The Siuall-Pox.

quantity of wood gathered to build a powerful barricade near the water.

March 4th. — There was a great movement in the enemy's camp. Fearing that they intended an attack, we prepared to receive them. But an hour later all was quiet again, and I learned from two fugitive slaves that Suleiman had executed twelve Besingers and four Arabs, because they had made discouraging speeches.

March 9th. — The head of the country of Delgauna, a certain Sheikh Fango, arrived to-day in our camp, and asked for ammunition in order to fight the Jelabba who, in considerable numbers, had captured some natives. 1 gave him six hundred cartridges and he went away.

March 11th. — The escort with the ammunition at last arrived, but there was scarcely sufl&cient for one battle — only two barrels of powder, each containing about a hundredweight and 18,000 cartridges. Besides this I still possessed 10,000 cartridges for the common guns, and 20,000 for the Remingtons. We began to manufacture cartridges with the powder now received, but there was no paper, and we had to use all the official stationery, down to my poor dictionary by Tomaseo, given me by my friend Matteucci previous to his departure to Italy.

March Ibth. — I assembled all the chiefs and gave them my last instructions for the attack to-morrow at seven a.m.

March 16th. — At seven a.m. precisely the troops divided into four columns. The first had orders to go to within nine hundred feet of the torrent, two others were to attack from another side, and the fourth to stand in reserve. No sooner did they perceive us than the enemy opened an artillery fire. While our Besingers dug up the earth, others passed wood from hand to hand, so that in two hours we were able to erect a barricade against the rifle shots. Not so, however, against the cannon, for the balls