Of What
Followed I Have No Re-Collection, Maramy Told Me Afterwards That I
Staggered Across The Stream, Which Was Not Above My Hips, And Fell Down
At The Foot Of A Tree On The Other Side.
About a quarter of an hour's
halt took place here for the benefit of stragglers, and to tie poor Boo
Khaloom's body on a horse's back, at the end of which Maramy awoke me
from a deep sleep, and I found my strength wonderfully increased:
Not so,
however, our horse, for he had become stiff, and could scarcely move. As
I learned afterwards, a conversation had taken place about me while I
slept, which rendered my obligations to Maramy still greater. He had
reported to Barca Gana the state of his horse, and the impossibility of
carrying me on, when the chief, irritated by his losses and defeat, as
well as at my having refused his horse, by which means, he said, it had
come by its death, replied, 'Then leave him behind. By the head of the
Prophet! Believers enough have breathed their last today. What is there
extraordinary in a Christian's death?' My old antagonist Malem Chadily
replied, 'No. God has preserved him, let us not forsake him!' Maramy
returned to the tree, and said, 'His heart told him what to do.' He awoke
me, assisted me to mount, and we moved on as before."
In this fatal conflict forty-five of the Arabs, besides their chief,
fell. Most of the rest were wounded, and had lost their camels, and been
stripped of their property. They were obliged to depend upon the bounty
of Barca Gana for subsistence.
Major Denham also accompanied the Bornou troops on an expedition against
the Mungas. He passed through what had been a fertile country, but which
was then depopulated by war. They saw thirty ruined towns, whose
inhabitants had been carried away as slaves. They passed on their route
old Birnie, the ancient capital of the country, the ruins of which
covered six miles; and also Gambarou, which was dignified by the ruins of
a palace and two mosques. The Munga warriors, struck with dismay at the
approach of so strong a force, submitted, and came in hundreds to the
camp, falling prostrate upon the ground, and casting sand upon their
heads.
On the 23rd of January, 1824, Major Denham, accompanied by Mr. Toole, who
had travelled across the desert to join the expedition, resolved to visit
the Shary, a wide river flowing into the lake Tchad, through the kingdom
of Loggun. When they came to Showy, they saw the river, which is a noble
stream, half a mile broad; they sailed a considerable length down this
river, the banks of which were adorned with forests, and fragrant with
the odour of numerous aromatic plants. They traced it forty miles, and
saw it flowing "in great beauty and majesty past the high walls of the
capital of Loggun." This city was handsome and spacious, having a street
as wide as Pall Mall, on either side of which were large habitations,
with enclosures in front.
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