in whofe hands at leaft three fhoufand fubjeits o f Sennaar,
and their effeits, are at this moment. I fay-to you now, as
I did to your mailer in the morning, that he cannot either
rob or murder me at.Teawa without all your nation being
refponfible for it, wherever they fhall go. But I am not a
iheep, or a lamb, to be fpoiled o f m y goods, or robbed o f
m y life, without defending myfelf to the u tm o il; and I tell
you, for you r proper inllruition, that there are probably
n ow at Sennaar, people from the k in g o f Abyfiinia, complaining
o f m y being detained here, and demanding ju-
ilice.
Hs feemed to pay no attention to this threat. He did
n ot think it pollible that I could have had any communication
with Ras el Feel iince I came to Teawa, but declared,
that, as my particular friend, he had calmed the Shekh’s
wrath, and obliged him to promile, that, for 2oco piailres,
h e would difpatch me in two days to Sennaar. Indeed,
Hagi Soliman, faid I, I have not 20 piailres in the world to
give either him or you, nor would I give them i f I had
them. The Shefch may take all that I have by force, and is
welcome to try th e experiment. You, as his friend and fol-
dier, may command the party, i f you pleafe ; but I am re-
folved, were he willing, never to leave Teawa till I depart
under the conduit o f another man than one of. your or o f
Shekh Fidele’s chufing. Upon my faying this, he arofe,
ihook the bofom o f his cloak, and faid, he was forry for i t ;
but he walhed his hands o f a ll the confeq.uences.
I m m e d i a t e l y after this we fhut our doors'; and our firearms
being cleaned, loaded, and primed, we refolved to a-
bide the iflue o f this bad affair in the bell manner pollible,
4 and
and live or die together. One thing, however, diverted us :
One o f the large blunderbuffes being accidentally laid acrofs-
the door, this veteran foldier ilarted back at the light o f it,,
and, although the muzzle was pointed far from him, would
not enter till the piece was removed, and placed at a confi—
derable dillance from him/. f
As we faw things were g rowin g to a crifis, we became'
every hour more impatient for the arrival o f relief, either
from Ras el Feel or Sennaar. On-the ill o f April came a fe r -
vant from the Shekh o f Bey la, and delivered a meffage to-
Fidele; What it was I know not; but about noon he came
to.inquire after us„ and pay us a vifit..
A l l this time Fidele had kept our arrival at Teawa a fe -
eret from the Shekh o f Beyla; but the people, who frequented
the market o f Teawa, having told their governor that
they had feen Itrangers there, he all at once fufpected .the;
truth, and difpatcheffa confidential fervant to Fidele, under
a Ihew o f b.ufinefs, to inquire whether w e were thofe llran-
gers. An explanation immediately followed upon his coming
to my houfe, and efpecially concerning the mellage.
the Shekh o f Beyla had received from the Shekh o f Atbara,
that we were gone by Kuara down the Dendar. He faid,
that his mailer either had fent, or intended to-fend, advice
o f this to m y fervant at Sennaar, who,.expecting us no longer
by Teawa, would neither come himfelf, nor feek a k in g ’s
fervant to conduit us from hence, but would feek meafures
for our fafety the other way, or wait at Sennaar, expecting,
our arrival daily; for the way from K u a ra was through a.
number o f outlawed, or banditti Arabs, fo that it was n o t
in. the power o f the government o f Sennaar, i f ever fo w e ll
inclined^