One of the retainers of Mohammad Ali was now despatched to acquaint Ali Abi of the arrival of the kafilah. It had all along been promised that after entering the territories of the old Sheikh, every danger was to cease, but the goal now gained, the country proved to be a perfect nest of hornets. The thieving propensities of the Galeyla Mudaito having been lately exercised upon the Woema, it had been resolved to inflict summary chastis.e.m.e.nt, and rag-a-m.u.f.fins were collecting from all quarters, preparatory to a "_goom_." From morning till night the camp and tent were unceasingly thronged with scowling knaves, amongst whom were several of the Eesah--their heads decorated with white ostrich plumes in token of having recently slain an antagonist in single combat, or more probably murdered some sleeping victim.
Towards evening a gang of the Abli, whose chieftain is appropriately surnamed Jeroaa, or "the thief," made a desperate attempt to carry off the best horse, upon which they had strongly set their affections; but the rogues were fortunately observed by the lynx-eyed Kakoo, henchman to Mohammad Ali, just in time to admit of the animal being recovered. The war-cry caused all to fly to their arms; blows were exchanged without any blood being spilled, although one of the Woema shields was perforated by a well-launched spear; and the ringleader of the horse-stealing gang, who had thus narrowly escaped a mortal feud, having been secured to a tree, was by his own tribe severely castigated on the spot.
A dense cloud of dust rolling along from the north-eastward, closed the day. Revolving within its own circ.u.mference, and advancing on a spiral axis, it burst in full force in the very centre of the camp. The tent fell on the first outpouring of its wrath, and the consistency being so dense as to render it impossible to keep the eyes open, the party were fain to take refuge beneath tarpaulins, and stretched upon the ground, to listen with quick and difficult respiration, until the whirlwind had expended its violence among chairs, tables, and bottles. A few drops of rain ushered in the night which was pa.s.sed by a newly-entertained Bedouin guard in carousing upon the choice dates of the Emba.s.sy, a bag of which had been unceremoniously put in requisition by the Ras, "in order to keep the savages in good humour," or, in other words, to save them the trouble of stealing it; and the musket announcing relief of sentries was discontinued by request of the same authority, lest the smell of gunpowder might have a prejudicial effect upon the voracious appet.i.tes of the savages.
Before dawn the chief of the nomade tribe Hy Somauli arriving with a hungry and dissatisfied retinue, a halt was proclaimed, to the end that they also might be fed, pacified, and propitiated. The potentate was duly introduced by Izhak as a most particular friend, who had journeyed a long way for the express purpose of making the acquaintance of his English charge; and a deep sense of the honour conferred having been expressed, it was ascertained that the secondary object of the visit was to inquire by whose authority so formidable a party of foreigners were being smuggled through the country, and how it happened that they were suffered to build houses wheresoever they thought proper?--this last allusion having reference to the tent, which had again been pitched, and was very sapiently conjectured to be a permanent edifice.
The "Kafir Feringees" therefore continued to be objects of undiminished curiosity during the whole also of this sultry day; a greasy disorderly rabble, which occupied the tent from an early hour, being continually reinforced by parties weary of the debate held immediately outside, which lasted until the going down of the sun. Each new visitor, after staring sufficiently at the white faces, invariably exclaimed "Nubeeo,"
"Holy Prophet," a mark of undisguised disapprobation, which was further elicited by every occurrence that did not exactly coincide with his nice ideas of propriety, such as eating with a fork, keeping the head cool under a hat instead of under a pound of sheeps" tail fat, or blowing the nose with a handkerchief in lieu of with the fingers. Paws were nevertheless incessantly thrust in at every door, accompanied by reiterations of the Dankali verb "to give," used in the imperative mood; the never-ending din of "Ba, Ba," being uncoupled with any noun designative of the commodity required--a proof that he who demanded was a ready recipient for any spare article that might be forthcoming.
A long and tedious palaver, in which voices occasionally ran extremely high, at length terminated in a general uprising of the senators. Izhak was seen curling his scanty side locks in token of victory. The chief had become satisfied of the temporary nature of the tenement inhabited by the "Christian dogs," after one or two of the savages had thrust a spear-blade through the canva.s.s; and the malcontents having to a man been sufficiently crammed with dates, coffee, and tobacco, finally took their departure, chuckling at the success of the foray, and having ingeniously contrived to turn their time to account by stealing one of the mules.
Many significant glances had been exchanged over portions of the baggage that had unavoidably been exposed; but a night of redoubled vigilance was cut short by a summons to relinquish sleep and bedding at two in the morning, and a march of sixteen miles over a vast alluvial flat conducted past the Bedouin station of Ulwulli to Barurudda, on the plain of Kellali. The road led along the base of the low range of Jebel Eesah, through abundance of coa.r.s.e gra.s.s concealing lava pieces and volcanic detritus, the prospect being bounded by distant blue mountains towering to the peak of Kuffal Ali. A _korhaan_ rose at intervals, wild and noisy as his chattering kindred in the south, but few other signs of animated nature enlivened the long sultry march. In the grey of the morning, a solitary Bedouin horseman ambled past with some message to the savages at Amadoo, and from him was obtained the disagreeable intelligence, which subsequently proved too true, that not a drop of water existed over the whole of the wide plain within a day"s journey, and that the station beyond was thronged with tribes, collected with their flocks and herds from all the country round, at this, the oasis.
After a hot dusty day the sky was again overcast, and sufficient rain fell to render every one wet and uncomfortable, without filling the pools, or checking the dire persecutions of a host of cattle ticks, which covered every part of the ground. Absence of water led to another midnight march, and the moon affording little light, the road was for some time lost, though eventually recovered by the sagacity of a female slave of Mohammad Ali"s, when all the lords of the creation were at fault. This damsel, who always led the foremost string of camels, was one of those frolicsome productions of Nature, which the wanton dame p.a.w.ns on the world in her most laughing moods, and the appearance of her daughter could scarcely fail to elicit the mirth of the most sedate beholder. A small round bullet head, furnished with a well-greased mop, and a pair of moist brilliant eyes, formed the apex of a figure, which, in all other respects, was that of the concentrated amazon, exhibiting a system of globes both before and behind, agitated by a tremulous vibration as the short fat legs imparted progressive motion. A blue kerchief tied jauntily over the head--ponderous wooden ear-rings, fashioned on the model of Chubb"s largest lock--a necklace of white beads, and a greasy leathern ap.r.o.n slung about the unwieldy hips without any remarkable regard to decency--set off the corpulent charms of the good-natured Ha.s.seinee, the exhibition of whose monstrous eccentricities in Europe, must infallibly have ensured a fortune to the showman.
The road continued to skirt the low Eesah range for several miles [see Note 1] to the termination of the plain, which becomes gradually shut in by rounded hills enclosing a dell choked with low thorns, and tenanted by the _galla-fiela_ [i.e. camel-goat], a strange species of antelope, having a long raking neck, which imparted the appearance of a lama in miniature. As the day broke, flocks and herds were observed advancing from every quarter towards a common focus, and on gaining the brow of the last hill overhanging the halting ground, a confused lowing of beeves and bleating of sheep arose from the deep ravine below, whilst the mountain sides were streaked with numberless white lines of cattle and goats descending towards the water.
Arriving at the Wady Killulloo, a most busy scene presented itself.
Owing to the general want of water elsewhere throughout the country, vast numbers of flocks and herds had a.s.sembled from far and wide, and they were tended by picturesque members of all the princ.i.p.al tribes of Danakil composing the Debenik-Woema, as well as from the Eesah, the Mudaito, and their subordinate subdivisions. Dogs lay basking on the gra.s.sy bank beside their lounging masters; women, screaming to the utmost of their shrill voices, filled up their water-skins with an ink-black fluid stirred to the consistency of mire, and redolent of pollution; thousands of sheep, oxen, and goats, a.s.sembled in dense ma.s.ses in and around the dark, deep, pools, were undergoing separation by their respective owners, before being driven to pasture; and, with the long files that ascended and descended the mountain side in every direction, imparted the bustling appearance of a great cattle fair.
The temporary mat huts of all these nomade visitors who boasted of habitations were erected at a distance on the table-land to the south-westward of this important wady, which occupies a rugged rocky chasm opening upon the Kellali plain, and, receiving the drainage of all the southern portion of the Oobnoo range, disembogues during the rainy season into the lake at Aussa. Even during this, the hottest portion of the year, when the entire country elsewhere is dry, its rocky pools embedded in soft limestone, tainted with sulphuretted hydrogen, and abounding in rushes and crocodiles, afford an inexhaustible supply, without which the flocks and herds of the entire arid districts by which it is surrounded, could not exist.
To it the horses and mules of the Emba.s.sy were indebted for a new lease of life, short though it proved to many. Two of the former and eleven of the latter had already been left to the hyaenas, in addition to the animal feloniously abstracted by the Hy Somauli, of the recovery of which Mohammad Ali affected to be sanguine. But although the pleasure of another meeting with the robber chief, whereupon he rested his delusive hopes, was shortly realised, and brought with it a train of concomitant inconvenience, no mule was ever restored. Not one of these petty Adaiel tribes are subject to that abject despotism which controls the turbulent spirits of the more powerful African nations, and, bad as absolute power must ever be acknowledged, often tends to their ultimate improvement. The influence of a chieftain is here little more than nominal. All affairs are decided in council by a majority of voices; and, were it not for the fact, that, save during the existence of a common danger, no component member of his clan works for other than individual advantage, the wild and lawless community over whom he affects to preside, might in all respects be appropriately designated a republic.
Note 1. The reader who may not feel thoroughly satiated with miles and furlongs, as embodied in this narrative, is referred to the Appendix, where they will be found detailed in a tabular form.
Volume One, Chapter XXVI.
OMINOUS DEBATES AND INTOLERABLE DELAYS AT THE HALF-WAY STAGE.
The second knot in the string of the tedious journey had been unloosed by arrival at Killulloo, which is considered exactly half-way from the sea-coast to the frontier of Abyssinia. But although the worst portion of the road was now behind, the Emba.s.sy was destined to waste many days of existence in this vile spot, amidst annoying debates and discussions, most trying to the patience, which threatened to terminate so unpleasantly as well nigh to result in the abandonment of the baggage, as affording the only prospect left of ever reaching the destination.
From the very first moment of arrival, Izhak, whose sole object ever appeared to be to render himself disagreeable, devoted his talents and energies to the establishment of a misunderstanding, upon the frivolous grounds of Mohammad Ali having been suffered to distribute a small quant.i.ty of tobacco, in order to get rid of some pa.s.sing unpleasant visitors. "Who gave _that man_ tobacco?" he captiously vociferated, bouncing into the tent as soon as it had been pitched; "this is a piece of interference with my prerogatives as Ras el Kafilah, which cannot be borne." And the explanation afforded not proving at all to his satisfaction, he roundly declared his determination of resenting the insult by throwing up the charge, and returning with all his paid retainers to Tajura.
Mohammad Ali being now in the heart of his own country, and having rendered himself extremely useful on the road, whilst his venerable rival had been idle, seemed resolved to a.s.sert his claim to a share in the conduct of the caravan. Izhak as unflinchingly maintained his resolution, as brother to the Sultan of Tajura--a point whereon he greatly piqued himself--to hold the reins exclusively in his own hands, or to decamp with the camels; and the Emba.s.sy, avowing themselves to be merely travellers through the country, desirous of conciliating all parties, and of interfering with none, maintained the strictest neutrality, and declined mixing at all in the dispute.
It was already dusk when a visit was received from the three princ.i.p.al persons of the countless mult.i.tudes a.s.sembled. These were Ibrahim ibn Hameido, Akil of the Hy Somauli, whose dominion extends from Ramudele to Suggagedan; and the uncle and father of Mohammad Ali--to wit, Wayess ibn Hagaio, who divides with his brother Hagaio Lad the government of the Dermela, the Woema, the Rookhba, and the Midgan, collectively extending from Suggagedan to Waramilli--and Hajji Ali Mohammad, a h.o.a.ry patriarch of most venerable appearance, commonly styled Ali Abi. As tokens of good-will they brought oxen, sheep, and bags of sour milk; but, owing to an obvious disinclination on the part of Izhak and his sulky colleagues to promote conversation, the interview was extremely stiff; and dates, coffee, and snuff having been duly handed round, the ill.u.s.trious visitors, signifying an intention of discussing certain topics of importance which had yet to be adjusted, abruptly departed after the polished fashion of the country, without going through the ceremony of taking leave of their entertainers.
A vast concourse of armed natives, members of all the various tribes a.s.sembled, had in the meantime convened immediately on the outskirts of the camp, where they continued during the whole night in a violent altercation, which periodical supplies of dates and tobacco proved quite inadequate to allay. The discussion was shared by Izhak and by Mohammad Ali, with their respective partisans and retainers, and it continued during the whole of the next day; meanwhile the tent being perpetually thronged with thieves and idlers, who purloined whatever fell in their way, and contrived frequent broils amongst themselves which led to the drawing of creeses in the very centre of the encampment.
Throughout the whole of the ensuing night, and part of the day following, the wrangling among the tribes continued with little abatement or intermission, the litigants occasionally breaking into small parties, to hold private _kalams_, and after much mysterious whispering, again resuming their seats in the general a.s.sembly. The question of precedence between the elders, already adverted to, and the propriety of suffering so large a party of armed Franks to proceed into Abyssinia, formed the princ.i.p.al subjects of discussion; and the prevailing opinion on the latter question was, that all ought to be compelled to return, if not to be put to death, as unbelievers whose presence boded evil.
But the opportunity was also taken of arbitrating old feuds and squabbles. Elopements were investigated and arranged, and all disputes and quarrels of a private nature fully dilated upon and digested.
Hundreds of ruffians thus sate from the rising up of the sun to the going down of the same, and throughout the livelong night, formed in a wide circle; the chiefs and men of consequence in the centre, and the venerable Ali Abi, with thin floating snow-white locks, and highly ornamented weapons, seated as president of the council. During the lengthy discussion of each case, every spear stood erect in the hand of the warrior; and on the decision being promulgated, the bright blades were lowered with one accord, a portion of the Koran was repeated, and at the termination of every verse, a general hum succeeding, the concurrence of all parties was chanted in a deep stern _Ameen_!
Killulloo being the great mart between the Bedouin tribes and the pa.s.sing caravans, where the produce of their flocks is bartered for blue calico and other imports in demand, the news of the arrival of so large a party caused an inpouring from every quarter, and each day presented at the rendezvous some new group of exacting chiefs to be propitiated, with a fresh train of thieving followers to be fed and kept in good humour. Every greasy scoundrel possessed a vote in the congress, together with the inclination to render himself obnoxious, and the ability to add his humble mite towards the irksome detention; and it therefore became requisite to court popularity, and to canva.s.s public favour as sedulously as at a general election for a seat in parliament.
Ever and anon, a great noise and clamour, and the rushing, spear in hand, of all the idlers to one point, proclaimed a gentle pa.s.sage of arms among the savages, of which, nine times out of ten, a woman was the subject--some gay Lothario having been recognised among the crowd by an injured husband. But no sooner had the cold steel fleshed from the scabbard, than the bullies were secured by the bystanders, and being perfectly _au fait_ at the business, they were easily restrained from doing each other any grievous bodily harm. In one scuffle indeed, a hot-headed fool who had with singular want of discretion engaged in a quarrel at too great a distance from his companions, got his thick wig somewhat unpleasantly shaved to the skull a hand"s breadth or more--a fortunate occurrence indeed as it turned out, since the sight of blood had the instantaneous effect of closing the senatorial proceedings of the great conclave, which had been all night sitting in deliberation, so that its members were yawning in a state of considerable exhaustion and owlish stupefaction. Tolo, the quarrelsome little warrior who thus suddenly adjourned the sessions, lost three of his front teeth by the hands of the husband whom he had injured in more ways than one--but he retained possession of the inconstant lady, and publicly pledged himself, that on his way back from Habesh he would take measures which should set the matter at rest for ever.
The arrival from Shoa of a slave caravan in charge of the son of Abdool Rahman Sowahil, Kazi of Tajura, added still further to the a.s.sembly in the persons of several hundred unfortunate children of all ages, who sought shelter from the fierce rays of the sun beneath the scanty trees which dotted the rugged basaltic valley of Killulloo, or lay huddled together beneath the hot shadow of an impending columnar rock. Each carried a small gourd as a water flagon, and, although generally in good spirits, some idea of the sufferings in store for these hapless beings could be formed by those who had just achieved the lower portion of the perilous and formidable road.
"Have all my children arrived in safety?" inquired a corpulent old slave-merchant who brought up the rear, tenderly accosting his mistress elect, and chucking her playfully under the chin, as she flew to hold the bridle of his mule; "are all my children well?" "_Humdu-lillah_,"
was the reply of the coy damsel, a really beautiful Christian from Gurague, with long raven tresses, and a very pensive expression, who had been compelled to profess Islamism. Honoured with the caresses of her flit and bigoted purchaser, the poor girl had been made responsible for a drove consisting of three score little sister slaves, all distinguished like herself by a ta.s.sel of green beads in the braided hair, and who were now about to be counted by their "father."
The son of the Kazi having brought letters from Abyssinia, was shortly introduced by Hajji Kasim, own cousin to Izhak, and by far the most reasonable of the Tajura party. Being in the course of conversation quietly interrogated touching the cause of the Ras el Kafilah"s continued irritation, he turned at once to his companion, and solemnly adjured him by the beard of the Prophet to answer conscientiously the following questions. "A head is ahead, is it not, all the world over?"
"Of course," responded the descendant of the chief justice, "there can be no disputing that fact."
"A tail, too, is a tail, or I am much mistaken," continued the logician, pursuing his thesis,--and this axiom was also unhesitatingly admitted as beyond all controversy. "Well, then," resumed Kasim, whose intellects had been sharpened by a pilgrimage to the shrine at Medina; "no Kafilah can possess two heads; and so long as Ali Mohammad, who is in fact the tail, continues these underhand attempts to usurp the authority vested in the brother of the Sultan of Tajura, our acknowledged head, matters can never go on smoothly."
The old man was quietly reminded that the raw tobacco, which had given rise to so much heart-burning, bickering, and dispute, was the sole property of the British party, and that, with every deference to Izhak"s supreme authority, some control might with propriety be conceded to the owners over their own wares; but that as to any interference in the quarrel for the Ras el Kafilah-ship, the thing was clearly impossible-- the business having already been fully discussed and arranged with due Danakil patience, by the Sultan, in some twenty tedious conferences with the camel-owners and chiefs of Tajura. Izhak, who had been listening to this conversation with a dark scowl upon his brow, now entered as if by accident, twirling his scanty locks, and beaming with smiles; proof of his restoration to good humour being immediately afforded in the extension of his right hand, not to perform the usual ceremony of reconciliation, but in view to the palm being filled with a sufficiency of Dr Ruddiman"s Irish blackguard, to admit of indulgence in his favourite recreation.
Hopes were now reasonably entertained of an amicable adjustment, the real cause of dispute having meanwhile been traced to a jealousy respecting the reward which it was conjectured the leader of the caravan would receive at the hands of His Majesty of Shoa. Mohammad Ali had already been privately satisfied upon this point; and Izhak, in order to strengthen his own claim, falsely a.s.serted himself to have received by the Kazi"s son a letter from Sahela Sela.s.sie, appointing the Sultan of Tajura to the charge of all his European friends who might desire to visit Southern Abyssinia. But the congress still sat as usual. The dispute arranged to-night was renewed at morning"s dawn, as though it had never formed the subject of deliberation; and at a period when the near approach of rain in the higher regions, and the consequent flooding of the Hawash, rendered every hour one of the utmost importance, not the slightest prospect of departure could be discovered, beyond the oft-repeated a.s.surance, as often followed by disappointment--"_Bad bokra Inshallah_," "If it please G.o.d, the day after to-morrow."
Volume One, Chapter XXVII.
PERSECUTIONS OF THE GATHERED CLANS--PARTING INTERVIEW WITH THE AVARICIOUS CHIEFTAINS.
Throughout this period of irksome detention, the thermometer stood daily at 112 degrees, and the temperature of the small tent, already sufficiently oppressive, was rendered doubly unbearable by the unceasing obtrusions of the wild, dirty, unmannerly rabble who filled the ravine.
Imperiously demanding, not suing for snuff, beads, and tobacco, with paper whereon to write charms and spells for defence against evil spirits, swarms forced in their greasy persons from the first dawn of day to the mounting of the guard at night. Treating the pale-faced proprietors with the most marked insult and contumely, they spat upon the beds, excluded both air and light, and tainted the already close atmosphere with every abominable smell. Not one of the greasy crowd could be persuaded that the "cloth house," as the tent was denominated, had not been each day re-erected solely for his individual use and accommodation. Many attempted with their creeses to curtail the much coveted blue calico with which it was lined, and one lank ruffian, who was detected leisurely searching for a peg whereon to hang the skin and entrails of a newly killed he-goat, wrought himself into a positive fury on being civilly apprised that he must look for shambles elsewhere.
Neither on the part of those composing the caravan was much privacy allowed during the sultry day, when seclusion was so highly desirable.
Here, as throughout the march, offensive camel-drivers obtruded themselves without any regard either to time or season; occupying the chairs, composing themselves to sleep in groups upon the beds or on the table; and, whilst they picked their ears and teeth with the pens, or employed the knives in the pleasing operation of paring their filthy talons, spitting without remorse wheresoever they listed. Hating and despising a Frank with all the zeal of the bigot, they yet insisted upon shaking hands, on each intrusion, with the most scrupulous attention to Danakil etiquette, and with unhesitating alacrity devoured the biscuits and swallowed the coffee of the "Christian dogs."
The despotic arrangements enforced by the Ras el Kafilah, although doubtless materially conducive to his own personal convenience, and to that of his unaccommodating followers, were moreover far from enhancing the comfort of the Emba.s.sy. Boxes and bales, after having been unceremoniously dashed upon the ground, in utter disregard of remonstrance or of the fragile nature of the contents, had on this occasion, as on the termination of each march, been piled in a circle, each component heap consisting of three sides of a square, which, with the addition of a few mats thrown over the top, formed a habitation fully as commodious as a Dankali is ever accustomed to. Any attempt to disturb the economy of these tenements, by referring to the boxes employed in their construction, being regarded as an act of premeditated injury and insult, was stoutly resisted; and as no portion of the baggage once removed to the tent, was ever received again without a battle, the materials of comfort or occupation were very rarely obtainable. In the selection of his load at Tajura, every self-willed driver had suited his individual inclinations, and as no persuasion could now induce him to deposit any portion in a spot where it might be under surveillance, the provisions, placed beyond the reach of their owners, but accessible to every hungry knave, were perpetually pilfered and purloined.
Universal somnolency on the part of the hired guard, had rendered two European sentries and an officer of the watch indispensable throughout the journey; and in such a nest of robbers as Killulloo, the precaution was more than ever requisite. In a fine climate, with a manly foe in front, a night watch is far from being a disagreeable duty. Here it was beyond all things annoying. Pacing up and down over the same re-trodden ground, to keep the heavy eyelids on the stretch, in order to prevent the prowling Bedouin from pilfering a bag of dates, or to detect the lurking a.s.sa.s.sin, who in the dark creeps like a wild beast to perpetrate his dastardly deed, is but a sorry business; and it was rendered more particularly hateful from the rank offensive steam, which arose thick and hot from the small circle in which the beds were spread. Stifling exudations from the fetid mouths of one hundred and seventy camels that fed on the most disgusting rubbish, filled the suffocating atmosphere, which was impregnated with atoms still more vile from the rancid sheep"s-tail fat, wherewith every Dankali is so liberally besmeared.
Among the motley races congregated at this crowded watering-place, were the endless tribes of Adaiel, with broad-headed spear and shield of high antiquity--the coast Somauli, armed with light lance and diminutive wrinkled buckler, scarcely larger than a biscuit--and his much-dreaded Eesah brother, carrying a long stout bow of the ancient form, with the double bend, and a quiver of poisoned arrows slung by a lion"s tail.
These latter were by far the most conspicuous, as well as the most agreeable figures. Their togas, although not less filthy than those of their neighbours, were thrown more gracefully over the brawny shoulder; their picturesque weapons were borne with an ease that habit can alone impart; and, notwithstanding that the white trophy floated over their raven locks in token of b.l.o.o.d.y deeds, nearly all boasted of laughing, intelligent, and far from unpleasing countenances--a delightful relief at all events from the scowling downcast look of the exacting, perverse, and impracticable Danakil.
The Woema, deeming unlawful the use of the bow in their own persons, maintain upwards of one hundred Somauli archers, originally prisoners of war, who, although naturalised among their conquerors, retain their own language, and never intermarry. The hunting portion of the Eesah tribe, who are designated "Bone," usually carry a rude bamboo flute, the wild plaintive cadence of which is believed to charm the ostrich. Their hair, with the aid of suet, is often dressed in the figure of the "pudding" worn by children during their first lessons in the art of walking; and deeply graven on the forehead of each are to be seen the masonic square and compa.s.ses.
Universally skilled in woodcraft, the ferocious subjects of ibn Fara may be styled a nation of hunters, many being proprietors of trained ostriches, which graze during the day with the flocks in the open plain, and have their legs hobbled at night, to preclude wandering. These gigantic birds are employed with great success in stalking wild animals, a trained donkey being also in constant use--lashed below the belly of which, the archer is carried among the unsuspecting herd, when his arrows, poisoned with the milk of the _euphorbia antiquorum_, deal death on every side.
It is to the skill of these wild Nimrods that the Danakil are chiefly indebted for their shields, which are manufactured of the thick hide of the oryx, here styled the Baeza. Two bucklers of a foot or eighteen inches in diameter, fetching each four _tobes_ of blue calico, value two dollars, are obtained from the animal"s fore hand; and from the hind quarters are cut others of smaller dimensions, such as are in use among the pastoral Somauli. Ostrich feathers are also princ.i.p.ally obtained from the Eesah; the unsullied plumes, when stripped from the fleet-footed bird, being deposited for the convenience of carriage, in portions of the gullet cut to the proper length. The process pursued by these children of the desert in the preparation of smaller fowls for the table, if not strictly in accordance with the directions of Dr Kitchener, can, at all events, claim ingenuity. From some superst.i.tious motive, the feet are chopped off with the creese, and the carcase, undivested of the entrails, having been incased in wet clay, is thrust into a hot fire; on removal whence the feathers are left adhering to the paste, and in culinary phraseology, "the bird is done."
Crowds of Bedouin shepherdesses, and females belonging to all the various nomade tribes, were likewise a.s.sembled in the Killulloo ravine, and the cry of "_wurkut, wurkut_!" "paper, paper!" was incessant on the part of the softer s.e.x, who, with a licence unknown and a freedom unenjoyed by the daughters of Eve in other Mohammadan countries, were unremitting in their attendance and flirtations, without exciting the jealousy of their lords. From the lips of these damsels, "_Mahisse, Mahisseni!" "Manina teni_?" "Good morrow!" "How do you do?" came not disagreeably; and trinkets such as they loved, being civilly solicited, instead of imperiously demanded, the applicants were rarely unsuccessful.
Amongst those who boasted of the most feminine and attractive appearance, were the fair partner and sister of Mohammad Ali--their wedded and single state being as usual distinguishable, from the coif of blue calico which marks the wife, and by the long uncovered plaited locks of the maid. a.s.sembling with many of the frail sisterhood at the door of the tent, where numbers were usually lounging in careless att.i.tudes, they one day demanded that the palm of beauty might be awarded. Unwilling to throw the apple of discord, the mirror was placed in their hands, that the coquettes might judge for themselves; and after each in succession had started involuntarily at the sight of her own greasy charms, and had defended the individual features whereof she was mistress, to the utmost of her eloquence and ability, the verdict was finally found in favour of the virgin daughter of the venerable old sheikh.
Although the majority of the slaves imported with the caravan from Abyssinia were of tender years, and many of them extremely pretty, they did not excite that interest which might have been antic.i.p.ated.
Children accustomed to sorry fare and to harsh treatment in their own country, they had very readily adapted themselves to the will of their new masters, whose obvious interest it was to keep them fat and in good spirits. With few exceptions, all were merry and light-hearted.
Recovered from the fatigues of the long march, there was nothing but dancing, singing, and romping; and although many wore an air of melancholy, which forms a national characteristic, the little victims to a traffic so opposed to every principle of humanity, might rather have been conjectured to be proceeding on a party of pleasure, than bending their steps for ever from their native land.
A very limited number of Shankelas and a few natives of Zingero excepted, the whole consisted of Christians and Heathens from Gurague, whence are obtained the "red Ethiopians" so much-prized in Arabia.