The Valiant Beuh,
Who, According To Himself, Had Made His _Preuves_ In A Score Of Foughten
Fields, Threw His Arms In The Air, Wildly Shouting Libah!
Libah!!--the
lion!
The lion!!--and nothing else was talked of that evening.
The ghostly western hills seemed to recede as we advanced over the endless
rolling plain. Presently the ground became broken and stony, the mules
stumbled in deep holes, and the camels could scarcely crawl along. As we
advanced our Widads, who, poor devils! had been "roasted" by the women all
day on account of their poverty, began to recite the Koran with might, in
gratitude for having escaped many perils. Night deepening, our attention
was rivetted by a strange spectacle; a broad sheet of bright blaze,
reminding me of Hanno's fiery river, swept apparently down a hill, and,
according to my companions, threatened the whole prairie. These accidents
are common: a huntsman burns a tree for honey, or cooks his food in the
dry grass, the wind rises and the flames spread far and wide. On this
occasion no accident occurred; the hills, however, smoked like a Solfatara
for two days.
About 9 P.M. we heard voices, and I was told to discharge my rifle lest
the kraal be closed to us; in due time we reached a long, low, dark line
of sixty or seventy huts, disposed in a circle, so as to form a fence,
with a few bushes--thorns being hereabouts rare--in the gaps between the
abodes.
Enter page number
PreviousNext
Page 240 of 479
Words from 64137 to 64387
of 128411
