40S MERGE TO GYRENE.

a much worse road, which obliged us to lead our horses nearly one half of the way. We had not gone far before a quarrel took place between Abou-Bukra and one of our servants, and the former, pretending to be seriously affronted, took the opportunity (never neglected by an Arab) of letting us know how necessary he was to us and declared he would stay no longer. He accordingly rode off, and all his people followed him, leaving the camels without any drivers, in expectation no doubt that we should immediately ride after them and entreat them to resume their occupations.

In this, however, we were determined not to gratify them, and took no other notice of their departure than by teUing our servants to drive the camels on themselves, which they managed to do very well. The worst part of the story was our ignorance of the road, and we were greatly at a loss, among the many narrow pathways that led through the thickets, to determine on which we ought to take.

Unluckily our chaous knew no more of this road than ourselves ; but we took the direction which we imagined to be the right one, and contrived to get on with tolerable success.

Abou-Bukra had before been often trying to persuade us that the Arabs of the place were much averse to our passing through their territory, and expatiating on the value of his protection and influence; he probably imagined that we should be greatly alarmed at the idea of being left to ourselves in a hostile country; and he knew, at the same time, that we could not possibly be acquainted with a single step of the road. His disappointment must, therefore, have been very great, when he found that no one rode after him, or t.ook any