The leader had reached the ford without observing us, as in this wild spot he had expected no one, and the whole party were astonished and startled when I suddenly addressed them with a loud "Salaam aleikum" (peace be with you). At first they did not reply, but as I advanced alone, their leader also advanced from his party, and we met half way. These were a troop of Mek Nimmur's people on a foray. I quickly explained who I was, and I invited him to come and drink coffee beneath the shade in our camp. Taher Noor now joined us, and confidence having been established, the leader ordered his party to cross the ford and to unsaddle on the opposite side of the river, while he accompanied me to our camp. At first he was rather suspicious, but a present of a new tarboosh (cap), and a few articles of trifling value, quickly reassured him, and he promised to be our guide to Mek Nimmur in about a couple of days, upon his return from a marauding expedition on the frontier; his party had appointed to unite with a stronger force, and to make a razzia upon the cattle of the Dabaina Arabs.
During the night, the marauding party and their leader departed.
There was no game at Ombrega, therefore I employed the interval of two days in cleaning all the rifles, and in preparing for a fresh expedition, as that of the Settite and Royan had been completed. The short Tatham No.10 rifle carried a heavy cylinder, instead of the original spherical ball. I had only fired two shots with this rifle, and the recoil had been so tremendous, owing to the heavy weight of the projectile, that I had mistrusted the weapon; therefore, when the moment arrived to fire off all the guns preparatory to cleaning, my good angel whispered a providential warning, and I agreed to fire this particular rifle by a long fishing-line attached to the trigger, while the gun should be fastened to a tree. It blew all to pieces! The locks were blown entirely away, and the stock was shattered into fragments: nothing remained but the thick end near the shoulder-plate. I had received a mysterious presentiment of this; had I fired that rifle in the usual manner, I must have been killed on the spot. The charge was five drachms, which was small in proportion to the weight of the cylindrical projectile. This may be a warning to such sportsmen who adopt new-fashioned projectiles to old-fashioned rifles, that were proved with the spherical bullet, which in weight and friction bears no proportion to the heavy cylinder; nevertheless, this rifle should not have burst, and the metal showed great inferiority, by blowing into fragments instead of splitting.
The leader of Mek Nimmur's party returned, as he had promised, to be our guide. I extract from my journal, verbatim, my notes upon that date.
"March 19, 1862.—Started at 1.30 P.M., and halted at 5 P.M. There is no water for about thirty miles; thus we had watered all the animals at the usual hour (noon), and they will accordingly endure until to-morrow evening. Upon ascending the slope of the Settite valley, the country is an immense plain of fertile soil, about two hundred feet above the river. While on the march, I espied a camel wandering without an owner; this was inmmediately secured as a lawful prize by our guide. This fellow's name is Mahomet; he is, doubtlessly, an out-and-out scoundrel; he is about five feet ten inches in height, and as thin as a live man can be; he is so crafty-looking, and so wiry and eel-like, that if I were to lock him up I should secure the key-hole, as he looks capable of squeezing through anything. We slept on the plain.
"March 20.—Started at 5 A.M., and in three hours we reached the chain of lofty wooded hills that bound the plain. In a march of four hours from this point, we arrived at a hor, or ravine, when we halted beneath a large tamarind tree, and pitched the tent according to the instructions of our guide. The plain from the Settite to the base of the hilly range that we had crossed, is about twenty-two miles wide by forty in length, and, like all the table-land in this country, it is well adapted for cotton cultivation. Were the route secure through the Base country, loaded camels might reach Cassala in six days and from thence to Souakim. All this country is uninhabited. On arrival at the base of the first bill, a grove of tamarinds shades a spring, at which we watered our horses, but the water is impregnated with natron, which is common throughout this country, and appears in many places as an efflorescence on the surface of the ground. From the spring at the eastern base of the hills, we ascended a rugged pass, winding for some miles among ravines, and crossing elevated shoulders of the range. Upon the summit we passed a rich mass of both rose-coloured and white limestone, similar to that we had seen at Geera; this was surrounded by basalt, and the presence of limestone entirely mystifles my ideas of geology. Immense quantities of very beautiful spar lay upon the surface in all directions; some of this was perfectly white, and veined like an agate—I believe it was white cornelian; other fragments, of sizes equalling sixty or seventy pounds weight, were beautifully green, suggesting the presence of copper. Large masses of exquisite bloodstone, the size of a man's head, were exceedingly numerous. Having crossed the hills, we descended to a rich and park-like valley, covered with grass, and ornamented with fine timber. Much dhurra was cultivated, and several villages were passed, that had been plundered by the Egyptians during the recent attack. This country must be exceedingly unhealthy during the rainy season, as the soil is extremely rich, and the valleys, surrounded by hills, would become swamps. From the Settite river, at Ombrega, to our halting-place beneath the tamarind-tree, at this spot, is about thirty-five miles south, 10 degrees east."
Our camp was in a favourable locality, well shaded by large trees, on the margin of a small stream; this was nearly dry at this season, and the water was extremely bad, having a strong taste of copper. I had remarked throughout the neighbourhood unmistakeable evidences of the presence of this metal—the surface of the rocks was in many places bright green, like malachite, and, upon an exploration of the bed of the stream, I found veins of a green substance in the perpendicular cliffs that had been cut through by the torrent. These green veins passed through a bed of reddish, hard rock, glistening with minute crystals, which I believe to have been copper. There is no doubt that much might be done were the mineral wealth of this country thoroughly investigated.
The day following our arrival was passed in receiving visits from a number of Abyssinians, and the head men of Mek Nimmur. There was a mixture of people, as many of the Jaleen Arabs who had committed some crime in the Egyptian territory, had fled across the country and joined the exiled chief of their tribe. Altogether, the society in this district was not creme de la creme, as Mek Nimmur's territory was an asylum for all the blackguards of the adjoining countries, who were attracted by the excitement and lawlessness of continual border warfare. The troop that we had seen at Ombrega returned with a hundred and two head of camels, that they had stolen from the west bank of the Atbara. Mounted upon hygeens, Mek Nimmur's irregulars thought nothing of marching sixty miles in one day; thus their attack and retreat were equally sudden and unexpected.
I had a quantity of rhinoceros hide in pieces of the size required for shields; these were much prized in this fighting country, and I presented them to a number of head men who had honoured us with a visit. I begged them to guide two of my people to the presence of Mek Nimmur, with a preliminary message. This they promised to perform. Accordingly, I sent Taher Noor and Bacheet on horseback, with a most polite message, accompanied with my card in an envelope, and a small parcel, carefully wrapped in four or five different papers; this contained a very beautiful Persian lance-head, of polished steel inlaid with gold, that I had formerly purchased at Constantinople.
During their absence, we were inundated with visitors, the Abyssinians, in their tight pantaloons, contrasting strongly with the loosely-clad Arabs. In about an hour, my messengers returned, accompanied by two men on horseback, with a hospitable message fronm Mek Nimmur, and an invitation to pay him a visit at his own residence. I had some trifling present ready for everybody of note, and, as Taher Noor and my people had already explained all they knew concerning us, Mek Nimmur's suspicions had entirely vanished.