Chap. XLIY. WORSHIP OF ANCESTORS. 191 
beams cross-laid, or by an earthen urn. The same 
sort of worship as paid by these pagans to their an- 
cestors prevails in a great part of Africa, and how- 
ever greatly the peculiar customs attached to the mode 
of worship may vary, the principle is the same ; but I 
nowhere more regretted having no one at hand to 
explain to me the customs of these people, than I 
did on this occasion. The urn most probably contains 
the head of the deceased ; but what is indicated by the 
cross-laid beams I cannot say. 
I was so absorbed in contemplating this interesting 
scene, that I entirely forgot my own personal safety ; 
for the vizier, without my becoming aware of it, had 
pursued the track on his powerful charger at an un- 
commonly quick rate, and was far in advance. Look- 
ing around me, I found only a small number of Shiiwa 
horsemen near me, and keeping close to them pursued 
the path ; but when we emerged from the thick fo- 
rest, and entered another well-cultivated and thickly- 
peopled district, every trace of a trodden footpath 
ceased, and I became aware that I was entirely cut 
off from the main body of the army. A scene of wild 
disorder here presented itself. Single horsemen were 
roving about to and fro between the fences of the 
villages ; here a poor native, pursued by sanguinary 
foes, running for his life in wild despair; there an- 
other dragged from his place of refuge ; while a third 
was observed in the thick covert of a ficus, and soon 
became a mark for numerous arrows and balls. A 
