4.4 Account ^4Vlexakdee Scott's Captivity 
on throwing it on the fire at night, it burnt with a blue flame, 
and almost suflbcated the people, who beat him heartily for 
causing this annoyance 
The ti’acks left by camels in the clay soil, in wet weather, 
(which is not very frequent in that country,) guided the caravan 
through this desert region. They often met other Arab tribes 
travelling like themselves, but they never pitclied their tents 
near each other. This arose partly from fear, and partly from 
the scarcity of water and food for their cattle. 
After passing through a wood, which they traversed for two 
days, they again came to a sandy soil. This wood was the 
boundary between the clayey and sandy districts. During 
their passage through the forest, they saw several lions, which 
did not attempt to come near them. 
Scott remarked, that beasts of prey seldom attacked a party 
unless they were first molested ; but their flocks were attacked 
in this wood by a tiger f. The camels can smell this animal at 
a considerable distance, and its approach is known by their re- 
fusing to advance. This occurred in the wood, the men pre- 
pared their arms, the tiger approached with little noise, and fell 
upon the sheep ; the people endeavoured to drive him away, 
and fired at him, on which he suddenly turned on them, killed 
three, two of whom he struck down at once, and wounded five 
others. He then seized a sheep, which he carried off with great 
ease, in his mouth. 
In this wood they met with a party who had a tame elephant. 
These people w'ere of a darker complexion than the tribes of El 
Ghiblah. They belonged to the tribe of Or Ghebet, and came 
from El Sharrag, and said they were going to some town (the 
name of which Scott did not hear) to fetch corn. They cau- 
tioned the Arabs with whom Scott was, to beware of a people 
called Baurbarras, black savages, who lived in the wood, and 
had done them much damage. In the wood were date-trees, 
cocoa- trees, and wild oranges. 
* The hiittr taste perhaps arose from a mixture of Sulphate of magnesia, 
which occasionally occurs with sulphur ; or it might be owuiig to Sulphate of 
ammonia. 
•j* From Scott’s description of this animal, it would appear to be the Panther. 
