Commoro Departed, And About 2 A.M. The
Dense Crowds Of Armed Men That Had Accumulated Outside The Town Began To
Disperse.
The morning broke and saw the men still under arms, but the excitement
had passed.
The women soon reappeared with their water jars as usual,
but on this occasion they were perfectly unmolested by the Turks, who,
having passed the night in momentary expectation of an attack, were now
upon their best behaviour. However, I heard them muttering among
themselves, "Wait until Ibrahim returns with reinforcements and
ammunition, and we will pay the Latookas for last night."
The town filled; and the Latookas behaved as though nothing out of the
common had occurred; but when questioned, they coolly confessed that
they had intended to surprise us, but that we were too "wide awake.". It
is extraordinary that these fellows are so stupid as to beat the drum or
nogara before the attack, as it naturally gives the alarm, and renders a
surprise impossible; nevertheless, the war-drum is always a preliminary
step to hostilities. I now resolved to camp outside the town, so as not
to be mixed up in any way with the Turks, whose presence was certain to
create enmity. Accordingly I engaged a number of natives to cut thorns,
and to make a zareeba, or camp, about four hundred yards from the main
entrance of the town, on the road to the stream of water. In a few days
it was completed, and I constructed houses for my men, and two good huts
for ourselves.
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