6 
TEAVELS IN CENTEAL AFEICA. 
and subsequently in the interior upon our expedition to attempt 
a meeting with Captains Speke and Grant from Zanzibar^ on 
J!uly 23rd^ 1861^ we ealled'upon an old acquaintance^ Tald Hamid^ 
a brother of the chief of the Ababda tribe^ Sheikh Hussein Hhalifa_, 
at Darau^ in Upper Egypt. Sheikh Hamid could only furnish us 
with dongolauis — a breed of horses much admired by these Arabs 
for their graceful movements and the ease with which they are 
trained to step and dance to the tarabooka at their fetes ; but as I 
preferred the Egyptian breeds which^ although shorter_, are imbued 
with better qualities of endurance^ one of the numerous lookers-on 
recommended the Jaafra as able to supply me with the sort of 
animal required. 
The Jaafra^ whom^ with our informant^ we instantly proceeded 
to visit on the opposite and western side of the river^ inhabit 
several villages, of which Bimban is the principal one. They 
originated from the Soudan, and formed part of the Jallieen, 
inhabiting Shendy and its vicinity to Wadi Bishara, about half- 
way to Khartoum. The show of horses was considerable, but 
brood mares were the most numerous. From amongst the former 
I managed to secure an excellent five-year-old grey cob, whose 
sire was one of several thorough-bred Arab horses, the property of 
his late Highness Abbas Pacha, distributed in various parts of the 
country for the gratuitous amelioration of the Egyptian breed of 
horses. 
Our boat was made fast under the village of Subchaya, and not 
far from it was the house of our conductor, Saleh Wallad Omar 
Abt il Samad — according to his own account a keen sportsman, 
who, disdaining agricultural pursuits, supported himself and 
family by the produce of his gun and spear. Six years ago, in 
company with three of his fellow-villagers, he went to a small 
