About 5 P.M., After Marching Two Miles, We Raised Our Wigwam
Outside A Populous Kraal, A Sheep Was Provided By The Hospitality Of Ao
Samattar, And We Sat Deep Into The Night Enjoying A Genial Blaze.
Early the next morning we had hoped to advance:
Water, however, was
wanting, and a small caravan was slowly gathering;--these details delayed
us till 4 P.M. Our line lay westward, over rising ground, towards a
conspicuous conical hill called Konti. Nothing could be worse for camels
than the rough ridges at the foot of the mountain, full of thickets, cut
by deep Fiumaras, and abounding in dangerous watercourses: the burdens
slipped now backwards then forwards, sometimes the load was almost dragged
off by thorns, and at last we were obliged to leave one animal to follow
slowly in the rear. After creeping on two miles, we bivouacked in a
deserted cow-kraal,--_sub dio_, as it was warm under the hills. That
evening our party was increased by a Gudabirsi maiden in search of a
husband: she was surlily received by Shehrazade and Deenarzade, but we
insisted upon her being fed, and superintended the operation. Her style of
eating was peculiar; she licked up the rice from the hollow of her hand.
Next morning she was carried away in our absence, greatly against her
will, by some kinsmen who had followed her.
And now, bidding adieu to the Gudabirsi, I will briefly sketch the tribe.
The Gudabirsi, or Gudabursi, derive themselves from Dir and Aydur, thus
claiming affinity with the Eesa:
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