Page:Travels to Discover the Source of the Nile - In the Years 1768, 1769, 1770, 1771, 1772, and 1773 volume 4.djvu/305

 ed up with dead bodies, after the defeat of the king's wing at the battle of Serbraxos.

At half past three we resumed our journey. A sharp and pyramidal mountain stands alone in the middle of the plain, presenting its high sharp top through the trees, and making here a very picturesque and uncommon appearance; it is called Gutch, and seemed to be distant from us about six miles due North. A few minutes after this we passed a small stream called Agam-Ohha, or the Brook of Jessamine; from a beautiful species of that shrub, very frequent here, and on the sides of the small streams in the province of Sire.

A few minutes past four we entered a thick wood, winding round a hill, in a south-east direction, to get into the plain below, where we were surrounded by a great multitude of men, armed with lances, shields, slings, and large clubs or sticks, who rained a shower of stones towards us, as I may say; for they were at such a distance, that all of them fell greatly short of us. Whether this was owing to fear, or not, we did not know; but supposing that it was we thought it our interest to keep it up as much as possible. I therefore ordered two shots to be fired over their heads; not with any intention to hurt them, but to let them hear, by the balls whistling among the leaves of the trees, that our guns carried farther than any of their slings; and that, distant as they then were, they were not in safety, if we had a disposition to do them harm. They semed to understand our meaning, by gliding through among the bushes, and appearing at the top of a hill farther off, where they continued hooping and crying, and making