THE SOURCE OF THE NILE 9 
reafon, they were the means Providence kindly ufed to fave 
my life in that flaughter-houfe of ftrangers. 
. Acumet’s father had been Naybe before, and, of courfe, 
the fovereignty, upon the prefent incumbent’s death, was to 
devolve on him. And what made this lefs invidious, the 
fons of the prefent Naybe had all been fwept away by the 
{mall-pox; fo that Achmet was really, at any rate, to be con- 
fidered.as his fon and fucceffor. Add to this, the Naybe had 
received a ftroke of the palfy, which deprived him of the ufe 
of one of his fides, and greatly impeded his activity, unlefs 
in his fchemes of doing ill; but I could not perceive, when 
- jatending mifchief, that he laboured under any infirmity. 
All this gave Achmet fovereign influence, and it was there- 
fore agreed the reft fhould be only fpectators, and that my 
fate fhould be left to him. | 3 
AcHMET was about twenty-five years of age, or perhaps 
younger; his ftature near five-feet four; he was feebly made, 
a little bent forward or ftooping, thin, long-faced, long-neck- 
ed; {mall,but tolerably well-limbed, agile and active enough 
in his motions, though of a figure by no means athletic ; 
he had a broad forehead, thick black eye-brows, black eyes, 
- an aquiline nofe, thin lips, and fine teeth; and, what is very 
rare in that country, and much defired,a thick curied beard. 
This man was known to be very brave in his perfon, bur 
exceedingly prone to anger. A near telation to the Bahar- 
_ nagafh having faid fomething impertinent to him while he 
was altering the pin of his tent, which his fervant had not 
placed to his mind, in a paffion he ftruck the Abyffinian 
with a wooden mallet, and killed him on the fpot and al- 
though this was in the Abyffinian territory, by getting 
Vou. IIL, | B nunbly 
