Hardly had
the pile begun to blaze, when a cry from Mahomet's new relative,
Achmet, informed us that he had been bitten by a scorpion.
Mahomet appeared to think this highly entertaining, until
suddenly he screamed out likewise, and springing from the ground,
he began to stamp and wring his hands in great agony: he had
himself been bitten, and we found that a whole nest of scorpions
were in the rotten wood lately thrown upon the fire; in their
flight from the heat they stung all whom they met. There was no
time to prepare food; the thunder already roared above us, and in
a few minutes the sky, lately so clear, was as black as ink. I
had already prepared for the storm, and the baggage was piled
within the tent; the ropes of the tents had been left slack to
allow for the contraction, and we were ready for the rain. It was
fortunate that we were in order; a rain descended, with an
accompaniment of thunder and lightning, of a volume unknown to
the inhabitants of cooler climates; for several hours there was
almost an uninterrupted roar of the most deafening peals, with
lightning so vivid that our tent was completely lighted up in the
darkness of the night, and its misery displayed.
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