1 84 HAMRANS VISIT US.

appearance one evening, arriving, with a number of camels, from higher up the river. They told us they had killed six or seven hippopotami, and offered to accompany us two days* journey farther up. We decided, however, not to retrace our steps. Had we done so, they would, in all probability, have backed out of it before we had gone very far. I was inclined to try what we could do, but the rest of the party were all against attempting a retrograde movement.

It is always most difficult in such countries to know what to believe, and what not to believe. Each person you meet tells you a different story, and it is no easy matter to get at the truth. These Hamrans declared that there were no people living on the river for four or five days' journey farther up; but this was doubtless untrue ; for, although perhaps there were no villages for some distance, there were certainly people not far off, as from our last encampment we had seen several fires at different points. They told us that between Khor Meheteb and the Atbara there were scarcely any "hippos " left, but that higher up the river there were plenty. This may have been true, but wc were not particularly anxious to shoot them. As only some of our party were in camp when these Hamrans arrived, we told them to return in the morning for their answer.

Soon after their departure, three Base from Lacatecourah made their appearance. It was dark when they arrived, and they begged to be allowed to accompany us. We gave them permission to do so, at the same time advising them not to go far away from camp for fear of a hostile meeting with any of their enemies, the Hamrans.

Sheik Said and his friend returned the following morning for their answer ; and we told them we had decided on going down the river, and not up. Shortly after wc had made our resolution known to them, they left. Very soon after their departure,