The
Egyptians perished to a man. Nemmir escaped up the country, crowned with
savage glory, and married the daughter of a king, who soon left him his
successor, and the Tiger still defies the old Pasha's power. The latter,
however, took a terrible revenge upon his people: he burnt all the
inhabitants of the village nearest to the scene of his son's slaughter,
and cut off the right hands of five hundred men besides. So much for
African warfare.
CROCODILE SHOOTING.
The first time a man fires at a crocodile is an epoch in his life. We
had only now arrived in the waters where they abound; for it is a
curious fact that none are ever seen below Mineych, though Herodotus
speaks of them as fighting with the dolphins, at the mouths of the Nile.
A prize had been offered for the first man who detected a crocodile, and
the crew had now been two days on the alert in search of them. Buoyed up
with the expectation of such game, we had latterly reserved our fire for
them exclusively; and the wild-duck and turtle, nay, even the vulture
and the eagle, had swept past, or soared above, in security. At length
the cry of "Timseach, timseach!" was heard from half-a-dozen claimants
of the proffered prize, and half-a-dozen black fingers were eagerly
pointed to a spit of sand, on which were strewn apparently some logs of
trees.
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