The Flickering Red Light Of The Fires Illumined The Bronze Faces
Of The Congregation, And As I Stood Before The
Front line of
devotees, I took off my cap in respect for their faith, and at
the close of their
Prayer I made my salaam to their venerable
Faky (priest); he returned the salutation with the cold dignity
of an Arab. In this part the coorbatch of the Turk was
unnecessary, and we shortly obtained supplies of milk. I ordered
the dragoman Mahomet to inform the Faky that I was a doctor, and
that I had the best medicines at the service of the sick, with
advice gratis. In a short time I had many applicants, to whom I
served out a quantity of Holloway's pills. These are most useful
to an explorer, as, possessing unmistakeable purgative
properties, they create an undeniable effect upon the patient,
which satisfies him of their value. They are also extremely
convenient, as they may be carried by the pound in a tin box, and
served out in infinitesimal doses from one to ten at a time,
according to the age of the patients. I had a large medicine
chest, with all necessary drugs, but I was sorely troubled by the
Arab women, many of whom were barren, who insisted upon my
supplying them with some medicine that would remove this stigma
and render them fruitful. It was in vain to deny them; I
therefore gave them usually a small dose of ipecacuanha, with the
comforting word to an Arab, "Inshallah," "if it please God." At
the same time I explained that the medicine was of little value.
On the following morning, during the march, my wife had a renewal
of fever. We had already passed a large village named Abre, and
the country was a forest of small trees, which, being in leaf,
threw a delicious shade. Under a tree, upon a comfortable bed of
dry sand, we wer obliged to lay her for several hours, until the
paroxysm passed, and she could remount her dromedary. This she
did with extreme difficulty, and we hurried toward Cassala, from
which town we were only a few miles distant.
For the last fifty or sixty miles we had seen the Cassala
mountain--at first a blue speck above the horizon. It now rose in
all the beauty of a smooth and bare block of granite, about 3,500
feet above the level of the country with the town of Cassala at
the base, and the roaring torrent Gash flowing at our feet. When
we reached the end of the day's march, it was between 5 and 6
P.M. The walled town was almost washed by the river, which was at
least 500 yards wide. However, our guides assured us that it was
fordable, although dangerous on account of the strength of the
current. Camels are most stupid and nervous animals in water;
that ridden by my wife was fortunately better than the
generality. I sent two Arabs with poles, ahead of my camel, and
carefully led the way. After considerable difficulty, we forded
the river safely; the water was nowhere above four feet deep,
and, in most places, it did not exceed three; but the great
rapidity of the stream would have rendered it impossible for the
me to cross without the assistance of poles. One of our camels
lost its footing, and was carried helplessly down the river for
some hundred yards, until it stranded upon a bank.
The sun had sunk when we entered Cassala. It is a walled town,
surrounded by a ditch and flanking towers, and containing about
8,000 inhabitants, exclusive of troops. The houses and walls were
of unburnt brick, smeared with clay and cow-dung. As we rode
through the dusty streets, I sent off Mahomet with my firman to
the Mudir; and, not finding a suitable place inside the town, I
returned outside the walls, where I ordered the tents to be
pitched in a convenient spot among some wild fig-trees. Hardly
were the tents pitched than Mahomet returned, accompanied by an
officer and ten soldiers as a guard, with a polite message from
the Mudir or governor, who had, as usual, kissed the potent
firman, and raised it to his forehead, with the declaration that
he was "my servant, and that all that I required should be
immediately attended to." Shortly after, we were called upon by
several Greeks, one of whom was the army doctor, Signor Georgis,
who, with great kindness, offered to supply all our wants. My
wife was dreadfully weak and exhausted, therefore an undisturbed
night's rest was all that was required, with the independence of
our own tent.
Cassala is rich in hyaenas, and the night was passed in the
discordant howling of these disgusting but useful animals: they
are the scavengers of the country, devouring every species of
filth, and clearing all carrion from the earth. Without the
hyaenas and vultures, the neighbourhood of a Nubian village would
be unbearable; it is the idle custom of the people to leave
unburied all animals that die. Thus, among the numerous flocks
and herds, the casualties would create a pestilence were it not
for the birds and beasts of prey.
On the following morning the fever had yielded to quinine, and we
were enabled to receive a round of visits--the governor and
suite, Elias Bey, the doctor and a friend, and, lastly, Malem
Georgis, an elderly Greek merchant, who, with great hospitality,
insisted upon our quitting the sultry tent and sharing his own
roof. We therefore became his guests in a most comfortable house
for some days. Our Turk, Hadji Achmet, returned on his way to
Berber; we discharged our camels, and prepared - to start afresh
from this point for the Nile tributaries of Abyssinia.
CHAPTER IV.
ROUTE FROM CASSALA TO SOUAKIM.
BY dead reckoning, Cassala is ninety-three miles S.S.E. of
Gozerajup, or about 340 miles from Berber.
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