chap, xvi.] THE FIGHT WITH WERDELLA. 447 
started with a force of about 300 armed men, and 
arriving at the foot of the mountains at about 4 a.m. 
they divided their force into two parties of 150 men 
each, and ascended the rocky hill upon two sides, 
intending to surprise the village on one side, while the 
natives and their herds would be intercepted in their 
flight upon the other. 
The chief, Werdella, was well experienced in the 
affairs of the Turks, as he had been for two or three 
years engaged with them in many razzias upon the 
adjoining tribes;—he had learnt to shoot while acting 
as their ally, and having received as presents two 
muskets, and two brace of pistols from Debono's 
nephew Amabile, he thought it advisable to supply 
himself with ammunition; he had therefore employed 
his people to steal a box of 500 cartridges and a parcel 
containing 10,000 percussion caps from Mahommed's 
camp. Werdella was a remarkably plucky fellow; and 
thus strengthened by powder and ball, and knowing 
the character of the Turks, he resolved to fight. 
Hardly had the Turks' party of 150 men advanced 
halfway up the mountain path in their stealthy manner 
of attempting a surprise, when they were assailed by a 
shower of arrows, and the leader who carried the flag 
fell dead at the report of a musket fired from behind a 
rock. Startled at this unexpected attack, the Turks' 
party recoiled, leaving their flag upon the ground by 
the dead standard-bearer. Before they had time to 
recover from their first panic, another shot was fired 
from the same shelter at a distance of about thirty 
paces, and the brains of one of the Turks' party were 
splattered over his comrades, as the ball took the top of 
his head completely off. Three Bagara Arabs, first- 
rate elephant-hunters, who were with the Turks, now 
rushed forward and saved the flag and a box of am¬ 
munition that the porter had thrown down in his flight. 
These Arabs, whose courage was of a different class to 
that of the traders' party, endeavoured to rally the 
panic-stricken Turks, but just as they were feebly and 
