he tusks they had received from us, one man
following another with his purchases, and in every tusk the black spots
and patches of decay were beginning to appear. To complete our ruin,
when those tusks which we had presented to Amavaroo were brought into
his presence, they each and all were found to be in a similar
condition. Both the king and his people were very naturally furious.
They took from us and out of our house all the jewels we had obtained,
and gave them back to those who had exchanged them for the worthless
ivory, and then, after holding a very stormy council, they conducted us
with every kind of insult out of their town into the plains beyond.
There, having stripped us naked, they beat us with branches of nettles
and branches of prickly holly, and finally, tying our hands and feet
together, they left us to be scorched by the sun during the day, and to
be devoured by the wild beasts that prowled about at night. Here we
lay all day in a most pitiable plight, and there undoubtedly we should
have perished, had it not been for the gratitude and kindness of a
slave whom, during our stay at Behar, we had many times befriended and
protected, as far as lay in our power, against the tyranny of a very
cruel bully, who was his master. This poor fellow stole away at
sundown, came to us, freed us from our bonds, brought us some of our
own clothes which he had managed to get hold of, and, going with us,
became our guide on the slow and painful course of our journey
northward. He brought us also a small packet of very handsome stones,
which had been dropped by some one during the exciting events of the
morning, and which he had seen and picked up on his way to us.

"This seemed at the time a perfect godsend. There were not many
stones--about a dozen--and they not nearly so large as many of those we
had received in exchange for our ivory. At the same time they were of
the utmost value to us now, as we should be able to dispose of them at
the first place where we might meet with Arab merchants, and we should
thus provide ourselves at least with such things as were absolutely
necessary for our return journey to Bagdad.

"Meanwhile, our progress was slow and our subsistence precarious,
consisting chiefly of such roots, fruits, and insects, as we were able
to discover. In this matter of catering the slave was much more
proficient than we, and proved an invaluable aid to us.

"After many weeks of hardship and danger,