I resolved at all events to leave Sennaar, but I had not yet sounded Hagi Belal as to money-affairs. It was now the 20th; and, for several days since Adelan's departure, no provisions were sent to my house, as before was usual. Money therefore became absolutely necessary, not only for daily subsistence, but for camels to carry our baggage, provisions, and water, across the desert.
I now despaired absolutely of assistance of any kind from the king; and an accident that happened made me lay all thoughts aside of ever troubling him more upon the subject. There are at Mecca a number of black eunuchs, whose services are dedicated to that temple, and the sepulchre at Medina. Part of these, from time to time, procure liberty to return on a visit to their respective homes, or to the large cities they were sold from, on the Niger, Bornou, Tocrur, and Tombucto, where they beg donations for the holy places, and frequently collect large sums of gold, which abounds in these towns and territories. One of these, called Mahomet Towash, which signifies Eunuch, had returned from a begging voyage in Sudan, or Nigritia, and was at Sennaar exceedingly ill with an intermitting fever. The king had sent for me to visit him, and the bark in a few days had perfectly recovered him. A proportional degree of gratitude had, in return, taken place in the breast of Mahomet, who, going to Cairo, was exceedingly desirous of taking me with him, and this desire was increased when he heard I had letters from the sherriffe of Mecca, and was acquainted with Metical Aga, who was his immediate master.
Nothing could be more fortunate than this rencounter at such a time, for he had spare camels in great plenty, and the Arabs, as he passed them, continued giving him more, and supported him with provisions wherever he went, for these people, being accounted sacred, and regarded with a certain religious awe, as being in the immediate service of their prophet, till now used to pass inviolate wherever they were going, however unsettled the times, or however slenderly attended.
Every thing was now ready, my instruments and baggage packed up, and the 25th of August fixed when we should begin our journey for Atbara. Mahomet, who passed a great part of his time at my house, had not been seen by us for several days, which we did not think extraordinary, being busy ourselves, and knowing that his trade demanded continual attendance on the great people; but we were exceedingly surprised at hearing from my black Soliman, that he and all his equipage had set out the night of the 20th for Atbara. This we found afterwards was at the earnest persuasion of the king, and was at that time a heavy disappointment to us, however fortunate it turned out afterwards.
The night of the 25th, which was to have been that of our departure, we sat late in my room up stairs, in the back, or most private part of the house. My little company was holding with me a melancholy council on what had so recently happened, and, in general, upon the unpromising face of our affairs. Our single lamp was burning very low, and suggested to us that it was the hour of sleep, to which, however, none of us were very much inclined. Georgis, a Greek, who, on account of the soreness of his eyes had staid below in the dark, and had fallen asleep, came running up stairs in a great fright, and told us he had been wakened by the noise of men endeavouring to force open the door; that he hearkened a little, and found there were many of them. Our arms were all ready, and we snatched them up and ran towards the door; but I stopt, and planted them upon the first landing-place in the staircase, as I wished not to fire till the enemy was fairly in the house, that no excuse might remain for this their violation of hospitality.
I stationed Ismael at the outer door of the house, intending that he should fire first, as it would be less odious in him, being a Turk and a sherriffe, than for us Christians. I then went out to the outer gate, and Soliman with me. The entry into the yard was through a kind of porters lodge, where servants used to sit in the day-time, and sleep at night. It had a door from the street, and then another into the yard, the latter small, but very strong. They had forced the outer gate, and were then in the lodge, endeavouring to do the same by the inner, having put a handspike under it to lift it up from the hinges. "Are you not madmen, said I, and weary of your lives, to attempt to force Adelan's house, when there are within it men abundantly provided with large fire-arms, that, upon one discharge through the door, will lay you all dead where you now stand?" "Stand by from the door, cries Ismael, and let me fire. These black Kafrs don't yet know what my blunderbuss is." They had been silent from the time I had spoken, and had withdrawn the handspike from under the door. "Ullah! Ullah! cries one of them softly, how sound you sleep! we have been endeavouring to waken you this hour. The king is ill; tell Yagoube to come to the palace, and open the door instantly." "Tell the king, said I, to drink warm water, and I will see him in the morning." Ah! Mahomet, cries Soliman, is that you? I thought you had had a narrow enough escape in the palace the other day, but stay a little, a servant is gone over the back wall to call the Gindi, and we are here numerous enough to defend this house till morning against all the servants the king has, so do not attempt to break the door, and Yagoube will go to the king with the Gindi.
At this time one of my servants fired a pistol in the air out of an upper window, upon which they all ran off. They seemed to be about ten or twelve in number, and left three handspikes behind them. The noise of the pistol brought the guard, or patrole, in about half an hour, who carried intelligence to the Sid el Coom, our friend, by whom I was informed in the morning, that he had found them all out, and put them in irons; that Mahomet, the king's servant, who met us at Teawa, was one of them; and that there was no possibility now of concealing this from Adelan, who would order him to be impaled.
Things were now come to such a crisis that I was determined to leave my instruments and papers with Kittou, Adelan's brother, or with the Sid el Coom, while I went to Shaddly to see Adelan. But first I thought it necessary to apply to Hagi Belal to try what funds we could raise to provide the necessaries for our journey. I shewed him the letter of Ibrahim, the English broker of Jidda, of which before he had received a copy and repeated advices, and told him I should want 200 sequins at least, for my camels and provisions, as well as for some presents that I should have occasion for, to make my way to the great men in Atbara. Never was surprise better counterfeited than by this man. He held up his hands in the utmost astonishment, repeating, 200 sequins! over twenty times, and asked me if I thought money grew upon trees at Sennaar, that it was with the utmost difficulty he could spare me 20 dollars, part of which he must borrow from a friend.
This was a stroke that seemed to insure our destruction no other resource being now left. We were already indebted to Hagi Belal twenty dollars for provision; we had seven mouths to feed daily; and as we had neither meat, money, nor credit, to continue at Sennaar was impossible. We had seen, a few nights before, that no house could protect us there; and to leave Sennaar was, in our situation, as impossible as to stay there. We had neither camels to carry our provisions and baggage, nor skins for our water, nor, indeed, any provisions to carry, nor money to supply us with any of these, nor knew any person that could give us assistance nearer than Cairo, from which we were then distant about 17° of the meridian, or above 1000 miles in a straight line; great part of which was thro' the most barren, unhospitable deserts in the world, destitute of all vegetation, and of every animal that had the breath of life. Hagi Belal was inflexible; he began now to be weary of us, to see us but seldom, and there was great appearance of his soon withdrawing himself entirely.
My servants began to murmur; some of them had known of my gold chain from the beginning, and these, in the common danger, imparted what they knew to the rest. In short, I resolved, though very unwillingly, not to sacrifice my own life and that of my servants, and the finishing my travels now so far advanced, to childish vanity. I determined therefore to abandon my gold chain, the honourable recompence of a day full of fatigue and danger. Whom to intrust it to was the next consideration; and, upon mature deliberation, I found it could be to nobody but Hagi Belal, bad as I had reason to think he was. However, to put a check upon him, I sent for the Sid el Coom, in whose presence I repeated my accusation against Belal; I read the Seraff's letter in my favour, and the several letters that Belal had written me whilst I was at Gondar, declaring his acceptance of the order to furnish me with money when I should arrive at Sennaar; and I upbraided him in the strongest terms with duplicity and breach of faith.