United States or Zambia ? Vote for the TOP Country of the Week !
On the first day of the moon Jamisalachar, the Selictar arrived from below, where he had been to collect durra for the army. Two days after I set forward in company with him to pass the Desert. The road for two days lay near the bank of the river. By the middle of the afternoon of the first day we arrived at a pleasant spot on the border of the Nile, where we encamped to pass the night.
It was however impossible to prevent the greater part of them from proceeding to the village, which they pillaged and destroyed, sacrificing to their fury many of its inhabitants. The plunder which they brought back was however seized by the Selictar, and by the Pasha's orders restored to its owners.
I accepted the advice, and pitched my tent to await the arrival of the Selictar. The same day I was informed that all the large boats had received orders to abandon the attempt to pass the remainder of the third cataract of the Nile.
A little beyond this village, the Selictar, at the head of a detachment of about four hundred men, surprised and dispersed about fifteen hundred of the enemy, taking many of their horses and camels.
There were, besides, seven hundred Mogrebin infantry in the boats, awaiting the means of transporting their tents and baggage across the Desert. On my representing to the Hasna Katib the circumstance that had delayed me, he informed me that the Selictar was expected from below in a few days, who, on the day after his arrival, would proceed after the Pasha, and that I had better accompany him.
By the middle of the afternoon we were again on horseback, and marched till midnight, when some of the camels dropping and dying, and others giving out, the Selictar found himself obliged to order a halt for the rest of the night. It was his intention to have marched till morning, by which time our guides told us that we should arrive at the river.
The Selictar, however, did not indulge us with more than half a day's and one night's repose on the bank of the river, which we found well cultivated by the inhabitants of numerous villages in sight. On the morning of the ninth day of the moon, we were again called to proceed. For this day our march lay near the bank of the river, and through and by fine fields of barley, cotton, and wheat.
Word Of The Day