DOI Page / Citation link:
https://doi.org/10.11588/diglit.11789#0143
SUCCESSFUL RESISTANCE.
133
It was in vain that we galloped our horses;
wherever we rode, our winged tormentors were al-
ready there. In vain we stopped to give them bat-
tle ; the hundred hands of Briareus would have been
unequal to such a contest. When, however, every
hope (except the distant hope of a strong wind) had
failed, we had recourse to a very simple remedy
which proved completely successful—we lighted our
cigars. The breeze carried the smoke about our
faces and hair, into every little crevice or passage
into which the gnats could possibly enter, and our
subtile adversaries, in their turn, found themselves
in the power of a still more subtile foe. In short,
so long as we availed ourselves of the aid of our
new ally we were completely victorious, but if for
one moment we dismissed it, we were again at the
mercy of our merciless tormentors. At last, after
we had maintained the struggle for more than two
hours, a strong wind from the north-west arose and
swept them away—beyond that bourn, I trust,
whence no traveller returns.
We had hired our horses of a person in Jerusalem,
who also furnished mules to carry our tent, &c,
and sent two muleteers to have charge of the ani-
mals. It was understood that the horses were to
be supplied with food at their owner's expense.
12
133
It was in vain that we galloped our horses;
wherever we rode, our winged tormentors were al-
ready there. In vain we stopped to give them bat-
tle ; the hundred hands of Briareus would have been
unequal to such a contest. When, however, every
hope (except the distant hope of a strong wind) had
failed, we had recourse to a very simple remedy
which proved completely successful—we lighted our
cigars. The breeze carried the smoke about our
faces and hair, into every little crevice or passage
into which the gnats could possibly enter, and our
subtile adversaries, in their turn, found themselves
in the power of a still more subtile foe. In short,
so long as we availed ourselves of the aid of our
new ally we were completely victorious, but if for
one moment we dismissed it, we were again at the
mercy of our merciless tormentors. At last, after
we had maintained the struggle for more than two
hours, a strong wind from the north-west arose and
swept them away—beyond that bourn, I trust,
whence no traveller returns.
We had hired our horses of a person in Jerusalem,
who also furnished mules to carry our tent, &c,
and sent two muleteers to have charge of the ani-
mals. It was understood that the horses were to
be supplied with food at their owner's expense.
12