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Camels, cattle, and donkeys are also exposed for sale. The
average price for a baggage camel is twelve dollars; a hygeen,
from thirty to sixty dollars; a fat ox, from six to ten dollars
(the dollar at four shillings).

Katariff is on the direct merchants' route from Cassala to
Khartoum. The charge for transport is accordingly low; a camel
loaded with six cantars (600 lbs.) from this spot to Cassala, can
be hired for one dollar, and from thence to Souakim, on the Red
Sea, for five dollars; thus all produce is delivered from
Katariff to the shipping port, at a charge of four shillings per
hundred pounds. Cotton might be grown to any extent on this
magnificent soil, and would pay the planter a large profit, were
regular steam communication established at a reasonable rate
between Souakimn and Suez.

There is a fine grey limestone in the neighbourhood of Katariff.
The collection of people is exceedingly interesting upon a market
day, as Arabs of all tribes, Tokrooris, and some few Abyssinians,
concentrate from distant points. Many of the Arab women would be
exceedingly pretty were their beauty not destroyed by their
custom of gashing the cheeks in three wounds upon either side;
this is inflicted during infancy. Scars are considered
ornamental, and some of the women are much disfigured by such
marks upon their arms and backs; even the men, without exception,
are scarified upon their cheeks. The inhabitants of Kordofan and
Darfur, who are generally prized as slaves, are invariably
marked, not only with simple scars, but by cicatrices raised high
above the natural surface by means of salt rubbed into the
wounds; these unsightly deformities are considered to be great
personal attractions. The Arab women are full of absurd
superstitions; should a woman be in an interesting condition, she
will creep under the body of a strong camel, believing that the
act of passing between the fore and hind legs will endue her
child with the strength of the animal. Young infants are scored
with a razor longitudinally down the back and abdomen, to improve
their constitutions.

I engaged six strong Tokrooris--natives of Darfur--who agreed to
accompany me for five months. These people are a tribe of
Mahometan negroes, of whom I shall speak more hereafter; they are
generally very powerful and courageous, and I preferred a few men
of this race to a party entirely composed of Arabs. Our great
difficulty was to procure a slave woman to grind the corn and to
make the bread for the people. No proprietor would let his slave
on hire to go upon such a journey, and it was impossible to start
without one; the only resource was to purchase the freedom of
some woman, and to engage her as a servant for the trip. Even
this was difficult, as slaves were scarce and in great demand:
however, at last I heard of a man who had a Galla slave who was
clever at making bread, as it had been her duty to make cakes for
sale in the bazaar upon market days. After some delays I
succeeded in obtaining an interview with both the master and
slave at the same time; the former was an Arab, hard at dealing,
but, as I did not wish to drive a bargain, I agreed to the price,
thirty-five dollars, 7l. The name of the woman was Barrake; she
was about twenty-two years of age, brown in complexion, fat, and
strong; rather tall, and altogether she was a fine
powerful-looking woman, but decidedly not pretty; her hair was
elaborately dressed in hundreds of long narrow curls, so thickly
smeared with castor oil that the grease had covered her naked
shoulders; in addition to this, as she had been recently under
the hands of the hairdresser, there was an amount of fat and
other nastiness upon her head that gave her the appearance of
being nearly grey.

I now counted out thirty-five dollars, which I placed in two
piles upon the table, and through the medium of Mahomet I
explained to her that she was no longer a slave, as that sum had
purchased her freedom; at the same time, as it was a large amount
that I had paid, I expected she would remain with us as a servant
until our journey should be over, at which time she should
receive a certain sum in money, as wages at the usual rate.
Mahomet did not agree with this style of address to a slave,
therefore he slightly altered it in the translation, which I at
once detected. The woman looked frightened and uneasy at the
conclusion; I immediately asked Mahomet what he had told her.
"Same like master tell to me!" replied the indignant Mahomet.
"Then have the kindness to repeat to me in English what you said
to her;" I replied. "I tell that slave woman same like master's
word; I tell her master one very good master, she Barrake one
very bad woman; all that good dollars master pay, too much money
for such a bad woman. Now she's master's slave; she belong to
master like a dog; if she not make plenty of good bread, work
hard all day, early morning, late in night, master take a big
stick, break her head."

This was the substance of a translation of my address tinged with
Mahomet's colouring, as being more adapted for the ears of a
slave!I My wife was present, and being much annoyed, we both
assured the woman that Mahomet was wrong, and I insisted upon his
explaining to her literally that "no Englishman could hold a
slave; that the money I had paid rendered her entirely free; that
she would not even be compelled to remain with us, but she could
do as she thought proper; that both her mistress and I should be
exceedingly kind to her, and we would subsequently find her a
good situation in Cairo; in the meantime she would receive good
clothes and wages."

This, Mahomet, much against his will, was obliged to translate
literally. The effect was magical; the woman, who had looked
frightened and unhappy, suddenly beamed with smiles, and without
any warning she ran towards me, and in an instant I found myself
embraced in her loving arms; she pressed me to her bosom, and
smothered me with castor oily kisses, while her greasy ringlets
hung upon my face and neck. How long this entertainment would
have lasted I cannot tell, but I was obliged to cry "Caffa!
Caffa!" (enough! enough!) as it looked improper, and the
perfumery was too rich; fortunately my wife was present, but she
did not appear to enjoy it more than I did; my snow-white blouse
was soiled and greasy, and for the rest of the day I was a
disagreeable compound of smells, castor oil, tallow, musk,
sandal-wood, burnt shells, and Barrake.

Mahomet and Barrake herself, I believe, were the only people who
really enjoyed this little event. "Ha!" Mahomet exclaimed, "this
is your own fault! You insisted upon speaking kindly, and telling
her that she is not a slave, now she thinks that she is one of
your WIVES!" This was the real fact; the unfortunate Barrake had
deceived herself; never having been free, she could not
understand the use of freedom unless she was to be a wife. She
had understood my little address as a proposal, and of course she
was disappointed; but, as an action for breach of promise cannot
be pressed in the Soudan, poor Barrake, although free, had not
the happy rights of a free-born Englishwoman, who can heal her
broken heart with a pecuniary plaster, and console herself with
damages for the loss of a lover.

We were ready to start, having our party of servants complete,
six Tokrooris--Moosa, Abdoolahi, Abderachman, Hassan, Adow, and
Hadji Ali, with Mahomet, Wat Gamma, Bacheet, Mahomet secundus (a
groom), and Barrake; total eleven men and the cook.

When half way to Wat el Negur, we found the whole country in
alarm, Mek Nimmur having suddenly made a foray. He had crossed
the Atbara, and plundered the district, and driven off large
numbers of cattle and camels, after having killed a considerable
number of people. No doubt the reports were somewhat exaggerated,
but the inhabitants of the district were flying from their
villages, with their herds, and were flocking to Katariff. We
arrived at Wat el Negur on the 3d of December, and we now felt
the advantage of our friendship with the good Sheik Achmet, who,
being a friend of Mek Nimmur, had saved our effects during our
absence; these would otherwise have been plundered, as the
robbers had paid him a visit;--he had removed our tents and
baggage to his own house for protection. Not only had he thus
protected our effects, but he had taken the opportunity of
delivering the polite message to Mek Nimmur that I had entrusted
to his charge--expressing a wish to pay him a visit as a
countryman and friend of Mr. Mansfield Parkyns, who had formerly
been so well received by his father.

In a few days the whole country was up. Troops of the Dabaina
Arabs, under the command of Mahmoud Wat Said (who had now assumed
the chieftainship of the tribe after the death of his brother
Atalan), gathered on the frontier, while about 2,000 Egyptian
regulars marched against Gellabat, and attacked the Abyssinians
and Tokrooris, who had united. Several hundreds of the Tokrooris
were killed, and the Abyssinians retreated to the mountains.
Large bodies of Egyptian irregulars threatened Mek Nimmur's
country, but the wily Mek was too much for them. The Jalyn Arabs
were his friends; and, although they paid tribute to the Egyptian
Government from their frontier villages, they acted as spies, and
kept Mek Nimmur au courant of the enemy's movements. The Hamran
Arabs, those mighty hunters with the sword, were thorough
Ishmaelites, and although nominally subject to Egypt, they were
well known as secret friends to Mek Nimmur; and it was believed
that they conveyed information of the localities where the
Dabaina and Shookeryha Arabs had collected their herds. Upon
these Mek Nimmur had a knack of pouncing unexpectedly, when he
was supposed to be a hundred miles in an opposite direction.

The dry weather had introduced a season of anarchy along the
whole frontier. The Atbara was fordable in many places, and it no
longer formed the impassable barrier that necessitated peace. Mek
Nimmur (the Leopard King) showed the cunning and ability of his
namesake by pouncing upon his prey without a moment's warning,
and retreating with equal dexterity. This frontier warfare,
skilfully conducted by Mek Nimmur, was most advantageous to
Theodorus, the King of Abyssinia, as the defence of the boundary
was maintained against Egypt by a constant guerilla warfare. Upon
several occasions, expeditions on a large scale had been
organized against Mek Nimmur by the Governor-General of the
Soudan; but they had invariably failed, as he retreated to the
inaccessible mountains, where he had beaten them with loss, and
they had simply wreaked their vengeance by burning the deserted
villages of straw huts in the low lands, that a few dollars would
quickly rebuild. Mek Nimmur was a most unpleasant neighbour to
the Egyptian Government, and accordingly he was a great friend of
the King Theodorus; he was, in fact, a shield that protected the
heart of Abyssinia.

As I have already described, the Base were always at war with
everybody; and as Mek Nimmur and the Abyssinians were constantly
fighting with the Egyptians, the passage of the Atbara to the
east bank was the commencement of a territory where the sword and
lance represented the only law. The Hamran Arabs dared not
venture with their flocks farther east than Geera, on the
Settite, about twenty-five miles from Wat el Negur. From the
point of junction of the Settite with the Atbara opposite Tomat
to Geera, they were now encamped with their herds upon the
borders of the river for the dry season. I sent a messenger to
their sheik, Owat, accompanied by Mahomet, with the firman of the
Viceroy, and I requested him to supply me with elephant-hunters
(aggageers) and guides to accompany me into the Base and Mek
Nimmur's country.

My intention was to thoroughly examine all the great rivers of
Abyssinia that were tributaries to the Nile. These were the
Settite, Royan, Angrab, Salaam, Rahad, Dinder, and the Blue Nile.
If possible, I should traverse the Galla country, and crossing
the Blue Nile, I should endeavour to reach the White Nile. But
this latter idea I subsequently found impracticable, as it would
have interfered with the proper season for my projected journey
up the White Nile in search of the sources.

During the absence of Mahomet, I received a very polite message
from Mek Nimmur, accompanied by a present of twenty pounds of
coffee, with an invitation to pay him a visit. His country lay
between the Settite river and the Bahr Salaam; thus without his
invitation I might have found it difficult to traverse his
territory;--so far, all went well. I returned my salaams, and
sent word that we intended to hunt through the Base country,
after which we should have the honour of passing a few days with
him on our road to the river Salaam, at which place we intended
to hunt elephants and rhinoceros. Mahomet returned, accompanied
by a large party of Hamran Arabs, including several hunters, one
of whom was Sheik Abou Do Roussoul, the nephew of Sheik Owat; as
his name in full was too long, he generally went by the
abbreviation "Abou Do." He was a splendid fellow, a little above
six feet one, with a light active figure, but exceedingly well
developed muscles: his face was strikingly handsome; his eyes
were like those of a giraffe, but the sudden glance of an eagle
lighted them up with a flash during the excitement of
conversation, which showed little of the giraffe's gentle
character. Abou Do was the only tall man of the party, the others
were of middle height, with the exception of a little fellow
named Jali, who was not above five feet four inches, but
wonderfully muscular, and in expression a regular daredevil.
There were two parties of hunters, one under Abou Do, and the
other consisting of four brothers Sherrif. The latter were the
most celebrated aggageers among the renowned tribe of the Hamran;
their father and grandfather had been mighty Nimrods, and the
broadswords wielded by their strong arms had descended to the men
who now upheld the prestige of the ancient blades. The eldest was
Taher Sherrif; his second brother, Roder Sherrif, was a very
small, active-looking man, with a withered left arm. An elephant
had at one time killed his horse, and on the same occasion had
driven its sharp tusk through the arm of the rider, completely
splitting the limb, and splintering the bone from the elbow-joint
to the wrist to such an extent, that by degrees the fragments had
sloughed away, and the arm had become shrivelled and withered. It
now resembled a mass of dried leather, twisted into a deformity,
without the slightest shape of an arm; this was about fourteen
inches in length from the shoulder; the stiff and crippled hand,
with contracted fingers, resembled the claw of a vulture.

In spite of his maimed condition, Roder Sherrif was the most
celebrated leader in the elephant hunt. His was the dangerous
post to ride close to the head of the infuriated animal and
provoke the charge, and then to lead the elephant in pursuit,
while the aggageers attacked it from behind; it was in the
performance of this duty that he had met with the accident, as
his horse had fallen over some hidden obstacle, and was
immediately caught. Being an exceedingly light weight he had
continued to occupy this important position in the hunt, and the
rigid fingers of the left hand served as a hook, upon which he
could hang the reins.

My battery of rifles was now laid upon a mat for examination;
they were in beautiful condition, and they excited the admiration
of the entire party. The perfection of workmanship did not appear
to interest them so much as the size of the bores; they thrust
their fingers down each muzzle, until they at last came to the
"Baby," when, finding that two fingers could be easily
introduced, they at once fell in love with that rifle in
particular. My men explained that it was a "Jenna el Mootfah"
(child of a cannon). "Sahe, Jenna el Mootfah kabeer," they
replied (it is true, it is the child of a very big cannon). Their
delight was made perfect by the exhibition of the half-pound
explosive shell, the effects of which were duly explained. I told
them that I was an old elephant hunter, but that I did not hunt
for the sake of the ivory, as I wished to explore the country to
discover the cause of the Nile inundations, therefore I wished to
examine carefully the various Abyssinian rivers; but as I had
heard they were wonderful sportsmen, I should like them to join
my party, and we could both hunt and explore together. They
replied that they knew every nook and corner of the entire
country as far as Mek Nimmur's and the Base, but that in the
latter country we must be prepared to fight, as they made a
practice of showing no quarter to the Base, because they received
none from them; thus we should require a strong party. I pointed
to my rifles, which I explained were odds against the Base, who
were without fire-arms; and we arranged to start together on the
17th of December.

In the interval I was busily engaged in making bullets for the
journey, with an admixture of one pound of quicksilver to twelve
of lead. This hardens the bullet at the same time that it
increases the weight, but great caution must be observed in the
manufacture, as the mercury, being heavier than the lead, will
sink to the bottom, unless stirred with a red-hot iron when
mixed. The admixture must take place in small quantities,
otherwise the quicksilver will evaporate if exposed to a great
heat. Thus the molten lead should be kept upon the fire in a
large reservoir, while a portion of quicksilver should be added
regularly to every ladleful taken for immediate use. This should
be well stirred before it is poured into the mould. Bullets
formed of this mixture of metals are far superior to any others.

My preparations for the journey were soon completed. We had
passed a most agreeable time at Wat el Negur. Although I had not
had much shooting, I gained much experienee in the country,
having made several extensive journeys in the neighbourhood, and
our constant conversations with the sheik had somewhat improved
my Arabic. I had discovered several plants hitherto unknown to
me,--among others, a peculiar bulb, from which I had prepared
excellent arrowroot. This produced several tubers resembling
sweet potatoes, but exceedingly long and thin; it was known by
the Arabs as "baboon." I pierced with a nail a sheet of tin from
the lining of a packing case, and I quickly improvised a grater,
upon which I reduced the bulb to pulp. This I washed in water,
and when strained through cotton cloth, it was allowed to settle
for several hours. The clear water was then poured off; and the
thick sediment, when dried in the sun, became arrowroot of the
best quality. The Arabs had no idea of this preparation, but
simply roasted the roots on the embers.

On the 17th of August, 1861, accompanied by the German Florian,
we started from Wat el Negur, and said good-bye to our very kind
friend, Sheik Achmet, who insisted upon presenting us with a
strong but exceedingly light angarep (bedstead), suitable for
camel travelling, and an excellent water-skin, that we should be
constantly reminded of him, night and day.

Florian was in a weak condition, as he had suffered much from
fever throughout the rainy season. He started under
disadvantageous circumstances, as he had purchased a horse that
was a bad bargain. The Arabs, who are sharp practitioners, had
dealt hardly with him, as they had sold him a wretched brute that
could make no other use of its legs than to kick. Of course they
had imposed upon poor Florian a long history of how this horse in
a giraffe hunt had been the first at the death, &c. &c., and he,
the deceived, had promised to shoot a hippopotamus to give them
in barter. This he had already done, and he had exchanged a river
horse, worth twenty dollars, for a terrestrial horse, worth
twenty piastres.

Florian had never mounted a horse in his lifetime as his shooting
had always been on foot. This he now explained to us, although
the confession was quite unnecessary, as his first attempt at
mounting was made upon the wrong side.

Throughout his journey to Geera on the Settite, there was a
constant difference of opinion between him and his new purchase,
until we suddenly heard a heavy fall. Upon looking back, I
perceived Florian like a spread eagle on his stomach upon the
ground, lying before the horse, who was quietly looking at his
new master. On another occasion, I heard a torrent of abuse
expressed in German, and upon turning round I found him clinging
to the neck of his animal, having lost both stirrups, while his
rifle had fallen to the ground. He was now cursing his beast,
whom he accused of wilful murder, for having replied by a kick to
a slight tap he had administered with a stick. I could not help
suggesting that he would find it awkward should he be obliged to
escape from an elephant upon that animal in rough and difficult
ground where good riding would be essential; and he declared that
nothing should tempt him either to hunt or to escape from any
beast on horseback, as he would rather trust to his legs.

Upon arriving at Geera, we bivouacked upon the sandy bed of the
river, which had much changed in appearance since our last visit.
Although much superior to the Atbara, the stream was confined to
a deep channel about 120 yards wide, in the centre of the now dry
bed of rounded pebbles and sand. Exactly opposite were extensive
encampments of the Hamran Arabs, who were congregated in
thousands between this point and the Atbara junction. Their limit
for pasturage was about six miles up stream from Geera, beyond
which point they dare not trust their flocks on account of their
enemies, the Base.

We were immediately visited, upon our arrival, by a number of
Arabs, including the Sheik Abou Do, from whom I purchased two
good milk goats to accompany us upon our journey. I had already
procured one at Wat el Negur in exchange for a few strips of
hippopotamus hide for making whips.

Lions were roaring all night close to our sleeping place; there
were many of these animals in this neighbourhood, as they were
attracted by the flocks of the Arabs.

On the following morning, at daybreak, several Arabs arrived with
a report that elephants had been drinking in the river within
half an hour's march of our sleeping place. I immediately started
with my men, accompanied by Florian, and we shortly arrived upon
the tracks of the herd. I had three Hamran Arabs as trackers, one
of whom, Taher Noor, had engaged to accompany us throughout the
expedition.

For about eight miles we followed the spoor through high-dried
grass and thorny bush, until we at length arrived at dense jungle
of kittar,--the most formidable of the hooked thorn mimosas. Here
the tracks appeared to wander; some elephants having travelled
straight ahead, while others had strayed to the right and left.
While engaged in determining the path of the herd, we observed
four giraffes at about half a mile distant, but they had already
perceived us, and were in full flight. For about two hours we
travelled upon the circuitous tracks of the elephants to no
purpose, when we suddenly were startled by the shrill trumpet of
one of these animals in the thick thorns, a few hundred yards to
our left. The ground was so intensely hard and dry that it was
impossible to distinguish the new tracks from the old, which
crossed and recrossed in all directions. I therefore decided to
walk carefully along the outskirts of the jungle, trusting to
find their place of entrance by the fresh broken boughs. In about
an hour we had thus examined two or three miles, without
discovering a clue to their recent path, when we turned round a
clump of bushes, and suddenly came in view of two grand
elephants, standing at the edge of the dense thorns; having our
wind, they vanished instantly into the the jungle. We could not
follow them, as their course was down wind; we therefore made a
circuit to leeward for about a mile, and, finding that the
elephants had not crossed in that direction, we felt sure that we
must come upon them with the wind in our favour should they still
be within the thorny jungle; this was certain, as it was their
favourite retreat.

With the greatest labour I led the way, creeping frequently upon
my hands and knees to avoid the hooks of the kittar bush, and
occasionally listening for a sound. At length, after upwards of
an hour passed in this slow and fatiguing advance, I distinctly
heard the flap of an elephant's ear, shortly followed by the deep
guttural sigh of one of those animals, within a few paces, but so
dense was the screen of jungle that I could see nothing. We
waited for some minutes, but not the slightest sound could be
heard; the elephants were aware of danger, and they were, like
ourselves, listening attentively for the first intimation of an
enemy. This was a highly exciting moment; should they charge,
there would not be a possibility of escape, as the hooked thorns
rendered any sudden movement almost impracticable. In another
moment, there was a tremendous crash; and, with a sound like a
whirlwind, the herd dashed through the crackling jungle. I rushed
forward, as I was uncertain whether they were in advance or
retreat; leaving a small sample of my nose upon a kittar thorn,
and tearing my way, with naked arms, through what, in cold blood,
would have appeared impossible, I caught sight of two elephants
leading across my path, with the herd following in a dense mass
behind them. Firing a shot at the leading elephant, simply in the
endeavour to check the herd, I repeated with the left-hand barrel
at the head of his companion; this staggered him, and threw the
main body into confusion: they immediately closed up in a dense
mass, and bore everything before them, but the herd exhibited
merely an impenetrable array of hind quarters wedged together so
firmly that it was impossible to obtain a head or shoulder shot.
I was within fifteen paces of them, and so compactly were they
packed, that with all their immense strength they could not at
once force so extensive a front through the tough and powerful
branches of the dense kittar. For about half a minute they were
absolutely checked, and they bored forward with all their might
in their determination to open a road through the matted thorns:
the elastic boughs, bent from their position, sprang back with
dangerous force, and would have fractured the skull of any one
who came within their sweep. A very large elephant was on the
left flank, and for an instant this turned obliquely to the left;
I quickly seized the opportunity and fired the "Baby," with an
explosive shell, aimed far back in the flank, trusting that it
would penetrate beneath the opposite shoulder. The recoil of the
"Baby," loaded with ten drachms of the strongest powder and a
half-pound shell, spun me round like a top--it was difficult to
say which was staggered the most severely, the elephant or
myself; however, we both recovered, and I seized one of my double
rifles, a Reilly No. 10, that was quickly pushed into my hand by
my Tokroori, Hadji Ali. This was done just in time, as an
elephant from the baffled herd turned sharp round, and, with its
immense ears cocked, it charged down upon us with a scream of
rage. "One of us she must have if I miss!"

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