New-York daily tribune. [volume] (New-York [N.Y.]) 1842-1866, 1852-04-03


and then forward and then backward agaO. bar
the tr,ck Of It is s,an learned. Toe soreness
and fatigue If which many travellers complain.
have no, yet experienced. ride ffo cish 70
ten hours 4 day. cad an1 even dream Ia IN sal
die, and am as fresh and unwearied as whea
began the Journey
My caravan is accompanied by four Arabs
The guide. Eyob, Is an old Absbleh, who knows
all the Desert between the Red Sea aad the
Nile, as far south as Abyssinia The camel.
drivers are three Bisharees, of a popuIous no
madic tribe, which extends from near rhebes to
Shendy, in Ethiopia. They own the burden
camels which they urge along with the err Of
"Yo-ho! Shekh Abd-el- kader /" and q shrill
barbsIic song, the refrain of which is /" o Pre-
phet OF God help the anels and bring US safely
to our journeys end :" The Bisharees are very
susceptible to cold, and temperature OF 500,
which we frequently have In the morsing, makes
them tremble ike aspen leaves, and they some
times So benuubed that they can scarcely load
the eamels They are very proud Of their enor-
nous heads of hair, which they wear parted ON
both temples, the middle portion being drawn
the side divisions hang over the ears in . multi
tude OF little twists. These love-locks they
anoint every day with suet, and look as il they
had slept in a hard frost, until the heat has
melted the fat thought to Aa,ter one of them,
as he performed the operation, by exclaiming
Beautiful !! but he answered coolly: "You
speak truth: it is very beautiful" Through
the central mass Of hair wooden skewer 10
stuck, in order to scratch the head without dis
turbing the arrangement. They wear long
swords, carried in leathern scabbard over the
left shoulder, and sometimes favor US with Q
war-dance, which consists merely in springing
into the air with brandshed sword and turning
around once before coming down.
On the second morning we passed through Q
gorge in the black hills, and entered a region
called Ell Biban, or "The Gates" Here the
mountains, though still grouped in the same die.
order, were more open and gave room to plains
of sand several miles in length The narrow
openings, through which the road passes from
one plain to another, gave rise to the name.
The mountains are higher than on the Nile, and
present the most wonderful CONGREGATIONS tow
ers, fortresses walls, pyramids, temples in ruin.
of an inky blackness near at hand, but tingea Of
deep, glowing violet hue in the distance. One
of the Nubians who was with us, pointed out q
spot where he was obliged to climb the rocks.
last summer, to avoid being drowned. During
the heavy tropical PAINS which sometimes fall
down such floods that the sand cannot imms-
diately drink them up, and the valleys are turned
into lakes. The man described tho roaring Of
the waters down the clefts of the rocks as some
thing terrible. In summer the passage of the
desert is much more arduous than at present.
and many men and camels perish. The road 70
strewn with bones and carcases, and frequently
counted twenty dead camels within . stones
throw. The stone heaps which are seen on all
the spurs of the hills, as landmarks for care
vans, are now useless, since one could find his
way from Korosko hither by the bones In tho
sand. My guide, who is a grea. believer IN
Afiites and devils, said that formerly many per-
sons lost the way and persisted from thirst, ell
OF which was the work of evil spirits.
My next camp was in the midst Of high chr.
cular plain, surrounded by hundreds of black
peaks. Here had q remarkable visit. l was
sitting in my tent, about o'clock, when heard
the tramp of dromedaries outside. and strange
voice saying " ana ,oahed Ingiees. Il am an Eng
lishman.) 1t proved to be Capt. Peel, Of the
British Navy. (son of the late Sir Robert Psel,)
who was returning from journey to Khartoum
and Kordofan. He was attended by a single
guide, and carried only waterskin sad Q
basket of bread He had travelled nearly day
and night since leaving Berber, and would finish
the Journey from that place to Korosko-a din
lance of 400 milesin seven days He spen! an
hour with me, and then pushed onward through
"The Gates" toward the Nile. Ii had been his in
tsntion to penetrate into Dar-Fur, country yet
unvisited by any European, but on reaching /,
Obeid, the Capital of Kordofan, his companion
a Syrian Arab, fell sick, and he was himself at
tackled with the ague This decided him to re-
turn, and he had left his baggage and seIvants
to follow, and was making for England with oil
speed. He is young man, and resembles his
father in countenance, though in q certain OK
preston ofwillful energy, he reminded me ofmy
friend. 1t. Beale. He was provided with all the
necessary instruments to make his travel useful
in scientific point of view, and tho failure u
his plans is much to be regretted.
Toward noon, on the third day, We passed the
last of the "Gates," and entered the Bahrbsls-mSs
(sea without water) broad plain Of burning
yellow sand. The gateway is very imposing,
especially on the eastern side where it 10 broken
by valley or gorge Of Tartaresn blaeknsss.
As we passed the last peak, my guide. who had
ridden IN advance, dismOunted beside what
seemed to be collection of graves-litde ridges
of sand, with rough head and foot stones. He
sat by one which appeared to be newly made.
As came up he informed me that all travellers
who cross the Nubian Desert for the first times
are here expected to pay toll, or fee. to the
gside and camel.man. "But what il do net