Besides his army, Thothmes also maintained a naval force, and used it largely in his expeditions. According to one writer, he placed a fleet on the Euphrates, and in an action which took place with the Assyrians, defeated and chased the enemy for a distance of between seven and eight miles. He certainly upon some occasions made his attacks on Syria and Phœnicia from the sea; nor is it improbable that his maritime forces reduced Cyprus (which was conquered and held in a much less flourishing period by Amasis) and plundered the coast of Cilicia; but a judicious criticism will scarcely extend the voyages of his fleet, as has been done by another writer, to Crete, and the islands of the Ægean, the sea-boards of Greece and Asia Minor, the southern coast of Italy, Algeria, and the waters of the Euxine! There is no evidence in the historical inscriptions of Thothmes of any such far-reaching expeditions. The supposed evidence for them is in a song of victory, put into the mouth of the god, Ammon, and inscribed on one of the walls of the great temple of Karnak. The song is interesting, but it scarcely bears out the deductions that have been drawn from it, as will appear from the subjoined translation. (AMMON _loquitur_.) I came, and thou smotest the princes of Zahi; I scattered them under thy feet over all their lands; I made them regard thy Holiness as the blazing sun; Thou shinest in sight of them in my form. I came, and thou smotest them that dwell in Asia; Thou tookest captive the goat-herds of Ruten; I made them behold thy Holiness in thy royal adornments, As thou graspest thy weapons in the war-chariot. I came, and thou smotest the land of the East; Thou marchedst against the dwellers in the Holy Land; I made them behold thy Holiness as the star Canopus, Which sends forth its heat and disperses the dew. I came, and thou smotest the land of the West; Kefa and Asebi (_i.e._ Phœnicia and Cyprus) held thee in fear; I made them look upon thy Holiness as a young bull, Courageous, with sharp horns, which none can approach. I came, and thou smotest the subjects of their lords; The land of Mathen trembled for fear of thee; I made them look upon thy Holiness as upon a crocodile, Terrible in the waters, not to be encountered. I came, and thou smotest them that dwelt in the Great Sea; The inhabitants of the isles were afraid of thy war-cry; I made them behold thy Holiness as the Avenger, Who shews himself at the back of his victim. I came, and thou smotest the land of the Tahennu; The people of Uten submitted themselves to thy power; I made them see thy Holiness as a lion, fierce of eye, Who leaves his den and stalks through the valleys.