THE SOURCE OF THE NILE. 311 



-lliatall refolved itfelf into mirth and joke. What added to the 

 merriment was, that the meiTengers from the Iteghe brought 

 a lai-ge increafe to our Hock of brandy ; but brought alfo 

 pofitive orders, both from her and the king, to Ozoro Eilher, 

 to determine me, by all poiTible means, to return to Gondar, 

 or elfe to repair thither inftantly herfelf. 



The evening of the day whereon we fet out to hunt, 

 fome men arrived from Ras el Feel, fent by Yafine, with 

 camels for our baggage, nothing but mules being ufed at 

 Tcherkin. They brought word, that the Shangalla were 

 down near the Tacazze, fo that now was the time to pafs 

 without fear ; that Abd el Jeleel, the former Shum of Ras el 

 Feel, Yafme's mortal enemy, had been feen lurking in the 

 country near Sancaho ; but as he had only four men, and 

 was hirafelf a known coward, it was not probable he would 

 attempt any thing againil us, though it would be always 

 better that we keep on our guard,. 



Tcherkin has a market on Saturdays, in which raw cot- 

 ton, cattle, honey, and coarfe cotton cloths are fold. 1 he 

 Shangalla formerly moleiled Tcherkin greatly, but for thir- 

 ty years pad they had done little damage. The fmall-pox 

 j-aged fo violently for a nimiber of years among them, that 

 it has greatly diminiflied their numbers, and confequently 

 their power of troubling their neighbours. Ac Tcherkin 

 we faw a prodigious quantity of black fcorpions, of a very 

 fmall kind, feldom in the houfes, but chiefly hid under 

 ilones ; feveral of our people were flung by them, but no 

 other mifchief followed, but a fmall fwelllng, and a com- 

 plaint of cold in the part, which went away in a few 

 hours. 



From 



