They obtain leave, with some difficulty, to depart from Dancali.
The difficulties of their march.
A broil with the Moors. They
arrive at the plain of salt.
This usage, with some differences we had with a Moor, made us very
desirous of leaving this country, but we were still put off with one
pretence or other whenever we asked leave to depart. Tired with
these delays, I applied myself to his favourite minister, with a
promise of a large present if he could obtain us an audience of
leave; he came to us at night to agree upon the reward, and soon
accomplished all we desired, both getting us a permission to go out
of the kingdom, and procuring us camels to carry our baggage, and
that of the Abyssinian ambassadors who were ordered to accompany us.
We set out from the kingdom of Dancali on the 15th of June, having
taken our leave of the King, who after many excuses for everything
that had happened, dismissed us with a present of a cow, and some
provisions, desiring us to tell the Emperor of Aethiopia his father
that we had met with kind treatment in his territories, a request
which we did not at that time think it convenient to deny.
Whatever we had suffered hitherto, was nothing to the difficulties
we were now entering upon, and which God had decreed us to undergo
for the sake of Jesus Christ. Our way now lay through a region
scarce passable, and full of serpents, which were continually
creeping between our legs; we might have avoided them in the day,
but being obliged, that we might avoid the excessive heats, to take
long marches in the night, we were every moment treading upon them.
Nothing but a signal interposition of Providence could have
preserved us from being bitten by them, or perishing either by
weariness or thirst, for sometimes we were a long time without
water, and had nothing to support our strength in this fatigue but a
little honey, and a small piece of cows' flesh dried in the sun.
Thus we travelled on for many days, scarce allowing ourselves any
rest, till we came to a channel or hollow worn in the mountains by
the winter torrents; here we found some coolness, and good water, a
blessing we enjoyed for three days; down this channel all the winter
runs a great river which is dried up in the heats, or to speak more
properly, hides itself under ground.
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