We Were Roughly Challenged By Their Sentries As We Passed, And Were
Instantly Told "Not To Remain In Their Neighborhood." Accordingly We
Passed On For About Half A Mile In Advance, And Bivouacked On Some
Rising Ground Above A Slight Hollow In Which We Found Water.
The following morning was clear, and the mountain of Belignan, within
three or four miles, was a fine object to direct our course.
I could
distinctly see some enormous trees at the foot of the mountain near a
village, and I hastened forward, as I hoped to procure a guide who would
also act as interpreter, many of the natives in the vicinity of
Gondokoro having learned a little Arabic from the traders. We cantered
on ahead of the party, regardless of the assurance of our unwilling men
that the natives were not to be trusted, and we soon arrived beneath the
shade of a cluster of most superb trees. The village was within a
quarter of a mile, situated at the very base of the abrupt mountain. The
natives seeing us alone had no fear, and soon thronged around us. The
chief understood a few words of Arabic, and I offered a large payment of
copper bracelets and beads for a guide. After much discussion and
bargaining a bad-looking fellow offered to guide us to Ellyria, but no
farther. This was about twenty-eight or thirty miles distant, and it was
of vital importance that we should pass through that tribe before the
trader's party should raise them against us.
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