inelined, to conduit -'as one ftep'iti fafety on that road tifl
•we fhould be within two daysljatirriey-.of Sennaar. Thé
fervant therefore pfopofed, thaï hé fliould return inftantly.
to Beyla, (as he did that night) and that his tnafter fbrotiid-
fend a mêflengèr on a dromedary eXprefs to Sennaar, to inform
Hagi Belal df our fituation, and procure immediate fgb
lie f. He promifed further, that his mafter fhould fend a
Motillah, (or man o f extraordinary holinefs and learning)
in whofe prefence Shekh Fidels would not dare to proceed
to extremities, as this was a nian univerfally e(teemed, an d
Of> gréât Weight and reputation at Sennaar, both With'Ab'OU
Galec and Adelan, as well as thimighoiit Atbarà. :
I m u s t here obviate a very reafonable objection which
may be made by my reader;^-“ \Vhy, when you k n ew y o u r
fafety depended tipon the ^government.r’o f . Sennaar, When
y o uw a s arrived at ic aw a , el id you not fa k e the iirft Opportunity
o f notifying it to Fidele, that you had-already' ferit
to acquaint your correfpondent at Sennaar tharyoti had fet
out for that place ?” I anfwer, That m do this Had beeit
many times' in agitation among 'U S ',' hut was always, rejected.
It was thought a dangerous nteafure to leave a man
like Fidele, the only perfon who had feen us," to give tis any'
character and defcription he pleafed, who, from the con-1
neftion and correfpôndénce he mud have in that capital,
and the confidence nc.ceiliirily placed in him, as governor
o f a frontier province, migh t fo far prejudice the minds o f
that credulous and brutal people, by mifréprefenting US, as
either to get orders to cut Us o f f upon our journey, or procure
Us a fate fimilar to that o f M. du Roule, the French envoy,
after our arriving in that capital. It was by the good-
nefs o f Providence alone that we were reftrained from
% adopting
adopting thammeafure, often confdered as the moil advife-
able, but Which, we lince have certainly known, would have
ended in our deilruétion.
N o t h i n g material pafled on the 3d o f April, their fefti-
val day ; but on the 4th no meat was fent us". However,
on Sunday the 5 th it was brought rather in larger proportion
than before, and we fpent the whole day in conjecturing
what was become o f our fervants, and o f the Moul-
lah whom the Shekh o f Beyla’s iervant had promifed us.
On the 6th the Kaiya came, and, without ceremony, told
me that the Shekh had heard I wanted to efcape to Béyla,
in which journey I fhould certainly perifli, and therefore
he had taken my horfe from me, which was in a liable at
fome diftanee. From this time we got our victuals very
fparingly. On the 7th he fent me word, that I fhould
bring him a vomit the day after, which I promifed to comply
with. It was very plainly feen Beyla’s fecret was not
kept, and to this we attributed the delay o f the Moullah ;
but nothing could comfort us for the want o f an anfwer
from Ras el Feel.
On thé 8th, in the evening, a little before fix o’clock,
when I was making ready to go to the Shekh, a mefiage
came, that he was bufy, and could not fee me ; with which,
for a time, I was very, w e ll pleafed. About ten, arrived a
naked, very ill-looking fellow, more like an executioner
than any other fort o i man, with a large broad-fword
in his hand, and feemingly very drunk. He faid he was
one o f the Shekhs o f Jehaina, and in a little time became
extremely infolent. He firft demanded coffee, which was
given him, then a new coat, then fome civçt, and, lafl o f
V ol. IV.' • 3 B all,