On the first day of their journey the white captives had learnt the relations existing between the majority of the company and the chief Golah; and each of them felt shame as well as indignation at the humiliating position in which he was placed. Those feelings were partly excited and greatly strengthened by hunger and thirst, as well as by the painful toil they had to undergo in dragging themselves over the sandy plain beneath a scorching sun. "I have had enough of this," said Harry Blount to his companions. "We might be able to stand it several days longer, but I've no curiosity to learn whether we can or not." "Go on! you are thinking and speaking for me, Harry," said Terence. "There are four of us," continued Harry, "four of that nation whose people boast they never will be slaves; besides, there are six others, who are our fellow-bondsmen. They're not much to look at, but still they might count for something in a row. Shall we four British tars, belong to a party of ten, all enslaved by three men, black men at that?" "That's just what I've been thinking about, for the last hour or two," said Terence. "If we don't kill old Golah, and ride off with his camels, we deserve to pass every day of our lives as we're doing this one--in slavery." "Just say the word, when and how," cried Harry. "I'm waiting. There are seven camels. Let us each take one; but before we go we must eat and drink the other three. I'm starving." "Pitch on a plan, and I'll pitch into it," rejoined Terence. "I'm ready for anything, from pitch and toss to manslaughter." "Stay, Master Terence," interrupted the old sailor. "Av coorse ye are afther wantin' to do somethin', an' thin to think aftherwards why ye did it. 'Arry, my lad, yer half out o' yer mind. Master Colin be the only yin o' ye that keeps his seven senses about him. Suppose, all av ye, that the big chief was dead, an' that his son was not alive, and that the other nager was a ristin' quietly wid his black heels turned from the place where the daisies hought to grow, what should we do thin? We 'ave neither chart nor compass. We could'ner mak oot our reckonin'. Don't ye see, a voyage here is just like one at sea, only it be just the revarse. When men are starvin' at sea, they want to find land, but when they are starvin' in the desert they want to find water. The big nager, our captain, can navigate this sea in safety, we can't. We must let him take us to some port and then do the best we can to escape from him." "You are quite right," said Colin, "in thinking that we might be unable to find our way from one watering-place to another; but it is well for us to calculate all the chances. After reaching some port, as you call it, may we not find ourselves in a position more difficult to escape from; where we will have to contend with a hundred or more of these negro brutes in place of only three?"