Here we threw away the brackish water that remained in our girbas, and filled them with the wholesome element drawn from this pool of Umgwat. I could not help reproaching Idris with the inaccuracy of the information he had pretended to give us the day before, that no party above ten men could meet us at any of these wells, as none of them could supply water for more; whereas in this pool there was certainly enough of excellent water to serve a whole tribe of Arabs for a month. He had little to say, further than that Haimer, though near, was a scanty well, and perhaps we should not find water there at all. He trusted, however, if our people would take heart, we were out of all danger from Arabs, or any thing else.
At a quarter past three we left the well, and continued along a sandy valley, which is called Waadi Umgwat. This night it was told me that Georgis, and the Turk Ismael, were both so ill, and so desponding, that they had resolved to pursue the journey no farther, but submit to their destiny, as they called it, and stay behind and die. It was with the utmost difficulty I could get them to lay aside this resolution, and the next morning I promised they should ride by turns upon one of the camels, a thing that none of us had yet attempted. They had, indeed, often desired me to do so, but I well knew, if I had set them that example, besides destroying the camels, it would have had the very worst effect upon their dastardly spirits; and, indeed, we very soon saw the bad effects of this humane consideration for the two invalids.
On the 24th, at half past six in the morning we left Umgwat, following the windings of sandy valleys between stony hills. At half past nine we found Mahomet Aga's horse dead. The poor creature seemed, without a guide, to have followed exactly enough the tract of the wells and way to Egypt, and had survived all his fellow-travellers. At eleven o'clock we came to some plains of loose, moving sand, and saw some pillars in motion, which had not wind to sustain them for any time, and which gave us, therefore, little concern. At one we alighted near the well Mour, which was to the N. E. of us. At four we left the well Mour: At forty minutes after four passed the well itself, which was then dry; and at a quarter past six we found a dead man, whose corpse was quite dry, and had been so a considerable time. At seven o'clock in the evening we alighted at El Haimer, where are the two wells in a large plain of sand. The water is good. There is another well to the west of us, but it is bitter and saltish, though more abundant than either of the other two, which, by filling our skins, we had several times drained.
On the 25th, at half past seven in the morning we left the well El Haimer, and at ten o'clock alighted among some acacia-trees, our camels having ate nothing all night, except the dry bitter roots of that drug, the senna. While we were attending the camels, and resting ourselves on the grass, we were surprised at the appearance of a troop of Arabs all upon camels, who looked like a caravan, each camel having a small loading behind him. They had two gentle ascents before they could arrive at the place where we were. The road is between two sandy hills, at the back of which our camels were feeding in a wood; and near the road was the well El Haimer, where our skins were lying full of water. It was necessary then to understand one another before we allowed them to pass between the sandy hills. Upon the first alarm, my people all repaired to me, bringing their arms in their hands, as well those that they carried upon them, as the spare arms, all of which were primed and charged.
The first question was, what to do with the Bishareen? None of us had any suspicion of him. We unchained him from the Barbarin, and fastened his other hand, then gave him to the Tucorory, and made them stand behind to increase the appearance of our number. I then advanced to the edge of the hill, and cried out with a loud voice, "Stop! for you cannot pass here." Whether they understood it I do not know, but they still persisted in mounting the hill. I again cried, shewing my firelock, "Advance a step farther and I'll fire." After a short pause they all dismounted from their camels, and one of them, with his lance in his hand, came forward till within twenty yards, upon which Idris immediately knew them, and said, they were Ababdé. "Ababdé or not, said I, they are seventeen men, and Arabs, and I am not of a disposition, without further surety, to put myself in their hands as Mahomet Aga did. I am sure they are perfectly in our power now, as long as they stand where they are." Idris then told me that he was married to one of the Ababdè of Shekh Ammer, and he would go and get a sure word from them. Tell them from me, said I, that I, too, am the friend of Nimmer their Shekh, and his two sons, and of Shekh Hammam of Furshout; that I am going into Egypt, have been followed by the Bishareen, and trust nobody; have twenty men armed with firelocks, and will do them no harm, provided they consent to pass, one by one, and give a man for a hostage.
Idris, without arms, having joined the man who had advanced towards us, went down with him to the body of strangers, and the treaty was soon agreed to. Two of the principal men among them approaching me without their lances, and the compliment of peace, "Salam Alicum! and Alicum Salam!" was given and returned by both sides. They seemed, however, startled at seeing the Bishareen with both his hands chained; but I told them, that had no regard to them, and desired Idris to order their camels to go on; and one of the Barbarins in the meantime brought them a gourd full of water, and bread, for eating together is like pledging your faith. They had not heard of the fate of Mahomet Aga, and seemed very ill-pleased at it, saying, that Abou Bertran was a thief and a murderer. All the camels being past, I asked them whither they were going? They said to Atbieh, west of Terfowey, to gather senna for the government of Cairo. I would very fain have had them to sell or exchange with me a couple of camels. They said theirs were not strong; that before they could reach home they would be much in the same condition with our own; that they were obliged to load them very heavily, as indeed the bags they had behind them to carry the senna seemed to indicate their profit was but small, so that the death of one camel was a most serious loss.
I thought myself obliged in humanity to introduce our prisoner to the two Ababdé that had remained with us. They said, they intended to take water at Terfowey, and we told them briefly the accident by which we came in company with the Bishareen. They, on the contrary, thought that we had been a party of soldiers from Assouan who apprehended the Arab. Immediately after which they conversed in the language of Beja, which is that of the Habab, Suakem, and Masuah. I told them plainly, that, though I knew that language, I would not suffer them to speak any but Arabic, understood by us all. They immediately complied, and then inquired about the position of Abou Bertran and his tribe of Bishareen. This, too, I would not suffer the Arab to inform them of, but charged them, as he did also, to tell his wives that he was well, and ate and drank as we had done, and was within two days of arriving at Assouan, whence he should be returned to them with the rewards promised. I then desired him to lay a lance in a manner that the point should be towards Syene, which they accordingly did, and with a long needle of 12 inches in a brass box, having an arch of a few degrees marked on it, I, with the utmost attention, took the direction from Haimer to Syene N. N. W. or more northerly. I would very willingly have had it in my power to have made an observation of latitude, but noon was past; I contented myself, therefore, with keeping my route as distinctly as possible till the evening.
At 40 minutes past one o'clock we left Haimer, and our friends, the Ababdé, continued their route, after giving us great praise, as well for our civility, as our keeping the watch like men, as they expressed it. At half past eight we alighted at Abou Ferege, a place where there was very little verdure of any kind. Here, for the first time on our journey, we met with a cloudy sky, which effectually disappointed my observation of latitude; but every noon and night I described, in a rough manner, my course through the day, carrying always a compass, with a needle about five inches radius, round my neck, by a lace, and resting in my pocket. I thus found that we had kept the line directly upon Syene, which the Ababdé Arab had shewed us.
On the 26th, at half after six in the morning we set out from Abou Ferege, continuing nearly in the same direction upon Syene till eleven o'clock, when, for the purpose of observation only, I alighted at a place called Abou Heregi, without water, grass, or food for our camels. We were exceedingly averse to exertions, and became so weak and spiritless, that it was not possible to prevail upon our people to take the large quadrant out of its chest to put it together, and prepare it for observation. I therefore took a Hadley's quadrant, with a mixture I had made, which served me better than quick-silver, and made my observation by reflection at Abou Heregi, and found it in lat. 23°, from which I inferred, with some degree of comfort to myself, that the longitude of Syene in the French maps is ill laid down, and that we were now in the direction upon Syene, had no westing to run down, but the journey must finish in a very few days.