I Then
Made My Salaam, And Mounted My Horse Amidst General Expressions
Of Approval.
On the following morning, Mek Nimmur sent us two camel-loads of
corn; a large gourd of honey, weighing
About fifty pounds; and
four cows that must have been a detachment of Pharaoh's lean
kine, with a polite message that I was to select the FATTEST.
These cattle were specimens of the poisonous qualities of the
water; but, although disappointed in the substance of the
present, my people were delighted with the acquisition, and they
immediately selected a cow; but just as they were licking their
lips at the prospect of fresh meat, which they had not tasted for
some days, the cow broke away and made off across country. In
despair at the loss, my men followed in hot pursuit, and two of
the Tokrooris overtook her, and held on to her tail like
bull-dogs, although dragged for some distance, at full gallop
through thorns and ruts, until the other men arrived and
overpowered the thin, but wiry animal. When slaughtered, there
was a great squabble between my men and the Abyssinians, who
endeavoured to steal the meat.
CHAPTER XVIII.
A CAMEL FALLS, AND DIES.
I EXTRACT a few notes from my journal:--
"March 25, 1862.--Mai Gubba is about twelve miles E.N.E. of our
camp. Mek Nimmur's stronghold is upon a lofty table-mountain, due
south of this spot, from which great elevation (about 5,000 feet)
the granite mountain of Cassala is said to be plainly visible.
"March 27.--We started for the Bahr Salaam, and said good-bye to
Mek Nimmur, as we passed his position on our march; he had given
us a guide; an awful-looking scoundrel.
"We had hardly marched two miles, when one of the baggage-camels
suddenly fell down to die; the Arabs immediately cut its throat
with a sword, and Bacheet, having detached one ear as a witness
of its death, galloped back to borrow a fresh camel of Mek
Nimmur, which he very kindly sent without delay. We were obliged
to bivouac on the spot for the night, as the Arabs required the
flesh of their camel, which was cut into thin strips. As they
were employed in skinning it, they ate large quantities raw and
quivering. The stream, or hor, that flows through this country,
parallel with our route, is the Ma Serdi; all this district is
rich in copper.
"March 28.--Started at 5 A.M. course S.W. We crossed two hors,
flowing from N.N.W. and joining the Ma Serdi; also a beautiful
running stream of deep and clear water twelve miles from our
bivouac of last evening: this stream is never dry; it springs
from a range of hills about ten miles distant. The whole of this
country is well watered by mountain streams, the trees are no
longer the thorny mimosas, but as the land is not only fertile,
but sufficiently moist, it gives birth to a different kind of
vegetation, and the trees are mostly free from thorns, although
at this season devoid of foliage.
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