114 Darwin- Wallace Celebration. 



" by a multitude of horsemen, the bones o its inhabitants 

 " scattered upon the earth would be all its remains, like 

 " those of the miserable village of Garigana." * 



"There is no water between Teawa and Beyla. Once 

 " Indedidema and a number of villages were supplied with 

 "water from wells, and had large crops of Indian corn 

 " sown about their possessions. The curse of that country, 

 "the Daveina Arabs, have destroyed Indedidema and all 

 " the villages about it ; filled up their wells, burnt their 

 "crops, and exposed all the inhabitants to die by famine/' f 



Soon after leaving Sennaar, he says : " We began to 

 "see the effects of rain having failed. There was little 

 "corn sown, and that so late as to be scarcely above ground. 

 "It seems the rain begins later as they pass northward. 

 " Many people were here employed in gathering grass-seeds 

 " to make a very bad kind of bread. These people appear 

 " perfect skeletons, and no wonder, as they live upon such 

 "fare. Nothing increases the danger of travelling and 

 " prejudice against strangers more, than the scarcity of 

 "provisions in the country through which you are to 

 " pass." J 



" Came to Eltic, a straggling village about half a mile 

 " from the Nile, in the North of a large bare plain ; all 

 " pasture, except the banks of the river which are 

 " covered with wood. We now no longer saw any corn 

 " sown. The people here were at the same miserable 

 " employment as those we had seen before, that of gathering 

 " grass-seeds." 



Under such circumstances of climate and political situation, 

 though a greater degree of foresight, industry and security, 

 might considerably better their condition and increase their 

 population, the birth of a greater number of children 

 without these concomitants would only aggravate their 

 misery, and leave their population where it was. 



The same may be said of the once flourishing and populous 

 country of Egypt. Its present depressed state has not been 

 caused by the weakening of the principle of increase, but 

 by the weakening of the principle of industry and foresight, 

 from the insecurity of property consequent on a most 

 tyrannical and oppressive government. The principle 

 of increase in Egypt at present does all that it is possible 

 for it to do. It keeps the population fully up to the 



* Bruce, vol. iv. p. 353. t Id. p. 411. 



J Id. p. 511. Id. p. 611. 



