This gave the victory to Euryalus, but Salius protested against the
foul play by which he had been defeated, and claimed that he was
entitled to the first prize. AEneas, however, decided that the prize
should go to him who had actually reached the goal first.
Nevertheless, he gave Salius a lion's hide, heavy with shaggy fur and
gilt claws. Nisus, too, claimed a reward, and AEneas sympathising
with his misfortune, presented to him a shield of beautiful
workmanship, which had been taken from the pillars of Neptune's temple
in the city of Troy.

Games of boxing and archery--shooting with bows and arrows--came next.
In the latter contest, king Acestes and Mnestheus took part. The
other competitors were Eu-ry'ti-on and Hip-poc'o-on. For a mark to
shoot at, they tied a pigeon to the top of a tall mast set firmly in
the ground. Hippocoon won the first chance in the drawing of lots. His
arrow struck the mast with such force that it fixed itself in the
wood. The arrow of Mnestheus broke the cord by which the pigeon was
attached to the mast, and as she flew off, Eurytion discharged his
shaft with so true an aim that it killed the bird. Acestes, who had
drawn the last lot, now fired, though there was nothing to shoot at,
but his arrow as it winged its way high into the air, presented to the
spectators a marvelous sight.

E'en in the mid expanse of skies
The arrow kindles as it flies,
Behind it draws a fiery glare,
Then wasting, vanishes in air.
CONINGTON, _AEneid_, BOOK V.

AEneas interpreted this wonderful event as a sign of the will of the