Lieut. Speke's Captor Went To Seek His Own Portion Of The Spoil, When A
Somal Came Up And Asked In Hindostani, What Business The Frank Had In
Their Country, And Added That He Would Kill Him If A Christian, But Spare
The Life Of A Brother Moslem.
The wounded man replied that he was going to
Zanzibar, that he was still a Nazarene, and therefore that the work had
better be done at once:--the savage laughed and passed on.
He was
succeeded by a second, who, equally compassionate, whirled a sword round
his head, twice pretended to strike, but returned to the plunder without
doing damage. Presently came another manner of assailant. Lieut. Speke,
who had extricated his hands, caught the spear levelled at his breast, but
received at the same moment a blow from a club which, paralyzing his arm,
caused him to lose his hold. In defending his heart from a succession of
thrusts, he received severe wounds on the back of his hand, his right
shoulder, and his left thigh. Pausing a little, the wretch crossed to the
other side, and suddenly passed his spear clean through the right leg of
the wounded man: the latter "smelling death," then leapt up, and taking
advantage of his assailant's terror, rushed headlong towards the sea.
Looking behind, he avoided the javelin hurled at his back, and had the
good fortune to run, without further accident, the gauntlet of a score of
missiles. When pursuit was discontinued, he sat down faint from loss of
blood upon a sandhill.
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