VIOLENT STORMS. 
178 
[chap. IV. 
violent was the storm, that not a man was to he seen : 
some were sheltering themselves under the neigh- 
bouring rocks; while others ran to their villages 
that were close by; the traders people commenced 
a fusilade, firing off all their guns lest they should 
get wet and miss fire. I could not help thinking how 
completely they were at the mercy of the natives at 
that moment, had they chosen to attack them ; the 
trader s party were lying under their untanned ox-hides 
with their empty guns. Each of my men was pro¬ 
vided with a piece of mackintosh, with which his gun - 
locks were secured. We lay upon an angarep covered 
with a bull’s hide until the storm was over. The 
thunder was magnificent, exploding on the peak of 
the mountain exactly above us, and in the course 
of a quarter of an hour torrents were rushing down 
the ravines among the rocks, the effects of the violent 
storm that had passed away as rapidly as it had 
arrived. 
No sooner had it ceased than the throng again 
appeared. Once more the chief, “ Legge,” was before 
us begging for all that we had. Although the natives, 
asked for beads, they would give nothing in exchange,, 
and we could purchase nothing for any article except 
molotes. These iron hoes are made principally in this 
country: thus it appeared strange that they should 
