At night, the slave came and brought a clean cotton cloth. I sent a piece of thin India yellow satin, and six handsome crimson and green handkerchiefs, to the beautiful Aiscach; and, to the best of my power, discharged all our obligations to those that were our friends and had been kind to us.
In a country so desert, and exceedingly poor as Teawa, under such a government, it is not to be expected that trade of any kind should flourish; yet there is a miserable manufacture of coarse cotton cloths of the size of large towels, just enough to go round the middle, which pass current, like specie, all over Atbara: They are called Dimoor, and are used in place of small silver money. The Mahalac, a very bad copper coin, passes for smaller matters; so that the currency of Teawa stands thus:—
| 20 | Mahalac, | 1 | Crush, |
| 12 | Crush, | 1 | Metical, |
| 4 | Metical, | 1 | Vakia. |
The vakia of gold is worth about forty-five shillings; but the only commerce of Teawa is carried on by exchange, as salt for grain, camels for salt; the value of goods varying according to the scarcity or plenty of one sort of commodities with respect to the other.
The reader will, I believe, by this, be as desirous to get out of Teawa as I was; and if so, it is charity in time to deliver him. I took leave of the Shekh on the 18th in the morning; but before we could get all ready to depart it was five in the afternoon. The day had been immoderately hot, and we had resolved to travel all night, though we did not say so to the Shekh, who advised us to sleep at Imgededema, where there was fresh water. But we had taken a girba of water with us, or rather, in case of accident, a little in each of the three girbas; and all being ready on the river-side, except the king's servant, we set out, and he overtook us in less than two hours afterwards, pretty well refreshed with the Shekh's bouza, and strongly prejudiced against us, as we had occasion to discover afterwards.
CHAP. VII.
Arrival at Beyla—Friendly Reception there, and after, amongst the Nuba—Arrival at Sennaar.
When we got a few miles into the plain, my servant delivered me a message from the Moullah, that he would join us the next day at Beyla; that we were not to trust to the king's servant in any thing, but entirely to that of the Shekh Adelan; and if these two had any dispute together, to take no share in it, but leave them to settle it between themselves; that, upon no account whatever, we should suffer any companions to join us upon the road to Beyla, but drive them off by harsh words, beat them if they did not go away, and, if they still persisted, to shoot them, and make our way good by force; that between Teawa and Beyla was a place, the inhabitants of which had withdrawn themselves from their allegiance to the king of Sennaar, who could not there protect us; therefore we were to trust to ourselves, and admit of no parley; for if we passed, we should pass with applause, as if the king's force had conducted us; and if we miscarried, the blame would be laid upon ourselves, as having ventured, so thinly attended, through a country laid waste by rebel Arabs, expressly in defiance of government. He added, that he did not believe it was in Shekh Fidele's power, from want of time, to do us any injury upon the road; that the people in Teawa were in general well-affected to us, and afraid we should bring Yasine and the Daveina upon them, and so were the Jehaina; and as for the pack of graceless soldiers that were then about the Shekh, their belief that we had really no money with us, and the last exhibition I had shewn them on horseback, had perfectly cured them of venturing their lives for little, against people so much superior to them in the management of arms; yet he wished us to be active and vigilant like men, and trust in nothing till we had seen the Shekh of Beyla, and not to lose a moment on the road.