162 THE ARABIAN NIGHTS,

They who died first were interred by the others. I had the
office of burying my last companion, and concluding that I must
soon follow him, I dug a grave and resolved to throw myself into
it, since no one remained to perform this last duty.

But Heaven still had pity on me, and inspired me with the
thought of going to the river, which lost itself in the hollow of
the cave. I examined it with great attention, and it occurred to
me that, as the river ran under ground, it must in its course
come out to daylight again.

I determined therefore to construct a raft, which I made of
thick pieces of wood and great cables, of which there was an
abundance: I tied them closely together, and formed a strong
vessel When it was completed, I placed on it a cargo of rubies,
emeralds, ambergris, and crystal. Having placed all these
things in a proper equilibrium, and fastened them to the planks,
I embarked on my raft with two little oars, which I provided
myself with, and trusting to the current, I resigned myself to
the will of God.

As soon as I was under the vault of the cavern, I lost the
light of day ; and the current carried me on without my being
able to discern its course. I rowed for some days in this ob-
scurity without ever perceiving the least ray of light. At length
I fell into a sweet sleep. I cannot tell whether I slept long, but
when I awoke I was surprised to find myself in an open country,
near a bank of the river, to which my raft was fastened, and in
the midst of a large concourse of blacks. I rose as soon as I
perceived them, and saluted them, and one of them who spoke
Arabic thus addressed me :—“ Brother,” said he, “ be not sur-
prised at seeing us ; we live in this country, and we came hither
to-day to water our fields from this river, which flows from the
neighbouring mountain, by cutting canals to admit a passage
for the water. ;

“We observed that the current bore something along, and we
immediately ran to the bank to see what it was, and perceived
this raft; one of us instantly swam to it, and conducted it to
shore. We fastened it as you see, and were waiting for you to
wake. We entreat you to relate to us your history, which must
be very extraordinary ; tell us how you could venture on this
river, and from whence you come.” I first requested him to give
me some food, after which I promised to satisfy their curiosity.