86 
TRAVELS IN AFEICA. Chap. LXXII. 
nate traveller, and was told that they were all 
scattered or made away with ; but I learned, to my 
great surprise, that there were letters for myself in 
A'zawdd, which had arrived from the east; and 
although these people were not able, or did not feel 
inclined, to give me full information about this matter, 
which was of so much interest to myself, the fact 
proved afterwards to be quite true ; but it was a long 
time before I got possession of those letters. 
Nature now looked more cheerful ; and, after the 
little rain that had fallen, spring seemed to have 
set in a second time, and the trees were putting forth 
young leaves. The river having now laid bare a con- 
siderable tract of grassy ground, the cattle again found 
their wonted pasture of rich nourishing ^' byrgu " on 
its banks, and were thus able to furnish their masters 
with a richer supply of milk. This was a great point 
towards hastening my departure, as the telamid (or 
pupils of the Sheikh) had reason to expect that they 
would not be starved on the road. The fact that the 
tribes which we had to pass on our road eastward 
were entirely without milk, which forms their chief 
support, had exercised some influence upon them. 
Meanwhile the turbulent state of the country grew 
worse and worse, since the Awelimmiden had shown 
such signs of weakness ; and the Tin-ger-egedesh were 
said to have fallen upon the tribe of the Taketakayen 
settled in A ribinda, and to have killed six of their num- 
ber. The chief, Somki, also made at the same time a 
sanguinary attack upon the Kel-hekikan ; and the state 
