which was equally prepared for the amusements of hunting or of war. No
sooner had Maximin advanced about two miles from the Danube than he
began to experience the fastidious insolence of the conqueror. He was
sternly forbidden to pitch his tents in a pleasant valley, lest he
should infringe the distant awe that was due to the royal mansion. The
ministers of Attila pressed him to communicate the business, and the
instructions, which he reserved for the ear of their sovereign. When
Maximin temperately urged the contrary practice of nations, he was still
more confounded to find that the resolutions of the Sacred Consistory,
those secrets (says Priscus) which should not be revealed to the gods
themselves, had been treacherously disclosed to the public enemy. On his
refusal to comply with such ignominious terms, the Imperial envoy was
commanded instantly to depart; the order was recalled; it was again
repeated; and the Huns renewed their ineffectual attempts to subdue the
patient firmness of Maximin.

At length, by the intercession of Scotta, the brother of Onegesius,
whose friendship had been purchased by a liberal gift, he was admitted
to the royal presence; but, instead of obtaining a decisive answer, he
was compelled to undertake a remote journey toward the north, that
Attila might enjoy the proud satisfaction of receiving, in the same
camp, the ambassadors of the Eastern and Western empires. His journey
was regulated by the guides, who obliged him to halt, to hasten his
march, or to deviate from the common road, as it best suited the
convenience of the King. The Romans, who traversed the plains of
Hungary, suppose that they passed _several_ navigable rivers, either in
canoes or portable boats; but there is reason to suspect that the
winding stream of the Teyss, or Tibiscus, might present itself in
different places under different names.