A SERIOUS ACCIDENT. 273 



foundations, of the highly-coloured figurative punish- 

 ments awarded to the guilty, who were supposed 

 to be banished to these dreary and unhappy deserts, 

 in contradistinction to the abode of the blest in the 

 beautiful and luxuriant garden of the Hesperides, 

 the elysium of the West. 



April 21th. — Barradudda was too abundant of 

 forage and water to admit of our leaving to-day, 

 so we remained, much to my discomfort, for I 

 found the little bug-like tics, as great admirers of 

 beautiful scenery as ourselves, and seemed on this 

 spot to be collected in myriads. They constitute, 

 I should think, a very efficient remedy for the 

 bad effects of too much blood being made by 

 animals, who otherwise might suffer from the 

 unlimited indulgence in good food, this place 

 admits of. 



After writing out a few notes on the conversation of 

 yesterday with Ohmed Medina, I set about cleaning 

 my carbine. Having drawn the charge of both 

 barrels, as I supposed, I put caps upon the nipple, 

 and to show how little was to be feared from the 

 detonation of these alone, which the surrounding 

 Bedouins thought quite as dangerous as ball and 

 powder, I put my hand very bravely to the muzzle 

 of the gun. On pulling- the trigger, however, 

 much to my surprise, I blew my hand into the 

 mouth of a gaping Bedouin, who, with some 

 others, sat upon their heels watching all my 

 movements, until it came to the explosion, with 



VOL. I. T 



