Autobiography of Sir John Rennie, F.R.S., Past President of the Institute of Civil Engineers
Sir John Rennie
excessively weary. I was continually roused by the barking of the great mastiffs which were kept by the shepherds to drive off the wolves and panthers in the vicinity. At last, towards midnight, I fell fast asleep. I awoke all of a sudden to find two fierce-looking Kurds by my side, one with a pistol close to my head, the other flaring a lighted torch in my face, with one hand thrust under my pillow, to steal my purse and valuables. I sat up directly and secured my pistols; seeing this, the fellow with the pistol pulled the trigger, but fortunately it only flashed in the pan. I at once fired. I think I hit him somewhere, for he uttered a loud cry, and instantly took to flight with his companion. My men awoke at the noise, jumped up directly, and fired also. By this time we were surrounded by the Kurds, and had a hand-to-hand fight for a few minutes, when I called to my men to mount and gallop off as quickly as possible. I did the same, and off we went at full speed, leaving the baggage behind. We could do no other, for by this time the whole tribe was on the alert; they came running to the help of their companions, and commenced firing at us. Fortunately it was hardly daylight, and they could not see us clearly. In order to avoid the shots that whistled past us, we crouched down upon
