With Great Difficulty I Accompanied Ibrahim And A
Few Men To The Bank Of The River Where We Had Landed Yesterday, And,
Climbing Upon A White Ant Hill To Obtain A View Over The High Reeds, I
Scanned The Village With A Telescope.
The scene was rather exciting;
crowds of people were rushing about in all directions, and gathering
from all quarters towards the river:
The slope from the river to the
town M'rooli was black with natives, and I saw about a dozen large
canoes preparing to transport them to our side. I returned from my
elevated observatory to Ibrahim, who, on the low ground only a few yards
distant, could not see the opposite side of the river owing to the high
grass and reeds. Without saying more, I merely begged him to mount upon
the ant hill and look towards M'rooli. Hardly had he cast a glance at
the scene described, than he jumped down from his stand, and cried,
'They are going to attack us!' 'Let us retreat to the camp and prepare
for a fight!' 'Let us fire at them from here as they cross in the
canoes,' cried others; 'the buckshot will clear them off when packed in
the boats.' This my panic-stricken followers would have done, had I not
been present.
"'Fools!' I said, 'do you not see that the natives have no SHIELDS with
them, but merely lances? - would they commence an attack without their
shields?
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