BEFORE ABU BOFO. 
15 
long, bright knife, and seizing my arm, attempted to drag 
me away. I forgot my weakness in the thought of wife 
and child, and sturdily resisted his efforts, whereupon he 
turned on Mr. K., and instantly both were lost in the 
outer darkness. We will give the description of the 
cruel scene that was enacted in our brother's own 
words. 
" First/' said he, " I thought of my loved ones far away, 
begging the Lord to comfort them, and asking for myself 
that I might be kept faithful even unto death, for I 
thought the end had now come. It was, however, 
ordered otherwise, and I was dragged into the presence 
of an inferior chief, who sat in front of his dwelling, while 
two attendants supported his arms in a horizontal posi- 
tion. I was also permitted to sit down, and thus 
observed that the o^reat man was sufferino; from several 
frightful wounds. In feverish excitement he turned 
upon me, vowing that I should lose my hands if I had 
had any part in the fighting. They now tore the ragged 
coverings off my swollen feet, which were forced into 
heavy irons secured by a ring; all remonstrance, of course, 
being useless, and my pockets were next rudely searched 
and emptied. Seeing Mr. and Mrs. K. approaching, I 
made an abortive effort to convey to their keeping their 
woollen shawl, as a covering for their babe, but it was 
snatched from my hands. Strange to say, a string of 
coral beads, found within my hat, was restored, being pro- 
bably regarded as a rosary used in prayer according to 
the Moslem fashion. Two of my pockets were also over- 
looked in the general search. This ordeal completed, 
some bread soaked in water was bestowed upon me, but 
fatigue and anxiety had banished hunger, and when left 
alone, I fell on the wet ground in a sleep that might 
rather be called the stupor of exhaustion. I could hardly 
realize my position on awaking. The noisy horns still 
