40S 
MERGE TO GYRENE. 
a much worse road, which obliged us to lead our horses nearly one 
half of the way. We had not gone far before a quarrel took place 
between Abou-Bukra and one of our servants, and the former, pre- 
tending to be seriously affronted, took the opportunity (never 
neglected by an Arab) of letting us know how necessary he was to us 
and declared he would stay no longer. He accordingly rode off, and 
all his people followed him, leaving the camels without any drivers, 
in expectation no doubt that we should immediately ride after them 
and entreat them to resume their occupations. 
In this, however, we were determined not to gratify them, and 
took no other notice of their departure than by teUing our servants 
to drive the camels on themselves, which they managed to do very 
well. The worst part of the story was our ignorance of the road, 
and we were greatly at a loss, among the many narrow pathways that 
led through the thickets, to determine on which we ought to take. 
Unluckily our chaous knew no more of this road than ourselves ; but 
we took the direction which we imagined to be the right one, and 
contrived to get on with tolerable success. 
Abou-Bukra had before been often trying to persuade us that the 
Arabs of the place were much averse to our passing through their 
territory, and expatiating on the value of his protection and influ- 
ence; he probably imagined that we should be greatly alarmed at the 
idea of being left to ourselves in a hostile country; and he knew, at 
the same time, that we could not possibly be acquainted with a single 
step of the road. His disappointment must, therefore, have been 
very great, when he found that no one rode after him, or t.ook any 
