Chap. XL. INTERVIEW WITH 'OMA'B. 
69 
under great obligations towards the English. 'Omar 
ben Ghet ben Sef e' Nasr acknowledged all this ; but he 
doubted very much if the band, in its present reduced 
state, would be able to carry us to those quarters, which 
were entirely under the sway of Waday. The Bahar 
el Ghazal having given an opportunity of speaking 
about the river-system between the Tsad and the 
Nile, our friend came forward with a most confused 
statement, which it would not be worth while to ex- 
plain. But with regard to that large wadi itself we 
found that he, as well as the experienced men among 
these Arabs, asserted that it took its course not to- 
wards, but from the lake. 
We then took our leave of 'Omar, and returned to 
our tents. The place of the encampment was a 
fine, open, sandy, undulating level, commanding the 
vale, where are the wells Yongo or Bu-Halima, 
covered with verdure, and richly adorned with scat- 
tered mimosas. The tents and sheds of the Arabs 
were spread over a great space ; and no precaution 
was taken to obtain some degree of security by 
means of fences and stockades. The sun having set, 
I lay down outside my tent to enjoy the coolness 
and tranquillity of the evening after a hot and 
troublesome day. 
All seemed calm and tranquil, when suddenly a 
terrible screaming and crying arose from the women 
in the west part of the encampment. We hurried 
to our arms, thinking that an enemy had entered 
F 3 
