SAID PROVES A HOST IN HIMSELF. 
299 
them at their word, and they ran off. They had 
already, however, carried away about nine pounds 
of tea, packed in tin boxes. It is probable they 
mistook these boxes of tin for silver, or considered 
their contents to be money, gold and silver, although 
their lightness should have undeceived them. As 
the Arabic Bibles and Testaments were packed up 
with the tea, they carried off a Bible with them. 
But this they afterwards dropped on the road, and 
it was picked up by a shepherdess, and brought to 
me. They also took away a pewter dish and two 
bags of grounded ghaseb, besides ripping open the 
bags of the blacks. This appears to be the amount 
of the robbery and devastation ; very fortunate are 
we it was not worse. We had watched many nights, 
and had often loaded our guns ; but this night, when 
the thieves came, we were miserably unprepared to 
receive them. The Germans had been cleaning 
their guns, and all were unloaded. Overweg had 
his fowling-piece charged with small shot. At length 
we got two or three guns in trim, and our servants 
followed the robbers, but nothing of them was to be 
seen. The cowards had fled at the first show of 
resistance. In the morning, on searching through 
the small valley up which they had come, we were 
surprised to find marks of no less than thirteen 
camels — enough to carry away all our goods. So 
that it is probable there were some thirteen robbers, 
a part of whom remained with the camels whilst the 
others attacked us. Amankee, on being knocked 
