ry skeleton, although
the powerful affluents, the Salaam and the Settite, never ceased to
flow; every drop of their waters was evaporated by the air and absorbed
by the desert sand in the bed of the Atbara, two hundred miles above its
junction with the Nile!

The Atbara exploration was completed, and I looked forward to the fresh
enterprise of exploring new rivers and lower latitudes, that should
unravel the mystery of the Nile!

CHAPTER XII.

Abyssinian slave-girls--Khartoum--The Soudan under Egyptian
rule--Slave-trade in the Soudan--The obstacles ahead.

A rapid march of sixteen miles brought us to Metemma or Gallabat. As we
descended the valley we perceived great crowds of people in and about
the town, which, in appearance, was merely a repetition of Katariff. It
was market-day, and as we descended the hill and arrived in the scene
below, with our nine camels heavily laden with the heads and horns of
a multitude of different beasts, from the gaping jaws of hippopotami to
the vicious-looking heads of rhinoceroses and buffaloes, while the
skins of lions and various antelopes were piled above masses of the
much-prized hide of the rhinoceros, we were beset by crowds of people,
who were curious to know whence so strange a party had come. We formed
a regular procession through the market, our Tokrooris feeling quite at
home among so many of their brethren.

While here I visited the establishments of the various slave merchants.
These were arranged under large tents formed of matting, and contained
many young girls of extreme beauty, ranging from nine to seventeen years
of age. These lovely captives, of a rich brown tint, with delicately
formed features, and eyes like those of the gazelle, were natives of the
Galla, on the borders of Abyssinia, from which country they were brought
by the Abyssinian traders to be sold for the Turkish harems. Although
beautiful, these girls are useless for hard labor; they quickly fade
away, and die unless kindly treated. They are the Venuses of that
country, and not only are their faces and figures perfection, but they
become extremely attached to those who show them kindness, and they make
good and faithful wives. There is something peculiarly captivating in
the natural grace and softness of these young beauties, whose hearts
quickly respond to those warmer feelings of love that are seldom known
among the sterner and coarser tribes. Their forms are peculiarly elegant
and graceful;