In, about an hour afterwards, we came to our halting-place upon the gravelly plain of Ramudalee, two or three miles beyond the bed of the stream, and where it was determined that we should stay some few days to await the arrival of Lohitu, in whose territories and near whose kraal we then were. The chief was absent endeavouring to assemble the braves of the several Dankalli tribes, against the Issah Soumaulee, who had been making some inroads into the country; and besides stealing some of his own camels had murdered one of his relations.
When I had taken possession of my hut, Omah Suis brought up his mother, and told me who she was; and with more affection than I had given him credit for, remarked that if I thought he was my friend, I was to make my acknowledgments to her. Now Omah Suis was a very great favourite of mine, for his willingness to assist, on all occasions, Zaido and Allee in looking after my mule and building my hut; besides which, as he scarcely ever begged for anything, but bore himself right royally, I suppose by virtue of his birth, I had determined in my own mind, to give him a good present at parting. Having in one of my boxes a much handsomer necklace than that which his mother had on, I instructed Allee, who was our interpreter, to tell her to come for it, when, under cover of night, I could take it unseen by the other natives from the box. In the mean time, I gave her a fresh cover of blue cotton cloth for her head, and a few needles, with which she departed very well pleased.
Towards evening she came again for the promised necklace, bringing with her a large skin full of delicious clotted cream, which she intimated by significant signs, I must put out of sight, or some one would be sure to come and steal it; and also, that in the morning, when the sun rose, she would come again for the bag. I took her advice about hiding it, and what I did not put out of sight, in the readiest manner, by drinking there and then, was laid under the head of the mat behind me; and, during the night, I managed to finish it entirely.
CHAPTER XI.
Staying at Ramudalee.—Himyah and his matchlock.—Chase of a hyæna.—Visitors from the Debenee tribe.—Guinea-fowl shooting.—Ahkeem shooting.—Arrival of Lohitu, Chief of the Debenee.—April 17th, leave Ramudalee for the valley of Gobard, general direction S.W., time occupied on the journey six hours.
April 15th.—There was some rain a few hours before sunrise, and however grateful it might be to thirsty nature in this scorched-up country, I felt very uncomfortable myself, for it came soaking through my carpet-roof, and I awoke in a state of wretchedness that no physical misfortune, except actual bodily injury, could have occasioned; but lying in a heavy rain upon the bare earth, or, what is worse, upon wet palm-leaves, (for my mats consisted of nothing else,) was but miserable accommodation for an invalid traveller.
The sun rising, however, put a stop to the descent of the rain, and by nine o’clock the camp was all comfortably dry again, so rapidly, in this country, is the water either absorbed by the arid soil or evaporated by the sun.
Ohmed Medina, and a sporting character who had been a close attendant upon me during our journey, but of whom I have not had occasion to speak before, now came to invite me to take a walk around the neighbourhood of our camp, for in the valley below, and, in fact, on all sides, we could see considerable numbers of deer, which promised no little sport. The individual I now introduce to the reader was named Himyah, and was a tall, ugly, middle-aged man, the very person whom I particularized in Tajourah as being the possessor of the only matchlock, previous to Mr. Cruttenden presenting one to the Sultaun’s brother, Izaak. This morning I found that he had brought his clumsy piece with him; it had escaped my observation before, from its looking so very little like a gun, as it was carefully wrapt up in a lot of rags, and lashed behind a heap of salt on one of Himyah’s camels. Its stock consisted of one long piece of wood, of equal dimensions through its whole extent, from the muzzle to the back of the pan of the lock, where a slight bend terminated in a semi-lunar butt-end, something in the form of half a Dutch cheese, its round surface being adapted to the hollow of the shoulder. The barrel was nearly six feet long, and the metal loops for receiving the ramrod being broken off, this necessary appendage was obliged to be carried in the barrel, secured within the muzzle by a tightly-fitting piece of wood.
I was very glad to have the opportunity of seeing the country, which had become remarkably changed in its character, since crossing the bed of the stream we travelled down yesterday, and which was a natural division, very well marked, between the wild volcanic desert to the east and south, and the extensive undulating plain of gravelly soil to the west, which was thickly covered with high tufts of a strong, coarse grass, and afforded plenty of food for the camels. It was, in fact, the great inducement for our halt at this place, although attributed by the politic Ohmed Mahomed, to a desire on his part not to offend Lohitu, by passing any further through his dominions without a conference.