On our telling him that we were officers
and bound to obey, he said, nothing more, but bid us good-by in a
sorrowful voice.
CHAPTER VI.
Departure from Kassala - Sheik Abu Sin - Rumours of Theodore's
Defeat by Tisso Gobaze - Arrival at Metemma - Weekly Market
- The Takruries at Drill - Their Foray into Abyssinia - Arrival
of Letters from Theodore.
On the afternoon of the 10th November we started for Kedaref. Our
route now lay in a more southerly direction. On the 13th we crossed
the Atbara, a tributary of the Nile, bringing to the father of
rivers the waters of Northern Abyssinia. On the 17th we entered
Sheik Abu Sin, the capital of the province of Kedaref. [Footnote:
From Kassala to Kedaref is about 120 miles.] Our cameleers belonged
to the Shukrie-Arabs. They are a semi-pastoral, semi-agricultural
tribe, and reside principally in the neighbourhood of and along the
course of the Atbara, or wander over the immense plains that extend
almost without limit from this river to the Nile. They are more
degenerated than the Beni-Amers, having mixed more with the Nubian
and other tribes that dwell around them. They speak an impure
Arabic. Many have retained the features and general appearance of
the original race, whilst others might be looked upon as half-castes,
and some can with difficulty be distinguished from the Nubians or
Takruries.
From Kassala to Kedaref we crossed interminable plains, covered
with high grass, speckled here and there with woods of mimosas, too
scanty to afford the slightest shade or protection during the fearful
heat of the mid-day sun. Here and there on the horizon appeared a
few isolated peaks; the Djbel Kassala, a few miles south of the
capital of Takka. Eastward, the Ela Hugel and the Abo-Gamel were
in sight for many days, whilst towards the west, lost almost in the
misty horizon, appeared in succession the outlines of Derkeda and
Kassamot.
The valley of the Atbara, luxuriant in vegetation, inhabited by all
varieties of the feathered tribe, visited by the huge thirsty
quadruped of the savannah, presented a spectacle so grand in its
savage beauty that we could with difficulty tear ourselves from its
shady groves; had it not been that "Forward" was our watchword, we
would, braving malaria, have spent a few days near its green and
fragrant banks.
Sheik Abu Sin is a large village; the houses are circular and built
of wood and covered with straw; A small hut belonging to the firm
of Paniotti, our host of Kassala, was placed at our disposal. We
shortly afterwards received the visit of a Greek merchant, who came
to consult me for a stiff joint brought on by a gun-shot wound. It
appears, that some years before, whilst riding a camel on an
elephant-hunting expedition, the gun, a large half-ounce bore, went
off by itself, he never knew how.
