They Called Out, "What!

Be so near them, and not eat them?

- No, no, let us on; this night, these flocks and women shall be ours." Barca Gana suffered himself to be hurried away, and plunged in amongst the foremost. Soon, however, the troops began to sink into the holes, or stick in the mud; their guns and powder were wetted, and became useless; while the enemy, who knew every step, and could ride through the water as quickly as on land, at once charged the invaders in front, and sent round a detachment to take them in the rear. The assault was accordingly soon changed into a disgraceful flight, in which those who had been the loudest in urging to this rash onset set the example. Barca Gana, who had boasted himself invulnerable, was deeply wounded through his coat of mail and four cotton tobes, and with difficulty rescued by his chiefs from five La Sala horsemen, who had vowed his death. The army returned to their quarters in disappointment and dismay, and with a severe loss. During the whole night, the Dugganah women were heard bewailing their husbands, who had fallen, in dirges composed for the occasion, and with plaintive notes, which could not be listened to without the deepest sympathy. Major Denham was deterred by this disaster from making any further attempt to penetrate to the eastern shores of the Tchad.

The Beddoomahs are another tribe who inhabit extensive and rugged islands, in the interior of the lake, amid its deep waters, which they navigate with nearly a thousand large boats.

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