The Following Morning I Found Much Difficulty In Getting
Our Escort Together, As They Had Been Foraging Throughout The
Neighborhood;
These "devil's own" were a portion of Kamrasi's troops,
who considered themselves entitled to plunder ad libitum throughout the
march;
However, after some delay they collected, and their tall chief
approached me and begged that a gun might be fired as a curiosity. The
escort had crowded around us, and as the boy Saat was close to me I
ordered him to fire his gun. This was Saat's greatest delight, and bang
went one barrel unexpectedly, close to the tall chief's ear. The effect
was charming. The tall chief, thinking himself injured, clasped his head
with both hands, and bolted through the crowd, which, struck with a
sudden panic, rushed away in all directions, the "devil's own" tumbling
over each other and utterly scattered by the second barrel which Saat
exultingly fired in derision, as Kamrasi's warlike regiment dissolved
before a sound. I felt quite sure that, in the event of a fight, one
scream from the "Baby," with its charge of forty small bullets, would
win the battle if well delivered into a crowd of Kamrasi's troops.
On the morning of the second day we had difficulty in collecting
porters, those of the preceding day having absconded; and others were
recruited from distant villages by the native escort, who enjoyed the
excuse of hunting for porters, as it gave them an opportunity of
foraging throughout the neighborhood. During this time we had to wait
until the sun was high; we thus lost the cool hours of morning, and it
increased our fatigue.
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