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MAY, 1907.] THE TRAVELS OF RICHARD BELL (AND JOHN CAMPBELL).
me. Yes, Sd he, if yu will let me haue One of yor pistolls. Sa I, noe, ya haue bow & arrowes, & if I see yu stand not to it, thou shalt be ye first Ile kill, tho I die afterwards.
The guide answered (We seinge them Exercize theire lances), I was 4 yeares agoe Guide to Six Xpians, 4 dymond Marchts and two Padrees who went this way, & by fyering a pistoll, wch wounded an Arrabb in the thigh, was ye cause they all lost theire lives by haueing theire heads cut of. This is a great trewth & told me by yo padreys at Babylon, who advized me by noe meanes resist if we mett anie [bandits]. And would [have] had me left my Armes & other things of Concernem. I sa I had not anie. Said ye two ffrench Dymond Marchants I left theire Sick, espetailly monseir Jordan, Wee know he hath a Charge50 & One Dymond wch we haue beene all about & [? for] or Kinge, & could never attaine to it. Except he left it at Spawhawne, we are sure he had it.51 The padreys did vrge me againe, & Sa, what ever I left wth them should be safe Conveyed to me to what place I pleased; but by noe meanes doe ya travell without ye Coffeloe with a Charge. I denied yt I had onght. Sa they, if ya haue, it wilbe y cause of ye loss of yor owne life & Company.
The 7 horsemen Caime vp againe. They had only lances; I wthstood them, haveing a cace of pistolls, bow & arrowes & a Cutlace. Yo Padre cried, for godsake haue a care wit yu doe; if we resist not they will not kill vs. I was angry, & Sd, if he would not feight, I would kill him. He Sd it was not his Religion to feight. The Guide & he then ran into yo enemy. The enemy Cried, surrender yor selfe & you shall haue noe harme. I would not. Ye Padre cald to me, yu had better Surrender; if y" doe not, y" will loose yo life; I have saved mine. I told him, in ye Portugall tonge, I had some Consernmts about me.
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I left him wth ye Rogues & past forwards, faceing about everie Minute for y lenth of an Engl Mile. They followed me, & when they se they could not praile, they returned y padre & Guide. My horss beinge weary wth faceing them too & againe, I went a League further, & by a river side refresht or selves; on thother side of vs was a Bogg, and but One way to come to vs, soe as One Man was as good as 20 in an other place.
My Guide Sa, these weere noe rogues but only tried wit rgians weere; they had noe Sadles On theire horsses.
After 8 howers stay, yo Padrey haueing got a napp, Sa to me, those weere Rogues, & my heart [mis]gives me they will follow vs; what yu haue, berry heere or give me. I had sent ye Guide to get grasse for or horsses, for, in ye Wilderness of Arrabia, is grass in most places vp to ye Belly, but noe rode but wit Deere make or Wyld Beasts.
While ye Guide was gon, I tooke out my things out of ye Padd of my Sadle & gaue y padrey some, & some I kept my selfe. When ye Padre see them, he Cried & S4, these wilbe y Death of
vs both.
He had :
3 Dymond stringes wth Crosses
2 Stones yt Expell poyson [bezoar]
2 Great Dymonds
a Blood Stone
a greene stone
120 Saphers
4 Dymond Ringes
3 spetiall Rubies
Kept by my selfe, vizt a great dymond wth Kings arms on it, 8 other great Dymonds.
In ye meane tyme comes y Guide wth grasse, &, packing vp ye things those I had in a litle purss, [I] ty'd them about my members. About an hower after, we see 14 horsse men, 7 of them
50 This does not agree with Campbell's condition of destitution as described by Flower. See note 19 on p. 103, ante.
51 For the diamond with the King of England's arms engraved on it, see ante, Vol. XXXV. p. 138.
