by Kamrasi to accompany us to the
lake! Fortunately for all parties, the Turks were not with us on that
occasion, or the Satanic escort would certainly have been received with
a volley when they so rashly advanced to compliment us by their absurd
performances.

We marched till 7 P.M. over flat, uninteresting country, and then halted
at a miserable village which the people had deserted, as they expected
our arrival. The following morning I found much difficulty in
getting our escort together, as they had been foraging throughout the
neighborhood; these "devil's own" were a portion of Kamrasi's troops,
who considered themselves entitled to plunder ad libitum throughout the
march; however, after some delay they collected, and their tall chief
approached me and begged that a gun might be fired as a curiosity. The
escort had crowded around us, and as the boy Saat was close to me I
ordered him to fire his gun. This was Saat's greatest delight, and bang
went one barrel unexpectedly, close to the tall chief's ear. The effect
was charming. The tall chief, thinking himself injured, clasped his
head with both hands, and bolted through the crowd, which, struck with a
sudden panic, rushed away in all directions, the "devil's own" tumbling
over each other and utterly scattered by the second barrel which Saat
exultingly fired in derision, as Kamrasi's warlike regiment dissolved
before a sound. I felt quite sure that, in the event of a fight, one
scream from the "Baby," with its charge of forty small bullets, would
win the battle if well delivered into a crowd of Kamrasi's troops.

On the morning of the second day we had difficulty in collecting
porters, those of the preceding day having absconded; and others were
recruited from distant villages by the native escort, who enjoyed
the excuse of hunting for porters, as it gave them an opportunity of
foraging throughout the neighborhood. During this time we had to wait
until the sun was high; we thus lost the cool hours of morning, and
it increased our fatigue. Having at length started, we arrived in the
afternoon at the Kafoor River, at a bend from the south where it was
necessary to cross over in our westerly course. The stream was in
the centre of a marsh, and although deep, it was so covered with
thickly-matted water-grass and other aquatic plants, that a natural
floating bridge was established by a carpet of weeds about two feet
thick. Upon this waving and unsteady surface the men r