258 MOUNTAIN TORRENTS.

slave fashion, in single file, each with his neck in a heavy yoke made of the forked bough of a tree, and fastened together with ropes, rendering escape impossible.

We made a long march, and after ascending for a short distance from El Ayn came to an immense plain, stretching away on our right to the foot of the Abyssinian mountains, while to our left we could just perceive the sea. No halt was made until after dark, when we encamped about three miles before reaching Camphor, a considerable water-course, with a deep pool, where we indulged in the rare luxury of a swim. My brother shot a beisa antelope {oryx beisa), the first of its species we had met with ; it is decidedly rare in these parts, as we never heard of its existence in any other part of the Soudan through which we travelled ; it is common, I believe, in South Africa. Its horns are long and straight. From Camphor a messenger was sent on to Massawa with a note to the authorities there, telling them we were on our way, and begging them to detain the steamer until our arrival, if by chance one were just leaving port. We crossed many k/iors between Camphor and the coast, in some of which we found a small quantity of water in pools. During the rains, a great deal of water finds its way to the sea, from the Abyssinian mountains, by these channels ; and the rise is sometimes so sudden, that without any warning a dry bed may be suddenly transformed into a raging torrent, perhaps ten or twelve feet deep.

The previous winter two English travellers whom we met, came very near losing their luggage in this way. They had spent the night encamped half way down the bank of one of these khors ; and the following morning, while at breakfast, they perceived the torrent coming, and had only just time to save their effects ; in fact, they did not succeed in escaping alto-