On the following morning I sent ten of my men with a party of Ibrahim's
to Latome to make inquiries. They returned on the following afternoon,
bringing with them two wounded men.
It appeared that Mahommed Her had ordered his party of 110 armed men, in
addition to 300 natives, to make a razzia upon a certain village among
the mountains for slaves and cattle. They had succeeded in burning a
village, and in capturing a great number of slaves. Having descended the
pass, a native gave them the route that would lead to the capture of a
large herd of cattle that they had not yet discovered. They once more
ascended the mountain by a different path, and arriving at the kraal,
they commenced driving off the vast herd of cattle. The Latookas, who
had not fought while their wives and children were being carried into
slavery, now fronted bravely against the muskets to defend their herds,
and charging the Turks, they drove them down the pass.
It was in vain that they fought; every bullet aimed at a Latooka struck
a rock, behind which the enemy was hidden. Rocks, stones, and lances
were hurled at them from all sides and from above; they were forced to
retreat.
The retreat ended in a panic and precipitate flight. Hemmed in on all
sides, amidst a shower of lances and stones thrown from the mountain
above, the Turks fled pele-mele down the rocky and precipitous ravines.
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