104 
DELAYS ON THE ROAD . 
[chap. IV. 
might have a clear mile of road without a break. The 
evening had passed, and the light faded. What had 
been difficult and tedious during the day, now became 
most serious ;—we could not see the branches of hooked 
thorns that overhung the broken path; I rode in 
advance, my face and arms bleeding with countless 
scratches, while at each rip of a thorn I gave a warning 
shout—-“Thorn ! ” for those behind, and a cry of “Hole! ” 
for any deep rut that lay in the path. It was fortu¬ 
nately moonlight, but the jungle was so thick that the 
narrow track was barely perceptible; thus both camels 
and donkeys ran against the trunks of trees, smashing 
the luggage, and breaking all that could be broken i 
nevertheless, the case was urgent; march we must, at 
all hazards. 
My heart sank whenever we came to a deep ravine, 
or Hor; the warning cry of “ halt ” told those in the 
rear that once more the camels must be unloaded, and 
the same fatiguing operation must be repeated. For 
hours we marched : the moon was sinking; the path, 
already dark, grew darker; the animals overloaded, 
even for a good road, were, tired out; and the men 
were disheartened, thirsty, and disgusted. I dismounted 
from my horse and loaded him with sacks, to relieve 
a, camel that was perfectly done—-but on we marched. 
Every one was silent; the men were too tired to speak; 
and through the increasing gloom we crept slowly 
forward. Suddenly another ravine, but not so deep ; 
and we trusted that the camels might cross it without 
the necessity of unloading;—down went the leading 
camel, rolling completely over with his load to the 
bottom. Now, the boy Saat was the drummer; but 
being very tired, he had come to the conclusion that 
the drum would travel quite as easily upon a camels 
back as upon his shoulders; he had accordingly slung 
it upon the very camel that had now performed a 
somersault and solo on the drum. The musical in¬ 
strument was picked up in the shape of a flat dish, and 
existed no longer as a drum, every note having being 
