THE SOURCE OF THE NILE. 619
all confiimcd, and likewife fome rice, if they had any. Uoon the Arab's firil delivering his mcffage the fathers treated him as an irapollor, declaring that they knew from good au- thority that I was drowned in the Red Sea, which another of them contradidled, being equally pofuive, from the fame good.^uthority, that my death had-happened from robbers in Abyffinia. The Barbarin {a ihrewd fellow) defired the fathers to obferve, that, if I had been drowned in the Red Sea, it was not poffible I could be flain by robbers on land two years afterwards ; therefore, as oi)e report was certainly falfe, both might be fo, and he allured them this was the cafe, and that I was at How ; but they laughed him to fcorn, and threatened to carry him to Shekh Hamam to puniflr him. The poor fellow anfwered very pertinently. If I had come in Yagoube's name for gold or fdver, then you might have diftrufted me ; but fure it is not v/orth my v/hile to hire a camel to come here from How, and go back again to cheat you out of two loaves of bread and a pound of rice, Vv^hich I never tailed myfelf till I was with Yagoube, who made us partake of every thing that he ate as long as it lafled, and failed with us when our meat was exhaufced." They con- tinued to allc him, where he had found me ? The fellow faid, At Ras el Feel ; and not being able to dcfcribe where that was, a frefli altercation began, in which it v/as con- cluded betwixt the two reverend difputants, that I had been drowned three years before in the Red Sea, and therefore all the flory of Ras el Feel muft be a lie.
It happened, as indeed was often the cafe in thcfe mat- ters, that my Greek fervant Michael had been more orovi- dent than I. He had thought fomethingof this kind might be poffible, and therefore had defircd the Barbarin, if fo it
4^2 happened,
