Others, Being Too Weak To Contend For The Water,
Endeavoured To Quench Their Thirst By Devouring The Black Mud From The
Gutters Near The Wells; Which They Did With Great Avidity, Though It Was
Commonly Fatal To Them.
This great scarcity of water was felt severely by all the people of the
camp, and by none more
Than myself; for though Ali allowed me a skin for
containing water, and Fatima, once or twice, gave me a small supply, when
I was in distress, yet such was the barbarous disposition, of the Moors
at the wells, that when my boy attempted to fill the skin, he commonly
received a sound drubbing for his presumption. Every one was astonished
that the slave of a Christian should attempt to draw water from wells
which had been dug by the followers of the Prophet. This treatment, at
length, so frightened the boy, that I believe he would sooner have
perished with thirst, than attempted again to fill the skin; he,
therefore, contented himself with begging water from the Negro slaves
that attended the camp; and I followed his example; but with very
indifferent success; for though I let no opportunity slip, and was very
urgent in my solicitations, both to the Moors and the Negroes, I was but
ill supplied, and frequently passed the night in the situation of
_Tantalus_. No sooner had I shut my eyes, than fancy would convey me to
the streams and rivers of my native land; there, as I wandered along the
verdant brink, I surveyed the clear stream with transport, and hastened
to swallow the delightful draught; - but, alas!
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