black coffee was the greatest luxury, and not requiring a tent in the
clear still night, we were soon asleep on our simple angareps. Before
daylight on the following morning the drum beat; the lazy soldiers,
after stretching and yawning, began to load the animals, and we started
at six o'clock. In these climates the rising of the sun is always
dreaded. For about an hour before sunrise the air is deliciously cool
and invigorating, but the sun is regarded as the common enemy. There is,
nevertheless, a difficulty in starting before sunrise-the animals cannot
be properly loaded in the darkness, and the operation being tedious, the
cool hour of morning is always lost. The morning was clear, and the
mountain of Belignan, within three or four miles, was a fine object to
direct our course. I could distinctly see some enormous trees at the
foot of the mountain near a village, and I hastened forward, as I hoped
to procure a guide who would also act as interpreter, many of the
natives in the vicinity of Gondokoro having learnt a little Arabic from
the traders. We cantered on ahead of the party, regardless of the
assurance of our unwilling men that the natives were not to be trusted,
and we soon arrived beneath the shade of a cluster of most superb trees.
The village was within a quarter of a mile, situated at the very base of
the abrupt mountain; the natives seeing us alone had no fear, and soon
thronged around us.

The chief understood a few words of Arabic, and I offered a large
payment of copper bracelets and beads for a guide. After much discussion
and bargaining, a bad-looking fellow offered to guide us to Ellyria, but
no farther. This was about twenty-eight or thirty miles distant, and it
was of vital importance that we should pass through that tribe before
the trader's party should raise them against us. I had great hopes of
outmarching them, as they would be delayed in Belignan by ivory
transactions with the chief. While negotiations were pending with the