rived once in the fands, they were quiet during the rains,,
having paid their, paflage northward, and fo they were afterwards,
for the fame reafon, when they came again to their
own Ration, fouthward, when thofe rains had ceafed.
It may be afked reafonably, What does the government
o f Sennaar do with that immenfe number o f camels which,
they receive from all thofe tribes o f Arabs in their paflage*
l>y Sennaar ? To this I anfwer, That all this tribute is n o t
paid in kind. The different tribes poffefEng fo many camels,
or fo many other cattle, have a quantum laid upon-
them 'at an average value. This is paid in gold, or in-
Raves, the reft in k in d ; fo many for the maintenance o f the:
k in g and government; for there is no flefh commonly ufed
at Sennaar in the markets but that o f camels. The refidue
is bought by the merchants o f Dongola, and fent into
Egypt, where they fupply that great confumption o f '
thefe animals made every year by the caravans go in g to,.
Mecca.
O n e thing had made a very ftrong imprefllbn on me,,
which was the contemptuous manner in which Adelan ex-
preffed himfe lf as to his fovereign. I was fatisfied that,
with fome addrefs, I could keep myfelf in favour with either
o f th em ; but in the terms they then were, or were very
foon to be, I could not but fear I was like ly to fall into trouble
between the two..
T h e next morning, after j$ came home from Aira, I was
agreeably furprifed by a vifit from. Hagi Belal, to whom I
had been recommended by Metical Aga, and to whom Ibrahim
Seraff, the. Engliih broker at Jidda, had addreffed me for
any
any money I fhould need at Sennaar. He welcomed me
with great kindnefs, and repeated teftimonies o f jo y and
wonder at my fafe arrival.. He had been down in Atbara
at Gerri, or fome villages near it, with merchandize, and
had not y e t feen the k in g lince he came home, but gave
me the very word deferiptibn poffibte o f the country, info-
much that there feemed to be not a fpot; but the one I then
flood on, in which I was not in imminent danger o f deftruc-
tion, from a variety o f independent- eaufes, which it feemed
not poflibly in my power to avoid.. H cfenrme in the evenin
g feme refrefhments, which ! had long been unaccuftom-
ed to ; fome tea,, excellent coffee, fome honey and brown-
fugar, feveral bottles o f rack, likewife nutmegs, cinnamon,,
ginger, and fome very good dates o f the dry kind which
he had brou ght from Atbara..
H a g i B e l a l - was a native o f Morocco. He h a d been a e
Cairo, and alfo at Jidda and Mocha. He knew the E n g liih
well, and: profeffed himfelf both obliged and attached to*
them. It was fome days before I* ventured to fpeak to him
upon money bufinefs, or upon any probability o f finding
affiftance here at Sennaar. He gave me little hopes o f the
latter, repeating to me what I very well knew about the dif-
agreement o f the k in g and Adelan, He feemed to place all
his expectations, and thofe were but faint ones, in the coming
o f Shekh Abou. Kalec from Kordofan. f fe faid, nothing
could be expected from Shekh Adelan without going
to Aira, for that he would never truft himfelf in Sennaar,
in this k in g ’s lifetime, but that the minifter was abfolute
die moment he affembled his troops without the town.
O n e