Early On The Following Morning, They Made Beere-Kashifery, And Soon Afterwards Mina Tahr, (The Black Bird,) The Sheik Of

The Gunda Tibboos, attended by three of his followers, approached the camp. Beere-Kashifery lay within his territories, and no

Kafilas pass without paying tribute, which, as he is absolute, sometimes amounts to half what they possess. In the present case, the visit was one of respect. Boo Khaloom received him in his tent, and clothed him in a scarlet bornouse of coarse cloth, and a tawdry silk caftan, which was considered as a superb present. The Tibboos are smart active fellows, mounted on small horses of great swiftness; their saddles are of wood, small and light, open along the bone of the back; the pieces of wood, of which they are composed, are lashed together with thongs of hide; the stuffing is camels' hair, wound and plaited so as to be a perfect guard; the girths and stirrup-leathers are also of plaited thongs, and the stirrups themselves of iron, very small and light; into these, four toes only are thrust, the great toe being left to take its chance. They mount quickly, in half the time an Arab does, by the assistance of a spear, which they place in the ground, at the same time the left foot is planted in the stirrup, and thus they spring into the saddle.

Their camels had not finished drinking until the sun was full six fathoms high, as the Arabs term it; and as the expedition was in want of fresh meat, and indeed of every thing, Mina Tahr proposed that they should go to a well nearer his people, which, he assured them, was never yet shown to an Arab.

On the 29th January, therefore, they moved on, accompanied by the Tibboos; and after travelling about ten miles, they came to the well of Duggesheinga. This was a retired spot, undiscoverable from the ordinary route of travellers, being completely hidden from it by rising sand-hills. Here the Tibboos left them, promising to return early on the following day, with sheep, an ox, honey, and fat. This was joyful news to persons who had not tasted fresh animal food for fourteen or fifteen days, with the exception of a little camel's flesh.

On the following day, the wind and drifting sand were so violent, that they were obliged to keep their tents during the whole of it. Major Denham found a loose shirt only the most convenient covering, as the sand could be shaken off as soon as it made a lodgement, which with other articles of dress, could not be done, and the irritation it caused, produced a soreness almost intolerable. A little oil or fat, from the hand of a negress, all of whom are early taught the art of shampooing to perfection, rubbed well round the neck, loins, and back, is the best cure, and the greatest comfort in cases of this kind; and although, from his Christian belief, he was deprived of the luxury of possessing half a dozen of these shampooing beauties, yet, by marrying his negro, Barca, to one of the freed women slaves, as he had done at Sockna, he became, to a certain degree, also the master of Zerega, whose education in the castle had been of a superior kind, and she was of the greatest use to the major on these occasions of fatigue or sickness. It is an undoubted fact, and in no case probably better exemplified than in this, that man naturally longs for attentions and support from female hands, of whatever colour or country, so soon as debility or sickness comes upon him.

Towards the evening, when the wind became hushed, and the sky re-assumed its bright and truly celestial blue, the Tibboo sheik, and about thirty of his people, male and female, returned; but their supplies were very scanty for a kafila of nearly three hundred persons. The sweet milk turned out to be nothing but sour camel's milk, full of dirt and sand; and the fat was in small quantities, and very rancid. They, however, purchased a lean sheep for two dollars, which was indeed a treat.

Some of the girls who brought the milk were really pretty, as contrasted with the extreme ugliness of the men. They were different from those of Bilma, were more of a copper colour, with high foreheads, and a sinking between the eyes. They have fine teeth, and are smaller and more delicately formed than the Tibboos who inhabit the towns.

It is quite surprising with what terror these children of the desert view the Arabs, and the idea they have of their invincibility, while they are smart, active fellows themselves, and both ride and move better and quicker; but the guns! the guns! are their dread; and five or six of them will go round a tree, where an Arab has laid down his gun for a minute, stepping on tiptoe, as if afraid of disturbing it, talking to each other in a whisper, as if the gun could understand their exclamations, and, it may be presumed, praying to it not to do them an injury, as fervently as ever man Friday did Robinson Crusoe's musket.

None of the Gunda Tibboos were above the middle size, well made, with sharp, intelligent, copper-coloured faces, large prominent eyes, flat noses, large mouth, and teeth regular, but stained a deep red, from the immoderate use of tobacco; the forehead is high, and the turban, which is a deep indigo colour, is worn high on the head, and brought under the chin, and across the face, so as to cover all the lower part, from the nose downwards; they have sometimes fifteen or twenty charms, in red, green, or black leather cases, attached to the folds of their turbans.

The majority of them have scars on different parts of their faces; these generally denote their rank, and are considered as an ornament. Their sheik had one under each eye, with one more on each side of his forehead, in shape resembling a half-moon.

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