reached a large village, Sherif el Ibrahim, twenty-eight
miles S.E. from Sofi by the route upon the east bank
of the Atbara, which cuts off a bend in the river. A
species of dhurra, as sweet as the sugar-cane, grows
here in abundance, being regularly sown and cultivated
; it is called ankoleep. This is generally
chewed in. the mouth as a cane; but it is also peeled
by the women, and, when dried, it is boiled with
milk to give it sweetness. A grain called dochSn,
a species of millet, is likewise cultivated to a considerable
extent; when ripe, it somewhat resembles
the head of the bulrush. The whole of this country
would grow cotton and sugar to perfection.
“ October 28.—Having slept at the village, we went
to the river, and Florian shot a hippopotamus. The
natives, having skinned it. rushed at the carcase with
knives and axes, and fought over it like a pack of
wolves; neither did they leave the spot until they
had severed each bone, and walked off with every
morsel, of this immense beast.
“ October 31.—Having passed a couple of days at
Sherif el Ibrahim, we started for the Settite. When
about half way, we arrived at a curious plateau of
granite rock, with a pool of water in the centre.
Formerly a large village occupied this position, named
GSrr&rat; but it was destroyed in a raid by the
Egyptians, as being one of Mek Nimmurs strongholds.
The rock is a flat surface of about five acres,,
covered . with large detached fragments of granite;
near this are seyeral pools of water, which form the
source of the: rivulet, the Till, that bounds our
camp at Ehbtilla. A large homera-tree (Adansonia
digitata) grows among the blocks of granite by the
pool; in the shade of its enormous boughs we breakfasted,
and again started at 4 p .m . reaching the
Settite river at 7.30, at a spot named Geera. In the
dark we had some difficulty in finding our way down
the rugged slopes of the valley to the river. We had
not taken beds, as these incumbrances were unnecessary
when in light marching order. We therefore
made separate bivouacs, Florian and his people about
a hundred yards distant, while a rug laid upon the
ground was sufficient for my wife. I made myself
comfortable in a similar manner. Lions were roaring
all night.
“ On the following morning we took a long stroll
along the wild and rugged valley of the Settite, that
was precisely similar to that of the Atbara. The river,
although low, was a noble stream, and the water was
at this season beautifully clear as it ran over a bed
of clean pebbles. The pass between the cliffs of Geera
was exceedingly lovely. At that point the river did
not exceed 200 yards in width, and it flowed through
abrupt cliffs of beautiful rose-coloured limestone; so
fine and pure was the surface of the stone, that in
places it resembled artificially-smoothed marble; in
other places, the cliffs, equally abrupt, were of milk-
white limestone of similar quality. This was the first
spot in which I had found limestone since I had
left Lower Egypt. The name ‘Geera/ in Arabic,