"that you have sent out spies to see
if the Bourj in the defile is occupied, and if any of my people
are abroad to restrain your movements." This was rather an ominous
commencement: "but," continued the old gentleman, "if such had been my
intention, could I not have put the whole of you into confinement the
moment you arrived? At all events, what could you and your party
do against my force?" Sturt glanced his eye at the speaker; for an
instant, too, it rested on me, as if to read my opinion; then he
boldly answered, "You may outnumber us by thousands, but you will
never capture us alive." He said this so calmly, with such politeness
of manner, and yet so firmly, that the Meer was evidently taken aback:
at length he replied, "But no such piece of villainy has ever entered
my head." He then adroitly changed the subject, and shortly after took
his leave.

When he was gone we held another council of war. It was by no means
clear that the last declaration of the chief was a sincere one; but
it might have been a temporizing answer elicited by the perhaps
unexpected boldness of Sturt's remark. We determined, at all events,
to keep on the alert, guard against any surprise, avoid as much as
possible offering any pretext for offence, and, if the worst came to
the worst, make as good a resistance as we could.

The next day we received a polite message, requesting an interview,
and asking us to visit him in his favourite garden. Under all
circumstances we deemed it best to allow it to appear that our
suspicions were dissipated, and we accordingly accepted the
invitation, and found the Meer seated on the chabooka, or _raised
platform of masonry_, under the shade of some magnificent trees. He
immediately commenced saying, "The reason I did not go out to meet you
as you approached my city is, that during the warm weather I sleep the
greater portion of the day and sit up enjoying the coolness of the
night air; but I sent a messenger to escort you in with all care, and
unfortunately _he missed the way_." Such an excuse was possible, but
not at all probable. We did not give him credit for telling the truth
about the guide, as there was only one road from Heibuk, and the
approach of our party to Koollum was known in the city several days
before our arrival. It was now evident to us that on our approach the
Meer Walli was undecided whether he should treat us as friends or
foes; it seemed that for the present he had determined in our fa