and when any of them flew past and caught the timbers and at once started a great flame, as must be the case in a ship, they used first the drinking-water which they carried on board and extinguished some conflagrations:  when that was gone they dipped up the sea-water.  And in case they could use great quantities of it at once, they would stop the fire by main force:  but they were unable to do this everywhere, for they did not have many buckets or large ones, and in their confusion brought them up half full, so that far from doing any service they only quickened the flame.  For salt water poured on a fire in small quantities makes it burn up brightly.  As they found themselves getting the worst of it in this, they heaped on the blaze their thick mantles and the corpses.  For a time these checked the fire and it seemed to abate; later, especially as the wind came upon it in great gusts, it shot up more brilliant than ever and was increased by the fuel.  While only a part of a ship was burning, others stood by it and the men would leap into it and hew down some parts and carry away others.  These detached parts some threw into the sea and others upon their opponents, in case they could do them any damage.  Others were constantly going to the sound portion of the vessel and now more than ever they used the grappling irons and the long spears with the purpose of attaching some hostile ship to theirs and transferring themselves to it; or, if that was out of the question, they tried to set it on fire likewise. [-35-] But the hostile fleet was guarding against this very attempt and none of it came near enough; and as the fire spread to the encircling walls and descended to the flooring, the most terrible of fates confronted them.  Some, and particularly the sailors, perished by the smoke before the flame approached them, while others were roasted in the midst of it as though in ovens.  Others were cooked in their armor, which became red-hot.  There were still others, who, before suffering such a death, or when they were half burned, threw off their armor and were wounded by the men shooting from a distance, or again were choked by leaping into the sea, or were struck by their opponents and drowned, or were mangled by sea-monsters.  The only ones to obtain an endurable death, considering the sufferings round about, were such as killed one another or themselves before any calamity befell them.  These did not have to submit to torture, and as corpses had the burning ships for their funeral pyre.  The Caesarians, who saw this, at first so long as any of the foe were still able to defend themselves would not come near; but when the fire began to consume the ships and the men so far from being able to do any harm to an enemy could not even help themselves, they eagerly sailed up to them to see if they could in any way gain possession of the money, and they endeavored to extinguish the fire which they themselves had caused.  As a result many of them also perished in the course of their plundering in the flame.