- headed figures, probably formed the avenue of some
magnificent structure.
From thence they proceeded to Sheikh Ammor, the encampment of the Ababdé Arabs. Bruce had met with Ibrahim, the sheikh's son, at Furshoot; and now, upon his arrival, this young man came forth with twelve armed followers to meet him, and, conducting him into a tent, presented him to his father, Sheikh Nimmer, or the "Tiger Chief." The old man was ill, and Bruce's medical knowledge now enabled him, by allaying the sufferings of the sheikh, to acquire a powerful and a grateful friend. Observing the hospitable and friendly manner of Nimmer, our traveller said, "Now tell me, sheikh, and tell me truly upon the faith of an Arab,—would your people, if they met me in the desert, do me any wrong?"
The old man upon this rose from his carpet and sat upright, and a more ghastly and more horrid figure, says Bruce, I never saw. "No," he replied; "cursed be those of my people or others that ever shall lift up their hands against you, either in the deserts or the tell (the uncultivated land). As long as you are in this country, or between this and Kosseir, my son shall serve you with heart and hand. One night of pain from which your medicines have relieved me would not be repaid were I to follow you on foot to Misr" (Cairo).
They then discussed together the means of facilitating Bruce's entrance into Abyssinia, and, after much consideration, it was agreed that the most practicable route was by way of Kosseir and Jidda. The principal persons of the tribe then bound themselves by an oath not to molest or injure the traveller; but, on the contrary, in case he should ever require it, to protect him at the hazard of their lives. They would have extended their liberality still further, intending to present him with seven sheep, but these, as he was going among Turks who were
