j a r ; a very numerous an'd formidable nation .of hunters,
confifting o f feveral thoufand horfe. The o rigin o f thefe
is faid'tohave been, that when the Funge (or b lack nation
now occupying ¡Sennaar) diipofieffed the Arabs from that
part o f the country, the¡black-flaves'that1 were in fervaee
am on g thefe Arabs, all fled and todklpoffeffion o f the dif-
trid s they now h o ld ; where ¡th e y ’ have..greatly inereafed
in numbers,- and continue ¡independent to thisi day. The y
ore th e natural enemies o f Ras-el Feel, and much hlood has
been flied between them,Jfrom making inroads /one upon
the other, murdering th e!men and carrying their women
into flavery. Vaifime, however, had become too ffrong for
them,1 b y rhe alliftance o f Ayto Con£u, ¡and they had offered
to alfift the k in g at the. campaign o f Serbraxos. B u t they
were found not fit to'be trufted, t fo were1 fent away, un d e r
pretende that they ihould attack Coque Abou Barca governor
o f Kuara for the rebels, and hinder him from coming
to their affiftance; and even this the y did not do.
T h e title o f their chief is Sheba, which fignifies- the O ld
■Man. His refidence is called Calhumo. by his own people;
an d Dendy Kolia, by the Abyflimians o f Kuara. Yafine,
however, was- now at peace with them, without which, our
journey would fcarce have been poflible. Sheba-fent his
fon to fee m e at-Ras el F e e l; w e thought, at that .time,. he
came as a fpy. However, when we -departed I ga ve him-a
-fmall prefent; and we fwore . mutual friendihip, ¡that he
was to be ready-always to light againft my enemies, and
that w e were to aft.kind ly by each other, though we were
to meet, horfe to horfe, alone-in th e defert.
Yasine
Yastne had done every thing, on his part, to fecUre me
a good reception from Fidele Shekh o f Atbara. Every af-
furance poflible had been given, and I had before travelled
fome thoufand miles upon much flighter promifes, which,
"had, however, been always faithfully k e p t ; ft) that I did
not at all fufpeft that any thing unfair could be intended
m e at Teawa, where Fidele refided. But as the lofs o f life
was the confequence o f being miftaken, I never did omit
■ any means te double my feeurity.
M a h o m e t G i b b e r t i , as we have before obferved, had a t
-ready carried a letter o f mine fromGondar to his mailer Metical
Aga,Selictar to the Sherriffe o f Mecfca in Arabia, requefting
that he w ould write to fome man o f confideration in Sennaar,
and, taking it for granted that I Was then arrived at Teawa,
’delire that a fervant o f the k in g m igh t be fent to give me
fafe condudt from that frontier to the capital. Yafine had
- written to.the fame effeft, diredtly to Sennaar, and fent a
fervant o f his, who, for feeurity fake, had nothing but the
.letter and an old ragged cloth about his waiit.; and he had
dong ago arrived at Sennaar, the before-named place o f his
-deftination.
Among the tribes o f Arabs that were protected by Yafine,
¡and furniihed with pafture, water, and a market for their
cattle, and milk and butter, at Ras el Feel, were the Daveina,
b y much the m b it powerful o f all the Arabs in A tbara; but
-they ventured no further foutliward than Beyla, for fear
o f the troops o f Sennaar. ‘ . 1
T he Shekh o f Beyla was a man o fv e r y great character
¡for courage and probity. His name was Mahomet; and I
V ol. IV. T t had