When we had reached an ancient castle in the desert called by the Arabs, Masroscan, another rebellion occurred. Here we found vestiges of old walls, gardens, and mansions that showed that people of refined tastes had lived there in the dim past. Now a few Arab families lived in tents among the ruins. Here and there were patches of wheat and barley, and miserable cattle, sheep, goats, and fowl searched the ground for sustenance.
We learned that the Bashaw had directed the caravan to proceed only to as far as this place, and that its owners had received no part of their promised pay. General Eaton's cash was low, but he managed to borrow one hundred and forty dollars among the Christian officers and men, and turned over to Hamet Bashaw six hundred and seventy-three dollars, with which he settled the claims of the chiefs of the caravan. Upon this they agreed to march two days more, but in the night all these camel-drivers withdrew and turned their camels towards Egypt.
Hamet Bashaw favored leaving the baggage at the castle and marching on in the hope of hiring other camels, but, since we were now without cash, General Eaton rejected this advice, as it would mean proceeding without provisions and with no money to obtain fresh supplies.
Then the mischief-maker, Sheik il Taiib, reinforced by other sheiks, declared that they would proceed no farther until we had sent forward a messenger to learn if our American warships were awaiting our arrival at Bomba, a sea-coast town on the route to Derne. These chiefs had heard that an army of cavalry and foot soldiers had been sent from Tripoli to the defence of Derne, and they wanted assurances that our navy was at hand to help us against them.
"We will delay for no messenger!" General Eaton declared, "as long as you halt here I will stop your rations."
To his companions he said: "If they persist in their course, we will seize the castle, fortify ourselves, and send word to our fleet to send a naval expedition to our relief!"
Then he added: "We have marched a distance of two hundred miles through an inhospitable waste of world, but we are bound across this gloomy desert on pursuits vastly different from those which lead fanatics to Mecca; we go to liberate three hundred Americans from the chains of barbarism!"
"WE ARE BOUND ACROSS THIS GLOOMY DESERT TO LIBERATE
THREE HUNDRED AMERICANS FROM THE CHAINS OF
BARBARISM."—General Eaton.