Yasine had done every thing, on his part, to ſecure me a good reception from Fidele Shekh of Atbara. Every assurance possible had been given, and I had before travelled some thousand miles upon much ſighter promises, which had, however, been always faithfully kept; so that I did not at all suspect that any thing unfair could be intended me at Teawa, where Fidele resided. But as the loss of life was the consequence of being mistaken, I never did omit any means to double my ſecurity.
Mahomet Gibberti, as we have before observed, had already carried a letter of mine from Gondar to his master Metical Aga, Selictarto the Sherriffe of Mecca in Arabia, requesting that he would write to some man of consideration in Sennaar, and, taking it for granted that I was then arrived at Teawa, desire that a servant of the king might be sent to give me safe conduct from that frontier to the capital. Yasine had written to the ſame effect, directly to Sennaar, and sent a ſervant of his, who, for security sake, had nothing but the letter and an old ragged cloth about his waist; and he had long ago arrived at Sennaar, the before-named place of his deſtination.
Among the tribes of Arabs that were protected by Yasine, and furnished with pasture, water, and a market for their cattle, and milk and butter, at Ras el Feel, were the Daveina, by much the most powerful of all the Arabs in Atbara; but they ventured no further southward than Beyla, for fear of the troops of Sennaar.
he Shekh of Beyla was a man of very great character for courage and probity. His name was Mahomet; and I
