5 o6 TRAVELS TO DISCOVER
This intelligence, which came all at once upon us, made us lay afide the thoughts of fleeping that night ; we defcended the hill of Mefcala Chriftos in great hafte, and with much difficulty, and came to the river Kemon below it, clear and limpid, but having little water, running over a bed of very large flones. This river, too, comes from the north- weft, and falls into the lake a little below ; we refted on its banks half an hour, the weather being very fultry; from this place we had a diftincr. view of the Nile, where, after crofting the lake, , it iftlies out near Dara, the fcene of our former misfor- tunes ; we fet it carefully by the compafs, and it bore nearly S. W.
We began our journey again at three quarters after two^ . and at half after three we pafted a river, very clear, with little water, the name of which I have forgot ; by the largenefs of its bed it feemed to be a very confiderable ftream in win- ter ; at prefent it had very little water, but a fine gravelly bottom; here we met multitudes of peafants flying before the army of Fafil, many of whom, feeing us, turned out of the way ; one of thefe was a fervant of Guebra Ehud, brother to Ayto Aylo, my mod intimate friend : he told us it was very pofiible that Fafil would pafs us that night, advifed us not to linger in the front of fuch an* army, but fall in as ibon as poflible with his Fit-Auraris, rather than any other of his advanced ports; he was carrying a meftage to his mailer's brother at Gondar. I told him I had rather linger in the front of fuch an army than in the rear of it, and fhonld be very forry to be detained long, even in the middle of it ; that I only wifhed to falute Fafil, and procure a pafs and re-r commendations from him to Agow Midre.
Ayto
