THE SOURCE OF THE NILE. i6j 



mon could be ; the change of place made no difference ; the 

 difpafitions of the people towards Michael and his friends 

 we knew to be the fame throughout the kingdom, and that 

 our only fafety remained on certain and good news coming 

 from the army, or in the liniihing our journey with expe- 

 dition, before any thing bad happened, or was certainly 

 known. 



The hyamas this night devoured one of the beft of our 

 mules. They are here in great plenty, and fo arc lions ; the 

 roaring and grumbling of the latter, in the part of the wood 

 nearefl our tent, greatly difturbed our beails, and prevented 

 them from eating their provender. I lengthened the firings 

 of my tent, and placed the beafts between them. The white 

 ropes, and the tremulous motion made by the impreilion 

 of the wind, frightened the lions from coming near us. 1 had 

 procured from Janni two fmall brafs bells, fuch as the mules 

 carry. I had tied thefe to the norm-firings of the tent, 

 where their noife, no doubt, greatly contributed to our 

 beafts fafety from thefe ravenous, yet cautious animals, fo 

 that we never faw them ; but the noife they made, and, 

 perhaps, their fmell, fo terrified the mules, that, in the morn- 

 ing, they were drenched in fweat as if they had been a long 

 journey. 



The brutifh hyama was not fo to be deterred. I mot one 

 of them dead on the night of the 31ft of January, and, on 

 the 2d of February, I fired at another fo near, that I was 

 confident of killing him. Whether the balls had fallen out, 

 or that I had really miffed him with the firft barrel, I know 

 not, but he gave a fnarl and a kind of bark upon the firft 

 {hot, advancing diredtly upon me as if unhurt. The fecond 



{hot,. 



