The ftrength of Teawa was about 25 horse, of which about en were armed with coats of mail. They had about a dozen of firelocks, very contemptible from the order in which they were kept, and still more fo from the hands that bore them. The rest of the inhabitants might amount to twelve hundred men, naked, miferable, and despicable Arabs, like the rest of those that live in villages, who are much inferior in courage to the Arabs that dwell in tents: weak as its state was, it was the feat of government, and as such, a certain degree of reverence attended it. Such was the ftate of Teawa. Its confequence was only to remain till the Daveina should refolve to attack it, when its corn fields being burnt and defroyed in a night by a multitude of horsemen, the bones of its inhabitants fcattered upon the earth would be all its res mains.

1 We may judge of the dangerous fituatian of Mr. Bruce at Teawa from what paffed between him and Fidele, the Shekh, who was a man of a moft infamous character. Mr. Bruce being fent for by the Shekh, he found him fitting in a spas cious room, in an alcove, on a large broad fofa like a bed, with India curtains gathered on each side into festoons. He called to a black boy who attended him, in a very surly tone, to bring him a pipe; and, in much the fame voice, faid to Mr. Bruce "What! alone?" Our traveller replied, “Yes, what are your commands with me?" Mr. Bruce faw he either was, or affected to be drunk, and which ever was the cafe, he knew it would lead to mischief; he therefore repented heartily of having come into the house alone.

After he had taken two whiffs of his pipe, and the slave had left the room, "Are you prepared? (faid he) have you brought the needful along with you?" Mr. Bruce wifhed to have occafion to join Soliman, his fervant, and answered, "My fervants are at the outer door, and have the vomits you wanted." "D-n you and the vomit too, (said he with great paffion) I want money, and not poison. Where are your piastrès ?" "I am a bad perfon (replied Mr. Bruce) to furnish you with either. I have neither money nor poison; but I advise you to drink, a little warm water to clear your ftomach, cool your head, and then lye down and compofe yourself!

yourself! I will see you to-morrow morning." Mr. Bruce was going out. "Haikim, (said he,) infidel, or devil, or whatever is your name, hearken to what I fay. Confider where you are; this is the room where Mek Baady, a king, was flain by the hand of my father: look at his blood, where it has stained the floor, which never could be washed out. I am informed you have 20,000 piaftres in gold with you; either give me 2000 before you go out of this chamber, or you shall die I will put you to death with my own hand." Upon this he took up his fword, that was lying at the head of his fofa, and drawing it with a bravado, threw the fcabbard into the middle of the room; and, tucking the fleave of his shirt above his elbow like a butcher, said, “ I wait your answer.”

Mr. Bruce now stept one pace backwards, and held the little blunderbuss in his hand, without taking it off the belt. He faid, in a firm tone of voice, "This is my answer: I am not a man, as I told you before, to die like a beat by the hand of a drunkard; on your life, I charge you, ftir not from your fofa." He had no need to give this injuction; he heard the noife which the clofing the joint in the stock of the blunderbufs made, and thought he had cocked it, and was inftantly to fire. He let his fword drop, and threw himself on his back on the sofa, crying, “ For God's fake, Haikim, I was but jefting." At the same time, with all his might, he cried, "Brahim! Mahomet! El coom! El coom."-" If one of your fervants approach me, (faid Mr. Bruce) that instant I will blow you to pieces; not one of them shall enter this room till they bring in my fervants with them; I have a number of them armed at your gate, who will break in the inftant they hear me fire."

The women had come to the door, and Mr. Bruce's fervants were admitted, each having a blunderbufs in his hand, and piftols at his girdle. They were now greatly an overmatch for the Shekh, who fat far back on the fofa, and pretended that all he had done was in joke; in which his fervants joined, and a very confused, desultory discourse followed, till the Turk, fherriffe Ifmael, happened to observe the Shekh's scabbard of his sword thrown upon the floor, on which he fell into a violent fit of laughter. He endeavoured to make the

Shekh

Shekh understand, that drunkards and cowards had more need of the scabbard than the sword; that he, Fidele, and the other drunkard that came to their house two or three nights. before, who faid he was Shekh of Jehaina, were just poffeffed of the fame portion of courage and infolence.

As no good could be expected from this expoftulation, Mr. Bruce stopt it, and took his leave, defiring the Shekh to go to bed and compose himself, and not try any more of these experiments, which would certainly end in his fhame, if not in his punishment. He made no answer, only wished them good night.

Mr. Bruce and his fervants went to the door, through the feveral apartments, very much upon their guard; for there was no perfon to light them out, and they were afraid of fome treachery or ambush in the antichamber and dark paffages: but they met nobody; and were, even at the outer gate, obliged to open the door themselves. Without the gate, there were about twenty people gathered together, but none of them with arms; and, by the half words and expreffions they made use of, they could judge they were not the Shekh's friends. They followed them for a little, but difpersed before they arrived at their house.

They had scarce got rid of this real danger, when the apprehension of an imaginary one struck them violently. The water at Teawa is stagnant in pools, and exceedingly bad. Either that, or the bouza, a kind of new beer which they fent them with their meat, had given all of them, at the fame time, a violent diarrhoea, and Mr. Bruce was tormented with a perpetual thirst ever fince they had been overtaken by the finoom; and the bouza being acid was not only more agreeable, but, he thought, relieved him more than bad water; in this, therefore, he certainly had exceeded. When they found they were all taken ill at the fame time, it came into their heads that Shekh Fidele had given them poison in their dinner, and they were very much perplexed what they should do the next day. None of them, therefore, tasted the meat sent them; when at night, their friend the black flave came, and to her they frankly told their doubts, The poor creature Gg fell

fell into fuch violent fits of laughing, which followed fo clofe the one upon the other, and lafted fo long, that Mr. Bruce feared fhe would have expired upon the spot. "It is the water (faid fhe :) It does fo to all strangers ;" and then she fell into another great fit of laughter. "Child, (answered Mr. Bruce) you know the Shekh is not our friend, and there is no easier way to get rid of us than by poison, as we eat every thing that comes from you without fear." "And fo you may (faid fhe); the Shekh could do no fuch thing without our knowledge, and we would rather all be burnt alive than be guilty of fo vile an action. Befides (faid the) this is not like Habefh, where both meat and drink, brought to you, are tafted by the bearer before you use them. There is no fuch thing as poifon in Atbara; the lance and the knife in the field, that is the manner in which they kill one another here.”

They then fhewed her their dinner uneaten, and she again fell into a violent fit of laughter, and took the meat away that he might warm it, and they heard her laughing all the way as she went by herself. She was not long in returning with provifions in plenty, and told them, that her mistreffes never were fo diverted in their lives, and that she left them ftill laughing.

During the whole of Mr. Bruce's stay at Teawa, the behaviour of Fidele was all of a piece, and it is probable our traveller would have finished his travels in that place, had not fome of his powerful friends interested themselves in his fecurity. However, after various impediments, on the 18th, they took leave of the Shekh to proceed on their journey. The day had been immoderately hot, and they had refolved to travel all night, though they did not fay fo to the Shekh, who advised them to fleep at Imgededema, where there was fresh water. But they had taken a girba of water with them, or rather, in case of accident, a little in each of the three girbas.

Their journey, for the first seven hours, was through a barren, bare, and fandy plain, without finding a vestige of any living creature, without water, and without grass; a country that feemed under the immediate curfe of heaven. However, after a moft difagreeable journey, on the 19th, at eight in the

eyening,

evening, they arrived at Beyla. Mr. Bruce found Beyla to be in lat. 13° 42′4′′; that is, about eleven miles west of Teawa, and thirty-one and a half miles due fouth. They were met by Mahomet, the Shekh, at the very entrance of the town. He faid, he looked upon them as rifen from the dead; that they must be good people, and particularly under the care of Providence, to have escaped the many fnares the Shekh of Atbara had laid for them. Mahomet, the Shekh, had provided every fort of refreshment poffible for them, and, thinking they could not live without it, he had ordered fugar for them from Sennaar. Honey for the most part hitherto had been its fubftitute. They had a good comfortable fupper; as fine wheat bread as ever Mr. Bruce ate in his life, brought from Sennaar, as alfo rice; in a word, every thing that their kind landlord could contribute to their plentiful and hospitable entertainment.

Our traveller's whole company was full of joy, to which the Shekh greatly encouraged them; and if there was any alloy to the happiness, it was the seeing that Mr. Bruce did not partake of it. Symptoms of an aguifh disorder had been hanging about him for feveral days, ever fince the diarrhoea had left him. He found the greatest repugnance, or nauseau, at the smell of warm meat; and, having a violent headach, he infifted upon going to bed fupperlefs, after having drank a quantity of warm water by way of emetic. Being exceedingly tired, he foon fell found asleep, having first taken fome drops of a strong spiritous tincture of the bark which he had prepared at Gondar, refolving, if he found any remiffion, as he then did, to take several good doses of the bark in powder on the morrow, beginning at day break, which he accordingly did with its ufual fuccefs.

On the 20th April, a little after the dawn of the day, the Shekh, in great anxiety, came to the place where Mr. Bruce was lying upon a tanned buffaloe's hide, on the ground. His forrow was foon turned into joy when he found him quite recovered from his illness. He had taken the bark, and expreffed a defire of eating a hearty breakfast of rice, which was immediately prepared for him,

The