At Metemma that rumour was not even known; however, we had no choice,
and never thought one instant of anything else but of accomplishing the
mission intrusted to us, in face of all perils and dangers.
At Kedaref we were lucky enough to arrive on a market-day, consequently
had no difficulty in exchanging camels. That very evening we were
_en route_ again, still towards the south, but this time making
almost an angle with our former route, marching towards the rising
sun.
Between Sabderat and Kassala, between that town and the Gash, we
had for the first time seen some cultivation; but it was nothing
compared to the immense vista of cultivated fields, beginning a
day's journey from Sheik Abu Sin, and extending, almost without
interruption, throughout the provinces of Kedaref and Galabat.
Villages appeared in all directions, crowning every rounded hillock.
As we advanced, these eminences increased in size until they gave
place to hills and mountains, which ultimately blend with the
uninterrupted chain of high peaks forming the Abyssinian table-land,
now again, after so many days, rising before us.
We arrived at Metemma on the afternoon of the 21st of November. In
the absence of Sheik Jumma, the potentate of these regions, we were
received by his _alter ego_, who put one of the Imperial residences
--a wretched barn--at the disposal of the "great men from England.
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