CHAP. XI.

March from Dabàab. — A Sham Fight. — Schaigies. — Sufferings from Heat and Thirst. — Choice of Camp. — Kassela-el-Lus. — Escape of Female Slaves. — Storm of Rain.

After a halt of six days in the camp at Dabàab, the army again marched at dawn. The first country we passed was flat and stony, only here and there showed some low bushes, though its monotonousness was made somewhat more tolerable by the view of the Hill of Kassela, on which we marched. The whole land was covered with small pieces of granite, pebbles, and stones, which had been washed and rolled down from the mountains by floods, although these hills were yet a day’s journey distant. After three long hours, our progress was interrupted by six or eight small gohrs, which from the rain of the former week had been converted into large swamps, and promised much annoying fatigue, especially to the baggage camels. The fields round about showed no trace of having ever been cultivated, and the grasses also had almost vanished from the surface; the trees were very small and few. Of living animals we only saw one ostrich, and this at a considerable distance, hurrying rapidly off on its long legs, while a few birds of prey, like solitary specks, floated over our heads. At length, fully two hours distant from all the other hills, rose in this large sterile plain a round conical hillock of some 150 or 200 feet high. The position seemed to plainly mark it out as some ancient monument, and we fancied we saw ruins on it; but, on riding up to it, we were disappointed in only finding time-worn and blackened rocks and blocks of granite. To our left (east) was visible a long chain of isolated hillock rocks of the most curious forms, but mostly pyramidical; they stood out singly like the sentinels of the higher hills, which run in unbroken range to the east and south, boundary hills between the races of Makada and of this land. Some of these hills showed the fairest shapes and brightest colours. We rode to the foot of the hills south of Kassela, that with its dome-shaped head offered a most imposing sight, and declared its height by its cloudy canopy or curtain. We sought in vain for a sign of ancient ruin or building remains on hillocks and hills; nothing of the kind was to be found, and none of the natives knew aught of bint gaddim (old buildings). Time and weather had here wasted the hard granite rocks, and those still standing upright were split and fractured into a thousand shapes and forms.

To somewhat lessen the tedium of our march the Pascha hit on the happy thought of ordering out the various Arab races, as also the Turkish, Mograbin, and Schaigie cavalry, to go through a sham fight, each after their own manner, and this certainly afforded a most interesting and characteristic scene. All, save the Arabs, rushed impetuously on the invisible enemy, discharging their firearms, and then immediately retreating, while past our ears whistled some of their balls. To infantry unaccustomed to such attacks these violent cavalry onsets might be dangerous, as these incessant skirmishings would be an eternal harassing, that could only be resisted by a rapidly-formed square, retained with steadiness and energy; and I much doubt if our forces here could, without much difficulty, be brought to effect or maintain a formation that would defeat such attacks. Even at the most rapid gallop, all these cavalry handled their long, heavy flint muskets like riding whips; in pursuit and retreat they used their pistols, and kept up a constant fire on the pursued or pursuing enemy. All was done in the most rapid gallop, nor did they make the smallest attempt at order in their onsets. The twentieth part of the Turkish cavalry alone had sabres, but all muskets and pistols; some men had four of the latter, two in the girdle and two at the saddle-bows. The Schaigies, like the Mograbins, are only armed with muskets; but the officers have mostly pistols, and the leader a sabre. Firearms are, indeed, the best and most efficacious weapons here in Bellad-Sudan, as the blacks do not possess such, and have a great dread of them; and on their part generally fight by casting lances and stones from a distance, out of their rocks and forests, as swords are not common among them. The Turkish cavalry certainly cut the best figure from their handsome and swift horses, but could not in dexterity and active movement compare with the Schaigies, who are, however, at present ill-mounted, as the formerly highly-famed Dongola breed of horses, somewhat similar to the Holstein, have been much decreased by the doings of the Turks, especially by those of Ismail Pascha and Defterdar Bey. Better soldiers than the Schaigies could not be found for these lands. They are the real fighting caste of the country, born and brought up here, and from their youth practised to war; able to bear the greatest fatigues and privations with endurance and indifference. They are closely acquainted with the capabilities, manners, and customs of these lands; and this knowledge enables them to inflict severe injury on their foes. With savage courage they steal into the very heart of the enemy’s country, and never return empty-handed. They also were the only indwellers of all Nubia up to Beni Schangull who ventured to meet Ismail Pascha in open battle, and were only defeated by the overpowering force of firearms. They then possessed no firearms, but the straight double-edged sword, lance, and shield were their weapons, and the larger number of them had iron chain armour and helmets; but these, on adopting firearms, they have cast aside as useless. The most of them are mounted on horseback, or on camels; those on foot are only armed with the lance. Their horses were famed far and near, but only among their leaders are many of the old breed to be found. Burckhardt, who saw the Schaigies in their own land, believed that their breed had originated in a cross between their country horses and the Arabian. But this is not well-founded; they much more resemble our German horses, and have even as little Arab blood in them as these. In general, they are large and long-bodied, with strong thick tails, which they mostly carry ill, and coarse thick manes; the neck is long, and always a ewe-neck, and the ever somewhat thick head, always ill set on it; in the breast and coupling they are generally weaker than Arab horses; the back, too, is much more hollowed, the croup sloping more, and the continuation of the backbone not so perfect as in the Arab breed. They are generally rather lean, and can go a good pace, but not with the same powers of continuance as the true Arabs or the cross with the Syrian horse.

These two last-mentioned breeds are rather short than long bodied, and never over the middle height; from the shoulder to the end of the backbone is an almost straight line, and this may be the reason they always carry a good tail, as this is nothing but the finish off of the stronger backbone. The tail is docked by the Arabs, but not so short as in England, nor is it ever set or nicked, nor is the hair of the tail so neatly trimmed and arranged. They have very fine bone, and broad chests, and stand wide behind. Below the neck is broad and thick, but runs up small and thin towards the head, so that with the small well-set head and bright ever-observing eye, and open nostrils, it is a fair sight. They never carry the neck arched, but it stands at somewhere about an angle of 130° with the backbone, and the head at one of 90° with the neck; hence its motions are free and unconstrained. When tied up this is not done by the head, but by the foot; either one hind foot only, or one hind and one fore, being picquetted to a peg driven into the ground. To make them more strong and lasting, the Arabs give them honey mixed with meal or dried flesh; and certainly they will hold out and undergo much fatigue for two or even three days without water or food. In general, all horses here are given water once a day and food twice, generally durra, which they eat from a nosebag.

On the march, as at home and every where, the Turkish horses must be saddled day and night, as Mahomet ordered that man and horse should ever be ready for the field. Their saddles are very high before and behind, the stirrups, as also those of the Mograbins, are large iron plates, on which the whole foot rests. The Arabs here, and the Schaigies, have stirrups like Europeans, in which, as they wear sandals, and often have their feet altogether bare, they only stick the great toes; at times one sees attached to the stirrups a spur an inch long. On their small wooden saddles there is only allowed a place for the drinking-vessel; but the way the Arabs keep their seats on the small wooden saddles of their camels, at their quickest pace, in the sharpest turnings retaining their balance, is truly wonderful, and in doing so they stick out their elbows far from their bodies, and look as if about to fly. Here on horseback no one rides by hold, but all by balance, and, in the most rapid pace of their horses, the Schaigies will coolly pick up a stone, or any other small object, from the earth, without losing their balance or checking their horses.

Their dress consists, with the better sort, of a tarbush; the most of the common orders having their hair uncovered, cut close, or when covered, with a white taghie (takhie); short white breeches, and a ferda, or a shirt. One can at first glance tell a Schaigie, and still one cannot easily tell how they are so completely distinct from the other Arabs. Their faces are good, and generally marked and thin; the higher among them, especially Melek Mahmud, are distinguished by extremely fine features; foreheads rather lofty; eyes lively and sharp cut; nose arched, and pointed at the end (in this they are principally distinguished from the smaller-featured Barabra); lips common; beard thin; colour of skin brown, or brown-black; slight of form, but well built, and therefore, with great ease, they perform all kinds of bodily exercises, and the common expression used of them is “Jasiff saie el Tair” (light as a bird). All are very fond of liquors. Although, from their face and features, they seem to more nearly approach the Arabs than the Nubians, still they unanimously, and with something like scorn, assert that they are no Arabs, and have no descent from such a race. But whence they come, or to what race they are allied, as they themselves equally deny a Nubian descent, their small kings, who have their pedigree at their fingers, could not, or would not, tell us, much as we tried to get out of them their genealogy. They firmly maintain that they have been, from most distant times, the children of the soil (betal Thin), and have ever been the warriors of their race (min Astlu Askari). One must not put any confidence, as other travellers have done, in what they have learnt from their priests, who are said to assert the contrary; though we have not heard it from them, for most of these (but this we afterwards heard from the much-travelled Sheik and Faki Hamsa of Hannak, in the country of Barabra, who boasted of his Arabian origin,) are of Arab families, and are to be looked on as the proselyte-makers of the Nubian Christians, to whom they, along with Islam, have also brought the Arabic (the only language well pleasing to God), as well as to the Schaigie. Such pious fathers also fancy, although they may be of a totally different origin, that they are able, by means of Arabian descent, to claim a kind of relationship with the Prophet. Here starts up the interesting historical question, are these Schaigies, who perhaps really do owe their present name to some Arabian saint, a part of the emigrated warrior caste of Egypt, or the descendants of those discontented warriors who were hospitably received by the kings of Ethiopia? Their country, their proximity to old Meroë, which they perhaps protected against the barbarous south, and their own warlike spirit, agree with this tradition; as does also the fact, that amongst them has never existed any common superior chief, but all have ever lived free under their moluks; the present ruling families are perhaps the old Egyptian leader-race, who, holding the Ethiopian kings as their only lords, became, on the overthrow of that kingdom, independent princes, as the Macedonian generals did on the death of Alexander the Great. Their hair too is thinned, or kept cut short to the head, as cleanliness, so necessary in Egypt, may have demanded; and such a custom is contrary to Arab habits, and those of Nubia and Barabra also, although they have, in common with those races, incisions on the cheeks as marks of caste; among the Schaigies these are horizontal.

After a longer halt, we at last quitted our camp at Dabab. The Hakim (Kadi), whom we visited in that village, said that the Hallenga were indeed an Arab tribe, but not Arabs or Nomades, but “Naas betal bellad” (people of the land), as they from centuries had had fixed dwellings therein, as the tokul and mud huts of his own village might testify. However, he also asserted that neither the Schaigies nor Djalin were of Arab descent, as I also learnt from the latter, on making more particular inquiries. From all this, it seems more than probable that these two races are to be looked on as the ancient people of Meroë, and as different tribes of the same race, as the Djalin have the incisions on the cheeks from above downwards, while those of the Schaigies are more horizontal. How strong the belief here is in an extreme old age, we heard not only from the old Hakim, but also from the Pascha himself. In this neighbourhood lives a holy man, who, by all accounts, has seen upwards of 400 years, during which period he has wholly subsisted on milk. The Pascha sent for the holy man, that we might ourselves behold him, but he has not thought fit to appear. Moreover, it is said, that in the neighbouring hills there are many persons of 150 to 200 years old. In Senaar the Pascha had himself seen and spoken with a man of 250 years of age. Of registers of birth there is as little here now as in the time of Methuselah. The people here believe such tales, and a high age, whether real or claimed, gives to the Faki his boasted saintship.

According to the old favourite custom, we were marched out in the noon’s heat, and followed back the road by which we had come, to the springs. We left the slopes of the higher Abyssinian hills on our left, passed through forests and steppes, where we saw only a few cattle, as Mahommed Ehle, the Sheik of Hallenga, had been knowing enough to have all such driven away, and to represent his people as a most well-disposed but an exceedingly poor race. The Pascha pretends he believes this, although camels are stolen daily; out of personal revenge, one of his dromedaries has been slain, and on the same occasion one of ours was carried off. We passed south-westwardly through durra-fields, then south, and at last east, directly in the direction of the hill of Kassela-el-Lus. We had to pass many gohrs full of water; (a bad road for camels, who so easily slip and fall, and sweat, from mere alarm;) and encamped, at the advice of Mahommed Ehle, on a waterless plain, while his own fair village lay some way to the left. The soil here seemed, on the whole, unfruitful, and the durra-crops were far inferior to those at El Sofre. In the evening violent thirst reigned in the camp, and all cursed the perfidious Mahommed Ehle, who had promised water.

The want of water and groanings of the men, set all again on their legs before day-break, and with music, loud murmurs, and most horrid noises, we marched on hillward. The Pascha, on account of these tumults, remained in the pass, casting furious looks round him; but we, accompanying the advanced guard of Schaigies, pushed on eastward. The hills, visible even from Gos Rajeb, now appeared close at hand, but still we reached them not till mid-day. The flat country, on which were started some hyenas, jackals, and hares, was cut up by many small rain-brooks from the hills, much impeding our march; most easily might such have been filled up, but Turkish generalship could not condescend to such trifles, and there therefore arose a confusion and straggling unequalled, as every one took any way he fancied likely to lead him across them. The camels, horses, and asses remained fixed in the mud, drinking; the poor thirsty soldiers rushed blindly after them, and laid about them to get a mouthful of stinking water to cool their burning throats. We also were nearly again mired, having got into a bog, but at last we arrived at the left bank of the Gohr el Gasch, which showed itself shortly before the first rocks, and where we, having got a start of the rest, could coolly drink ourselves, and let our beasts do so likewise. The country, covered with coarse granite sand, washed down from the hills, rose somewhat on the opposite side, but was wholly without vegetation. A vale of some half-hour’s breadth opened between the high rocky walls of the Mokran (from which also a gohr came down called Baraka) and the hill of Kassela. On the west side of the Mokran mountain we rode southwards to the foot of that of the Kassela el Lus, and there halted to await the Pascha.

The army came on, and order seemed to have been in some measure restored; but when they arrived at the Gohr Baraka, neither man nor beast was to be restrained; they rushed on, and quenched their burning thirst in its clear waters, which ran merrily down from the narrow vale-gulley; this seemed, some quarter of an hour further up, where it separated the hill of Kassela from that of Mokran, to narrow greatly, and after running a little distance, to unite itself to the Gohr el Gasch. The heat was most fearful; neither the more healthy hill-breeze, the truly magnificent nature of the high, domelike, and bold granite formations, nor the almost picture-like blue colour and romantic form of the mountains of Sabderath, gave for the moment the hoped-for relief, nor made their full impression felt. A consolation it certainly was that we were to remain here for at least three months, to let the rainy season pass over, and then continue our conquests. At last the Pascha and his followers galloped up. I drew his attention to the spot where we had halted being highly suited for the camp; as it was open on three sides, to the east leant on a perpendicular wall of rock, and water was near. He thought a better place could be found, and we had to ride on for an hour, till we reached a ravine, in the bottom of which we saw the village of Kadmin, or Assunia, at the foot of the immense masses of rock of the main mountain of Kassela-el-Lus. But the ground here was cut up by rocky ridges, and it was plain that the hill shed down a part of its waters on it. The Pascha rode backwards and forwards, dismounted and received some of the people of the village, who made queer faces when they found the camp was to be pitched immediately over their heads. I had already discovered a somewhat raised spot, where we had made our dromedaries lie down, thus taking possession of it for our tents; the Pascha looked at us, again mounted his Arab, and we followed him back to the flat, I had at first proposed as our camping-place. Our first business was to get up our tent as quickly as possible, and to send for water, as my brother was complaining of violent headache, although as yet the Pascha had given no orders to encamp there. No sooner was our tent up, than all the army began to pitch theirs round us, as if by higher orders, and as now the Pascha had also had his pitched, I hastened to him, begged him to have sufficient extent and room given the camp, and, for that purpose, to place some picquets out, so as to at least give it some regular figure, oblong or square. Inside the different detachments of the army sat down as they pleased, but always as far off as they could from the Pascha, so as not to be overlooked by him, or at least as little as possible. By this there was left a kind of clear space in the centre of the camp, on which, to our great joy, stood isolated the Pascha’s tents and ours. Such was the beginning of the city to be founded here,—a picture of what was perhaps only a repetition of what had occurred in founding other older cities.

With gloomy face, silent and thoughtful, sat the Pascha, now the Rubicon was crossed; and then first sounded the cannon-shot, as a signal that here the camp was to be. The outwardly humble Sheiks, who welcomed him here, and most of whom had never heard such a report before, shrunk together and shuddered at the shot, which again recalled a smile to the Pascha’s moody face. A loud, far round rolling echo, caused him to have the gun repeatedly fired, he seemed again to feel pride in his superior power, and in announcing his presence to the tribes around by the thunder of his guns. The Turks too did not fail to arouse the echo by repeated volleys of their fire-arms, till one might almost have fancied he was near the scene of a battle. Not in vain, therefore, did the Viceroy of Egypt style himself in his proclamation to these races, who are little acquainted, if at all, with fire-arms, “Lord of Armies and Cannon.” In the deeper stillness of evening, the echo of the great gun, beating the signal of retreat, was yet more imposing; the many fires of the camps lighted up the high rocky domes and buttresses, which cast strange shadows, and gave a truly splendid night view, such as we had never seen before.

Next morning we commenced fortifying the camp with palisades, as it had only been, during night, surrounded by a low thorn fence. Numberless Dom-palms, from one and a half to two feet in circumference, had been felled in the wood, and sawn into lengths of twenty-five feet, dragged down by men and beasts, and buried upright in the earth, giving the camp an outward form of a lengthened square, with three gates or outlets, while within all was disorderly confusion. The entrances, as well as the spaces between these large palisades, were filled up with thorn-bushes, to impede the naked-legged enemy in getting over them even should they not altogether prevent him. Toward evening many fires were made outside this seriba, and detachments of cavalry and infantry told off to them, while the guns were placed at the north and south gates, to guard against any surprise. By day guards were posted on the eastern rocks, on which the camp itself leant, to overlook the country. In the evening, however, they were withdrawn, on account of the numerous wild beasts. In the interior also some change had taken place, so as to keep open passage between the gates and along the seriba. The Pascha made his rounds, at uncertain hours, round the camp, and up and down it, and seemed proud of his work; he usually went alone save two servants, who followed him, bearing his pipe and camp-stool; he bore no sabre, had merely a long staff in his hand, which he, like Frederick the Great, often made use of, but never making more than one blow with it, where he found sentries sleeping, sitting, or having laid aside their arms. Very often I had to accompany him on such rounds, during which he now and then conversed with such as came in his way, knew all their names, put them into confusion by his questions, and laughed at their too simple, or oftener free and easy answers; but much more frequently in a truly paternal tone, reminded them of their duty. At times we sat down at one of the gates, and even on the Pascha did the splendid rocks, and their grotesque lighting up by the fires, make an impression, and strongly affect him with home-sickness, by reminding him of Circassia. We two brothers also often sat for hours before our hut, gazing on the ever-changing scene around, and felt as if in a dream.

The burning sun, the rays of which, reflected from the rocky walls had a double power, caused us after a time to exchange our tent for a recuba. For this purpose, Topschi Baschi made his gunners fell for us some tall Dom-palms, and drag them with mules into the camp. Our hut was to be distinguished beyond all others. I caused the two longest palms having forks to be sunk pretty deep into the ground, at the back and front, and, laying a slender stem across, bound it to the forks with withies, thus forming the gables. This was not the work of a moment, as ladders and cranes there were none. The Turks and Arabs assembled, and at first imagined that I was, at the Pascha’s orders, raising an enormous gallows, on which were to be hung the Sheiks held prisoners in the camp, viz. Mohammed Din and the others. Four corner timbers, each with a fork, were soon found among the sawed off remains of the palisades, sunk into the earth till only six feet of them was left above it, and two long stems bound along these, thus forming the eaves or lower rims of the roof. Then spars were laid along and tied on; and, over all, a pretty thick thatch of long grass. The front and back, as well as the side walls, were covered with durra straw, and besides defended by pales driven into the earth, and wove in with the straw, thus to defeat, as far as possible, the constant attempts at theft. Round the hut the soil was thrown up a foot high, and a kind of wall formed, and ditch to save it in case of any high flooding, from the rains. Above, in front, was a round hole, and two doors with pointed gothic arches formed the entrance; so that the whole, when looked at from the front, was not very unlike a Gothic chapel. We had bought one of the here common large carpets of coarse wool, which at night, on the inner side, covered doors and window, and was fastened to the ground by some small posts. The interior of the hut was divided into two compartments, the front one having on right and left of it our angarebs, that served us as sleeping places and divans. In the back part, that had also a small door, was our store of provisions, and many chests and cases placed on stones: these took it all up, save a passage. This we called our sanctum. Behind this our recuba were the huts of our servants, made by themselves in their usual careless manner. Our chateau so pleased the Pascha, that he gave me the employment of superintending the building of a recuba for him, that was to be as large as a castle (kasr). He himself fixed on length and breadth, a heap of the longest Dom-palms were dragged in, and the carpenters (baltaschi, sappers[31]) set to work to sink them in the ground; and these were then bound to one another, and from one side to another, with long ropes, to prevent their giving way, as cross beams of such length could not be found, and the Pascha would have no partition in the interior. The spar work of slender palms was laid on, and fastened in the joinings with long rails, which for this purpose were sunk into the great tree. I would have added supports, but the Pascha rejected these with an “Allah Kerim!” and thus was formed a house far surpassing all the rest.

Hardly was this erection finished, than my brother was summoned to the Pascha, to inspect two female slaves purchased for him by Mohammed Ehle (Ehle, white, innocent). According to my brother’s report, they were both very pretty, of bright brown colour, free from blemish, very young, and from the land of Basa. The poor girls sat in one corner of this larger recuba, behind a great curtain; they were totally ignorant of the Arab language, and, trembling in every limb, awaited their fate. Ere long we beheld, behind the large building, two tokuls (plur. täkela) erecting under Mohammed Ehle’s superintendence; the cross-formed pointed roofs were brought in by men, placed on buried pales, bound fast on the forks of these, and the interval between the pales filled up into a wall with durra straw; so that, in a few hours, these Æthiopian huts (of which the Hallenga erected many in the camp, for twenty or thirty piastres each) were all ready, finished, and standing there, in connexion with the Pascha’s palace. The one tokul was for the girls, the other for his excellency, that he might there retire and rest after the labours of the day. Silken stuffs and coloured muslins were all at hand, to dress out, or rather hang on these girls; and one would have fancied that these naked innocents would have felt happy in their unwonted splendours; but it was not so. On the second day, as we sat on our heels with the Pascha, he smiled in his own peculiar way, and then asked my brother to give him some love-powders. Joseph would not hear of it; and the mighty man became angry, and said it was his own look-out whether they injured him or not, as Joseph said they would. Joseph now hit on a happy thought, viz. to tell the Pascha that wine was specially necessary. On this a whole basket of wine was sent to our hut, with the remark that we might, with the rest, make any decoctions for ourselves we pleased; which we laughingly promised to do, but hastened off to our hut to see what sort of liquor we had got, and found a most capital French wine. As my brother knew how strong the Pascha’s faith was, he merely mixed up two bottles of it with some lemon-peel, and sent them to him.

The following night a regular hurricane, with torrents of rain, came on; and this was used by the home-sick girls, left all alone in their dark corner, to call to mind the liberty they had been deprived of, and while the Pascha held a divan in front of their abode, to break through the straw walls of their prison, cast off and forsake all their fine clothes, and escape out of the camp. The Pascha was furious; but, in spite of his rage, he in a very droll way alluded to the girls’ escape. He had, however, during the night sent out scouts in all directions, who, to our great grief, brought back to the Pascha the unfortunate fugitive girls, whom they had found hiding in the bush. Unhappily, none of us were present at this minute, to beg mercy (amahn) for them; for he afterwards told us he would have given them to us. He had acted so meanly as to sell them to the merchant, Hassan Mosmar of Berber, who was then in the camp. A real piece of good fortune it was for the poor girls that they had left all the clothing and ornaments the Pascha had given them behind, for otherwise some deed of barbarity would have most probably fallen on them.

This same night, during which the storm demolished a great part of the camp, the roof was blown off our recuba. In spite of a sound draught we had taken out of the Pascha’s hamper, the heavy rain aroused us out of our sound sleep. A foot deep rushed the water, below our bed places. I hastily seized the carpet and cowskin on which I lay, and hung both up above my head; on which my brother lost no time in jumping across to me, and getting under this shelter. With legs tucked in under us we both crouched close together, and were all right; save only our just alarm for a return of fever. The water-spout, however, seemed as if it would never cease, and a chill seemed inevitable; besides, thirst tormented us. Luckily, the hamper of wine stood near me, on it there lay a piece of bread that had been given us, made out of the apple-like fruit of the thorny Nebbek, and this, in our state of despair, we much longed for, both to pass the time in eating, and, if possible, ward off the fearful cold and consequent fever. The dagger served instead of a knife, the yet untasted curious bread had the flavour of the best ginger-bread, and the wine was excellent. The next morning, when the rain had ceased, and the water run off, the cover was raised from our head as if by an invisible hand, and we were found sleeping in brotherly love and embrace, the head of one on the other’s shoulders; but the laugh and well-known voice of Mallem Challill, aroused us out of our sweet dreams, and we sprung up happy and fresh, only somewhat dazzled with the daylight, but all ready for work, as we had, as usual, lain down dressed and armed.