we clambered into the great chieftain's
stronghold that they became gradually hampered in the streets and, unable
to manoeuvre, were compelled to dismount and engage us in combat. The
fight proved an even more desperate and bloody one than that which
resulted in the dethronement of the Naya. So equally matched were the
forces, that the struggle raged with frightful ferocity, each side
determined to secure the victory. In the old Moorish-looking streets, so
narrow that two asses could scarce pass abreast, there were encounters
more desperate than any I had ever witnessed, for the soldiers of Samory
and the fighting-men of Mo, the two most fierce and valiant forces in the
whole of the African continent, were pitted against each other.

Cutting our way forward, I found myself at last beneath the high
whitewashed wall of the great Djamaea Thelatha Biban, or Mosque of the
Three Gates, one of the most ancient in the city. I recognised it by its
fine dome standing out white against the flame-illumined sky, and
remembered that when a captive in the hands of the brutal Arab ruler,
Omar had translated to me the fine Kufic inscription on its handsome
facade, recording its construction by Mohammed Ibn Kheiroun el-Maaeferi in
the second century of the Hedjira. For a moment I paused under its
handsome entrance of black and white marble, when suddenly Kona rushed
towards me, crying:

"Quick, Master! Fly for thy life, here, across the square!" and as he
tore away as fast as his long black legs would carry him, I followed
wondering.

Scarcely had we reached the opposite side of the great market-place when
a deafening roar sounded, and an instant later, as I turned, I saw the
great dome crack, tremble and collapse, together with the high white
minaret, while the whole of its facade fell out with a terrific crash in
the opposite direction. Our men had blown up the principal mosque in
Samory's capital, an action which increased tenfold the rage of our
fierce fanatical enemies.

With loud yells they fell upon us from every quarter, when a few minutes
later they realised what had been done, and during the next hour the
conflict became terrific. Hundreds were struck to earth by bullets and
swords, and it appeared to me, striving as I was in the midst of the
smoke and heat of battle, that the longer we fought the more numerous
became the defenders, and the less our chance of success. Yet slowly we
had succeeded in cutting our way from the