156 MURDER OF A SLAVE. 



I was trying to get out, and if his voice had not told 

 me who it was that was thus intruding, it would 

 have been rather a dangerous retreat for him. I got 

 out at last, and made the best of my way, for it was 

 a very dark night, in the direction that the voices 

 seemed to be, and I soon met Ohmed Mahomed, 

 who took me to the place of slaughter ; but I was 

 of no service, the man was quite dead, and no art 

 of mine could close again the deep gash in his throat, 

 that had terminated so suddenly his existence. He 

 was the slave of one of the camel-owners, and it 

 was supposed had been murdered by one of the 

 Muditu, who had crept unobserved among the 

 camels, and had thus revenged the recent murder 

 of one of their tribe that had occurred in Tajourah. 



April 11th. — The catastrophe of last night, and 

 the evident hostility of the tribe we were among, 

 induced Ohmed Mahomed, despite the bad state of 

 the road, to hasten on another day's journey to 

 reach a country inhabited by the Debenee tribe, the 

 chief of whom, Lohitu, a brave and generous war- 

 rior, was a great friend of Ohmed Medina. 



It was a very long march of nearly seven hours, 

 for we had to go round the shallow, muddy, but 

 extensive Lake of Gurguddee, which occupied a 

 portion of a vast plain, lying nearly north and south, 

 as far as the eye could reach either way. It was 

 bounded east and west, by long low ridges of loose 

 lava cinders, at the distance of about five miles 



