beyond what they may be able to gain themselves by robbery and plunder; if by any chance, and without fault on their part, they happen to lose a horse-which is their personal propertyeven on actual service, they cannot reckon upon any indemnification from the government; for, should they not have the means of purchasing a fresh animal, they are indeed mounted by the government, but the price of the horse is deducted from their pay, which is on the very lowest scale, and thus they have to serve for several years gratuitously. Their sheikh, or commanding officer, told me this himself, and assured me that his Bedouins (erroneously termed Mogghrebeen) would act very unwisely in risking their horses on an attack whence nothing was to be gained; for the negroes, in encountering cavalry, are well aware of the advantage of injuring the horse rather than the rider, as the latter falls a certain victim to them when the animal is slain. After the cavalry had again formed in the rear of the infantry, the officer in command ordered a charge by the foot for the following day. If the attack had succeeded, the carnage would indeed have been terrific, for the troops were all eager to revenge the death of the Bedouin sheikh. But it was differently recorded in the book of fate. With the first dawn of morning, the infantry were put in marching order for the ensuing storm, and the cavalry placed in reserve. The advance was now made, on the word of command, with the utmost caution, a few cannon balls having been first sent into the village without effect. All remained perfectly quiet, until the advance-guard of the storming party had reached the foot of the hill and prepared for action, when the negroes suddenly broke forth, endeavoring to surround the enemy. The position of the Egyptians became now very critical, for bent upon the capture of this hill, they had overlooked two other villages flanking the one attacked, which were densely populated by negroes, who joined the besieged, and threw themselves with the whole strength of their united forces upon the troops. Not one man would have escaped, for, enclosed in a narrow valley, and surrounded by hills, the infantry could scarcely move, and no assistance could be expected from the cavalry. The whole brigade, in fact, would have been lost, as the negroes gathered, like a black cloud, upon the hills, and poured down by hundreds upon the enemy; no troops could withstand their attack, for they rushed into battle with unparalleled frenzy, regardless of shot or bayonet, and used their spears with great dexterity. The commander of the Egyptian forces, however, betimes recognized the danger threatening his troops, and ordered a retreat; when the whole body fled in wild confusion, from the vale of death. The cavalry was not behindhand in this movement, and thus the brigade never halted until it was fairly out

of the dominions of the foe. Of a renewal of the attack there was now no idea; for nothing in the world can induce these heroes to repeat an advance where they have once been beaten. They know further, that the negroes become almost invincible with success; while the musket and bayonet afford but slight advantage over the weapons of the blacks; for the wild inhabitants of the hills rush blindly to the charge, heedless of every wound. I myself had opportunities of convincing myself of the intrepidity of these men.

"After the troops had again collected, order was once more restored, and the march was continued; in the course of a few days, several hills were taken, and the prisoners duly forwarded to Lobeid. The expedition now moved in a southern direction from the Nuba mountains, towards a country inhabited by a different race of men. The tribe now attacked differs from the natives of Nuba, both in language and manners; they are easily recognized by the number of brass earrings, which they do not pass through the appendix of the ear, but wear in the upper part of the cartilage, by which means the whole ear is distorted, so that the superior portion covers the meatus. Almost all the men wear the tooth of some animal, one inch and a half to two inches in length, above their chin; it is passed through a hole in the under lip, when they are very young, and acquires a firm adhesion with the integument. In their habits they differ but little from the other negro tribes; but it is rather remarkable that they do not, like the negroes, Turks, or Arabs, convey food to their mouths with their fingers, but make use of a shell, or piece of wood, shaped like a spoon, for this purpose. The dwelling-place of this tribe was very advantageously situated on the summit of a hill, and very difficult of access; the commanding officer, therefore, on hearing that it was not supplied with water, to avoid a loss, decided upon surrounding the hill, and forcing the negroes by thirst to surrender. The siege lasted eight days, and the poor creatures, who felt themselves too weak for a sortie, had not a drop of water left on the fourth day, as was subsequently heard. The cattle were slain in the early part of the blockade, to diminish the consumption of water; on the sixth day, several children and old people had perished of thirst; and on the seventh day the mortality became so frightful that they determined to surrender. Several of them advised a sally, but exhausted as they were, they saw the futility of this movement; and when, on the eighth day, hundreds had fallen in the most fearful torments of unsatisfied thirst, and many of the negroes, in the horrors of despair, had put an end to their miseries by ripping open their abdomina with their double-edged knives, the small body of survivors delivered itself up to the enemy. Of more

than two thousand souls, one thousand and forty-nine were only found living; the rest had all perished by thirst or had committed suicide. On entering the village, the huts were seen filled with the dead, and the few unfortunate survivors were so exhausted by fatigue and overpowered by thirst, that they could scarcely stand upon their feet; yet with blows with the butt-end of the musket, or with the whip, these poor wretches were driven from the huts, dragged into the camp, with every description of cruelty, and thence despatched for Lobeid, on which march more than one hundred and fifty souls perished from ill usage.

"On the fourth day of the march of this transport, after the caravan had halted, and whilst the prisoners were forming detachments to take up their quarters for the night, it so happened that an aged woman, worn out with the fatigues of the long march, or overcome by the mental sufferings she had endured, was incapable of reaching the spot assigned to her with sufficient alacrity, and a barbarous Turk dealt her a blow with the butt-end of his musket, which laid her nearly lifeless on the sand. Her son, who witnessed this gratuitous act of cruelty, no longer master of his feelings, rushed with fury towards the soldier, struck him a blow with the sheba round his neck, and felled him to the ground. This was the signal for attack; all the slaves, who bore a sheba, threw themselves upon the troops, and knocked them down before they could take to their arms or fix their bayonets; thus fifty-six negroes took to flight during the confusion. in the camp, and aided by the darkness of the night, succeeded in effecting their escape."

More than once Mahomet Ali has pledged himself to put an end to slave-hunting expeditions in all the countries dependent upon Egypt; but the pledge does not appear to have been redeemed. Slave-hunts were resumed in 1840 and 1841, and whether the British government has yet finally succeeded, by threats or remonstrances, or the negotiations consequent upon our Syrian campaign, in stopping slave-hunts for the future, is a point upon which the public may naturally be skeptical. Assuming Mahomet Ali to be in earnest, we have little doubt that the local governors would still continue to carry on slave-hunts for their own private benefit. Pallme, however, shows satisfactorily that the policy of these expeditions is as mistaken as it is criminal; and that if friendly relations were established with the Nubian tribes, their vast gum forests alone would enable the viceroy to realize a much larger revenue than he has ever obtained by these marauding and hazardous excursions.

Whatever may be the defects of the African character, the treatment the blacks have received at the hands of more civilized races has certainly not been calculated to raise them from the

state of brute or savage; yet there is abundant evidence that in many of the qualities which ennoble humanity, the native African is by no means deficient, and their rude notions of justice are certainly entitled to respect; indeed, in many cases, as in the following amusing instance, it is by no means safe to countenance, even in appearance, an infraction of fair and honorable dealing. Pallme was travelling on the borders of the Shilluk's country, along the White Nile, when an incident happened which would have cost him and his servant their lives but for his knowledge of the true character of the people.

"I pitched my tent on the shore of the White Nile, and sent my servant out in search of the wood requisite for our consumption during the night; for it is necessary in these regions, when encamped in the open air on the banks of the river, to keep up fire all night long, partly on account of the crocodiles, which swarm in these localities, and are very dangerous, partly on account of the hippopotami; for, although the latter never do any injury, yet they are by no means an agreeable acquaintance. Lions, moreover, and other beasts. of prey, might pay a very disagreeable visit in the dark, and they are only to be kept at a respectful distance by maintaining a fire throughout the night. Just as my servant was about to sally forth in quest of fuel, a boat, laden with wood, and rowed by a negro, crossed the river, and landed near my tent. My servant immediately walked up to the negro, and demanded a quantity of wood, as he could find none in the neighborhood. The goodtempered black instantly gave him the half of his store; but, as soon as I had turned my back, my avaricious servant asked for more, which the negro flatly refused; the former, hereupon, became abusive, and his opponent by no means remained mute, until from words they fell to blows, and, finally, began to fight in real earnest. The negro, who was the better man of the two, gave my servant a sound beating, and did not cease until he roared out most lustily for mercy. I observed the scuffle from the distance; but, unacquainted with what had transpired, and merely seeing that my servant was getting the worst of the affray, I took my double-barrelled gun, presented it at the negro, and commanded him to desist. He instantly sprang on his feet, seized his spear, and threw it at me, before I was even aware of his intention; the missile, fortunately, only grazed my wide papooshes. He was now disarmed, and I again presented at him. The negro remained perfectly cool, and merely said, 'Shoot on! I die; and what of that!

"I now saw that nothing was to be effected by intimidation, laid my gun aside, and, walking up to him, inquired into all the circumstances of the case, which he faithfully related. Con

vinced of the injustice of my servant, I endeavored to pacify the negro, and assured him that I would punish the former. All my persuasion was, however, in vain; he foamed with rage, and replied, we should both suffer for this act.' Seeing that he was too weak to offer battle to us both, he ran away in an instant, loudly uttering his war-cry of Lu, lu, lu!* This was an illomen for us, and put us both in no slight degree of fear. Flight was out of the question, we had no chance of thus escaping. I therefore set my wits to work to devise a remedy, to avert at least the first outbreak of our enemy's rage. 1 bound my servant hand and foot with a cord, and taking up the branch of a tree which lay near me, pretended to beat him most unmercifully; he played his part remarkably well, and screamed as if he were being impaled, whenever I made the slightest movement with my hand; for we already descried a crowd of natives at the distance, running towards us, their lances glittering in the evening sun, and the shouts of the women, who followed in the wake of the men, boded us no good; but the nearer they approached the better we played our parts; and my servant continued his screams until he was fairly out of breath. Those of our enemies, who were nearest, called out to me to desist; and when I obeyed, my servant rolled himself about in the sand like a madman. The negro who had been the cause of the whole scene now walked up to me, took my hand, and said, 'Have no fear, you shall not be hurt, because you have acknowledged the injury your servant has done me, and have punished him for it.' An old man now untied the cord which bound the hands and feet of the culprit, and approached me, to be informed of the whole affair. They proved to be Bakkara.† I invited the old man and the negro, of whom I have before spoken, into my tent, where I entertained them with coffee, and gave them my pipe to smoke. Harmony was immediately restored, and every one conciliated. They asked me whence I came, and where I was travelling to, and then the conversation turned on other topics. When the night closed in they all gradually retired, with the exception of five men, who remained with me all night as a guard, emptied several pots of merissa together, and kept up the fire, thus consuming the whole of the wood which had been the belli teterrima causa. When they took their leave of me in the morning they presented me with a young gazelle, as provision for my further journey."

We regret that our space does not admit of further extracts; but it would be difficult to exhaust the interest of "Travels in KorWe conclude by a cordial recommendation of the work

* Lu, lu, lu! This cry has a triple signification. It expresses joy, grief, and danger, and serves also as an encouragement in battle. The intonation of these sounds determines the difference of their import It may be readily recognized when it has been frequently heard, but cannot be described. † Bakkara are a race of Arabs who occupy themselves with breeding cattle.