liffa, the worst kind of serpent this country produces, rose from its coil, as if in the very act of striking. I was horror-struck, and deprived for a moment of all recollection—the branch slipped from my hand, and I tumbled headlong into the water beneath; this shock, however, revived me, and with three strokes of my arms I reached the opposite bank, which, with difficulty, I crawled u p ; and then, for the first timei felt myself safe from my pursuers. | Scarcely had I audibly congratulated myself on my escape, tvhen the forlorn and wretched situation in which 1 was, without even a rag to cover me, 'flashed with all its force upon iny imagination. I was perfectly collected, though fully alive to all the danger to which my state exposed me, ’and had already begun to plan my night s rest, in the top of one of the tamarind-trees, in order to escape the panthers which, as I had seen, abounded in these woods, when the idea of the liffas, almost as numerous, and equally to ' be dreaded, excited a shudder of despair. I now saw horsemen through the trees, still farther to the east, and determined on reaching them, if possible, whether friends or enemies ; and the feelings of gratitude and joy with which 1 recognised Barca Gana and Boo-Khaloom, with about six Arabs, although they also were pressed closely by a party of the Felatahs, was beyond description. The guns and pistols of the Arab sheikhs kept the Felatahs in check, and assisted in some measure the retreat of the footmen. I hailed them with all my might; but the noise and confusion which prevailed, from the cries of those who were falling under the Felatah spears, the cheers of the Arabs rallying and their enemies pursuing, would have drowned all attempts to make myself heard, had not Maramy, the sheikh’s negro, seen and known me at a distance. To this man I was indebted for my second escape; riding up to me, he assisted me to mount behind him, while the arrows whistled over our heads, and we then galloped off to the rear as fast as his wounded horse could carry us: after we had gone a mile or two, and the pursuit had something cooled, in consequence of all the baggage having been abandoned to the enemy, Boo-Khaloom rode up to me, and desired one of the Arabs to cover me ,with a bornouse. This was a most welcome relief, for the burning sun had already begun to blister my neck and back, and gave me the greatest pain. Shortly after, the effects of the poisoned wound in his foot caused our excellent friend to breathe his last: Maramy exclaimed,!/?Look, look! Boo-Khaloom is dead!” I turned my head, almost as great an exertion as I was capable of, and saw him drop from the horse into the arms of his favourite Arab he never spoke after. They said he had only swooned; there was no water, however, to revive him ; and about an hour after, when we came to Makkeray, he was past the reach of restoratives. About the time Boo-Khaloom dropped, Barca Gana ordered a slave to bring me a horse, from which he had just dismounted, being the third that had been wounded under him in the course of the day; his wound was in the chest. Maramy cried, g Sidi rais ! do not ,mount him ; he will die !” In a moment, for only a moment was given me, I decided on remaining with Maramy. Two Arabs, panting with fatigue, then seized the bridle, mounted, and pressed their retreat: in less than half an hour he fell to rise uo more, and both the Arabs were butchered before they could recover themselves. Had we not now arrived at the water as we did, I do not think it possible that I could have supported the thirst by which I was consuming. I tried several times to speak in reply to Maramy’s directions to hold tight, when we came to breaks or inequalities in t e ground; but it was impossible ; and a painful straining at the stomach and throat was the only effect produced by the effort. On coming to the stream, the horses, with blood gushing from their nostrils, rushed into the shallow water, and, letting myself own from behind Maramy, I knelt down amongst them, and seemed
27f 24
To see the actual publication please follow the link above