appeared at first rather shocked at the thought of having a Christian so near her: but when I had (by means of a Negro boy, who spoke the Mandingo and Arabic tongues) answered a great many questions, which her curiosity suggested, respecting the country of the Christians, she seemed more at ease, and presented me with a bowl of milk; which I considered as a very ▾ favourable omen.

The heat was now almost insufferable; all nature seemed sinking under it. The distant country presented to the eye a dreary expanse of sand, with a few stunted trees and prickly bushes, in the shade of which the hungry cattle licked up the withered grass, while the camels and goats picked off the scanty foliage. The scarcity of water was greater here than at Benowm. Day and night the wells were crowded with cattle, lowing and fighting with each other to come at the trough: excessive thirst made many of them furious; others, being too weak to contend for the water, endeavoured to quench their thirst by devouring the black mud from the gutters near the wells; which they did with great avidity, though it was commonly fatal to them.

This great scarcity of water was felt severely by all the people of the camp, and by none more than myself; for though Ali allowed me a skin for containing water, and Fatima, once or twice, gave me a small supply, when I was in distress, yet such was the barbarous disposition of the Moors at the wells, that, when my boy attempted to fill the skin, he commonly received a sound drubbing for his presumption. Every one was astonished that the slave of a Christian should attempt to draw

U

water from wells which had been dug by the followers of the Prophet. This treatment, at length, so frightened the boy, that I believe he would sooner have perished with thirst, than attempted again to fill the skin; he therefore contented himself with begging water from the Negro slaves that attended the camp; and I followed his example; but with very indifferent success; for though I let no opportunity slip, and was very urgent in my solicitations, both to the Moors and Negroes, I was but ill supplied, and frequently passed the night in the situation of Tantalus. No sooner had I shut my eyes, than fancy would convey me to the streams and rivers of my native land: there, as I wandered along the verdant brink, I surveyed the clear stream with transport, and hastened to swallow the delightful draught ;—but alas! disappointment awakened me; and I found myself a lonely captive, perishing of thirst amidst the wilds of Africa!

One night, having solicited in vain for water at the camp, and being quite feverish, I resolved to try my fortune at the wells, which were about half a mile distant from the camp. Accordingly, I set out about midnight, and, being guided by the lowing of the cattle, soon arrived at the place; where I found the Moors very busy drawing water. I requested permission to drink, but was driven away, with outrageous abuse. Passing, however, from one well to another, I came at last to one where there was only an old man and two boys. I made the same request to this man, and he immediately drew me up a bucket of water; but, as I was about to take hold of it, he recollected that I was a Christian, and fearing that his bucket might be polluted by my lips, he dashed

the water into the trough, and told me to drink from thence. Though this trough was none of the largest, and three cows were already drinking in it, I resolved to come in for my share; and kneeling down, thrust my head between two of the cows, and drank with great pleasure, until the water was nearly exhausted; and the cows began to contend with each other for the last mouthful.

In adventures of this nature, I passed the sultry month of May, during which no material change took place in my situation. Ali still considered me as a lawful prisoner; and Fatima, though she allowed me a larger quantity of victuals than I had been accustomed to receive at Benowm, had as yet said nothing on the subject of my release. In the meantime, the frequent changes of the wind, the gathering clouds, and distant lightning, with other appearances of approaching rain, indicated that the wet season was at hand; when the Moors annually evacuate the country of the Negroes, and return to the skirts of the Great Desert. This made me consider that my fate was drawing towards a crisis, and I resolved to wait for the event without any seeming uneasiness: but circumstances occurred which produced a change in my favour, more suddenly than I had foreseen, or had reason to expect. The case was this: the fugitive Kaartans, who had taken refuge in Ludamar, as I have related in Chapter VIII. finding that the Moors were about to leave them, and dreading the resentment of their own sovereign, whom they had so basely deserted, offered to treat with Ali, for two hundred Moorish horsemen, to co-operate with them in an effort to expel Daisy from Gedingooma; for until Daisy should

be vanquished, or humbled, they considered that they could neither return to their native towns, nor live in security in any of the neighbouring kingdoms. With a view to extort money from these people, by means of this treaty, Ali dispatched his son to Jarra, and prepared to follow him in the course of a few days. This was an opportunity of too great consequence to me, to be neglected. I immediately applied to Fatima (who, I found, had the chief direction in all affairs of state), and begged her interest with Ali, to give me permission to accompany him to Jarra. This request, after some hesitation, was favourably received. Fatima looked kindly on me, and, I believe, was at length moved with compassion towards me. My bundles were brought from the large cow-skin bag that stood in the corner of Ali's tent, and I was ordered to explain the use of the different articles, and shew the method of putting on the boots, stockings, &c.; with all which I cheerfully complied, and was told that, in the course of a few days, I should be at liberty to depart.

Believing, therefore, that I should certainly find the means of escaping from Jarra, if I should once get thither; I now freely indulged the pleasing hope that my captivity would soon terminate; and happily not having been disappointed in this idea, I shall pause, in this place, to collect and bring into one point of view, such observations on the Moorish character, and country, as I had no fair opportunity of introducing into the preceding narrative.

CHAPTER XII.

Containing some further miscellaneous Reflections on the Moorish Character, and Manners.-Observations concerning the Great Desert, its Animals, wild and domestic, &c. &c.

THE

HE Moors of this part of Africa, are divided into many separate tribes; of which the most formidable, according to what was reported to me, are those of Trasart and Il Braken, which inhabit the northern bank of the Senegal river. The tribes of Gedumah, Jafnoo, and Ludamar, though not so numerous as the former, are nevertheless very powerful and warlike; and are each governed by a chief, or king, who exercises absolute jurisdiction over his own horde, without acknowledging allegiance to a common sovereign. In time of peace, the employment of the people is pasturage. The Moors, indeed, subsist chiefly on the flesh of their cattle; and are always in the extreme of either gluttony or abstinence. In consequence of the frequent and severe fasts which their religion enjoins, and the toilsome journies, which they sometimes undertake across the Desert, they are enabled to bear both hunger and thirst, with surprising fortitude, but whenever opportunities occur of satisfying their appetite, they generally devour more at one meal, than would serve an European for three. They pay but little attention to agriculture; purchasing their corn, cotton-cloth,