Of This Present I Made My
Dinner; And It Was The Third Successive Day That I Had Subsisted Entirely
Upon Raw Corn.
In the evening I arrived at a small village called Song, the surly
inhabitants of which would not receive
Me, nor so much as permit me to
enter the gate; but as lions were very numerous in this neighbourhood,
and I had frequently, in the course of the day, seen the impression of
their feet on the road, I resolved to stay in the vicinity of the
village. Having collected some grass for my horse, I accordingly lay down
under a tree by the gate. About ten o'clock I heard the hollow roar of a
lion at no great distance, and attempted to open the gate; but the people
from within told me, that no person must attempt to enter the gate
without the Dooty's permission. I begged them to inform the Dooty that a
lion was approaching the village, and I hoped he would allow me to come
within the gate. I waited for an answer to this message with great
anxiety; for the lion kept prowling round the village, and once advanced
so very near me, that I heard him rustling among the grass, and climbed
the tree for safety. About midnight the Dooty, with some of his people,
opened the gate, and desired me to come in. They were convinced, they
said, that I was not a Moor; for no Moor ever waited any time at the gate
of a village, without cursing the inhabitants.
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