2l6 HALT AT HAIKOTA.

started with them, none reached the coast. One died on the first or second day's march ; and the others we gave away, in hopes that they might pick up if given a further rest. Probably the two that had died from snake-bite " were the only two that had sufficiently recovered to be of much use, and had been appropriated by the sheik himself. We told him that we should require to hire some more camels to go to the coast ; and these he promised to get for us in a day or two.

The two following days we spent at Haikota, arranging for a start. We went out partridge shooting, but with indifferent success. When we left for the Settite, there had been plenty of grass about ; but, on our return, we found that for miles around, it was all eaten up, — every blade of it, — by the flocks and herds of the Arabs. In this, those of the Beni-Amers had been assisted by the animals of other tribes. And the sheik told us that he had lately been paid six hundred sheep as a tax by Sheik Moosa's people (the Hadendowa sheik) for allowing their sheep to graze on his land.

Achmed Ageer was most anxious to make friends with us again, and hung about the camp all day. He stated that he was sending Mahomet Salee off to Gedariff (a large place, some days' journey off, to the south-west) ; and the latter came to us one evening while we were at dinner, apparently in a great state of mind, and told us that he had only done what the sheik had told him to do, and begged us to take him with us to Massawa. We told him, however, that we could not forgive his duplicity ; and declined to have any thing further to do with him.

All the camel-drivers we had brought from Cassala, as well as the boys who had charge of the horses, declined to go any farther, and wanted to go home ; the only exception being En-noor, — a boy we had engaged at Cassala to help look