The Atbara Exploration Was Completed, And I Looked Forward To The Fresh
Enterprise Of Exploring New Rivers And Lower Latitudes, That Should
Unravel The Mystery Of The Nile!
CHAPTER XII.
Abyssinian slave-girls - Khartoum - The Soudan under Egyptian rule
- Slave-trade in the Soudan - The obstacles ahead.
A rapid march of sixteen miles brought us to Metemma or Gallabat. As we
descended the valley we perceived great crowds of people in and about
the town, which, in appearance, was merely a repetition of Katariff. It
was market-day, and as we descended the hill and arrived in the scene
below, with our nine camels heavily laden with the heads and horns of a
multitude of different beasts, from the gaping jaws of hippopotami to
the vicious-looking heads of rhinoceroses and buffaloes, while the skins
of lions and various antelopes were piled above masses of the
much-prized hide of the rhinoceros, we were beset by crowds of people,
who were curious to know whence so strange a party had come. We formed a
regular procession through the market, our Tokrooris feeling quite at
home among so many of their brethren.
While here I visited the establishments of the various slave merchants.
These were arranged under large tents formed of matting, and contained
many young girls of extreme beauty, ranging from nine to seventeen years
of age. These lovely captives, of a rich brown tint, with delicately
formed features, and eyes like those of the gazelle, were natives of the
Galla, on the borders of Abyssinia, from which country they were brought
by the Abyssinian traders to be sold for the Turkish harems.
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