“Sweet Auburn! loveliest village of the plain!”
We proceeded with a skating-like step, very fatiguing to the knees, from stone to stone, for several miles, a few tufts of dry wire-like grass offering but a poor excuse for vegetation. Snakes, however, found here sustenance, and a coarse-looking tuberculated lizard, sunned itself upon the hot black stones, and being nearly of the same colour, its sudden dart to a hole beneath, only made the traveller aware of its presence. Deep fissures, not seen until we were close to them, traversed the plain in directions nearly north-east and south-west, and sometimes long low ridges of erupted rock, appeared just above the otherwise level surface.
Where we halted were a few stunted mimosa trees, low and dry, scarcely to be distinguished from the characteristic grass of this district, and promising but a very scanty repast, to the one hundred and thirty or one hundred and forty camels belonging to our Kafilah; and worse than this, not a drop of water was to be found in the neighbourhood. It was, in fact, another “deserted village,” consisting only of the remains of little stone enclosures, about three feet in diameter, covered on the top with bushes, where it is usual, for the Bedouin shepherds, to secure for the night, the young of their flocks from the depredations of wild beasts. Here was also a large circular wall, of loose stones, about four feet high, in which the older herds were kept.
One of these enclosures, we found large enough to form my house for the day, and my carpet was laid over the open top as a roof, whilst mats were spread upon the ground. The stores of the Kafilah were piled around; and at a little distance, in long pyramidal ridges, raised upon a broad row of stones, the bags of salt were heaped up, something in the same way that cannon-balls are built into heaps in a battery.
April 14th.—We left the halting-ground of Hy one hour before sunrise, and, much to my gratification, suddenly exchanged the rough stony plain for the dry sandy bed of an occasional wide stream. Here, again, were abundance of the rush willow as I termed it, though not belonging at all to the genus salix, and also some mimosa-trees; but I did not observe, that the doom palm was present, nor did I see this tree again during my journey. We did not long continue on this level and agreeable road, but ascended a low acclivity covered with large round volcanic stones, apparently detached from the heights above. After a short walk of about half an hour over this jutting headland, as it proved to be, we again descended into the bed of the same stream, for by having taken this direction, we had cut off an extensive curve in its course. The dry channel of the stream now widened considerably, in some places extending in a long avenue, between two banks fringed with the rush willow and mimosa-trees; whilst in others it would suddenly contract, encroached upon by the huge masses of detached rocks, which seemed continually to be falling from the edge of the lava-plain of Hy; it would then, when the soft and yielding alluvial soil of the plain of Ramudalee on the other side admitted, again expand into wide reaches of a fine white sand. Where its straight course was most apparent, I took care to illustrate to Ohmed Medina the condition of our roads in England, to which, in some places it bore an exact resemblance; and growing out of this conversation, a long discussion took place between us upon wheel carriages. The description of the Queen’s state coach was a dream of gold to him, and upon this, and its probable worth in dollars, he employed himself thinking for the rest of the day.
Our pedestrian party preceded the camels a long distance, generally consisting of Ohmed Medina, Garahmee, and the other Hy Soumaulee, myself, and a variable lot of the camel owners, who would now sit down and stay, or at other times run forward to join us, as the rugged or level character of the road decided the necessity of more or less attention to their camels, and to the security of their loads. The march was a long one in a south-west direction, and it was very evident that the plain of Hy was the separation between the waters flowing to the east into the muddy lake of Gurguddee, and those which directed their course, through the valley of Gobard, to the large terminal lake of the Hawash, called Abhibhad. We halted several times, to rest ourselves, under the shade of some convenient trees, and at one place we sat until the camels came up. Here we found a welcome spring of pure water, that was absorbed again by the sand, almost immediately after its escape from the little circles of stones, through which it bubbled. It was embosomed in a grove of sweetly-smelling mimosa-trees, that grew very luxuriantly, favoured by the constant moisture of the soil. We all drank heartily of the clear sweet water, and reclined upon patches of a fine velvet-like grass, that beneath the tallest and more solitary trees spread a beautiful green carpet for our repose.
Whilst thus enjoying our rest, two women and a girl appeared at the opposite extremity of the valley, driving a few goats before them; their empty water-skins were fixed upon the loins, and each carried a small cup, made of a dried gourd-shell, with which they lift the water from the spring into the skins. Their dog was with them, a kind of long-legged harrier of a red and white colour, which saluted us after the usual canine fashion, and received a shower of stones in return. The women did not seem to be disturbed by our appearance, but came and saluted all present (myself excepted) in their peculiar manner. I now learnt, much to my surprise, that one of them was the mother of Omah Suis, who instead of being one of the Hy Soumaulee tribe, with whom I had previously classed him, was a Debenee, and son of Abucarl, the last chief of that tribe, and would, should he outlive Lohitu, the present possessor of the honours, succeed to the dignity, as the same rule of descent was observed among them as at Tajourah, the title of Sheik, or superior, being alternately possessed by the heads of two subdivisions of the tribe.
This dowager lady of Abucarl, was a fat and rather handsomely made woman, about forty years of age, at which period the Dankalli women generally look very haggard. She wore the usual dress, a skin petticoat, with a short fringe made of thongs attached to the lower edge, and fastened round her waist by a piece of common palm-leaf rope. Upon her neck she bore a very large necklace of small spiral shells, of a dark blue colour, with a continuous white line winding around, and interspersed with these, were large red beads of some coloured resinous composition, manufactured on the shores of the Red Sea, and brought from thence by merchants travelling into the interior. Hanging before her ears, were large triangularly formed appendages four or five inches long, the base depending below being, at least, three inches. These were made of thick brass wire, and from them were suspended, several large pieces of pewter. At first, I considered them to be the very extreme of barbarous ear-rings, but on looking more closely, I found they were not attached to the ear at all, but suspended from the top of the head, and secured from falling forwards, by narrow fillets of greasy rag tied behind. A square piece of blue cotton cloth folded into a triangular shape, and soaking with ghee (the liquid butter of the country) was worn as a head dress, and protection from the sun. I should observe, that her hair was plaited into innumerable small strings, similar to the style of hair-dressing adopted by the women of Gurahgee, and the slave-girls at Tajourah. I am not quite sure, but I think the hair is also dressed in this manner by the Soumaulee and Galla females.
Her older friend wore a corresponding dress and ornaments, but the girl had only the skin petticoat, and held in her hand a pair of old sandles, made very simply of a single strip of ox-skin fitted to the shape of the sole of the foot with lappels on each side, to which were attached the thongs which fastened them upon her feet.
During our conversation with the new comers, the camels, with Omah Suis, came up; and his mother without any difference of manner, as I could perceive, performed the usual salutation, by pressing the separate fingers of his hand successively, as she had done to the least known individual of the group, and he seemed to be no more affected by her presence, than if she had been a stranger.