This river is similar in character to the Rahad, hut
larger: the average breadth is about a hundred and
ten yards; the banks are about fifty feet high, and
the immediate vicinity is covered with thick jungle
of nabbuk and thorny acacias, with a great quantity
of the acacia arabica, that produces the garra, already
described as valuable for tanning leather. I made
ink with this fruit, pounded and boiled, to which
I added a few rusty hails, and allowed it to stand
for about twenty-four hours. The Dinder was exceedingly
deep in many places, although in others
the bed was dry, with the exception of a most
trifling stream that flowed through a narrow channel
in the sand, about an inch in depth. The Arabs
assured me that the crocodiles in this river were
more dangerous than in any other, and their flocks
of goats and sheep were attended by a great number
of boys, to prevent the animals from descending to
the water to drink, except in such places as had
been prepared for them by digging small holes m
the sand. I saw many of these creatures, of very
large size; and, as I strolled along the banks of
the river, I found a herd of hippopotami, of which.
I shot two, to the great delight of my people, who
had been much disappointed in the absence of game
throughout our journey from Gallabat. We had
travelled upwards of 200 miles without having
seen so much as a gazelle, neither had we passed
any tracks of large game, except, upon one occasion,
those of a few giraffes. I had been told that