SHEIK SAID CARCASH!

the village where we passed the night, to return, being afraid to venture into Amedeb. A son of Sheik Said Carcashi rode with us, on horseback, nearly into the town, where he, too, left us and returned.

Sheik Said Carcashi was originally a Base from the Mareb, and was captured when a boy, and sold as a slave at Massawa.

There he learned to speak Arabic, as well as to read and write it. Mnzinger Pacha (a Swiss, governor of that part of the Soudan and Sanheit, who was killed by the Abyssinians some years ago, during an engagement between them and the Egyptians), seeing that he was possessed of some intelligence, took him to Amedeb, and made him sheik over the neighbouring people. He is, of course, hated by the independent Base living farther south. He goes about with a small army, consisting of a handful of his followers, dressed in brilliant-coloured calico drawers and red waistcoats, and armed with government rifles.

Backed by these men, he squeezes taxes out of all the people he can induce to pay them. This is the man whom Sheik Kudul imagined we had brought with us into his country, when he told us, that, if such had been the case, he had meant to ask the Abyssinians to help him to fight us.

On arriving at the village, where we had spent the night, we had met our camels returning from Amedeb. They had arrived there the night before we did ; and Sheik Said had detained them there, having heard that some disaster had happened to us, although he did not know what. Bad news, proverbially, travels fast ; and these wild countries are no exception to the rule. They had found no dJmrra for sale at Amedeb, but had procured some from Sheik Said ; and could get only very little cotton cloth, and that at a high price. We started them off at once for Aibaro, as we were running short of d/mrruy and had many mouths to feed.