OUT OF EGYPT.
The river had begun to rise before they left Thebes, and although it
had not yet reached its highest point, a great volume of water was
pouring down; and the boatmen assured Jethro that they would be able
to ascend the cataract without difficulty, whereas when the Nile was
low there was often great danger in passing, and at times indeed no
boats could make the passage. Ten men were engaged in addition to the
crew to take the boats up beyond the rapids.
But although assured that there was no danger, the girls declared that
they would rather walk along the bank, for the hurry and rush of the
mighty flood, rising sometimes in short angry waves, were certainly
trying to the nerves. Jethro and the lads of course accompanied them,
and sometimes seized the rope and added their weight when the force of
the stream brought the men towing to a standstill and seemed as if it
would, in spite of their efforts, tear the boat from their grasp. At
last the top of the rapids was gained, and they were glad to take
their places again in the boat as she floated on the quiet water. So a
month passed--sometimes taken along by favorable winds, at others
being towed along quiet waters close to the shore, at others battling
with the furious rapids. They found that the cataract they had first
passed was as nothing to those higher up. Here the whole cargo had to
be unloaded and carried up to the top of the rapids, and it needed
some forty men to drag the empty boat through the turmoil of waters,
while often the slightest error on the part of the helmsman would have
caused the boat to be dashed to pieces on the great rocks rising in
the midst of the channel. But before arriving at the second cataract
they had tarried for several days at Ibsciak, the city to which their
crew belonged.
They had passed many temples and towns during the hundred and eighty
miles of journey between Syene and this place, but this was the
largest of them. Here two great grotto temples were in course of
construction, the one dedicated to the gods Amun and Phre, and built
at the expense of Rameses himself, the other dedicated to Athor by
Lofreai, the queen. On these temples were engraved the records of the
victories of Rameses over various nations of Africa and Asia.
Jethro offered, if the boatmen wished to make a longer stay here, that
he would charter another boat to take them further; but they declared
their willingness to proceed at the end of a week after their arrival,
being well satisfied with their engagement and treatment. After
passing the second cataract they arrived at another large town named
Behni.[B] This was a very large city and abounded with temples and
public buildings. The largest temple was dedicated to Thoth. All along
the river a belt of cultivated land extended for some miles back from
the bank. This was dotted with numerous villages, and there was no
difficulty whatever in obtaining food of all kinds.
[B] Now Wady-Halfa.
At last they reached Semneh, the point to which the boatmen had agreed
to take them. This was the furthest boundary to which at that time the
Egyptian power extended. The river here took a great bend to the
east, then flowing south and afterward again west, forming a great
loop. This could be avoided by cutting across the desert to Merawe, a
flourishing town which marked the northern limit of the power of
Meroe, the desert forming a convenient neutral ground between the two
kingdoms. Sometimes Egypt under a powerful king carried her arms much
further to the south, at other times a warlike monarch of Meroe would
push back the Egyptian frontier almost to Syene; but as a rule the
Nile as far south as Semneh was regarded as belonging to Egypt.
The traders arriving at Semneh generally waited until a sufficient
number were gathered together to form a strong caravan for mutual
protection against the natives inhabiting the desert, who held
themselves independent alike of Egypt and of Meroe, and attacked and
plundered parties crossing the desert, unless these were so strong and
well armed as to be able to set them at defiance. Erecting two tents
and landing their goods and merchandise, Jethro and his party encamped
near the river bank. They had not yet settled whether they would cross
the desert or continue their journey by water.
The choice between the two routes was open to them; for although the
traders usually crossed the desert, taking with them their lighter and
more valuable merchandise, the heavier goods made the long detour in
boats, going up in large flotillas, both for protection against the
natives and for mutual aid in ascending the rapids which had to be
encountered. There was no difficulty in hiring another boat, for it
was the universal rule to make a transshipment here, as the Egyptian
boatmen were unwilling to enter Meroe. The transport beyond this
point, therefore, was in the hands of the people of this country.
In consultation with the traders gathered at Semneh Jethro learned
that it was by no means necessary to proceed up the river to the city
of Meroe[C] and thence eastward through Axoum, the capital of
Abyssinia, to the sea, but that a far shorter road existed from the
easternmost point of the bend of the river direct to the sea. There
were, indeed, several large Egyptian towns upon the Red Sea, and from
these a flourishing trade was carried on with Meroe and Abyssinia; and
the first merchant to whom Jethro spoke was much surprised to find
that he was in ignorance of the existence of the route he had
described.
[C] Now Khartoum.
The journey, although toilsome, was said to be no more so than that
from Meroe through Axoum, while the distance to be traversed was small
in comparison. After much consultation it was therefore agreed that
the best plan was to dispose of the merchandise that they had brought
with them to one of the traders about to proceed south, retaining
only sufficient for the payment of the men whom it would be necessary
to take with them for protection on their journey. Jethro had no
difficulty in doing this, alleging as his reason for parting with his
goods that he found that the expenses to Meroe would greatly exceed
the sum he had calculated upon, and that therefore he had determined
to proceed no further. As they thought it best to allow six months
from the date of their departure from Thebes to elapse before they
entered any large Egyptian town, they remained for nearly two months
at Semneh, and then finding that a flotilla of boats was ready to
ascend the river, they made an arrangement with some boatmen for the
hire of their craft to the point where they were to leave the river
and again set out on their journey.
The difficulties of the journey were very great. After traveling for
some sixty miles they came to rapids more dangerous than any they had
passed, and it took the flotilla more than a fortnight passing up
them, only four or five boats being taken up each day by the united
labors of the whole of the crews. There was great satisfaction when
the last boat had been taken up the rapids, and there was a general
feast that evening among the boatmen. During the whole time they had
been engaged in the passage a number of armed scouts had been placed
upon the rocky eminences near the bank; for the place had an evil
reputation, and attacks were frequently made by the desert tribesmen
upon those passing up or down upon the river.
So far no signs of the presence of hostile natives had been perceived.
The usual precautions, however, had been taken; the cargoes had all
been carried up by hand and deposited so as to form a breastwork, and
as night closed in several sentries were placed to guard against
surprise. It had been arranged that the men belonging to the boats
each day brought up should that night take sentinel duty; and this
evening Jethro, his companions and boatmen were among those on guard.
Many of the boats had left Semneh before them, and they had been among
the last to arrive at the foot of the cataracts, and consequently came
up in the last batch.
As owners they had been exempt from the labors of dragging up the
boats, and had spent much of their time during the enforced delay in
hunting. They had obtained dogs and guides from the village at the
foot of the cataracts and had had good sport among the ibex which
abounded in the rocky hills. The girls had seldom left their cabin
after leaving Semneh. There was nothing remarkable in the presence of
women in a boat going so far up the river, as many of the traders
took their wives on their journeys with them. When, however, they
journeyed beyond Semneh they left them there until their return, the
danger and hardships of the desert journey being too great for them to
encounter, and it was therefore thought advisable that the girls
should remain in seclusion.
Jethro, Amuba, and Chebron were standing together at one of the angles
of the encampment when the former suddenly exclaimed:
“There are men or animals moving on that steep hill opposite! I
thought several times I heard the sound of stones being displaced. I
certainly heard them then.” Then turning round he raised his voice: “I
can hear sounds on the hill. It were best that all stood to their arms
and prepare to resist an attack.”
In an instant the sound of song and laughter ceased amid the groups
assembled round the fires and each man seized his arms. There was a
sharp ringing sound close to Jethro, and stooping he picked up an
arrow which had fallen close to him.
“It is an enemy!” he shouted. “Draw up close to the breastwork and
prepare to receive them. Scatter the fires at once and extinguish the
blazing brands. They can see us, while themselves invisible.”
As he spoke a loud and terrible yell rose from the hillside and a
shower of arrows was poured into the encampment. Several men fell, but
Jethro’s orders were carried out and the fires promptly extinguished.
“Stoop down behind the breastwork,” Jethro shouted, “until they are
near enough for you to take aim. Have your spears ready to check their
onslaught when they charge.”
Although Jethro held no position entitling him to command, his orders
were as promptly obeyed as if he had been in authority. The men
recognized at once, by the calmness of his tones, that he was
accustomed to warfare, and readily yielded to him obedience. In a
minute or two a crowd of figures could be seen approaching, and the
Egyptians, leaping to their feet, poured in a volley of arrows. The
yells and screams which broke forth testified to the execution wrought
in the ranks of the enemy, but without a check they still rushed
forward. The Egyptians discharged their arrows as fast as they could
during the few moments left them, and then, as the natives rushed at
the breastwork, they threw down their bows, and, grasping the spears,
maces, swords, axes, or staves with which they were armed, boldly met
the foe.
For a few minutes the contest was doubtful, but encouraged by the
shouts of Jethro, whose voice could be heard above the yells of the
natives, the Egyptians defended their position with vigor and courage.
As fast as the natives climbed over the low breastwork of merchandise
they were either speared or cut down, and after ten minutes’ fierce
fighting their attack ceased as suddenly as it had begun, and as if by
magic a dead silence succeeded the din of battle.
“You have done well comrades,” Jethro said, “and defeated our
assailants; but we had best stand to arms for awhile, for they may
return. I do not think they will, for they have found us stronger and
better prepared for them than they had expected. Still, as we do not
know their ways, it were best to remain on our guard.”
An hour later, as nothing had been heard of the enemy, the fires were
relighted and the wounded attended to. Sixteen men had been shot dead
by the arrows of the assailants and some fifty were more or less
severely wounded by the same missiles, while eighteen had fallen in
the hand-to-hand contest at the breastwork. Thirty-seven natives were
found dead inside the breastwork. How many had fallen before the
arrows of the defenders the latter never knew, for it was found in the
morning that the natives had carried off their killed and wounded who
fell outside the inclosure. As soon as the fighting was over Chebron
ran down to the boat to allay the fears of the girls and assure them
that none of their party had received a serious wound, Jethro alone
having been hurt by a spear thrust, which, however, glanced off his
ribs, inflicting only a flesh wound, which he treated as of no
consequence whatever.
“Why did not Amuba come down with you?” Mysa asked. “Are you sure that
he escaped without injury?”
“I can assure you that he has not been touched, Mysa; but we are still
on guard, for it is possible that the enemy may return again, although
we hope that the lesson has been sufficient for them.”
“Were you frightened, Chebron?”
“I felt a little nervous as they were coming on, but when it came to
hand-to-hand fighting I was too excited to think anything about the
danger. Besides, I was standing between Jethro and Amuba, and they
have fought in great battles, and seemed so quiet and cool that I
could scarcely feel otherwise. Jethro took the command of everyone,
and the rest obeyed him without question. But now I must go back to my
post. Jethro told me to slip away to tell you that we were all safe,
but I should not like not to be in my place if they attack again.”
“I have often wondered, Ruth,” Mysa said when Chebron had left them,
“what we should have done if it had not been for Jethro and Amuba. If
it had not been for them I should have been obliged to marry Plexo,
and Chebron would have been caught and killed at Thebes. They arrange
everything, and do not seem afraid in the slightest.”
“I think your brother is brave, too,” Ruth said; “and they always
consult with him about their plans.”
“Yes; but it is all their doing,” Mysa replied. “Chebron, before they
came, thought of nothing but reading, and was gentle and quiet. I
heard one of the slaves say to another that he was more like a girl
than a boy; but being with Amuba has quite altered him. Of course, he
is not as strong as Amuba, but he can walk and run and shoot an arrow
and shoot a javelin at a mark almost as well as Amuba can; still he
has not so much spirit. I think Amuba always speaks decidedly, while
Chebron hesitates to give an opinion.”
“But your brother has a great deal more learning than Amuba, and so
his opinion ought to be worth more, Mysa.”
“Oh, yes, if it were about history or science; for anything of that
sort of course it would, Ruth, but not about other things. Of course,
it is natural that they should be different, because Amuba is the son
of a king.”
“The son of a king?” Ruth repeated in surprise.
“Yes, I heard it when he first came; only father said it was not to be
mentioned, because if it were known he would be taken away from us and
kept as a royal slave at the palace. But he is really the son of a
king, and as his father is dead he will be king himself when he gets
back to his own country.”
“And Jethro is one of the same people, is he not?” Ruth asked.
“Oh, yes! they are both Rebu. I think Jethro was one of the king’s
warriors.”
“That accounts,” Ruth said, “for what has often puzzled me. Jethro is
much the oldest of our party, and altogether the leader, and yet I
have observed that he always speaks to Amuba as if the latter were the
chief.”
“I have not noticed that,” Mysa said, shaking her head; “but I do
know, now you mention it, that he always asked Amuba’s opinion before
giving his own.”
“I have constantly noticed it, Mysa, and I wondered that since he and
Amuba were your father’s slaves he should always consult Amuba instead
of your brother; but I understand now. That accounts, too, for Amuba
giving his opinion so decidedly. Of course, in his own country, Amuba
was accustomed to have his own way. I am glad of that, for I like
Amuba very much, and it vexed me sometimes to see him settling things
when Jethro is so much older. And you think if he ever gets back to
his own country he will be king?”
“I am not sure,” Mysa said doubtfully. “Of course, he ought to be. I
suppose there is some other king now, and he might not like to give up
to Amuba.”
“I don’t suppose we shall ever get there,” Ruth said. “Amuba said the
other day that this country lay a great distance further than the land
my people came from a long time ago.”
“But that is not so very far, Ruth. You said that the caravans went in
six or seven days from that part of Egypt where you dwelt to the east
of the Great Sea where your fathers came from.”
“But we are a long way from there, Mysa.”
“But if it is only six or seven days’ journey why did not your people
go back again, Ruth?”
“They always hoped to go back some day, Mysa; but I don’t think your
people would have let them go. You see, they made them useful for
building and cutting canals and other work. Besides, other people
dwell now in the land they came from, and these would not turn out
unless they were beaten in battle. My people are not accustomed to
fight; besides, they have stopped so long that they have become as the
Egyptians. For the most part they talk your language, although some
have also preserved the knowledge of their own tongue. They worship
your gods, and if they were not forced to labor against their will I
think now that most of them would prefer to live in ease and plenty in
Egypt rather than journey into a strange country, of which they know
nothing except that their forefathers hundreds of years ago came
thence. But here are the others,” she broke off as the boat heeled
suddenly over as some one sprang on board. “Now we shall hear more
about the fighting.”
The next day the journey was continued, and without further adventure
the flotilla arrived at last at the town where the party would leave
the river and strike for the coast. Having unloaded their goods and
discharged the boat, Jethro hired a small house until arrangements
were made for their journey to the seacoast. El Makrif[D] was a place
of no great importance. A certain amount of trade was carried on with
the coast, but most of the merchants trading with Meroe preferred the
longer but safer route through Axoum. Still parties of travelers
passed up and down and took boat there for Meroe; but there was an
absence of the temples and great buildings which had distinguished
every town they had passed between Thebes and Semneh.
[D] Now called Berber.
Jethro upon inquiry found that there were wells at the camping-places
along the whole route. The people were wild and savage, the Egyptian
power extending only from the seashore to the foot of the hills, some
fifteen miles away. Occasionally expeditions were got up to punish the
tribesmen for their raids upon the cultivated land of the coast, but
it was seldom that the troops could come upon them, for, knowing every
foot of the mountains, these eluded all search by their heavy-armed
adversaries. Jethro found that the custom was for merchants traveling
across this country to pay a fixed sum in goods for the right of
passage. There were two chiefs claiming jurisdiction over the road,
and a messenger was at once dispatched to the nearest of these with
the offer of the usual payment and a request for an escort.
A week later four wild-looking figures presented themselves at the
house and stated that they were ready to conduct the travelers through
their chief’s territory. Jethro had already made arrangements with the
head man of the place to furnish him with twelve men to carry
provisions necessary for the journey, and upon the following morning
the party started, and Mysa and Ruth assumed the garb of boys, Jethro
finding that although traders might bring up the ladies of their
family to Semneh, or even take them higher up the river in boats, they
would never think of exposing them to the fatigue of a journey across
the mountains, and that the arrival of two girls at the Egyptian town
on the sea would therefore assuredly attract remark, and possibly
inquiry, on the part of the authorities.
For the first few hours the girls enjoyed the change of traveling
after the long confinement on the boat, but long before nightfall they
longed for the snug cushions and easy life they had left behind. The
bearers, heavy laden as they were, proceeded at a steady pace that
taxed the strength of the girls to keep up with after the first few
miles were passed. The heat of the sun was intense. The country after
a short distance had been passed became barren and desolate. They did
not suffer from thirst, for an ample supply of fruit was carried by
one of the bearers, but their limbs ached, and their feet, unused to
walking, became tender and painful.
“Can we not stop for awhile, Jethro?” Mysa asked beseechingly.
Jethro shook his head.
“We must keep on to the wells. They are two hours further yet. They
told us at starting that the first day’s journey was six hours’ steady
walking.”
Mysa was about to say that she could walk no further, when Ruth
whispered in her ear:
“We must not give way, Mysa. You know we promised that if they would
take us with them, we would go through all difficulties and dangers
without complaining.”
The admonition had its effect. Mysa felt ashamed that she had been on
the point of giving way on the very first day of their starting on
their real journey, and struggled bravely on; but both girls were
utterly exhausted by the time they arrived at the wells. They felt
rewarded, however, for their sufferings by the hearty commendation
Jethro bestowed upon them.
“You have held on most bravely,” he said; “for I could see you were
terribly fatigued. I am afraid you will find it very hard work just at
first, but after that it will be more easy to you. To-morrow’s journey
is a shorter one.”
It was well that it was so, for the girls were limping even at the
start, and needed the assistance of Jethro and the boys to reach the
next halting-place; and as soon as the tent, which was separated into
two parts by hangings, was erected, they dropped upon their cushions,
feeling that they could never get through another day’s suffering like
that they had just passed.
Jethro saw that this was so, and told their escort that he must halt
next day, for that his young sons had been so long in the boat that
the fatigue had quite overcome them; he accompanied the intimation
with a present to each of the four men.
They offered no objections, while the porters, who were paid by the
day, were well contented with the halt.
The day’s rest greatly benefited the girls, but it was not long enough
to be of any utility to their feet; these, however, they wrapped in
bandages, and started in good spirits when the porters took up the
loads. They were now following the course of what in wet weather was a
stream in the mountains. Sometimes the hills on either side receded a
little; at others they rose almost perpendicularly on either side of
the stream, and they had to pick their way among great bowlders and
rocks. This sort of walking, however, tired the girls less than
progressing along a level. Their feet were painful, but the soft
bandages in which they were enveloped hurt them far less than the
sandals in which they had at first walked, and they arrived at the
halting-place in much better condition than on the previous occasions.
“The worst is over now,” Jethro said to them encouragingly. “You will
find each day’s work come easier to you. You have stood it far better
than I expected; and I feel more hopeful now that we shall reach the
end of our journey in safety than I have done since the evening when I
first agreed to take you with us.”
While passing through some of the ravines the party had been greatly
amused by the antics of troops of apes. Sometimes these sat tranquilly
on the hillside, the elder gravely surveying the little caravan, the
younger frisking about perfectly unconcerned. Sometimes they would
accompany them for a considerable distance, making their way along the
rough stones of the hillside at a deliberate pace, but yet keeping up
with the footmen below.
As the ape was a sacred animal in Egypt, Mysa was gladdened by their
sight, and considered it a good omen for the success of their journey.
The men who escorted them told them that if undisturbed the apes never
attack travelers, but if molested they would at once attack in a body
with such fury that even four or five travelers together would have
but little chance of escape with their lives. During the first week’s
journey they saw no other animals; although at night they heard the
cries of hyenas, who often came close up to the encampment, and once
or twice a deep roar which their guide told them was that of a lion.
On the seventh day, however, soon after they had started upon their
march, the sound of breaking branches was heard among some trees a
short distance up the hillside, and immediately afterward the heads of
four or five great beasts could be seen above the mimosa bushes which
extended from the wood to the bottom of the hill. The bearers gave a
cry of terror, and throwing down their loads took to their heels. The
four men of the escort stood irresolute. Although none of Jethro’s
party had ever before seen an elephant, they knew from pictures and
carvings, and from the great statues in the Island of Elephanta, what
these great creatures were.
“Will they attack us?” Jethro asked the men.
“They do not often do so,” one of them replied; “although at times
they come down and waste the fields round villages, and will sometimes
slay any they come across. But it is best to get out of their way.”
Jethro pointed out a few of the more valuable packages, and taking
these up they entered the bushes on the other slope of the hill and
made their way among them as far as they could. This was, however, but
a short distance, for they were full of sharp thorns and offered
terrible obstacles to passage. All of the party received severe
scratches, and their garments suffered much, in making their way but
twenty yards into the bush.
“That will do,” Jethro said. “We shall be torn to pieces if we go
further; and we are as much concealed from sight here as we should be
another hundred yards further. I will see what they are doing.”
Standing up and looking cautiously through the screen of feathery
leaves, Jethro saw that the elephants were standing immovable. Their
great ears were erected and their trunks outstretched as if scenting
the air. After two or three minutes hesitation they continued to
descend the hill.
“Are they afraid of man?” Jethro asked one of the escort.
“Sometimes they are seized with a panic and fly at the approach of a
human being; but if attacked they will charge any number without
hesitation.”
“Do you ever hunt them?”
“Sometimes; but always with a great number of men. It is useless to
shoot arrows at them; the only way is to crawl out behind and cut the
back sinews of their legs. It needs a strong man and a sharp sword,
but it can be done. Then they are helpless, but even then it is a long
work to dispatch them. Generally we drive them from our villages by
lighting great fires and making noises. Solitary elephants are more
dangerous than a herd. I have known one of them kill a dozen men,
seizing some in his trunk and throwing them in the air as high as the
top of a lofty tree, dashing others to the ground and kneeling upon
them until every bone is crushed to pieces.”
The elephants had now reached the bottom of the valley, and the chief
of the escort held up his hand for perfect silence. All were prepared
to fight if the elephants pursued them into the bushes, for further
retreat was impossible. Amuba and Chebron had fitted their arrows into
the bowstrings and loosened their swords in the scabbards. The four
natives had drawn the short heavy swords they carried, while Jethro
grasped the ax that was his favorite weapon. “Remember,” he had
whispered to the boys, “the back sinews of the legs are the only
useful point to aim at; if they advance, separate, and if they make
toward the girls try to get behind them and hamstring them.”
There was a long pause of expectation. The elephants could be heard
making a low snorting noise with their trunks; and Jethro at last
raised himself sufficiently to look through the bushes at what was
going on. The elephants were examining the bundles that had been
thrown down.
“I believe that they are eating up our food,” he whispered as he sat
down again.
Half an hour elapsed, and then there was a sound of breaking the
bushes. Jethro again looked out.
“Thank the gods!” he exclaimed, “they are going off again.”
Trampling down the mimosa thicket as if it had been grass, the
elephants ascended the opposite hill and at last re-entered the wood
from which they had first emerged. The fugitives waited for a quarter
of an hour and then made their way out again from the thicket, Jethro
cutting a path with his ax through the thorns. An exclamation of
surprise broke from them as they gained the open ground. The whole of
their stores were tossed about in the wildest confusion. Everyone of
the packages had been opened. Tents, garments, and carpets hung upon
the bushes as if the animals had tossed them contemptuously there as
being unfit to eat. Everything eatable had disappeared. The fruit,
grain, and vegetables had been completely cleared up. The skins of
wine were bursted; but the contents had been apparently appreciated,
for none remained in the hollows of the rocks.
“What greedy creatures!” Mysa exclaimed indignantly; “they have not
left us a single thing.”
“They do not often get a chance of such dainty feeding,” Amuba said.
“I don’t think we ought to blame them, especially as they do not seem
to have done very much damage to our other goods.”
“Look how they have trampled down the bushes as they went through. I
wish their skins were as thin as mine,” Mysa said as she wiped away
the blood from a deep scratch on her cheek; “they would keep up in
their own woods then and not come down to rob travelers.”
“At any rate, Mysa, we ought to feel indebted to them,” Chebron said,
“for not having pushed their investigations further. We should have
had no chance either of escape or resistance in these bushes. Jethro
told us to move round and attack them from behind; but moving round in
these thorns is all very well to talk about, but quite impossible to
do. Two minutes of active exercise and there would not be a morsel of
flesh left on one’s bones.”
It was two or three hours before the bearers came back one by one.
They were assailed with fierce reproaches by Jethro for the cowardice
which had been the means of losing all the provisions. Four of their
number were at once paid off and sent back, as there was no longer
anything for them to carry. The others would have left also had it
not been for the escort, who threatened death if they did not at once
take up their burdens and proceed. For Jethro had been liberal with
his stores, and they were as indignant as he was himself at the sudden
stoppage of their rations.
Three days later they arrived at a small village, which marked the
commencement of the territory of the second chief through whose
country the road ran. Here the escort and carriers left them, their
place being supplied by natives of the village. There was no
difficulty in obtaining a supply of grain and goats’-milk cheese; but
these were a poor substitute for the stores that the elephants had
devoured. They were too glad, however, at having accomplished half
the toilsome journey to murmur at trifles, and after a day’s halt
proceeded on their way. Another fortnight’s travel and they stood on
the lower slopes of the hills, and saw across a wide belt of flat
country the expanse of the sea glistening in the sun.
Two more days’ journey and they reached the Egyptian trading station.
This was situated on a little peninsula connected with the mainland by
a narrow neck of land, across which a massive wall had been built to
repulse the attacks of the wild tribesmen, who frequently swept down
and devastated the cultivated fields up to the very wall. As soon as
they entered the town Jethro was ordered by an official to accompany
him to the house of the governor. Taking Chebron with him, he left it
to Amuba to arrange for the use of a small house during their stay.
The governor’s inquiries were limited to the state of the country, the
behavior of the tribesmen along the road, the state of the wells, and
the amount of provisions obtainable along the line of route.
“There are a party of Arab traders from the other side who wish to
pass up to carry their goods either to Semneh or Meroe, but I have
detained them until news should reach me from above, for if any wrong
should happen to them their countrymen might probably enough hold us
responsible for their deaths, and this might lead to quarrels and loss
of trade; but since you have passed through with so small a party
there can be no fear, and they can arrange with the people who brought
you down as to the amount to be paid to the chiefs for free passage.”
He inquired Jethro’s reason for making the journey over the mountains
instead of proceeding by the Nile. He replied that he had received an
advantageous offer for all his merchandise and had disposed of it to a
trader going up to Meroe, and that as the Nile had now fallen and the
danger in passing down the cataracts was considerable, he thought it
better to make the short land journey and to travel by sea to Lower
Egypt; especially as he was told that the natives were now friendly,
and that no difficulty would be met with on the way. Another reason
for his choosing that route was that he might determine whether on his
next venture it would not be more advantageous to bring down his
merchandise by ship and start from the seashore for Meroe.
“Undoubtedly it would be better,” the governor said; “but it were
wiser to sail another two days’ journey down the coast and then to
journey by way of Axoum.”
A week’s rest completely recruited the strength of the girls, and
Jethro then engaged a passage in a trading ship which was going to
touch at various small ports on its way north.