themselves down and die. This time they were saved by a bird, a
katta or sand grouse, which they saw making for some hills; and having
followed it, they found, as they had anticipated, a spring of water, at
which they frenziedly slaked their thirst. Many other difficulties and
troubles confronted them in their subsequent march, but at last they
heard (delightful sound!) the murmur of the distant sea. Every man was
worn out, with the exception of the Hammal, who, to Burton's delight,
not only talked, but sang and shouted. Finally they reached Berbera,
where they found Speke, Herne and Stroyan, and on 5th February, Burton
in company with the Hammal, Long Gulad, and The End of Time, set sail
for Aden, calling on their way at Siyaro and Anterad, east of Berbera.

The first news Burton had on arriving there was of the death of his
mother, which had occurred 18th December 1854, at the time he lay ill
at Sagharrah. Always immersed in him, she used to say, when he left her,
"It seems as if the sun itself has disappeared." He, on his part,
often bore witness to the unselfishness and blamelessness of her life,
generally adding, "It is very pleasant to be able to feel proud of one's
parents."

33. The Fight at Berbera, 22nd April, 1855.

Unable to let well alone, Burton now wanted to make a new expedition,
this time to the Nile, via Berbera and Harar, and on a larger and more
imposing scale. On 7th April he was back again at Berbera, taking with
him Speke, Stroyan, Herne and 42 assistants, and his first care was to
establish an agency on the coast, so as to have the protection of the
English gunboat, the "Mahi," which had brought them. Unfortunately, the
Government drew off the gunboat, and this had scarcely been done before
Burton and his party were attacked by 300 natives, who swarmed round
them during the night, and tried to entrap and entangle them by throwing
down the tents. A desperate hand-to-hand fight then ensued. Javelins
hissed, war-clubs crashed. The forty-two coloured auxiliaries promptly
took to their heels, leaving the four Englishmen to do as they could.
Stroyan fell early in the fight. Burton, who had nothing but a sabre,
fought like a demon; Speke, on his left near the entrance of the tent,
did deadly execution with a pair of revolvers; Herne on his right
emptied into the enemy a sixshooter, and then hammered it with the butt
end. Burton, while sabreing his way towards the sea, was struck by a
javelin,