He Then Asked For All My
Blue Cloth And My Arab 'Camblee' (Blanket).
My portmanteau being rather
the worse for wear--its upper leather was torn--he thrust in his fingers,
and said,
With a most avaricious grin, 'What have you here?' I immediately
arose and exclaimed, 'You are not my father; the Wallasena told me you
would treat me kindly; this is not doing so.' He begged pardon and said,
'Do not be frightened, my son; I will take nothing from you but what you
give me freely. You think I am a bad man; people have been telling you ill
things about me. I am now an old man, and have given up such child's work
as plundering people.' It became, however, necessary to inquire of Datah
Mahomed what were his intentions with regard to myself. I found that I had
been deceived at Shoa; there it was asserted that he lived at Errur and
was brother to Bedar, one of the most powerful chiefs of the Adel, instead
of which it proved that he was not so highly connected, and that he
visited Errur only occasionally. Datah told me that his marriage feast
would last seven days, after which he would forward me to Doomi, where we
should find Bedar, who would send me either to Tajoorah or to Hurrur, as
he saw fit.
"I now perceived that all hope of reaching Hurrur was at an end. Vexed and
disappointed at having suffered so much in vain, I was obliged to resign
the idea of going there for the following reasons: The Mission treasury
was at so low an ebb that I had left Shoa with only three German crowns,
and the prospect of meeting on the road Mahomed Ali in charge of the
second division of the Embassy and the presents, who could have supplied
me with money. The constant demands of Datah Mahomed for tobacco, for
cloth, in fact for everything he saw, would become ten times more annoying
were I left with him without an interpreter. The Tajoorians, also, one
all, begged me not to remain, saying, 'Think not of your property, but
only of your and your servants' lives. Come with us to Tajoorah; we will
travel quick, and you shall share our provisions.' At last I consented to
this new arrangement, and Datah Mahomed made no objection. This
individual, however, did not leave me till he had extorted from me my best
mule, all my Tobes (eight in number), and three others, which I borrowed
from the caravan people. He departed about midnight, saying that he would
take away his mule in the morning.
"At 4 A.M. on the 26th I was disturbed by Datah Mahomed, who took away his
mule, and then asked for more cloth, which was resolutely refused. He then
begged for my 'Camblee,' which, as it was my only covering, I would not
part with, and checked him by desiring him to strip me if he wished it. He
then left me and returned in about an hour, with a particular friend who
had come a long way expressly to see me. I acknowledged the honour, and
deeply regretted that I had only words to pay for it, he himself having
received my last Tobe. 'However,' I continued, seeing the old man's brow
darken, 'I will endeavour to borrow one from the Caffilah people.' Deeni
brought me one, which was rejected as inferior. I then said, 'You see my
dress--that cloth is better than what I wear--but here; take my turban.'
This had the desired effect; the cloth was accepted. At length Datah
Mahomed delivered me over to the charge of the Ras el Caffilah in a very
impressive manner, and gave me his blessing. We resumed our journey at 2
P.M., when I joined heartily with the caravan people in their 'Praise be
to God! we are at length clear of the Bedoos!' About 8 P.M. we halted at
Metta.
"At half-past 4 A.M. on the 27th we started; all the people of the
Caffilah were warm in their congratulations that I had given up the Hurrur
route. At 9 A.M. we halted at Codaitoo: the country bears marks of having
been thickly inhabited during the rains, but at present, owing to the want
of water, not an individual was to be met with. At Murroo we filled our
water-skins, there being no water between that place and Doomi, distant
two days' journey. As the Ras el Caffilah had heard that the Bedoos were
as numerous as the hairs of his head at Doomi and Keelulhoo, he determined
to avoid both and proceed direct to Warrahambili, where water was
plentiful and Bedoos were few, owing to the scarcity of grass. This, he
said, was partly on my account and partly on his own, as he would be much
troubled by the Bedouins of Doomi, many of them being his kinsmen. We
continued our march from 3 P.M. till 9 P.M., when we halted at Boonderrah.
"At 4 P.M., on January 28th, we moved forward through the Waddy
Boonderrah, which was dry at that season; grass, however, was still
abundant. From 11 A.M. till 4 P.M., we halted at Geera Dohiba. Then again
advancing we traversed, by a very rough road, a deep ravine, called the
"Place of Lions." The slaves are now beginning to be much knocked up, many
of them during the last march were obliged to be put upon camels. I forgot
to mention that one died the day we left Murroo. At 10 P.M. we halted at
Hagaioo Geera Dohiba: this was formerly the dwelling-place of Hagaioo,
chief of the Woemah (Dankali), but the Eesa Somali having made a
successful attack upon him, and swept off all his cattle, he deserted it.
During the night the barking of dogs betrayed the vicinity of a Bedoo
encampment, and caused us to keep a good look-out.
Enter page number
PreviousNext
Page 124 of 127
Words from 125196 to 126211
of 128411
