CiiAP. LXXXV. 
i'ggeba. 
435 
have been productive of the most serious conse- 
quences, if I had been attacked on the road, as both 
my horses became lame. 
Having prepared everything in the fore- Tuesday, 
noon, we set out on our lonely and dangerous '^^^^ 
journey with a fervent prayer, and after a march of 
a little less than two miles emerged from the valley, 
or henderi, through a rocky defile. We then gradu- 
ally ascended the higher level of the desert plain, 
and having made a stretch of about sixteen miles, 
we encamped. Having kept strict watch, as it was 
not improbable that some people might have followed 
us, we started again at an early hour, long before the 
dawn of day, and after a march of about thirteen 
miles reached Fggeba (Denham's Ikbar), a shal- 
low depression at the western foot of a mountain, 
clothed with some herbage and adorned with a rich 
profusion of dum-palms. The well here afforded a 
supply of the most delicious water. However, the 
locality was too unsafe for our small troop to make 
here a long stay, it being frequently visited by pre- 
datory expeditions. We therefore thought it pru- 
dent to start again in the afternoon along the western 
road, by way of Siggedim, which has been laid down 
very erroneously by the former expedition, they pro- 
bably not having taken the accurate distances and 
directions of this route, as they relied upon the direct 
track, which they had traced with accuracy. This 
road is called Nefasa seghira, " from a defile, or 
"thniye," which we crossed about two miles and a half 
r r 2 
