party of Mahommed Her, and others yielding to his
advice, and agreeing to remain quiet.
I inquired whether the chief, Moy, intended peace
or war ? He said, “ That Bokke, his wife, had made
him very angry against the Turks by- describing- their
conduct towards the women.”
' This" was father an unsatisfactory state of things.
Gommpro departed, frankly admitting that the’natives
were much excited and wished to attack, but that he
would do his best with them.
- ’ These rascally traders set every country in a blaze
by their brutal conduct, and rendered exploring not
only most dangerous but next to impossible, without
an exceedingly powerful force.
The sun set ; and, as usual in tropical climates;
darkness; set in within half an hour. Hot a woman
had returned to the town, nor was the voice of a
.man to be heard.; The natives had entirely forsaken
the portion of the town that both I and the Turks
occupied.
The night was perfectly calm, and the stars shone
so brightly, that I took an observation for the latitude—
4° 30'.
There was a death-like stillness in the air. Even
the Turks, who were usually uproarious, were perfectly
quiet; and although my men made no remark,
it was plain that we were all occupied by the same
thoughts, and that an attack was expected.
I t was about 9 o’clock j and the stillness had become
almost painful. There was no cry of a bird ; not even
the howl of a hyena : the camels were sleeping; but
every man was wide awake, and the sentries well on
the . alert. We were almost listening at the supernaturalstillness,
if I may so describe the perfect calm,
when, suddenly, every one startled at the deep and
solemn boom of the great war-drum, or nogara! Three
distinct beats, at slow intervals, rang through the
apparently deserted town, and echoed loudly from the
neighbouring mountain. I t was the signal! A few
minutes elapsed, and like a distant echo from the
north the three mournful tones again distinctly
sounded. Was it an echo? Impossible. How from
the south, far distant, but unmistakeable, the same
three regular beats came booming through the still
night air. Again and again, from every quarter,
spreading far and wide, the signal was responded ;
and the whole country echoed those three solemn
notes so full of warning; Once more the great nogara
of Tarrangolle sounded the original alarm within a
few hundred paces of our quarters. The whole country
was up.
There was no doubt about the matter. The Turks