These sensible suggestions made a very strong impression on Yasine and me; Yasine's first position was, that Fidele was certainly afraid to disoblige him; but, allowing the possibility he was not, he owned he had not substituted any second measure to which I could trust. We all regretted that our friends the Daveina had been suffered to depart without taking me with them by Sim-Sim and Beyla; but it was now too late, as the Daveina had for some days arrived at the station the nearest Beyla and the farthest from us. It was then agreed, that Nile should send a relation of his, who was married to one of the tribes of Jehaina Arabs, encamped upon Jibbel Idriss near to Teawa, with whom Fidele was at that time making peace, lest they should burn the crop about the town. This man was not to enter the town of Teawa with me, but was to come there the next day, as if from his friends at Jibbel Idriss; and, if I then informed him there was danger, should return to the Jehaina, mount a hajan or dromedary, and give Yasine information with all possible speed. All this being now settled, I prepared for my journey, having first, by many observations by night and day, fixed the latitude of Hor-Cacamoot to be 13° 1´ 33´´ north. CHAP. IV. _From Hor-Cacamoot to Teawa, Capital of Atbara._ It was on the 17th of March that we set out from Hor-Caamoot on our journey to Teawa, capital of the province of Atbara. Our course was N. N. W. through thick brush-wood, with a few high trees; our companions being eleven naked men, with asses loaden with salt. We had several interruptions on the road. At three in the afternoon we encamped at Falaty, the east village of Ras el Feel, a little to the northward. A small mountain, immediately north from this village, the one end of which is thought to resemble the head of an elephant, gives the name to the village and the province[22]. This mountain stretches in a direction nearly north and south, as do the villages, and the small river when it has water, but it was now apparently dry. However, by digging pretty deep in the sand, the water filtering through the sides of the holes filled in a certain time with a putrid, ill-tasted, unwholesome beverage, which is all this miserable village has for its use. The people look sickly and ill-coloured. Falaty is three miles and a half distant from Hor-Cacamoot, its name interpreted is Poverty. On the 18th, at half after six in the morning we continued our journey through thick, and almost impenetrable woods full of thorns; and in two hours we came to the bed of a torrent, though in appearance dry, upon digging with our hands in the loose sand, we found great plenty of fresh water exceedingly well tasted, being sheltered by projecting rocks from the action of the sun. This is called Surf el Shekh. Here we filled our girbas, for there is very little good water to be found between this and Teawa.