Page:Travels to Discover the Source of the Nile - In the Years 1768, 1769, 1770, 1771, 1772, and 1773 volume 4.djvu/246

 cisco continued, " I told him Fasil was in the camp; at which he laughed outright, said I was drunk, and wondered you had given me the parole with a curse upon its father; a great catch this word, to be sure, it will make me rich." "I am afraid, said I, friend, Laeca Mariam hath stated the truth; at least I never heard of an army cut to pieces so very quietly as ours is." While I was speaking, the flambeaux at the Ras's tent were all suddenly lighted, which was like wise done by Kefla Yasous, all the general officers, and lastly from the king's tent. This is a kind of torch, or flambeau, used by the janizary Aga, at Cairo and Constantinople, when he patroles the streets; in the night-time it is lighted, but the fire does not appear till you whirl it three or four times round your head, and then it bursts out into a bright flame. Michael had sixteen always on the guard, ever since the attempt upon his life by the Gurague. In a moment all the camp was lighted, and the people awakened, whilst, as nobody knew the reason, the tumult increased. Francisco, with great exultation, upon seeing the Ras's torches lighted, cried, "See who is drunk now; where are your jokes? this will be a fine night, and nobody is armed." "Sir, said I, you saw Laeca Mariam and his guard armed; so is every other guard in the camp as much as ever; and you may thank God you have my servant's lance and shield, so you are armed. I may drink coffee, though I very much fear there may be some embroil on foot, of which you may be yourself part of the occasion. Go, however, to the Ras's tent, and ask if he has any orders for me."

In short, we soon after found that the cause of all this disturbance was, that some part of Tesfos's men had come to the back of the camp and attempted to recover the mules