The women had come to the door. My servants were admitted, each having a blunderbuss in his hand and pistols at his girdle. We were now greatly an overmatch for the Shekh, who sat far back on the sofa, and pretended that all he had done was in joke, in which his servants joined, and a very confused, desultory discourse followed, till the Turk, sherriffe Ismael, happened to observe the Shekh's scabbard of his sword thrown upon the floor, on which he fell into a violent fit of laughter. He spoke very bad Arabic, mixed with Turkish, as I have often observed. He endeavoured to make the Shekh understand, that drunkards and cowards had more need of the scabbard than the sword; that he, Fidele, and the other drunkard that came to our house two or three nights before, who said he was Shekh of the Jehaina, were just possessed of the same portion of courage and insolence. As no good could be expected from this expostulation, I stopt it, and took my leave, desiring the Shekh to go to bed and compose himself, and not try any more of these experiments, which would certainly end in his shame, if not in his punishment. He made no answer, only wished us good night. CHAP. VI. _Transactions at Teawa continued--A Moullah and Sherriffe arrive from Beyla--News from Ras el Feel and Sennaar--An Eclipse of the Moon--Leave Teawa._ We went to the door, through the several apartments, very much upon our guard, for there was no person to light us out, and we were afraid of some treachery or ambush in the anti-chamber and dark passages; but we met nobody; and were, even at the outer gate, obliged to open the door ourselves. Without the gate there were about twenty people gathered together, but none of them with arms; and, by the half words and expressions they made use of, we could judge they were not the Shekh's friends. They followed us for a little, but dispersed before we arrived at our house. Soliman, my servant, told me by the way, that the Moullah was arrived, and that the Shekh of Beyla's servant, who had come with him, had been at my house ever since I went to Fidele's. Accordingly we found him still there, and explained to him what had happened, and the great distress we had been in from the Moullah's not arriving sooner, as also from receiving no message either from Sennaar or Ras el Feel. He told us, the reason of our servants not joining us was the false information his master the Shekh of Beyla had received from Fidele; that we were coming by the Dender, and not by Teawa, as already mentioned. He now advised us to come up, and shew ourselves in the morning to the Moullah, who would be sitting with Shekh Fidele, administering justice; but to take no particular notice of him, and only observe to what his discourse pointed, and he would bring us word if any thing more was necessary.