we arrived at last in the
neighbourhood of Daarkol, the town in which we had met the African
merchant, from whom we had bought those accursed seeds. As the sun was
intensely hot, and a couple of hours' walking would now bring us into
the town, where we could sell some of the precious stones and relieve
our most urgent necessities, we threw ourselves down under the shelter
of a clump of trees and were soon fast asleep.

"It appears, although we had then no suspicion of such a thing, that
the African merchant, who was a complete villain, had been diligently
watching for our return. He had designed to surprise and overpower us,
and take from us the precious stones we should have obtained for his
fraudulent ivory, he getting thus at a stroke the fruits of the
expedition without undergoing the fatigues, difficulties, and dangers
it necessarily involved.

"Being informed, therefore, by one of his spies of our arrival, he
stole upon us very quietly while we slept, and bringing with him a
party of his slaves, he quickly overpowered us, and binding us hand and
foot, he robbed us of the jewels we had, and that not without horrid
imprecations because there were so few. After which he immediately
departed, leaving us lying under the trees bound and helpless.

"Here we remained for more than two hours. At length, as the day wore
on, and it became cooler, we perceived a party of merchants, with whom
we had been very well acquainted when we were at Daarkol before,
passing along the road which was distant about two or three hundred
yards from the clump of trees where we lay. We shouted as loud as we
could, and they, hearing the shouting, came presently towards us. They
were truly surprised and concerned to find Ahmed and myself, whom they
had known formerly as respectable and well-to-do merchants, lying
bound, dirty, and ragged upon the ground. They freed us, and we told
them of the villainy of the African merchant, and related to them all
that had befallen us, from the time he sold us the seeds, until the
assault he had made upon us and the robbery he had committed that
afternoon. They advised us to lay our case before Lootzee, the king of
that country, who lived in the town of Daarkol; although, as regards
the African merchant, who was well known as a bad character, he would
no doubt by this time have taken refuge in flight.

"This advice was good; but for men so completely destitute, as we now
were, to obtain an audience