They, With Their Usual Rudeness, Searched
Every Part Of My Apparel, And Stripped Me Of All My Gold, Amber, My
Watch, and one of my pocket compasses; I had fortunately, in the night,
buried the other compass in the sand;
And this, with the clothes I had
on, was all that the tyranny of Ali had now left me.
The gold and amber were highly gratifying to Moorish avarice, but the
pocket compass soon became an object of superstitious curiosity. Ali was
very desirous to be informed, why that small piece of iron, the needle,
always pointed to the Great Desert, and I found myself somewhat puzzled
to answer the question. To have pleaded my ignorance, would have created
a suspicion that I wished to conceal the real truth from him; I therefore
told him, that my mother resided far beyond the sands of Sahara, and that
whilst she was alive, the piece of iron would always point that way, and
serve as a guide to conduct me to her, and that if she was dead, it would
point to her grave. Ali now looked at the compass with redoubled
amazement; turned it round and round repeatedly; but observing that it
always pointed the same way, he took it up with great caution and
returned it to me, manifesting that he thought there was something of
magic in it, and that he was afraid of keeping so dangerous an instrument
in his possession.
March 20th. This morning a council of chief men was held in Ali's tent
respecting me; their decisions, though they were all unfavourable to me,
were differently related by different persons. Some said that they
intended to put me to death; others, that I was only to lose my right
hand: but the most probable account was that which I received from Ali's
own son, a boy about nine years of age, who came to me in the evening,
and, with much concern, informed me that his uncle had persuaded his
father to put out my eyes, which they said resembled those of a cat, and
that all the Bushreens had approved of this measure. His father, however,
he said, would not put the sentence into execution until Fatima the
queen, who was at present in the north, had seen me.
March 21st. Anxious to know my destiny, I went to the king early in the
morning: and as a number of Bushreens were assembled, I thought this a
favourable opportunity of discovering their intentions. I therefore began
by begging his permission to return to Jarra, which was flatly refused;
his wife, he said, had not yet seen me, and I must stay until she came to
Benowm, after which I should be at liberty to depart; and that my horse,
which had been taken away from me the day after I arrived should be again
restored to me. Unsatisfactory as this answer was, I was forced to appear
pleased: and as there was little hopes of making my escape, at this
season of the year, on account of the excessive heat, and the total want
of water in the woods, I resolved to wait patiently until the rains had
set in, or until some more favourable opportunity should present
itself; - but _hope deferred maketh the heart sick_. This tedious
procrastination from day to day, and the thoughts of travelling through
the Negro kingdoms in the rainy season, which was now fast approaching,
made me very melancholy; and having passed a restless night, I found
myself attacked, in the morning, by a smart fever.
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