CHAP. III.

From Tcherkin to Hor-Cacamoot, in Ras el Feel—Account of it—Transactions there.

On the 15th of January, at a quarter past eight in the morning, we left Tcherkin, and entered immediately into thick woods; but proceeded very slowly, the road being bad and unknown, if it could be called a road, and our camels overloaded. About an hour afterwards we passed a small village of elephant hunters on our right, and our course was straight north, through dark thick woods, overgrown with long grass, till at half an hour past ten we came to another small village close on our right. We then turned N. W. and continued in that direction, passing several villages, all of elephant hunters, and mostly Mahometans. At three quarters after twelve we came to a small river which runs W. N. W. and falls into the Germa; here we rested. At ten minutes past one we set out again, thro' the thickest and most impenetrable woods I ever saw; and at half past four we encamped about two miles west of Amba Daid, a small village of elephant hunters, often destroyed by the Shangalla, but now lately rebuilt, and strengthened by Agageers and their families under protection of Ayto Confu. We went not to the village, for the sake of a small brook which we had found here, running north, and falling into the Angrab.

On the 16th, at half after seven in the morning we resumed our journey, going westward; about an hour and a half afterwards we arrived at the Germa, a large river which runs N. N. W. and falls into the Angrab; and a quarter after nine we passed the Germa, and going N. W. through the very thickest woods, came to Dabdo, a hill almost deserted, its inhabitants having been so frequently destroyed by the Pagan Shangalla.

At twenty minutes past ten, still going through the thickest woods, and ground all opened by the heat of the sun, we found, in a grassy marsh, a pretty abundant spring of foul water. This is the resort of the hunters of the elephant, as also of their rivals and enemies the Shangalla; and here much human blood has been shed by people whose occupation and intention, when they went from home, were that of slaying the wild beasts only. The Baasa or Dobena Shangalla, possess the country which lies about four days journey N. E. from this.

At a quarter past eleven we came to the river Terkwa; which, after running N. W. falls into the Angrab; it then flood in large deep pools; the banks were covered with tall green grass; the taste of the water foul, and earthy. At twelve we passed the river Terkwa; and going north, about an hour after we came to the Dongola, running east and west; and an hour after that to Jibbel Myrat river, which, running east and west, was once the boundary between Sennaar and Abyssinia. History does not tell us when these boundaries were altered, or upon what occasion. It was probably upon the first invasion that new ones were settled. It should seem that the Abyssinians had then the better of Nubia; for a large accession of territory was ceded by the latter to the former. A few minutes after we came to the river Woodo, larger than the last. It has a rocky bottom, and is full of small fish of a brownish and silver colour. Where we crossed, it runs from west to east, and falls into the Angrab. There we passed the night, not without alarms, as fresh footsteps in the sand were very plainly discovered, which, by the length of the foot, and the largeness of the heels, our people pronounced were surely Shangalla; but nothing disastrous appeared all night.

On the 17th, before seven in the morning we were again upon our journey, our direction N. and N. W. winding to due West. Andoval mountain stood W. N. W. distant from us four miles. At forty minutes past eight, going due west, Andoval mountain lay to the north of us; and Awassa mountains to the south. This is a ridge which, coming from the north, stretches south to Dabda, and Abra Amba. Andoval mountain is a small pointed peek, which constitutes the north end of them. We halted here a few minutes, and resumed our route to the westward, and N. W. till we came to Sancaho, at half an hour past one, and there we rested.

Sancaho is an old frontier territory of Abyssinia. The town may consist of about 300 huts or houses, neatly built of canes, and curiously thatched with leaves of the same. It rises in the midst of a plain, and resembles in shape Tcherkin Amba, though much larger; a considerable district all around belongs to it, of wilds and woods, if such as these, abandoned entirely to wild beasts, can be said to belong to any man. The east end slopes with rather a steep descent into the plain; and through that is a narrow winding road, seemingly the work of art, being obstructed at turns by huge stones, and at different stages, for the purpose of defence by guns or arrows; all the other sides of the rock are perpendicular precipices. The inhabitants of the town are Baasa, a race of Shangalla, converted to the Mahometan religion; it is an absolute government, has a nagareet or kettle-drum for proclamations, yet is understood to be inferior to Ras el Feel, and dependent on it; and always subject to that nobleman, who is Kasmati of Ras el Feel, such as Ayto Confu then was, after he had resumed his government at my departure, though during my stay in Abyssinia it had devolved upon me by his surrendering it.

Gimbaro, the Erbab or chief of Sancaho, was the tallest and stoutest man of his nation; about six feet six inches high, and strongly made in proportion; hunted always on foot; and was said, among his people, to have singly killed elephants with one blow of his spear. The features of his face might well be called hideous; he paid his part of the revenue in buffaloes hides, of which the best shields were made; and with elephants' teeth, and rhinoceros's horns, used for the handles of the crooked knives, which the Abyssinians carry at their girdles. All the inhabitants of Sancaho are hunters of elephants. It is their principal food. Erbab Gimbaro came with Yasine, and brought more than a hundred of the Shangalla to the king's army at Serbraxos, where the Moors alledged he did not any way distinguish himself. I had, however, taken considerable notice of him; and at his earnest desire carried him into the tent, and shewed him the king.

We encamped at the bottom of the hill on the south-west side of the town, on the banks of the river, which rises in the mountains six miles off to the south, and encompasses the half of the hill where Sancaho stands; after which it turns northward, but was now mostly dry. While we were pitching our tent, I sent one of Yasine's men to order Gimbaro to send us the usual quantity of provision for ourselves and camels, and told him also, that my camels were few in number, and weak; desiring he would send two, or one at least, which should be stated in his deftar, or account of rent, for that year. I was astonished to see Yasine's men return, bringing with them only a woolly-headed black, the Erbab's son, as it seemed, who, with great freedom and pertness, and in very good Amharic, said, "My father salutes you; if ye eat what he eats, ye shall be very welcome." I asked him, What that was?—He said, "Elephant killed yesterday; and as for camels ye demand, he tells you he has none; elephants are his camels, and rhinoceroses are his mules."

Ayto Confu's servants, who heard this message delivered, and who were as desirous of getting over this journey to Ras el Feel as I was, advised me to go with him up the hill to the town, and expostulate with the Erbab, who, he said, would be ashamed to refuse. Accordingly, I armed myself with a pair of pistols at my girdle, with a fusil and bayonet in my hand; and took with me two servants with their pistols also, each carrying a large ship-blunderbuss. We mounted the hill with great difficulty, being several times obliged to pull up one another by the hands, and entered into a large room about fifty feet long. It was all hung round with elephants heads and trunks, with skeletons of the heads of some rhinoceroses, and of monstrous hippopotami, as also several heads of the giraffa. Some large lion skins were thrown on several parts of the room, like carpets; and Gimbaro stood upright at one end of it, naked, only a small cloth about his middle; the largest man I ever remembered to have seen, perfectly black, flat-nosed, thick-lipped, and woolly-headed; and seemed to be a perfect picture of those Cannibal giants which we read of as inhabiting enchanted castles in fairy tales.

He did not seem to take notice at my first entering the room, nor till I was very near him. He then came aukwardly forward, bowing, endeavouring to kiss my hand, which I withdrew from him, and said in a firm voice, "I apprehend, Sir, you do not know me." He bowed and said he did, but did not conceive, at the time, it was me that encamped at the brook. "You did know, Sir, when you sent your son with Yasine's servant, and you know that you are considerably in my debt. Besides, if you had any gratitude, you would remember the arrears I remitted you, and the presents I made you when at Serbraxos, even though you misbehaved there. Your message to me while below at the river was the language of a rebel. Are you willing to be declared in rebellion?" He said, "By no means; he had always been a faithful servant to Ayto Confu, Ras Michael, and the king, and had come to Serbraxos upon receiving the first order, and would obey whatever I should command." "Then pay me the meery you owe me, and begin first by bringing two camels." "He said, he never refused the camels, and the message he sent was but in sport." "And was it sport too, Sir, said I, when you said you would send me the flesh of elephants to eat? Did you ever know a Christian eat any sort of flesh that a Mahometan killed?" He answered, "No; and begging my pardon, promised he would send me bread and honey, and the camels should be ready in the morning. They must be ready to-night, said I, and before night too; for I am to dispatch a servant this evening to Ayto Confu to complain of your behaviour, as I do not know what you may meditate against us in our way to Ras el Feel." He begged now, in the most earnest manner, I would not complain; and said, he would have all his spies out to the eastward, that not a Shangalla should pass to molest us, without our being informed of them. Some of his principal people now interfering, I consented to forget and forgive what had passed. We then ate bread, and drank beer, to show the reconciliation was sincere, and so the affair ended.

About six in the evening came two strong camels, and about thirty loaves of bread made of Dora; two large wheat loaves for me, as also a jar of wild honey, of excellent flavour, and with these a present to Ayto Confu's servant.

On the 18th, about six in the morning, Erbab Gimbaro, coming down to our tent, brought thirty loaves of Dora as before, and four of wheat, for the journey; and we had already enough of honey, upon which we breakfasted with the Erbab, who, to confirm the friendship, took two or three glasses of strong spirits, which put him into excellent humour. His son, too, that he might atone for his last night's misbehaviour, brought a better camel than any we had seen, and exchanged it for one of those that came yesterday in the evening. I, on the other hand, gave him a cotton cloth, and some trifles, which made him perfectly happy; and we parted in the most cordial friendship possible, after having made a promise that, at my return, I should stay a week at Sancaho to hunt the elephant and rhinoceros.

Before leaving Sancaho, I had an opportunity of verifying a fact hitherto doubtful in natural history. Mr Hasselquist, the Swedish traveller, when at Cairo, saw the skins of two giraffos stuffed, which came from Sennaar. He gives as minute a description as possible he could from seeing the skins only; but says nothing about the horns, because I suppose he did not see them; on which account the doubt remained undecided, whether the giraffo's horns were solid as the deer's, and cast every year; or whether they were hollow, attached to a core, or bone, like those of sheep, and consequently permanent. The Count de Buffon conjectures them to be of this last kind, and so I found them. They are twisted in all respects like the horns of an antelope.

At ten minutes past eight we set out from Sancaho; but my people took it into their heads, that, notwithstanding the fair behaviour of Erbab Gimbaro, he intended to lay some ambush to cut us off, and rob us on the way. For my part, I was very well satisfied of the contrary; but this did not hinder them from forsaking the accustomed road, and getting among a thick wood of canes; we were obliged to cut our way out of them when our direction was west, or to the southward of west. They were also afraid of Abd el Jileel.

At ten minutes past eleven we crossed the Bedowi, which we had passed twice before; at half past eleven we crossed it again, travelling southward; and a quarter after twelve we were so entangled with woods, and so fatigued with cutting the way for our camels, that we thought we should get no further. We had, however, continued till three quarters past one in a direction south-east, at which time we were not above five miles from Sancaho; and, at half past two, had turned south-west on the banks of the large river Tokoor-Ohha, which signifies the Black River. It comes from the mountains of Awassa on the south-east, and, after winding considerably, it falls into the Guangue, about eight miles from Guanjook.

Tokoor-Ohha is a river famous for the number of buffaloes that are upon its banks, which are covered with large beautiful shady-trees, all of a hard red wood, called Dengui Sibber, or Breaker of Stones. They had neither fruit nor flower on them at this time, by which we might judge to what tribe they belong; but they are not ebony, which in this country is known by the name of Zopé.

On the 19th, at three quarters past six we left our station on Tokoor river, which we crossed about a quarter of an hour after, our direction being nearly S. W. The territory here is called Gilmaber, from Gilma, a small village a mile and a half distant to the southward. Gilmaber is about a mile and a half long, full of tall canes. From the time we left Tokoor river, we had been followed by a lion, or rather preceded by one, for it was generally a small gun-shot before us; and wherever it came to a bare spot, it would sit down and grumble as if it meant to dispute the way with us. Our beasts trembled, and were all covered with sweat, and could scarcely be kept on the road. As there seemed to be but one remedy for this difficulty, I took a long Turkish rifled gun, and crawling under a bank as near as possible, shot it in the body, so that it fell from the bank on the road before us, quite dead, and even without muscular motion. It proved to be a large lioness. All the people in this country eat the flesh of lions; as I have seen some tribes[19] in Barbary do likewise. We left the lioness to the inhabitants of the neighbouring village, skin and all; for we were so tired with this day's journey, that we could not be at the pains of skinning her.

A few minutes after this we passed the river Gilma, twice, which runs to the northward. At half past nine we joined Dabda road, and a few minutes after crossed the Quartucca, a small river running north.

The country here becomes more open, for the thick woods have small plains between them. In the entrance of a wood we found a man that had been murdered, and that very lately, as the wild beasts had not yet begun to touch the body; he had been ham-strung, and his throat cut, a performance probably of the neighbouring Shangalla. At fifty minutes past ten, our route being west, we passed under a hill a quarter of a mile on our right, upon which is a village called Salamgué. At a quarter past eleven we crossed the small river of Kantis; and a quarter of an hour afterwards we ascended a hill upon which stands a village of that name, inhabited by Mahometan Shangalla of the tribe of Baasa.

On the 20th we proceeded but a mile and a half; our beasts and ourselves being equally fatigued, and our cloaths torn all to rags. Guanjook is a very delightful spot by the river side; small woods of very high trees interspersed with very beautiful lawns; several fields also cultivated with cotton; variety of game (especially Guinea fowls, in great abundance) and, upon every tree, perroquets, of all the different kinds and colours, compose the beauties of Guanjook. I saw no parrots, and suppose there were none; but on firing a gun, the first probably ever heard in those woods, there was such a screaming of other birds on all sides, some flying to the place whence the noise came, and some flying from it, that it was impossible to hear distinctly any other sound. It was at this place that I shot that curious bird called the Erkoom[20] in Amhara; the Abba Gumba, in Tigrè; and here at Guanjook, Teir el Naciba, or the Bird of Destiny.

On the 22d, at three quarters past six we left Guanjook, and a few minutes after passed a small river called Gumbacca, and afterwards the river Tokoor. At half an hour past eight we rested there, and three hours after came to the Guangue. The Guangue is the largest river we had seen in Abyssinia except the Nile and Taccazé. It rises near Tchelga, or between Tchelga and Nara. It joins the Tacazzé in the Barabra, in the kingdom of Sennaar. The two rivers when joined are called the Atbara, which gives its name to the province. It abounds with hippopotami, and crocodiles, chiefly the former, which however we thought were mostly smaller than those of the Nile.

At a quarter after one we came to Mariam-Ohha, and at half past three arrived at Hor-Cacamoot. Hor in that country signifies the dry deep bed of a torrent, which has ceased to run; and Cacamoot, the shade of death; so that Yasine's village, where we now took up our quarters, is called the Valley of the Shadow of Death: A bad omen for weak and wandering travellers as we were, surrounded by a multitude of dangers, and so far from home, that there seemed to be but one that could bring us thither. We trusted in Him, and He did deliver us.

Hor-Cacamoot is situated in a plain in the midst of a wood, so much only of which has been cleared away as to make room for the miserable huts of which it consists, and for the small spots of ground on which they sow mashilla, or maize, to furnish them with bread. Their other food consists entirely of the flesh of the elephant and rhinoceros, and chiefly of the former; for the trouble of hunting the elephant is not greater than chasing the rhinoceros, and the difference of gain is much superior. The elephant has a greater quantity of better flesh, while his large teeth are very valuable, and afford a ready price everywhere. The inhabitants being little acquainted with the use of fire-arms, the smaller game, of the deer kind, are not much molested, unless by the wild Shangalla, who make use of bows and arrows, so that these animals are increased beyond imagination.

Ras el Feel consisted once of thirty-nine villages. All the Arabs of Atbara resorted to them with butter, honey, horses, gold, and many other commodities; and the Shekh of Atbara, living upon the frontier of Sennaar, entertained a constant good correspondence with the Shekh of Ras el Feel, to whom he sent yearly a Dongola horse, two razors, and two dogs. The Shekh of Ras el Feel, in return, gave him a mule and a female slave; and the effect of this intercourse was to keep all the intermediate Arabs in their duty.

Since the expedition of Yasous II. against Sennaar, no peace has ever subsisted between the two states; on the contrary, all the Arabs that assisted the king, and were defeated with him, pay tribute no longer to Sennaar, but live on the frontiers of Abyssinia, and are protected there. The two chiefs of Atbara, and Ras el Feel, understand one another perfectly, and give the Arabs no trouble; and, if they pay their rent to either, it is divided between both. It was through the means of these Arabs the king of Abyssinia's army was furnished, as we have seen, with heavy horses; and it was in consequence of my depending on this friendship with the Shekh of Teawa, that I attempted going thro' that province to Sennaar.

Sometime before I left Gondar I had been threatened with an attack of the dysentery. At my arrival at Hor-Cacamoot it grew worse, and had many unpromising symptoms, when I was cured by the advice and application of a common Shangalla, by means of a shrub called Wooginoos[21], growing very common in those parts, the manner of using which he taught me.

The country, from Tcherkin to Ras el Feel, or Hor-Cacamoot, is all a black earth, called Mazaga, which some authors have taken for the name of the province. However, the word Mazaga, in the language of the country, signifies fat, loose, black earth, or mold, such as all that stripe of land from 13° to 16° of latitude is composed of, at least till you reach to the deserts of Atbara, where the rains end. Ras el Feel is, I suppose, one of the hottest countries in the known world. On the 1st day of March, at three o'clock in the afternoon, Fahrenheit's thermometer, in the shade, was 114° which was at 61° at sun-rise, and 82° at sun-set. And yet this excessive heat did not make a proportional impression upon our feelings. The evenings, on the contrary, rather seemed cold, and we could hunt at mid-day. And this I constantly observed in this sultry country, that, what was hot by the glass, never appeared to carry with it any thing proportionate in our sensations.

Ras el Feel formerly paid 400 ounces of gold, which is 4000 crowns; Sancaho paid 100. But trade having decreased, since the expedition of Yasous II. to Sennaar, without the king's demand being lessened, many people have left it, and are gone to Tcherkin.

I have several times, in the course of this work, taken notice of a black nation called Shangalla, who surround all the N. N. W. and N. E. of Abyssinia, by a belt scarcely sixty miles broad. This is called by the Abyssinians, Kolla, or the Hot Country, which is likewise one of their names for hell. Two gaps, or spaces, made for the sake of commerce, in this belt, the one at Tchelga, the other at Ras el Feel, have been settled and possessed by strangers, to keep these Shangalla in awe; and here the custom-houses were placed, for the mutual interest of both kingdoms, before all intercourse was interrupted by the impolitic expedition of Yasous against Sennaar. Ras el Feel divides this nation of woolly-headed blacks into two, the one west below Kuara, and bordering on Fazuclo (part of the kingdom of Sennaar) as also on the country of Agows. These are the Shangalla that traffic in gold, which they find in the earth, where torrents have fallen from the mountains; for there is no such thing as mines in any part of their country nor any way of collecting gold but this; nor is there any gold found in Abyssinia, however confidently this has been advanced; neither is there gold brought into that kingdom from any other quarter but this which we are now speaking of; notwithstanding all the misrepresentations of the missionaries to make the attempts to subdue this kingdom appear more lucrative and less ridiculous to European princes. The other nation, on the frontiers of Kuara, has Ras el Feel on the east, about three days journey from the Cacamoot. The natives are called Ganjar; a very numerous and formidable nation of hunters, consisting of several thousand horse. The origin of these is said to have been, that when the Funge (or black nation now occupying Sennaar) dispossessed the Arabs from that part of the country, the black-slaves that were in service among these Arabs, all fled and took possession of the districts they now hold; where they have greatly increased in numbers, and continue independent to this day. They are the natural enemies of Ras el Feel, and much blood has been shed between them, from making inroads one upon the other, murdering the men and carrying their women into slavery. Yasine, however, had become too strong for them, by the assistance of Ayto Confu, and they had offered to assist the king at the campaign of Serbraxos. But they were found not fit to be trusted, so were sent away, under pretence that they should attack Coque Abou Barea governor of Kuara for the rebels, and hinder him from coming to their assistance; and even this they did not do.

The title of their chief is Sheba, which signifies the Old Man. His residence is called Cashumo, by his own people; and Dendy Kolla, by the Abyssinians of Kuara. Yasine, however, was now at peace with them, without which our journey would scarce have been possible. Sheba sent his son to see me at Ras el Feel; we thought, at that time, he came as a spy. However, when we departed I gave him a small present; and we swore mutual friendship, that he was to be ready always to fight against my enemies, and that we were to act kindly by each other, though we were to meet, horse to horse, alone in the desert.

Yasine had done every thing, on his part, to secure me a good reception from Fidele Shekh of Atbara. Every assurance possible had been given, and I had before travelled some thousand miles upon much slighter promises, which had, however, been always faithfully kept; so that I did not at all suspect that any thing unfair could be intended me at Teawa, where Fidele resided. But as the loss of life was the consequence of being mistaken, I never did omit any means to double my security.

Mahomet Gibberti, as we have before observed, had already carried a letter of mine from Gondar to his master Metical Aga, Selictarto the Sherriffe of Mecca in Arabia, requesting that he would write to some man of consideration in Sennaar, and, taking it for granted that I was then arrived at Teawa, desire that a servant of the king might be sent to give me safe conduct from that frontier to the capital. Yasine had written to the same effect, directly to Sennaar, and sent a servant of his, who, for security sake, had nothing but the letter and an old ragged cloth about his waist; and he had long ago arrived at Sennaar, the before-named place of his destination.

Among the tribes of Arabs that were protected by Yasine, and furnished with pasture, water, and a market for their cattle, and milk and butter, at Ras el Feel, were the Daveina, by much the most powerful of all the Arabs in Atbara; but they ventured no further southward than Beyla, for fear of the troops of Sennaar.

The Shekh of Beyla was a man of very great character for courage and probity. His name was Mahomet; and I had often corresponded with him upon the subject of horses for the king while I was at Gondar. He was greatly tormented with the stone, and by means of Yasine I had several times sent him soap-pills, and lime, with directions how to make lime-water. I therefore sent a servant of mine with a letter to the Shekh of Beyla, mentioning my intention of coming to Sennaar by the way of Teawa and Beyla, and desiring him to forward my servant to Sennaar, to Hagi Belal my correspondent there, and, at the same time, write to some other friend of his own, to see that the king's servant should be dispatched to Teawa without delay. This servant, with the letters, I committed to the care of the Shekh of the Daveina, who promised that he would himself see him safe into Beyla; and, by a particular Providence, all these letters and messengers arrived safe, without miscarriage of one, at the places of their destination, though we were long kept in suspence before they took effect.

I was now about to quit Ras el Feel for ever, in a firm perswasion that I had done every thing man could do to insure a safe journey and good reception at Sennaar, till one day I received a visit from Mahomet Shekh of Nile; which does not mean Shekh of the river, but of a tribe of that name, which is but a division of the Daveina. To this Shekh I had shewn a particular attention in several trips he had made to Gondar, in consequence of which he was very grateful and anxious for my safety. He told me, that he saw I was setting out perfectly content with the measures I had taken for my safety at Sennaar, and he owned that they were the best that human prudence could suggest; "but, says he, in my opinion, you have not yet been cautious enough about Teawa. I know Fidele well, and I apprehend your danger is there, and not at Sennaar." He then drew a most unfavourable picture of that Shekh, whom he affirmed to have been a murderer and a thief all his days, and the son of a father no better than himself; that he was of no religion, neither Mahometan, Christian, nor Pagan, but absolutely without fear of God; he said, however, he believed him to be a great coward; and therefore the whole of my safety reduced itself to this. Was he really afraid of Yasine, or not? If he was, that became the best handle we could lay hold on; but if, on the contrary, he was not afraid of Yasine, or was persuaded, as he very well might be by wicked people about him, that, when once I was out of the country, Yasine took no further charge of me, he doubted very much I should never pass Teawa, or, at least, without suffering some heavy affront or ill-usage, the extent of which it was impossible to determine.

These sensible suggestions made a very strong impression on Yasine and me; Yasine's first position was, that Fidele was certainly afraid to disoblige him; but, allowing the possibility he was not, he owned he had not substituted any second measure to which I could trust. We all regretted that our friends the Daveina had been suffered to depart without taking me with them by Sim-Sim and Beyla; but it was now too late, as the Daveina had for some days arrived at the station the nearest Beyla and the farthest from us. It was then agreed, that Nile should send a relation of his, who was married to one of the tribes of Jehaina Arabs, encamped upon Jibbel Idriss near to Teawa, with whom Fidele was at that time making peace, lest they should burn the crop about the town. This man was not to enter the town of Teawa with me, but was to come there the next day, as if from his friends at Jibbel Idriss; and, if I then informed him there was danger, should return to the Jehaina, mount a hajan or dromedary, and give Yasine information with all possible speed. All this being now settled, I prepared for my journey, having first, by many observations by night and day, fixed the latitude of Hor-Cacamoot to be 13° 1´ 33´´ north.

CHAP. IV.

From Hor-Cacamoot to Teawa, Capital of Atbara.

It was on the 17th of March that we set out from Hor-Caamoot on our journey to Teawa, capital of the province of Atbara. Our course was N. N. W. through thick brush-wood, with a few high trees; our companions being eleven naked men, with asses loaden with salt. 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[22]. This mountain stretches in a direction nearly north and south, as do the villages, and the small river when it has water, but it was now apparently dry. However, by digging pretty deep in the sand, the water filtering through the sides of the holes filled in a certain time with a putrid, ill-tasted, unwholesome beverage, which is all this miserable village has for its use. The people look sickly and ill-coloured. Falaty is three miles and a half distant from Hor-Cacamoot, its name interpreted is Poverty.

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 whip-cord. 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 action of the sun 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, unless in the utmost necessity. I fired two guns, and ordered my servants to fire two large ship-blunderbusses, which presently freed us from our troublesome guests. Two hyænas were killed, and a large lion being mortally wounded was dispatched by our men in the morning. They came no more near us; but we heard numbers of them howling at a distance till day-light, either from hunger or the smarts of the wounds they had received, perhaps from both; for each ship-blunderbuss had fifty small bullets, and the wood towards which they were directed, at the distance of about twenty yards, seemed to be crowded with these animals. The reason why the hyæna is more fierce here than in any part of Barbary, will be given in the natural history of that wild beast in the Appendix.

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, without consuming the body of the tree. After the tropical rains begin, the vegetation immediately returns; the springs increase, the rivers run, and the pools are filled with water. All sorts of verdure being now in the greatest luxuriancy, the Arabs revisit their former stations. This conflagration is performed at two seasons; the first, by the Shangalla and hunters on the southern parts of this woody country, begins in the month of October, on the return of the sun, the circumstances of which I have already mentioned; the latter, which happens in March, and lasts all April, besides providing future sustenance for their flocks, is likewise intended to prevent, at least to diminish, the ravages of the fly; a plague of the most extraordinary kind, already described.

We left Quaicha a little before four in the morning of the 19th of March, and at half an hour past five we came to Jibbel Achmar, a small mountain, or rather mount; for it is of a very regular form, and not above 300 feet high, but covered with green grass to the top. What has given it the name of Jibbel Achmar, or the Red Mountain, I know not. All the country is of red earth about it; but as it hath much grass, it should be called[23] the Green Mountain, in the middle of the red country; though there is nothing more vague or undetermined than the language of the Arabs, when they speak of colours. This hill, surrounded with impenetrable woods, is in the beginning of autumn the rendezvous of the Arabs Daveina, when there is water; at which time the rhinoceros and many sorts of beasts, crowd hither; tho' few elephants, but they are those of the largest kind, mostly males; so that the Arabs make this a favourite station, after the grass is burnt, especially the young part of them, who are hunters.

We reached Imserrha at half past eleven, the water being about half a mile distant to the S. W. The wells are situated upon a small ridge that runs nearly east and west. At one extremity of this is a small-pointed mountain, upon which was formerly a village belonging to the Arabs, called Jehaina, now totally destroyed by the hunting parties of the Daveina, the great tyrants of this country, who, together with the scarcity of water, are the principal causes that this whole territory is desolate. For though the soil is sandy and improper for agriculture, yet it is thickly overgrown with trees; and were the places where water is found sufficiently flocked with inhabitants, great numbers of cattle might be pastured here, every species of which live upon the leaves and the young branches of trees, even on spots where grass is abundant.

On the 20th, at six o'clock in the morning we set out from Imserrha, and in two hours arrived at Rashid, where we were surprised to see the branches of the shrubs and bushes all covered with a shell of that species of univalve called Turbines, white and red; some of them from three to four inches long, and not to be distinguished by the nicest eye from those sea-shells, of the same species, which are brought in great quantities from the West India islands, especially St Domingo.

How these came first in a sandy desert so far from the sea is a disquisition I shall not now enter into. There are of this fish great numbers in the Red Sea, and in the Indian Ocean; how they came upon the bushes, or at the roots of them, appears more the business of the present narrative. To confine myself to the matter of fact, I shall only say, that throughout this desert are many springs of salt-water; great part of the desert is fossile salt, which, buried in some places at different depths according to the degree of inclination of all minerals to the horizon, does at times in these fountains appear very near the surface. Here I suppose the seed is laid, and, by the addition of the rain-water that falls upon the salt during the tropical rains, the quantity of salt-water is much increased, and these fishes spread themselves over the plain as in a temporary ocean. The rains decrease, and the sun returns; those that are near springs retire to them, and provide for the propagation of future years. Those that have wandered too far off in the plains retire to the bushes as the only shelter from the sun. The intense heat at length deprives them of that shade, and they perish with the leaves to which they crept for shelter, and this is the reason that we saw such a quantity of shells under the bushes; that we found them otherwise alive in the very heart of the springs, we shall further circumstantiate in our Appendix, when we speak of mussels so found in our history of the formation of pearls.

Rashid was once full of villages, all of which are now ruined by the Arabs Daveina. There are seven or eight wells of good water here, and the place itself is beautiful beyond description. It is a fairy land, in the middle of an inhospitable, uninhabited desert; full of large wide spreading trees, loaded with flowers and fruit, and crowded with an immense number of the deer kind. Among these, we saw a large one, like the antelope, his buttocks (a considerable 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. These we had never seen before. They are called Ariel in Arabia, go in large flocks, are exceedingly swift; though, from the necessity of coming to water, and its only being found in particular places, they were an easy victim to those that watched for them at night.

Sim Sim is a copious spring, which supplies a large bason the Arabs have dug for it near thirty feet deep. It lies west of Rashid, or a little to the southward of west. It is in a sandy desert, in the direct way to Beyla and Sennaar, and here the Daveina kept their flocks, equally secure 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, supplying that country amply with provisions of all kinds, and getting from it, in return, what they have not in their own district.

We were just two hours in coming to Rashid, for we were flying for our lives; the Simoom, or hot-wind, having struck us not long after we had set out from Imserrha, and our little company, all but myself, fell mortally sick with the quantity of poisonous vapour that they had imbibed. I apprehend, from Rashid to Imserrha it is about five miles; and though it is one of the most dangerous halting-places between Ras el Feel and Sennaar, yet we were so enervated, our stomachs so weak, and our head-achs so violent, that we could not pitch our tent, but each wrapping himself in his cloak, resigned himself immediately to sleep, under the cool shade of the large trees, invited by the pleasant breeze from the north, which seemed to be merely local, confined to this small grove, created probably by the vicinity of the water, and the agitation we had occasioned in it.

In this helpless state to which we were reduced, I alone continued not weakened by the simoom, nor overcome by sleep. A Ganjar Arab, who drove an ass laden with salt, took this opportunity of stealing one of the mules, together with a lance and shield belonging to one of my servants. The country was so woody, and he had so much advantage of us in point of time, and we were in so weak and discouraged a state, that it was thought in vain to pursue him one step. So he got off with his booty, unless he was intercepted by some of those wild beasts, which he would find everywhere in his way, whether he returned to Ras el Feel, or the frontiers of Kuara, his own country.

Having refreshed ourselves with a little sleep, the next thing was to fill our girbas, or skins, with water. But before we attempted this, I thought to try an experiment of mixing about twenty drops of spirit of nitre in a horn of water about the size of an ordinary tumbler. This I found greatly refreshed me, though my headach still continued. It had a much better effect upon my servants, to whom I gave it; for they all seemed immediately recovered, and their spirits much more so, from the reflection that they had with them a remedy they could trust to, if they should again be so unfortunate as to meet this poisonous wind or vapour.

On the 21st, we set out from Rashid at two o'clock in the morning, and at a little past eight arrived at Imhanzara, having gone mostly N. W. to north and by west. This, too, is a station 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 less than sixty yards long. The water was just then drying up; and stood only about half a foot in depth, in the bottom of one of the pools. The borders of the basons were thick set with acacia and jujeb-trees; but the fruit of the latter was drying upon the stones, and had fallen shrivelled in great quantities upon the ground. We gathered about a couple of pecks, which was a very great refreshment to us. The fruit, though retaining a very sharp acid taste, is mixed with a sweetness not unlike the tamarind; and which it communicated to water, upon a handful of the dry fruit being steeped therein for half an hour. The ordinary jujeb in Barbary is oblong like an olive; this is perfectly round like the cherry, but something smaller. The tree is thorny, and differs in nothing from the other, but only in the shape of the fruit. When dried, it is of a golden colour; and is here called Nabca, being the principal sustenance of the Arabs, till these pools are dry, when they are obliged to seek other food, and other water, at some more distant station.

This day, being the fifth of our journey, we had gone about five hours very diligently, though, considering the weak state we were in, I do not think we advanced more than seven or eight miles; and it was to me very visible, that all the animals, mules, camels, and horses, were affected as much as we were by the simoom. They drank repeatedly, and for a considerable length of time, but they seemed to go just so much the worse for it.

Upon approaching the pool, that had water in it, though yet at some distance from it, my servants sent me word to come up speedily, 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 noise we had made in alighting. In place of him, five or six hyænas had seized the carcase, and several others were at the instant arriving to join them, and partake of the prey the lion had abandoned. I hastened upon the summons, carrying with me a musket and bayonet, and a ship blunderbuss, with about forty small bullets in it. I crept through the bushes, and under banks as near to them as possible, for fear of being seen; but the precaution seemed entirely superfluous; for though they observed me approaching, they did not seem disposed to leave their prey, but in their turn looked at me, raising the bristles upon their back, shaking themselves as a dog does when he comes out of water, and giving a short but terrible grunt. After which they fell to their prey again, as if they meant to dispatch their deer first, and then come and settle their affairs with me. I now began to repent having ventured alone so near; but knowing, with the short weapon I had, the execution depended a good deal upon the distance, I still crept a little nearer, till I got as favourable a position as I could wish behind the root of a large tree that had fallen into the lake. Having set my musket at my hand, near and ready, I levelled my blunderbuss at the middle of the group, which were feeding voraciously like as many swine, with a considerable noise, and a civil war with each other. Two of them fell dead upon the spot; two more died about twenty yards distance; but all the rest that could escape fled without looking back, or shewing any kind of resentment: I then took my musquet in my hand, and stood, prepared with my bayonet, behind the tree, but fired no more, not knowing what their humour or disposition might be as to a return upon accession of new companions.

About twenty small foxes, and a flock of several hundred Guinea-fowls, now came up from the inside of the pool. The fowls lighted immediately, and ran back again to the water. The foxes retired quickly into the woods. Whether they had assembled with a view of getting a share of the deer, an animal of this kind being generally attendant upon the lion, or whether, as is most likely, they were seeking the Guinea-fowls, I do not know. I suspect it was the latter, by their number; for never more than one at a time is remarked to accompany the lion.

We observed a variety of traps and cages, some of them very ingenious, which the Daveina, or other Arabs, had set to catch these birds, several of which we found dead in these snares, and some of them had not yet been touched by beasts; and as there was but a small distance between the traps and the water's edge, which could only be answerable to a few days evaporation, we with great reason inferred, that the Daveina, or some other Arabs, had been there a very short time before. We found in the mud of the pool large green shell-snails, with the animals alive in them; some of them weighed very near a pound, in nothing, but size and thickness of the shell, different from common garden-snails.

Not a little alarmed at this discovery that the Arabs were near us, we left Imhanzara at four o'clock in the evening of the 21st, our journey mostly N. W.; at eight we lost our way, and were obliged to halt in a wood. Here we were terrified to find, that the water in our girbas was entirely gone; whether by evaporation of the hot wind, or otherwise, I know not; but the skin had the appearance of water in it, till its lightness in unloading discovered the contrary. Though all the people were sick, the terror of being without water gave us something like alacrity, and desire to push on. We set out at eleven, but still wandered in the wood till three o'clock in the morning of the 22d, when we were obliged again to alight. I really then began to think we were lost. I ordered the girbas to be examined: a large one which we had filled at Rashid was entirely empty; and that one which we had partly filled at Imhanzara on account of the badness of the water, 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 conducted the asses, seeing that we had skins to contain plenty of water for us, had omitted to fill the small goat-skin which each of them carried. A general murmur of fear and discontent prevailed through our whole company; for we could have no guess at the nearness or situation of the next well, as we had lost our road; and some of the caravan even pretended that we had passed it. But though we had travelled thirteen hours, I cannot compute the distance to have been above fourteen miles.

This day, being the sixth from Ras el Feel, at half after five in the morning, we set off in great despondency; and, upon the first dawn of day, I set our route by the compass, and found it north and by east, or more easterly. This did not seem the probable road to Sennaar, after having gone so considerably to the north-west. But, before I could make much reflection upon the observation, one of the caravan declared he knew the road, and that we had gone very little out of it, and were now proceeding straight to the well. Accordingly, at half past nine, we reached it; it is called Imgellalib[24]. There is great plenty of water, with a leather-bucket, and a straw rope to draw it up, but it is very ill-tasted. However, the fear of dying with thirst, more than having materially suffered from it, made every one press to drink; and the effect of this hurry was very soon seen. Two Abyssinian Moors, a man and woman, died after drinking; the man instantly, and the woman a few minutes after; for my own part, though thirsty, I was sensible I could have held out a considerable time without danger; and, indeed, I did not drink till I had washed my head, face, and neck all over. I then washed my mouth and throat, and, having cooled myself, and in great measure assuaged my thirst, I then drank till I was completely satisfied, but only by small draughts. I would have persuaded all my companions to do the same, but I was not heard; and one would have thought, like the camels, they had been drinking once for many days to come. Yet none of them had complained of thirst till they heard the girbas were empty; and it was not sixteen hours since they had drank at Imhanzara, and but twelve since the girbas were found to be dry, when we first lost our way, and stopped in the wood.