16 
SHIHAH. 
intelligence, and we at last were informed that one of them had 
been detained on the road by the chiefs, who, on hearing that we 
were in the town, declared their intention of deferring the attack 
•till we should have passed on to the Ras. With some difficulty we 
prevailed on the Baharnegash to retire, and then putting some ghee 
in our lamp, we lay down with our fire-arms at hand, and slept 
till day-break. Hadjee Hamed, at his own request, slept at the door 
of our room during the remainder of the night. 
" August 19. — We had another call to arras before our baggage 
was ready, upon which, we ascended, with the Baharnegash, a hill 
close by the house where we lodged, and which commanded a view 
of the country around. On this, as a strong post, the villagers had 
all assembled, to the number of thirty or forty, with their spears 
and shields, ready to defend it. Here and there we saw women and 
children driving in their cattle, and armed men on horseback on 
the look out, but no enemies made their appearance, except a few 
stragglers on the eminences at a distance. After some time we were 
finally told, that it was a false alarm, upon which we returned to 
our house, and prepared for our departure. As we were quitting 
the village, the Baharnegash and his son took leave of us, finding 
they could not get any more presents, and not choosing any longer 
to encounter the dangers and fatigue of the march. 
" The alarm had not extended far, as we found the inhabitants 
of the next village very peaceably at work in their fields. We 
crossed a plain, through which ran a brook shaded with shrubs, 
and bordered with many kinds of plants of exquisite beauty; after- 
wards, descending a rugged steep we entered a valley of rich 
pasture land, the grass of which was so plentifully mixed with 
