40 
TEAVELS IN CENTEAL AEEICA. 
This day, September V^thy we expected to reach Abu Hamad, and 
all of us were in high spirits. The camels had fresh life in them, 
knowing they were near water, and got on rapidly ; the men sang 
and danced, and, as we neared Abu Hamad, they commenced firing. 
At eleven o^ clock we were in sight of that place ; many came out 
to meet us. A rakuba or shed was prepared for our reception. 
The sheikh sent four sheep as a present, some fruit, and a large 
pitcher of merrissa (the beer of the country) . This was disagreeable 
upon first tasting it, it was so thick ; but in the course of a day or 
two we found it palatable. Two of the sheep were given to the- 
men, and a grand feast was made. They were partial to merrissa, and 
the consequences became very evident. In the afternoon a good- 
looking Arab youth came down to the river-side to bathe, and he 
selected a spot opposite to where I was resting in the shade. Mus- 
tapha, who was on guard, civilly asked him to move out of my 
sight. The boy, furious at the request, rushed upon him, drawing 
at the same time a knife which he wore suspended from his arm by 
a strap. There was a great outcry from our people. Petherick, who 
had been sleeping, sprang to his feet, and thrashed the boy soundly, 
who went howling away. Soon after, the sheikh came to apolo- 
gize for the behaviour of his son, for he was the offender, and to 
beg our acceptance of more fruit, &c. The following morning a 
hunter of PethericlPs, who had returned to his home near Abu 
Hamad, invalided from wounds received up the White Piver, came 
to greet us. He, too, had brought presents — fodder for the horses 
and a quantity of dates. He had much to relate, and my husband, 
acting always as interpreter, repeated verbatim his stories. I 
treasured them in my memory, and, without exaggeration, in my 
turn tell them. 
Early last year (1860) several traders from Khartoum, with their 
