Here Xerxes, seated upon a marble throne, which the people of Abydos had erected for him on the summit of a hill, was able to see at one glance his whole, armament, and to feast his eyes with the sight.

It is not likely that any misgivings occurred to him at such a moment.

Before him lay his vast host, covering with its dense masses the entire low ground between the hills and the sea; beyond was the strait, and to his left the open sea, white with the sails of four thousand ships; the green fields of the Chersonese smiled invitingly a little further on; while, between him and the opposite shore, the long lines of his bridges lay darkling upon the sea, like a yoke placed upon the neck of a captive.
Having seen all, the king gave his special attention to the fleet, which he now perhaps beheld in all its magnitude for the first time.

Desirous of knowing which of his subjects were the best sailors, he gave orders for a sailing-match, which were at once carried out.

The palm was borne off by the Phoenicians of Sidon, who must have beaten not only their own countrymen of Tyre, but the Greeks of Asia and the islands.
On the next day the passage took place.