A red tarboosh followed the life-buoy, floating near it on the
surface. . . . . . Ali Nedjar was gone! - drowned! He never rose again.
. . .
I was dreadfully shocked at the loss of my good soldier - he had been
much beloved by us all. We could hardly believe that he was really gone
for ever. Who would now lead the song in the moonlight nights? or be the
first in every race?
I had quickly thrown every life-buoy into the river, as Howarti,
Mohammed, and others of the best swimmers had vainly plunged after Ali,
and were now searching fruitlessly for his body, carried away by the
powerful current. The boat was sent after them immediately, and they
were brought on board.
The mirth of the diahbeeah had vanished; the general favourite had so
suddenly disappeared from among us, that no one spoke, The women sat
down and cried.
His knapsack and rifle were brought to me, and a list having been taken
of his clothes and ammunition, I cut his name, "Ali," upon the stock of
his snider, which I reserved for the best man I should be able to
select. There was no better epitaph for so good a soldier than his name
engraved on his trusty rifle.
That evening every one was sad, and my people all refused their
food. . . .
On the following day, the wind and stream being adverse, we had much
trouble in avoiding the sand-banks, and our progress was so slow that we
only reached the base of the rocky hill Regiaf. Here I resolved to wait
for the heavier vessels, which were far behind.
The natives were now friendly, and on the 25th January, Lieutenant Baker
accompanied me to the summit of Regiaf to take observations of compass
bearings of all the various mountains and prominent points of the
country.
At the western base of Regiaf there is a very curious rock supported
upon a pedestal, that forms a gigantic table.
This great slab of syenite is one of many that have detached and fallen
as the original mountain decomposed.
I obtained my measuring tape from the diahbeeah, which gave the
following results: -
Feet. Inches.
Length of slab . . . . . . . . . 45 4
Breadth of slab . . . . . . . . 45 8
Thickness of slab . . . . . . . 4 9
Height from ground . . . . . . . 10 5
Circumference of clay pedestal . 69 0
This rock must have chanced to fall upon a mass of extremely hard clay.
The denudation of the sloping surface, caused by the heavy rains of many
centuries, must be equal to the present height of the clay pedestal, as
all the exterior has been washed away and the level reduced. The clay
pedestal is the original earth, which, having been protected from the
weather by the stone roof, remains intact.
The Baris seemed to have some reverence for this stone, and we were told
that it was dangerous to sleep beneath it, as many people who had tried
the experiment had died.
