66 LIFE WITH THE HAMRAN ARABS. 



an expression of satisfaction, placed in the bosom. These 

 performances ought to have been very gratifying to us, 

 but their effect was a little spoilt on our learning later 

 in the day that there was not an individual in the village, 

 the Sheik included, who could read or write Arabic. 

 The next performance was the purchase of horses, or 

 rather ponies, and about twenty were brought for our 

 inspection, and each put through his paces in turn with 

 an excited Arab on his back. Our choice having fallen 

 on one, the saddle was taken off for further inspection, 

 and then were exposed to view two such horrible sores 

 that it would have been kind to shoot the poor creature 

 without loss of time. Hardly any of them were free 

 from sores, but we managed to pick out five tolerably 

 sound, and averaging about 5/. IDS. apiece. 



Twenty camels had then to be engaged, and here arose 

 a difficulty, for the Sheik demanded twelve dollars per 

 month for each, whereas our Kassala men had previously 

 offered to come for four dollars. The Sheik, however, is 

 all-powerful here, and after seeing him they would come 

 to no terms without his approval, and finally we reduced 

 his demand to eight dollars. Baker, in his ' Nile Tribu- 

 taries of Abyssinia,' mentions that the people at the 

 time of his visit to them were glad to engage themselves 

 with their camels at one and a half dollars per month ; 

 and when we told the Sheik this, he replied, ' Yes, that 

 was twelve years ago, in my father's time, when Euro- 



