NATURAL HISTORY. 



595 



trench which remained to be 

 crossed before Ave ijot into the 

 great chamber. Mnsterinii,' nil 

 my strength, I leaped, aad was 

 followed by the American. Smelt 

 stood on the brink, ready to drop 

 with fatigue. He called to us 

 " for God's sake to help him over 

 the fosse, or at least to stop, if 

 only for five minutes, to allow 

 him time to recover his strength." 

 It was impossible — to stay was 

 death, and we could iiot resist 

 the desire to push on and reach 

 the open air. We encouraged 

 him to summon all his force, and 

 he cleai'ed the trench, ^^'hen we 

 reached the open air it was one 

 o'clock, and the heat in the sun 

 about 160**. Our sailors, who 

 were waiting for us, had luckily 

 a bardak full of Avater, which 

 they sprinkled upon us, but though 

 a little refreshed, it was not pos- 

 sible to climb the sides of the pit ; 

 they unfolded their turbans, and 

 slinging them round our bodies, 

 drew us to the top. 



Our appearance alone without 

 our guides naturally astonished 

 the Arab who had remained at 

 the entrance of the ca\ern ; and 

 he anxiously inquired for his 

 ha- habebas, or friends. To have 

 confessed they were dead would 

 have excited suspicion, he would 

 have supposed we had murdered 

 them, and have alarmed the in- 

 liabitants of Amabdi, to jiursue 

 us and revenge the death of their 

 fi-iends. ^\'e replied therefore 

 they were coming, and weie em- 

 ployed in bringing out the mum- 

 mies we had found, which was 

 the cause of their delay. 



We lost no time in mounting 

 our asses, re-crossed the desert, 

 and passed hastily by the village 



to regain the ferry of Manfalout. 

 Our cangia was moored close to 

 the town, and we got on board 

 by five o'clock. AV'e had been 

 expected for some time, and as it 

 happened to be the birthday of my 

 friend Mr. Sipelt, we had inientl- 

 ed to have regaled ourselves that 

 day with a moie sumptuous meal 

 than ordinary. But we had no 

 appetite to eat, it was of more 

 consequence to consult what was 

 to be done in our pi'esent cir- 

 cumstances. That the Arabs of 

 Amabdi would j)ursue us to re- 

 venge the sujjposed murder of 

 their friends, there Avas no doubt, 

 and as it would be next to im- 

 possible to persuade them Ave had 

 no hand in their deaths, we all 

 agreed our only safety was in 

 fiight. It Avas resolved we should 

 Avait till midnight, and then sail 

 doAvn the Nile for Miniet, the 

 first Turkish garrisoned toAvn we 

 should reaeli. Owing to the lazi- 

 ness or stupidity of our Reis, it 

 Avas hoAvcAer five in the morning 

 before we Aveighed anchor. This 

 at the time gave us great uneasi- 

 ness, but was in i'act a most for- 

 tunate circimistance ; for, as will 

 appear afterAvards, had Ave sailed 

 earlier Ave should certainly have 

 fallen into the hands of our ene- 

 mies. The wind was contrary, 

 blowing st]-ongly from the north, 

 and Ave had only made t\AO leagues 

 by scA'en o'clock. 



We noAv saw four Turks on 

 horseback galloping towards us, 

 foUoAved by two Arabs on foot, 

 and as Ave made but little way 

 doAvn the river, they were soon 

 neai' enough to fire a pistol and 

 order us to bring to. We stopped 

 our boat, and they called to us 

 from the shore, saying tliey were 



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