begged my pardon, from which I doubted his intention to serve me
faithfully. This caused a halt. Sumunter and all the men alike said,
"Of what good is your coming here, if you do not enjoy yourself? We
all came on this journey to reap advantages from serving you, and now
if you don't shoot, what may we expect?" I said, Prove to me that I
shall not be thwarted again, and I will shoot or do anything to create
good-will. Then appointing three men as Sumunter's advisers to hold
him in restraint in case any wrong-headedness on his part should get
the mastery of him, I begged they would proceed. This proved
successful for the time. Sumunter wrote me a letter, stating his
intention of abject servitude, and ratified it by presenting his spear
and shield, through the hands of the interpreter, for me to return to
him as an acknowledgment that I would henceforth forgive him; and we
again proceeded on the journey.

After travelling ten miles without seeing a single habitation or human
being of any sort, we arrived at a nullah, in which there were several
pools of bitter spring-water, and some Egyptian geese swimming on
them. This place was called Barham. On the right or northern side of
the line of our march was the hill-range, about ten miles distant, at
the foot of which, in the beds of small ravines, grew some belts of
the jujube-tree and hardy acacias; but to the south the land was all
sterile, and stretched away in a succession of little flat plains,
circumscribed by bosses or hillocks of pure white limestone rock,
which appeared standing unaffected by the weathering which had worn
down the plains that were lying between them. Again these little
enclosed plains sank in gentle gradation to their centres, where
nullahs, like the one I was encamped upon, drained the land and refuse
debris to the south and eastward, possibly to join eventually the Rhut
Tug.