220 AFRICAN WANDERINGS.

was so far gone in drunkenness, that in rising to welcome us he fell, but continued by his humour and wit to highly amuse the party, at the expense of the Turks. We afterwards saw a funeral ; the corpse was rolled up in two pieces of cotton cloth and borne on the shoulders; men with shields and lances followed it, and behind them came the wife and female attendants. She was of very voluptuous build, held a cloth in her hands; with most furious howling, she waved it over her head, ever and anon striking her naked breast. She, like the other women and girls, conducted themselves as if insane, grasping handfuls of sand, casting it in the air, on their heads, and on all around. But in spite of this outward inconsolable state, we observed that not a tear was to be seen in her eyes, or in any of the other women's.

A chasua had been made into the hills of Basa ; the troops returned, bringing a crowd of prisoners of both sexes with them. The males were almost all wounded, and exhibited much stoicism during the painful operation of extracting the balls, whicli my brother performed. Even the Turks confessed that these mountaineers had defended themselves bravely with stones and lances. Many of the soldiers were also wounded, and with balls, which they in their usual blundering had fired into each other. It was, however, Turk-like asserted, that the Mograbin and Schaigies knowingly and wilfully had here and there fired on the soldiers, to drive them from the booty. It was a piteous sight to behold the prisoners, especially the women and children, brought into the camp bound on camels, despair written on their countenances.

Before these were sold or distributed by lot, they were taken near the tent of Topschi Baschi, where a fire was burning, in which were iron stamps in the form of a star, heated red hot, to brand aU of them with on the shoulder, even to the smallest child. No sooner did the howling and weeping reach our hut than, starting up, we seized our rifles, and with three servants were oiF to hunt.

In spite of all our warnings, these would not remain with us, and we were much enraged on hearing three shots fired; we went up to the spot, supposing it to be our servants, but instead of them we found three soldiers, who lay on the ground bathed in their blood, and fearfully torn. Two were already dead, and