# Travels to Discover the Source of the Nile/Volume 4/Book 8/Chapter 4

​THE SOURCE OF THE NILE. 333
CHAP. IV.
From Hor-Cacamot to Teawa, Capital of Atbara,
IT was on the 17th of March that we set out from Hor-Cacamoot on our journey to Teawa, capital of the province of Atbara, Our course was N. N. W. through thick brushwoods, with a few high trees; our companions being eleven naked men, with asses loaden with falt. We had several interruptions on the road. At three in the afternoon we encamped at Falaty, the east village of Ras el Feel, a little to the northward. A small mountain, immediately north from this village, the one end of which is thought to resemble the head of an elephant, gives the name to the village and the province*. This mountain stretches in a direction nearly north
On the 18th, at half after six in the morning we continued our journey through thick, and almost; impenetrable woods full of thorns; and in two hours we came to the bed of a torrent, though in appearance dry, upon digging with our hands in the loose sand, we found great plenty of fresh water exceedingly well tasted, being sheltered by projecting rocks from the action of the sun. This is called Surf el Shekh. Here we filled our girbas, for there is very little good water to be found between this and Teawa.
A girba is an ox's skin squared, and the edges sewed together very artificially by a double seam, which does not let out water, much resembling that upon the best English cricket-balls. An opening is left in the top of the girba, in the same manner as the bung-hole of a cask. Around this the skin is gathered to the size of a large handful, which, when the girba is full of water, is tied round with whipcord. These girbas generally contain about sixty gallons each, and two of them are the load of a camel. They are then all besmeared on the outside with grease, as well to hinder the water from oozing through, as to prevent its being evaporated by the ad:ion of the fun upon the girba, ​which in fact happened to us twice, so as to put us in imminent danger of perishing with thirst.
Yasine had provided a camel and two girbas, as well as every other provision necessary for us, till we should arrive at Teawa. Surf el Shekh is the boundary of Ras el Feel. Here I took an affectionate leave of my friend Yasine, who, with all his attendants, shewed, at parting, that love and attachment they had constantly preserved to me since our first acquaintance.
Soliman, my old and faithful servant, who had carried my first letter to Sennaar, though provided for in the king's service, insisted upon attending me to Sennaar, and dying with me if it should be my fate; or else gaining the reward which had been promised him, if he brought back the good news of my safe arrival and good reception there. At parting, I gave the faithful Yasine one of my horses and my coat of mail, that is my ordinary one; for the one that was given me by Ozoro Esther had belonged to king Yasous, and as it would have been an affront to have bestowed it on a common man like Yasine, who, besides, was a Mahometan, so I gave it (with Ozoro Esther's consent) to Ayto Engedan, king Yasous's grandson. Before parting, Yasine, like an old traveller, called the whole company together, and obliged them to repeat the Fedtah, the Prayer of Peace.
At half past seven in the evening we came to Engaldi, a large bason or cavity, several hundred yards in length, and about thirty feet deep, made for the reception of water by the Arabs, who encamp by its side after the rains. The ​water was almost exhausted, and what remained had an intolerable stench. However, flocks of Guinea fowls, partridges, and every sort of bird, had crowded thither to drink, from the scarcity of water elsewhere. I believe, I may certainly say, the number amounted to many thousands. My Arabs loaded themselves in a very little while, killing them, with sticks and stones; but they were perfectly useless, being reduced to skeletons by hunger and thirst. For this reason, as well as that I might not alarm any strolling banditti within hearing, I did not suffer a shot to be fired at them.
At eight we came to Eradeeba, where is neither village nor water, but only a resting-place about half a mile square, which has been cleared from wood, that travellers, who pass to and from Atbara, might have a secure spot whence they could see around them, and guard themselves from being attacked unawares by the banditti sometimes resorting to those deserts.
At a quarter past eleven we arrived at Quaicha, a bed of a torrent where there was now no water; but the wood seemed growing still thicker, and to be full of wild beasts, especially lions and hyænas. These do not fly from man, as those did that we had hitherto seen, but came boldly up, especially the hyæna, with a resolution to attack us. Upon our first lighting a fire they left us for a time; but towards morning they came in greater numbers, than before; a lion carried away one of our asses from among the other beasts of burden, and a hyæna attacked one of the men, tore his cloth from his middle, and wounded him in his back. As we now expected to be instantly devoured, the present fear overcame the resolutions we had made, not to use our fire arms,
Though this, our first day's journey from Falaty and Ras el Feel, to Quaicha, was of eleven hours, the distance we had gone in that time was not more than ten miles; for our beasts were exceedingly loaded, so that it was with the utmost difficulty that either we or they could force ourselves through those thick woods, which scarcely admitted the rays of the sun. From this station, however, we were entertained with a most magnificent sight. The mountains at a distance towards the banks of the Tacazzé, all Debra Haria, and the mountains towards Kuara, were in a violent bright flame of fire.
The Arabs feed all their flocks upon the branches of trees; no beast in this country eats grass. When therefore the water is dried up, and they can no longer stay, they set fire to the woods, and to the dry grass below it. The flame runs under the trees, scorches the leaves and new wood,
339
of the largefl kind, moflly males ; fo that the Arabs make this a favourite ftarion, after the grafs is burnt, efpeciully the young part of them, who are hunters.
We reached Imferrha at half paft eleven, the water being about half a mile diftant to the S. W. The wells are fituated upon a fmall ridge that runs nearly eafl and weft. At one extremity of this is a fmall-pointed mountain, upon which was formerly a village belonging to the Arabs, called Jehaina, now totally deftroyed by the hunting parties of the Daveina, the great tyrants of this country, who, to- gether with the fcarcity of water, are the principal caufes that this whole territory is defolate. For though the foil is fandy and improper for agriculture, yet it is thickly over- grown with trees ; and were the places where water is^ found fufficiently ftocked with inhabitants, great numbers of cattle might be paftured here, every fpecies of which live upon the leaves and the young branches of trees, evea on fpots where grafs is abundant.
On the 20th, at fix o'clock in the morning we fet out from Imferrha, and in two hours arrived at Ralliid, where we were furpriied to fee the branches of the Ihrubs and buflies all covered with a fliell of that fpecies of univalve called Turbines, white and red ; fome of them from three to four inches l<mg, and not to be dillinguiflied by the niceft eye from thofe fea-ihclls, of the fame fpecies, which are brought in great quantities from the Weft India iflands, efpecially St Domingo.
How thefe came firft in a fandy defert fo far from the fea is a difquifition I fliall not now enter into. There are
U u 2 of ​340 TRAVELSTODISCOVER'
of this fifh great numbers in the Red Sea, and in the Indian Ocean ; how they came upon the buflies, or at the roots of them, appears more the bufmefs of the prefent narrative. To confine myfelf to the matter of fa6t, I fhall only fay, that throughout this defert are many fprings of fak- water ; great part of the defert is foflile fak, which, buried in fome places at different depths according to the degree of inclination of all minerals to the horizon, does at times in thefe foun- tains appear very near the furface. Here I fuppofe the feed is laid, and, by the addition of the rain-water that falls up- on the fak during the tropical rains, the quantity of falt- water is much increafed, and thefe fifhes fpread themfelves over the plain as in a temporary ocean. The rains decreafe, and the fun returns ; thofe that are near fprings retire to them, and provide for the propagation of future years. Thofe that have wandered too far oiFin the plains retire to the buflies as the only flicker from the fun. The in- tenfe heat at length deprives them of that fliade, and they perifli with the leaves to which they crept for flicker, and this is the reafon that we faw fuch a quantity of fliells un- der the buflies ; that we found them otherwife alive in the very heart of the fprings, we fliall further circumftantiate in our Appendix, when we fpeak of niuflels fo found in our hillory of the formation of pearls,.
Rashid was once full of villages, all of which are now ruined by the Arabs Daveina. There are feven or eight wells of good water here, and the place itfelf is beautiful beyond defcription. It is a fairy land, in the middle of an inhofpitable, uninhabited defert ; full of large wide fpread- ing trees, loaded with flowers and fruit, and crowded with- an immenfe number of the deer kind. Among thefe,-
we ​THE SOURCE OF THE NILE. 341
we faw a large one, like the antelope, his buttocks (a confiderable way up his back) being covered with white, which terminated upon his thigh in a black line, drawn from the haunch down very nigh to the joint of his hind leg. Thefe we had never feen before. They are called Ariel in Arabia, go in large flocks, are exceedingly fwift ; though, from the neceffity of coming to water, and its only being found in particular places, they were an eafy vidim to thofe that watched for them at night.
Sim Sim is a copious fpring, which fupplies a large ba- fon the Arabs have dug for it near thirty feet deep. It lies weft of Rafliid, or a little to the fouthward of weft. It is in a fandy defert, in the diretfl way to Beyla and Sennaar, and here the Daveina kept their Hocks, equally fecure from the fly and the troops of Sennaar, the two great enemies they have to fear ; and being in the neighbourhood of Ras el Feel, they keep a large market there, fupplying that country amply with provifions of all kinds, and getting from it, in return, what they have not in their own diftri(5l,.
We were juft two hours in coming to Ralhid, for we were flying for our lives ; the Simoom, or hot-wind, having ftruck us not long after we had fet out from Imferrha, and our little company, all but myfelf, fell mortally flck with the quantity of poifonous vapour that they had imbibed. I apprehend, from Rafliid to Imferrha it is about five miles; and though it is one of the moft dangerous halting-places between Ras el Feel and Sennaar, yet we were fo enervated, our ftomachs fo weak, and our head-achs fo violent, that we could not pitch our tent, but each wrapping himfelf in his cloak, refigned himfelf immediately to fleep, under
the. ​342 TRAVELS TO DISCOVER
the cool fhade of the large trees, invited by the pleafant breeze from the north, which leemed to be merely local, confined to this fmall grove, created probably by the vici- nity of the water, and the agitation we had occafipncd in it.
In this helplefs ftate to which w€ were reduced, I alone continued not weakened by th-e iimoom, nor overcome by fleep. A Ganjar Arab, who drove an afs laden with fait, took this opportunity of Healing one of the mules, together with a lance and fhield belonging to one of my fervants. The country was fo woody, and he had fo much advantage of us in point of time, and we were in fo weak and discoura- ged a ftate, that it was thought in vain to purfue him one llep. So he got olF with his booty, unlefs he was intercept- ed by fome of thofe wild bcafts, which he would find eve- rywhere in his way, whether he returned to Ras el Feel, or the frontiers of Kiiara, his own country.
Having refrefhed ourfelves with a little fleep, the next thing was to fill our girbas, or fkins, with water. But be- fore we attempted this, I thought to try an experiment of mixing about twenty drops of fpirit of nitre in a horn of ■waier about the fize of an ordinary tumbler. This I found greatly refrefhed me, though my headach ftill continued. It had a much better efTecfl upcn my fervants, to whom I gave it; for they all feemed immediately recovered, and their fpirits much more fo, from the rcfledlion that they had with them a remedy they could truft to, if they fliould again be fo imforiunate as to meet this poifonous wind or vapour.
On ​TH£ SOURCE OF THE NILS. 343
On the 2 1 ft, we fet out from Rafhid at two o'clock in the morning, and at a Uttle pall eight arrived at Imhanzara, ha- vino- crone moftly N. W. to north and by wefl. This, too, is a flation of the Arabs Daveina ; and there had been here large pools of water, the cavities, apparently dug by the hands of men, were from twenty to thirty feet deep, and not lefs than fixty yards long. The water was juft then drying up; and flood only about half a foot in depth, in the bottom of one of the pools. The borders of the bafons were thick fet with acacia and jujeb-trees ; but the fruit of the latter was drying upon the ftones, and had fallen Ihri veiled in great quantities upon the ground. We gathered about a couple of pecks, which was a very great refrefnment to us. The fruit, though retaining a very (harp acid taile, is mixed with a fweetnefs not unlike the tamarind ; and which it commu- nicated to water, upon a handful of the dry fruit being rteep- ed therein for half an hour. The ordinary jujeb in Bavba- ry is oblong like an olive ; this is perfectly round like the cherry, but Ibmethiug fmaller. The tree is thorny, and dif- fers in nothing from the other, but only in the fliapc of the fruit. When dried, it is of a golden colour ; and is here called Nabca, being the principal fuftcnance of the Arabs, till thefe pools are dry, when they are obliged to feek other food, and other water, at fome more diftant flation.
This day, being the fifth of our journey, we had gone about five hours very diligently, though, confidcring the weak ftate we were in, I do not think we advanced m.orc than feven or eieht miles ; arad it was to me very vifible, that all the animals, mules, camels, and horfes,were auecT:ed as much as we were by the fimcom. They diank repeatedly,, a and ​344 TRAVELS TO DISCOVER
and for a confiderablc length of time, biu they feemcd to go juft fo much the worfe for it.
Upon approaching the pool, that had water in it, though yet at fome dillance from it, my fervants fcnt me word to come up fpeedily, and bring fire-arms with me. A lion had killed one of the deer, called Ariel, and had ate a part of it, but had retired upon the noife we had made in alight- ing. In place of him, five or fix hysenas had feized the carcafe, and feveral others were at the inftant arriving to join them, and partake of the prey the lion had abandoned. I haftened upon the fummons, carrying with me a mufket and bayonet, and a fhip blunderbufs, with about forty fmall bullets in it. I crept through the bullies, and under banks as near to them as poflible, for fear of being feen ; but the precaution feemed entirely fuperfluous ; for though they obferved me approaching, they did not feem difpofed to leave their prey, but in their turn looked at me, raifing the briftles upon their back, fliaking themfelves as a dog does when he comes out of water, and giving a fliort but terrible grunt. After which they fell to their prey again, as if they meant to difpatch their deerfirft, and then come and fettle their affairs with me. I now began to repent having ven- tured alone fo near ; but knowing, with the fhort weapon I had, the execution depended a good deal upon the di- ftance, I flill crept a little nearer, till I got as favourable a po- fition as I could wifli behind the root of a large tree that had fallen into the lake. Having fet my mufl^et at my hau'l, near and ready, I levelled my blunderbufs at the middle of the group, which were feeding voracioufly like as many fwine, with a confiderable noife, and a civil war with each other. Two of them fell dead upon the fpot ; two more 7 died ​THE SOURCE OF THE NILE. 34^
4ied about twenty yards diftance; but all the reft that could efcape fled without looking back, or ihewing any kind of refentment : I then took my mufquet in my hand, and flood, prepared with my bayonet, behind the tree, but fired no more, not knowing what their humour or difpofition might be as to a return upon acceflion of new compani- ons.
About twenty fmall foxes, and a flock of fereral hun- dred Guinea-fowls, now came up from the infide of the pool. The fowls lighted immediately, and ran back again to the water. The foxes retired quickly into the woods. Whether they had aflembled with a view of getting a fliare of the deer, an animal of this kind being generally attendant upon the lion, or whether, as is moft likely, they were feeking the Guinea-fowls, I do not know. I fufpect it •was the latter, by their number ; for never more than one at a time is remarked to accompany the lion.
We obferved a. variety of traps and cages, forae of them very ingenious, which the Daveina, or other Arabs, had fet to catch thefe birds, feveral of which we found dead in thefe fnares, and fome of them had not yet been touched by beafts ; and as there was but a fmall diftance between the traps and the water's edge, which could only be an- fwerable to a fev/ days evaporation, we with great rea- fon inferred, that the Daveina, or fome other Arabs, had been there a very fliort time before. We found in the mud of the pool large green flieli-fnails, with the animals alive in them ; fome of them weighed very near a pound, in no- thing, but fize and thicknefs of the fhell, different from common garden-fnails. Vol. IV. .X x 'Not ​34^ TRAVELS TO DISCOVER
Not a little alarmed at this difcovery that the Arabs were near us, we left Imhanzara at four o'clock in the eve- ning of the 2ift, our journey moftly N. W. ; at eight we loft our way, and were obliged to halt in a wood. Here we were terrified to find, that the water in our girbas was en- tirely gone ; whether by evaporation of the hot wind, or otherwife, I know not ; but the fkin had the appearance of water in it, till its lightnefs in unloading difcovered the contrary. Though all the people were fick, the terror of being without water gave us fomething like alacrity, and defire to pulh on. We fet out at eleven, but ftill wandered in the wood till three o'clock in the morning of the 2 2d,, when we were obliged again to alight. I really then began to think we were loft. I ordered the girbas to be examin- ed : a large one which we had fdled at Rafhid was entirely empty ; and that one which we had partly filled at Imhan- zara on account of the badnefs of the v/ater, had not much more in it than what kept liquid the mud which had been taken up with it. This, however, (bad as it was) was greedily guzzled up in a moment. The people who con- duced the aftes, feeing that we had fkins to contain plen- ty of water for us, had omitted to fill the fmall goat-ftvin which each of them carried. A general murmur of fear and difcontent prevailed through our whole company; for we could have no guefs at the ncarnefs or fituation of the next well, as we had loft our road ; and fome of the ca- ravan even pretended that we had pafled it. But though we had travelled thirteen hours, I cannot compute the- diftance to have been above fourteen miles.
This day, being the fixth from Ras el Feel, at half af- tpr five in the morning, we fet off in great defpondency ;
and>
~\ ​THE SOURCE OF THE NILE. 347
and, upon the firft dawn of day, I fet onr route by the com- pafs, and found it north and by eaft, or more eaflcrly. This did not feem the probable road to Sennaar, after having gone fo confiderably to the north- welt. But, before I could make much reflexion upon the obfervation, one of the ca- ravan declared he knew the road, and that we had gone very little out of it, and were now proceeding ftraight to the well. Accordingly, at half paft nine, we reached it ; it is called Imgellalib*. There is great plenty of water, with a leather-bucket, and a Itraw ro^e to draw it up, but it is very ill-tafted. However, the fear of dying with thirft, more than having materially fuffered from it, made every one prefs to drink ; and the effceT; of this hurry was very foon f^en. Two Abyffinian Moors, a man and woman, died after drinking; the man inftantly, and the woman a few minutes after ; for my own part, though thirfty,! was fenfible I could have held out a confiderable time without danger ; and, indeed, I did not drink till I had walhed my head, face, and neck all over. I then waflied my mouth and throat, and, having cooled myfelf, and in great meafure ailuaged my thirft, I then drank till 1 was completely fatisfied, but onl}' by fmall draughts. I would have perl'uaded all my companions to do the fame, but I was not heard; and one would have thought, like the camels, they had been drink- ing once for many days to come. Yet none of them had complained of thirft till they heard the girbas were empty; and it was not fixteen hours fmce they had drank at Im- hanzara, and but twelve fuice the girbas were found to be .dry, when we firft loft our way, and ftopped in the wood.
X X 2 The
fait into Atbara, for there is no other trade between the two nations. ​348 TRAVELS TO DISCOVER
The extenfive, and very thick foreft, which had reached without interruption all the way from Tcherkin, ended here at Imgellalib. The country is perfedly flat, and hath very little water. The foreft, however, though thick, af- forded no fort of fliade ; the hunters, for the fake of their fport, and the Arabs, for deftroying the flies, having fet fire to all the dry grafs and flirubs, which, pafling with great rapidity, in the diredion of the wood from eaft to weft, though it had not time enough to deftroy the trees, did yet wither, and occafion every leaf that was upon them to fall, unlcfs in thofe fpaces where villages had been, and where water was. In fuch fpots a number of large fpread- ing trees remained full of foliage, which, from their great height, and being cleared of underwood, con- tinued in full verdure, loaded with large, projecT:ing, and exuberant branches. But, even here, the pleafure that their fliade afforded was very temporary, fo as to allow us no time for enjoyment. The fun, fo near the zenith, changed, his azimuth fo rapidly, that every few minutes I was obli- ged to change the carpet on which I lay round the trunk of the tree, to which I had fled, for fhelter ; and, though I lay down to flcep, perfedly fkreened by the trunk,, or branches, I was prefently awakened by the violent rays, of a fcorching fun, the fhade having paffcd beyond me;; and this was particularly incommodious, when the trees,, under which we placed ourfelvcs, were of the thorny kind,, very common in thofe forefts. The thorns, being all fcat- tered round the trunk upon the ground, made either chan- ging- place, or lying, equally uneafy ; fo that often, how- .ever averfe we v/ere to^ fatigue, with the efFe6ls of the fimoom, we found, that, pitching the head of our tent, and fcmctimes the whole of it, was the only pofTible means of
fecuring; ​THE SOURCE OF THE NILE. 349
fecuring a permanent protedlion from the fmi's opprcfIl;'e heat. In ali other places, though we had travelled con- flan dy in forefls, we never met with a tree that could ihade •us for a moment, the fire having deprived them of all their leaves.
Late tibi gurgite rtipto
Ambitur n'lgr'is Mero'e facunda colonis^ Lata conns hebcjii ; qtiiE qiiamvh arbore miilth Frondeat^ ceftatem nulla ftbi mit'igat iimbra^ Linea tarn reBum mundiferit ilia Iconcm.
Luc AN.
Having refreflied ourfelves for near two hours by the enjoyment of this water at Imgellalib, and raked a fufficient quantity of fand over the dead bodies of our two compa- nions, from piety and decency rather than for ufe, we aban- doned them to the hysenas, who had already fmelled the mortality, and were coming, two and three together, at the diftance of a long fhot from the well where we were then drinking. We fet out at eleven, our road being thro' a very extenfive plain ; and, at two in the afternoon, we alighted at another well, called Garigana ; the water was bad, and in fmall quantity. In this plain is fituated the principal village of Atbara, called Teawa. The thermometer, flung under the camel, in the fhade of the girba of water, had yet, neverthelefs, varied within thefe three hours from 1 1 1" to ii9i-.
At five o'clock we left Garigana, our journey being ft ill to the eaftward of north; and, at a quarter paft fix in the evening arrived at the village of that name, whofe inhabitants had
all. ​all perished with hunger the year before; their wretched bones being all unburied and scattered upon the surface of the ground where the village formerly stood. We encamped among the bones of the dead; no space could be found free from them; and on the 23d, at six in the morning, full of horror at this miserable spectacle, we set out for Teawa: this was the seventh day from Ras el Feel. After an hour's travelling we came to a small river, which still had water standing in some considerable pools, although its banks were perfectly destitute of any kind of shade.
At three quarters after seven in the evening we arrived at Teawa, the principal village and residence of the Shekh of Atbara, between three and four miles from the ruins of Garigana. The whole distance, then, from Hor-Cacamoot, may be about sixty-five miles to Teawa, as near as I then could compute; that is, from Hor-Cacamoot to Rashid, thirty-two miles, and from Rashid to Teawa, thirty-three miles; but Rashid from Hor-Cacamoot bears N. W. and by N. and the latitudes are: —
Teawa, lat. 14° 2' 4" N.
Hor-Cacamoot, 13° 1' 33"
Difference, lat. 1° 0' 31"
The difference of longitude is then but five or six miles; so that Teawa is very little to the westward of due north from Hor-Cacamoot, and nearly in the same meridian with Ras el Feel, which is four miles west of Hor-Cacamoot. From Imhanzara to Teawa, but especially from Imgellalib, we ​THE SOl/RCE OF THE NILE. 351
went always to the eaftward of north. From Teawa we obferved the following bearings and diftances :
Beyla, W. S. W. about 28 miles at fartheft.
Hafib, S. and by W«
Jibbel Imfiddera, S. about 8 miles, where is good water.
Mendera, N. 48 miles ; indifferent water from deep wells.
Rafhid, S. nearly 33 miles ; plenty of good water all the
year. Jibbel IfrifF, E. N. E. about three miles ; water. Jibbel Attefli and Habharras, W. and by N. between 50
and Co miles. Sennaar, W. and by N. as far as we could guefs about 70
miles. Guangue River, from 14 to 16 miles due eaft. Deakin, E. N. E, about 27 miles.
At Garigana, feveral of our caravan, with their afles and loading of fait, left us, either afraid of entering Teawa, or bccaufe their friends dwelt at Jibbel Ifriff, where the clan of Jchaina were then encamped, being afraid of the Arabs Daveina, who, the preceding year, had deilroyed all the crops and villages that belonged to them, or rather reaped them for their own advantage. The whole tribe of Jehaina is greatly their inferiors in all refpecTrs, and as by afTem- bling upon Jibbel IfrifF, a low though very rugged ridge of hills, abounding in water, where the pits in which they hide their grain were, and where, too, they had depofited the principal of their effedis, they had given this pledge of mutual aliiftance to tiie inhabitants of Teawa in cafe of an attack from thole great deilroyers the Daveina.
The ​552 TRAVELS TO DISCOVER
The Daveina being Arabs, who conftantly live in tents, bear a mortal enmity to all who inhabit villages, and, as occafion offered, had dellroyed, flarved, and laid wafte the greatefl part of Atbara. They had been outlawed by the government of Sennaar for having joined Yafous II. upon the expedition againft that kingdom. They had ever fince been well-received by the Abyffinians, lived independent, and in perpetual defiance of the government of Sennaar. They had often threatened Teawa, but had given the Shekh of Beyla an afTurance of friendfliip ever fince Yafine had married a daughter of that Shekh,
The flrength of Teawa was about 25 horfe, of which about ten were armed with coats of mail. They had about a dozenof firelocks, very contemptible from the order in which they were kept, and flill more fo from the hands that bore them. The refl of the inhabitants might amount to twelve hundred men, naked, miferable, and defpicable Arabs, like the reft of thofe that live in villages, who are much infe- rior in courage to the Arabs that dwell in tents : weak as its ftate was, it was the feat of government, and as fuch a certain degree of reverence attended it. Fidele, the Shekh of Atbara, was reputed by his own people a man of courage ; this had been doubted at Sennaar. Welled HafTan, his father, had been employed by Naffer the fon, late king of Sennaar, in the murder of his father and fovereign Baady, which he had perpetrated, as I have already mentioned. Such was the flate of Teawa. Its confequence was only to remain till the Daveina fliould refolve to attack it, when its corn- fields being burnt and deflroyed in a night by a multitude of horfemen, the bones of its inhabitants fcattercd upon 4 the ​the earth, would be all its remains, like those of the miserable village of Garigana.
I have already observed, in the beginning of the journey, that the Shekh of the Arabs Nile, who resided in Abyssinia, near Ras el Feel, since the expedition of Yasous, had warned me, at Hor-Cacamoot, to distrust the fair promises and friendly professions of Shekh Fidele, and had, indeed, raised such doubts in my mind, that, had not the Daveina been parted from Sim Sim, (or the confines of Abyssinia) though there would have been a risk, that if, coming with that tribe, I should have been ill received at Sennaar, I nevertheless would have travelled with them, rather than by Teawa; but the Daveina were gone.
The Shekh of Atbara, having no apparent interest to deceive us, had hitherto been a friend as far as words would go, and had promised every thing that remained in his power; but, for fear of the worst, Nile had given us a confidential man, who was related to the Jehaina and to the principal Shekh of that tribe. This man conducted an ass, loaded with salt, among the other Arabs of the caravan, and was to wet off to Ras el Feel upon the first: appearance of danger, which he was to learn by coming once in two days, or oftner, either to Teawa, where he was no farther known than as being one of the Jehaina, or to the river, where my Soliman was to meet him at the pools of water; but his secret was only known to Soliman, myself, and a Greek servant, Michael. From leaving Hor-Cacamoot, he had no personal interview with me; but the night, when we were like to perish for thirst in the wood, he had sent me, by Soliman, privately, a horn full of water, which he had in his goat's skin, and ​for which I had rewarded him handsomely in the instant, glad of that opportunity of confirming him in his duty.
This man we set off to Jibbel Idriss, as a stranger, with orders not to come to us till the third day; for we were well persuaded, whatever the end was to be, that our first reception would be a gracious one. Indeed we were all of us inclined to believe, that our suspicions of Fidele Shekh of Atbara, and of his intentions towards us, were rather the effects of the fear that Shekh Nile had infused into us, than any apprehension which we could reasonably form after so many promises; at the same time, it was agreed on all hands, that, life being at stake, we could not be too careful in providing means that could, if the worst happened, at the least diminish our risk.