This
may be a warning to such sportsmen who adopt new-fashioned
projectiles to old-fashioned rifles, that were proved with the
spherical bullet, which in weight and friction bears no
proportion to the heavy cylinder; nevertheless, this rifle should
not have burst, and the metal showed great inferiority, by
blowing into fragments instead of splitting.
The leader of Mek Nimmur's party returned, as he had promised, to
be our guide. I extract from my journal, verbatim, my notes upon
that date.
"March 19, 1862.--Started at 1.30 P.M., and halted at 5 P.M.
There is no water for about thirty miles; thus we had watered all
the animals at the usual hour (noon), and they will accordingly
endure until to-morrow evening. Upon ascending the slope of the
Settite valley, the country is an immense plain of fertile soil,
about two hundred feet above the river. While on the march, I
espied a camel wandering without an owner; this was inmmediately
secured as a lawful prize by our guide. This fellow's name is
Mahomet; he is, doubtlessly, an out-and-out scoundrel; he is
about five feet ten inches in height, and as thin as a live man
can be; he is so crafty-looking, and so wiry and eel-like, that
if I were to lock him up I should secure the key-hole, as he
looks capable of squeezing through anything.
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