204 JOURNEY FROM them at the same time that their treatment depended upon themselves ; and that if they brought the camels immediately and conducted themselves well for the future, we would pass over their conduct on this occasion, and make them some little present at Bengazi, in addition to the hire of their camels, as they had seen us do to the men of Mesurata. All we could with propriety concede was, however, of no avail ; the men positively refused to bring the camels, and we as positively refusing to be imposed upon, they all began to drive them away, and then ranging themselves in a row, un slung their muskets from their shoulders and began hammering their flints, and priming them afresh ; looking all the time as fierce and as formidable as they could, as if they were resolved to carry their point at all risks. A very little will convert a quarrel into a fray, and it was certainly not our interest to begin one ; we were determined, however, not to be bullied, and as fire-arms had now been brought forward as arguments, we were not long in producing our own. We told our opponents, at the same time that we had no wish to hurt any one of them, that we were quite determined we would not be dictated to ; and that if they persisted in not bringing the camels, we should despatch one of our party, accompanied by the chaous, to procure others from the Arabs of Barca ; and in case they refused to supply them, to proceed on with all speed to Bengazi, where the Bey would not fail to provide them with as many as we had occasion for. In the mean time, we said, we should load our own horses, and go back to the Arab tents at Mahiriga, where we should at least procure water, and would subsist on our remaining stock of rice till the mes-