58 THE START FROM CASSALA.

leaving ; but he excused himself, on the ground of being afraid of the night-air. Query: The nights being very warm, — from 80° to 85° Fahrenheit, — did he really dread them? or was it the fear of partaking of the flesh of swine, in some hidden form, that kept his excellency away ?

It was the 17th of January before we turned our backs on C.issala, and the mountain at the foot of which it lies : this mountain rises behind the town, and is a conspicuous object in the level plain for miles around. Its sides are so precipitous, that I doubt the possibility of getting to the summit. On the day of our start we received two or three papers dated London, Dec. 10 : they had arrived via the Nile and Khartoum. No mail had reached Cassala by the Red-sea route for over a month, and we expected it would be a long time before we received any news from the outside world. The governor gave us three soldiers ; and it was arranged that they were to go with us as far as Heikita, where we proposed making a zariba in which to deposit what baggage we wished to leave behind ; and they were to remain there to guard it. We had fully determined to take no soldiers with us beyond Heikita, even if (which was more than doubtful) the Bey would have given us any for that purpose ; for we knew well, from former experience, that nothing paralyzed one's movements so much as soldiers when attempting to go off the ordinary beaten track. As a rule, they are a lazy, idle, good-for-nothing set, ever quarrelling with one's camel-drivers, and greatly hated and dreaded by the independent Arabs of the country ; and no wonder, for the soldiers are perpetually bullying them, and * A zariba is a hedge formed of the prickly trees of the country, and is intended for a protection against wild beasts and men, should there be any of hostile intent lurking about at night.