42 FIRST INTERVIEW WITH FELATAHS. 



have proceeded, had there been a supply of 

 wood ready for us at certain towns ! 



The Felatah collector whom we met at Egga 

 had also been here for the taxes. This man was 

 charged by Mr. Lander with a copy of the New 

 Testament in the Saharic Language to the King 

 of Rabbah, and to inform him that the white men 

 were on their way up the river. 



At Egga, for the first time, we met with Fe- 

 latahs. I saw four of them there, wearing white 

 turbans, like the Tuaricks. The turbans were 

 passed round the head, concealing a small skull- 

 cap : the two folds of the turban carefully co- 

 vered the mouth and nose, leaving only the eyes 

 visible, which, with their darkened eyelids from 

 the application of antimony, gave them a strange 

 appearance. They appeared to be a shrewd 

 kind of people, asked several questions of us, 

 and among the rest, the motives of our coming 

 up the river, and if we intended to visit the King 

 of Rabbah. On being shown the large gun, they 

 cast their eyes up, exclaiming, ''Allah, Allah!" 

 Many of their people, as far as I could under- 

 stand them, are a shade or two lighter than the 

 generality of the natives. 



A short time ago, an elephant was killed at 



