three hundred horse to guard the base, and attend to the fleet, which was anchored off shore, and himself advanced by night. He found the enemy about twelve miles inland, posted with horses and chariots on the banks of a river, which must have been the Stour at or near what is now Sandwich. An effort was made to prevent Cæsar's passage, but the Roman cavalry quickly dispersed the Britons, and drove them into the woods. Pursuit was not permitted, but scouting parties were sent out in various directions, and a camp was in process of construction, when news arrived from the base that a storm had done great damage to the fleet.
Cæsar at once recalled his men, and returned to Atrius to find that about forty vessels had been lost, and that the rest were so much disabled as to need extensive repair. He began the work immediately, sending meanwhile to Labienus for additional ships; and then, unwilling to trust the sea any longer, he with much labour and difficulty hauled every one of his craft ashore, and included all within the lines of his camp. This work occupied the troops night and day for ten days.[1] At the end of that period Cæsar again left a detachment at the base, and advanced with the bulk of his forces into the country. Near the ford where the first engagement had taken place, the Britons were found in greater strength than before, under the general command of Cassivelannus, or Caswallon, king of the Cassi. After several actions the Britons retired, apparently to the westward. Cæsar followed, keeping the Thames on his right flank until he reached a place believed by some to be Cowey Stakes, at Walton, where he saw a large body of the enemy on the opposite side of the river behind an improvised stockade, and found a ford obstructed by sharp piles. Nevertheless the Romans crossed and defeated the enemy, inflicting such punishment on Caswallon that he was obliged thereafter to restrict himself to minor operations, and to a sort of guerilla warfare. In the meantime, the Trinobantes, Cenimagni, Segontiaci, and even the Cassi, besides other tribes, submitted; and as an attempt by the Kentish chiefs upon the camp at the base had failed, Caswallon at length saw fit to treat. Cæsar, who was desirous of wintering in Gaul, accepted his opponent's submission, demanded and received hostages, arranged for the payment to Rome of a yearly tribute, and withdrew to the coast. His ships had been refitted, but all the fresh ones ordered from Labienus had not arrived, and the prisoners were numerous,
- ↑ 'De Bell. Gall.,' v. 11.
