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JOURNEY FROM 
them at the same time that their treatment depended upon them- 
selves ; and that if they brought the camels immediately and con- 
ducted themselves well for the future, we would pass over their con- 
duct on this occasion, and make them some little present at Bengazi, 
in addition to the hire of their camels, as they had seen us do to the 
men of Mesurata. All we could with propriety concede was, how- 
ever, of no avail ; the men positively refused to bring the camels, and 
we as positively refusing to be imposed upon, they all began to drive 
them away, and then ranging themselves in a row, un slung their 
muskets from their shoulders and began hammering their flints, and 
priming them afresh ; looking all the time as fierce and as formida- 
ble as they could, as if they were resolved to carry their point at all 
risks. A very little will convert a quarrel into a fray, and it was 
certainly not our interest to begin one ; we were determined, however, 
not to be bullied, and as fire-arms had now been brought forward as 
arguments, we were not long in producing our own. We told our 
opponents, at the same time that we had no wish to hurt any one of 
them, that we were quite determined we would not be dictated 
to ; and that if they persisted in not bringing the camels, we should 
despatch one of our party, accompanied by the chaous, to procure 
others from the Arabs of Barca ; and in case they refused to supply 
them, to proceed on with all speed to Bengazi, where the Bey would 
not fail to provide them with as many as we had occasion for. In 
the mean time, we said, we should load our own horses, and go back 
to the Arab tents at Mahiriga, where we should at least procure 
water, and would subsist on our remaining stock of rice till the mes- 
