From the Cape to the Kamiesberg; and the Mouth of the Orange River. Return to the Cape...................... 199 CHAPTER I. BAYS OF HOWAKIL AND AMPHILA. SECOND VISIT TO TIGRE. HAVING recovered from the fatigue of my journey through the Great Desert of Nubia, I left Assouan, and sailed down the Nile to Keneh. Here I took leave for ever of Egypt, the country whose ancient architecture I had viewed with so much admiration; and of the Nile, whose course I had traced with such enthusiasm. My intention was to pursue the Tour of Africa, beginning at the part of its eastern coast, next to that I had already visited; and, for this purpose, I again crossed the desert from Keneh to Cossier. Great and small are relative terms. The desert, which on my first crossing it appeared of some magnitude, now shrunk to a trifle, on a comparison with that I had lately traversed: its marble mountains, however, continued to excite my admiration. At Cossier I embarked on the Red Sea. I am no sailor, nor do I attempt to write voyages; I shall therefore not trouble my reader with nautical terms; but merely inform him, that, sailing as near the African coast as was consistent with prudence, and not running upon rocks for the sake of trying whether I could get off them, I passed by Suakem and Dahalac, and anchored in Howakil Bay. Howakil Bay is in 15° I' north latitude. Here I landed on the island of the same name, and, with my attendants, I walked two miles over a flat plain, towards the village of Howakil. Our approach seemed to occasion great alarm among the inhabitants; but as I had one of their people with me, I dispatched him to the rest, to assure them we were friends. On hearing this, they stopped, and drew up in a line, with an old man in the centre. After the usual salutation of Salam Alicum, to which we returned Alicum Salam, we touched the hand of every man in company, each man kissing his own hand on withdrawing it. I had with me one of the Somauli, a tribe which inhabits the whole coast, from the straits of Bab el Mandeb to Cape Gardafui, and who are the merchants that convey the ivory, gold, and slaves to Arabia, and the manufactures of India to the interior of Africa. The Chief of Howakil now addressed himself to my Somauli, while both companies remained silent, opposite each other. "How do you do?" was the first question; the answer was, "Well." "Thanks be to God. The chief then said, Is all well?" the answer was, "Yes, all well." The chief then proceeded to ask, "Where are you from?" The Somauli said, "from Cosseir." "What news?" "Good news." "God be praised," said the chief. After this followed a series of questions respecting Cosseir, which my Somauli answered in order and in detail, not forgetting the present price of every article of merchandize. Silence at length prevailing, the Somauli asked the chief if he had done, and on being answered in the affirmative, he proposed in his turn the same |