Thus it was in the company of Prince Gregory, and with a following of
half a dozen negro porters, that Tartarin set off early next morning for
the Shereef Plain; but they very soon had trouble, both with the porters
and with the provisions Tartarin had brought for his great journey. The
prince suggested dismissing the negroes and buying a couple of donkeys,
but Tartarin could not bear the thought of donkeys, for a reason with
which we are acquainted. He readily agreed, however, to the purchase of
a camel, and when he was safely helped up on its hump, he sorely wished
the people of Tarascon could see him. But his pride speedily had a fall,
for he found the movement of the camel worse than that of the boat in
crossing the Mediterranean. He was afraid he might disgrace France.
Indeed, if truth must out, France was disgraced! So, for the remainder
of their expedition, which lasted nearly a month, Tartarin preferred to
walk on foot and lead the camel.

One night in the desert, Tartarin was sure he heard sounds just like
those he had studied at the back of the travelling menagerie at
Tarascon. He was positive they were in the neighbourhood of a lion at
last. He prepared to go forward and stalk the beast. The prince offered
to accompany him, but Tartarin resolutely refused. He would meet the
king of beasts alone! Entrusting his pocket-book, full of precious
documents and bank-notes, to the prince, in case he might lose it in a
tussle with the lion, he moved forward. His teeth were chattering in his
head when he lay down, trembling, to await the lion.

It must have been two hours before he was sure that the beast was moving
quite near him in the dry bed of a river. Firing two shots in the
direction whence the sound came, he got up and bolted back to where he
had left the camel and the prince--but there was only the camel there