192 
TRAVELS IN AFRICA, Chap. XLIV. 
small troop of Shuwa horsemen were collected under 
the shade of a tree, trying to keep together a drove 
of cattle, which they had taken. In vain did I ad- 
dress Shiiwa and Kaniiri, anxiously inquiring what 
direction the commander-in-chief had taken ; nobody 
was able to give me any information with regard to 
his whereabouts. I therefore scoured the village in 
all directions, to see if I could find by myself the track 
of the army ; but the traces ran in every direction. 
Here I fell in with several troops of horsemen, in 
the same state of uncertainty as myself, and joined 
one of them, where there were some heavy cavalry ; 
neither the attendants of the vizier, nor the man who 
carried his carpet, could tell which direction he had 
taken. While anxiously looking about, I suddenly 
heard behind us the beating of a drum or " ganga," 
and following the sound found a considerable num- 
ber of horsemen, of every description, collected on an 
open area ; and here I received the exciting news that 
the pagans had broken through the line of march at 
the weakest point, and that while the vizier had pur^ 
sued his track, the rear had been dispersed. If these 
poor pagans, who certainly are not wanting in 
courage, were led on by experienced chieftains, and 
waited for the proper opportunity, they would be 
able in these dense forests, where cavalry is scarcely 
of any use, to do an immense deal of damage to this 
cowardly host, and might easily disperse them alto- 
gether. But the principal reason of the weakness 
of these Musgu tribes is, that they have only spears 
