Chap. XLV. 
AMOUNT OF BOOTY. 
253 
Although on the present occasion the expedition 
had not been eminently successful in the different 
places, nevertheless the whole booty, besides about 
10,000 head of cattle, amounted to a considerable 
number of slaves. The leaders boasted that they had 
taken not less than 10,000 slaves; and, although I 
was glad to find that this number was exaggerated, I 
convinced myself that they numbered not less than 
3000. 
By far the largest proportion of this number con- 
sisted of aged women, who had not been able to join 
in the hasty flight, and of children under eight years 
of age. There were some women so decrepit that 
they were scarcely able to walk — mere skeletons, who, 
in their almost total nakedness, presented a horrible 
sight. All the full-grown men who had been taken 
prisoners, with the exception of a few cowards who 
had not made any resistance, had been slaughtered ; 
but their number scarcely exceeded 300, almost the 
whole full-grown male population of the country 
having had time to escape. Of these 3000 slaves, 
the commander-in-chief received a third part; but 
he also claimed for himself the whole amount of 
the slave-hunt which was made into the territory 
of A'dishen, and which constituted a sort of tribute. 
In the afternoon of the 17th, two officers had left 
the encampment, under the pretext of gathering 
fodder from the neighbouring villages, but in the 
evening returned with about eight hundred slaves, 
