by the rocks with a velocity that leaves an impression of danger upon the mind, not easily eradicated. During this exciting navigation a Serkman stands at the head of the vessel watching every eddy, the slightest motion of whose finger is sufficient to warn the man at the helm of the nature of the danger, and how it is to be avoided, for it is absolutely necessary that both should act in concert, or it would be almost impossible to pass in safety through this sea of tribulation. However, perfection is the child of practice, and a Serk trading cutter affords a striking illustration of the truth of the proverb, by daily threading these watery mazes, and carrying a sound keel into harbour.

After running the gauntlet of this reef of rocks and whirlpools, it is with unmixed sensations of delight that the visitor enters the most unique, toylike haven imaginable. It presents a scene of perfect repose, rendered doubly charming when contrasted with the vexed sea so recently traversed, and he soon yearns to stand upon its bright shingle beach; but as landing at Serk is, like everything else appertaining to Serk, peculiar, I must entreat the reader to tarry with me while I describe the process.

Let him picture a small snug rocky cove, in shape something like a horse shoe, surrounded everywhere, except at the entrance, by lofty walls of cliff. To assist his fancy it is suggested he may have seen a rocky wilderness painted on a tea-tray, and meant for a coast scene, or perhaps a moonlit shore in a fairy piece at a theatre, places which every body imagines, are too pretty, too romantic to have any resemblance to nature. Well, for once every body is wrong; the originals are here, there's the tumbling cascade, the yawning cavern, the picturesque grotto, the arched rock, the azure water, and the golden sand as seen in the last marine ballet, perfect in every particular, mermaids excepted.

Sailing into one of these beautiful coves-there are several-the stranger spies a rope dangling from the top of the cliffs, and reaching down to the water. He is puzzled to imagine its use, but he soon discovers that notches are cut in the rock, offering resting places for

the sole of the foot. If he has a touch of the harlequin in his make, he may by these aids pull himself up the face of the granite walls of Serk, and gain an introduction to the island. I confess, however, that, much as I admired the romantic grottos and pretty cascades, I declined shinning up the rocks, with my carpet bag bobbing about my heels, and preferred the more dignified and legitimate entrance by way of the harbour.

But here another novelty awaits the visitor, for even on landing at the harbour, he is still outside the island. I was never more puzzled than when I stepped from the cutter to the beach, as usual I looked out for the rope, but a glance at the rocks was enough. I felt satisfied, a cat would justly forfeit her nine lives if she was mad enough to try to scale them. At length an islander who had amused himself at my bewilderment slily pointed to a hole in the solid rock. Half inclined to suspect some trick, I cautiously walked towards it, wondering, like the sailor in the conjuror's booth, "what the devil was to happen next:" upon a close inspection it turned out to be a tunnel, through which my first glimpse of the interior was gained.

Delight but imperfectly expresses the emotions of the traveller after he plunges into this natural archway, and is fairly admitted within the precincts of the isle. As if by magic, the barren scowling rocks, and chafing angry sea are changed for a view, presenting a series of luxuriant undulating hills, none very high, having only such gentle advantage of ground, swelling above the plain, as betoken the full breasts of a land flowing with milk and honey.

There is something singularly novel in the sensations which arise in the mind after being whizzed through the air by the "boat and the rail" from the crowded thoroughfares of London to this singular island. The quickness of the transit barely allows us to accommodate our natures to the change, and accordingly I was unprepared to find myself plumped down in the midst of a community to whom the conveniencies of city life were known only by name. Under these circumstances I was compelled to "take my ease" not "at mine inn," but at a fisherman's hut, and sleep upon a bed of fern or feathers as the case might be. However I found but little difficulty in fixing my quarters, which was most romantically placed in the throat of a narrow ravine, down the centre of which scampered a little termagant of a brook, its noisy brawling course continuing, until it reached a tabular piece of projecting rock, where, apparently disgusted with its fidgety existence, it commits a perpetual suicide, by flinging itself over in a vapoury fume into the sea.

Baudin was the name of my host; his residence is called Havre Groslin; he was a good-tempered Norman, and one of the best fishermen in the island. His worldly gear consisted of sundry ashen fishing rods, about an acre of nets, and two ditto of land, and he passed his time alternately between fishing and agriculture. However he seemed happy and contented, for, as he said, "his yoke sat easy, and his burden was light."

After having sighted all the lions in the island I think it must be admitted that the real wonders of Serk are the caves. One extremity of the island is perforated like a honeycomb. The lovers of cavern scenery can scarcely find anything subterranean, more attractive than "The Grande Boutique." And here perhaps it is necessary to men