It was fortunate that we did not delay, for scarcely had the caravan got into motion when the Arabs on the island began to fire at us.  Luckily no one was hit, and we were soon round a point and under cover; also their shooting was as bad as usual.  One missile, however, it was a pot-leg, struck a donkey-load and smashed a bottle of good brandy and a tin of preserved butter.  This made me angry, so motioning to the others to proceed I took shelter behind a tree and waited till a torn and dirty turban, which I recognised as that of Hassan, poked up above a rock.  Well, I put a bullet through that turban, for I saw the thing fly, but unfortunately, not through the head beneath it.  Having left this P.P.C. card on our host, I bolted from the rock and caught up the others.

Presently we passed round the village; through it I would not go for fear of an ambuscade.  It was quite a big place, enclosed with a strong fence, but hidden from the sea by a rise in the intervening land.  In the centre was a large eastern-looking house, where doubtless Hassan dwelt with his harem.  After we had gone a little way further, to my astonishment I saw flames breaking out from the palm-leaf roof of this house.  At the time I could not imagine how this happened, but when, a day or two later, I observed Hans wearing a pair of large and very handsome gold pendants in his ears and a gold bracelet on his wrist, and found that he and one of the hunters were extremely well set up in the matter of British sovereigns—­well, I had my doubts.  In due course the truth came out.  He and the hunter, an adventurous spirit, slipped through a gate in the fence without being observed, ran across the deserted village to the house, stole the ornaments and money from the women’s apartments and as they departed, fired the place “in exchange for the bottle of good brandy,” as Hans explained.

I was inclined to be angry, but after all, as we had been fired on, Hans’s exploit became an act of war rather than a theft.  So I made him and his companion divide the gold equally with the rest of the hunters, who no doubt had kept their eyes conveniently shut, not forgetting Sammy, and said no more.  They netted £8 apiece, which pleased them very much.  In addition to this I gave £1 each, or rather goods to that value, to the bearers as their share of the loot.

Hassan, I remarked, was evidently a great agriculturist, for the gardens which he worked by slave labour were beautiful, and must have brought him in a large revenue.

Passing through these gardens we came to sloping land covered with bush.  Here the track was not too good, for the creepers hampered our progress.  Indeed, I was very glad when towards sunset we reached the crest of a hill and emerged upon a tableland which was almost clear of trees and rose gradually till it met the horizon.  In that bush we might easily have been attacked, but in this open country I was not so much afraid, since the loss to the Arabs would have been great before we were overpowered.  As a matter of fact, although spies dogged us for days no assault was ever attempted.