Arabs, to afe them, who thofe. were that had taken away-
our.cameh.
In one o f the huts he found the kin g’s fervant r e g a lin g '
h im fe lf; upon w hich he faid to him, “ I fuppofe, Mahomet;.
you have taken charge o f that camel; and will bring it with
you t° Sennaar; it has your mailer’s -prefents, and .mine
alfo, upon it :” an d . faying this,he rode off,to join us, and .
to puniih thofe that had. taken the camel, who, .we were :
fure after this notification, muft follow us. We kept on at a i
very brilkpace, fo r it was-eleven o’clock before they came
u g to where we were en c am p ed 'fo r the: night, bring*
in g our camel, which they had taken, along with th em ,.
with an Arab on hsrfebaek, attended with * two on foot, and
with them the.king’s fervant.. I did- not feem at a ll to have
underilood the affair, only that robbers had taken away
our camel. But it did not fit fo eafyupon- the Arabs, who
did not know there-was any-with us but the k in g ’s fervant,,
- and who wanted to frighten us for not making them a pie- -
fent for eating' th e ir graft and d r in k in g : their water. At -
firft, Adelanft fervant refufed to take the camel again upon
any terms, infilling that the.Cohala ihould carry it to Sen-
naar ; but, after a great many words, I determined to. make
peace, upon condition; they Ihould furnifh us: with milk,
wherever they: had cattle; till we arrived at Sennaar.; This;
was very readily confented t o ; and as this affair probably
was’ow in g to the malice oft the k in g ’s fervant, fo it ended.!
without further trouble ..
On the 24th, we fet • out at h a lf after five-in- the- morn- -
ihg, and paffed through feveral fmall villages o f Cohala on 4
the.right and-on the left, till at eleven we came to the r iver.
Ver flender, Handing now in pools, but by the vail widenefs
o f its banks, and the great deepnefs o f its bed, all o f white
fand, it ihould feem that in time o f rain it will contain nearly
as much water as the Nile. The banks are everywhere
thick overgrown with the rack and jujeb tree, efpecially the
latter. The wood, which had continued moftly from Beyla,
here failed us entirely, and reached no further towards Sennaar.
Thefe two forts o f trees, however, were in very great
beauty, and o f a prodigious fize. Here we found the main
body o f Cohala, with all their cattle, living in perfeft fe-
curity both from Arabs and from the plague o f the fly.
They were as good as their word to us in fupplying us
plentifully with excellent milk, which we had fcarcely.ever
tailed fince we left Gondar.
A t fix o’clock in the evening o f the 24th we fet out from
a fliady place o f repofe on the banks o f the Dender, through
a large plain, with not a tree before us ; but we prefently
found ourfelves encompaffed with a number o f villages,
nearly o f a fize, and placed at equal diftanees in form o f á
femi-circle, the roofs o f the houfes in ihape o f cones, as are
all thofe within the rains. The plain was all o f a red, foapy
earth,- and the corn juft fown. This whole country is in
perpetual cultivation, and though at this time it had a
bare look, would no dbubt have a magnificent one when
wav ing with ‘grain. At nine we halted at a village o f
'Pagan Nuba. Thefe are all foldiers o f the Mek o f Sennaar,
cantoned in thefe- villages, which, at the diilance o f four
or fivé miles, furround the whole capital. They are either
purcnafed or taken by force from Fazuclo, and the provinces
to the fouth upon the mountains Dyre and Tegla. Hav
in g fettlements and provifions given them, as alfo arms
3 G 2 put