pieces of mutton in butter and garlic (very good) ;
and No. 4 was an excellent disb of tbe usual melach,
already described.
Tbe wind bad within tbe last few days changed
to south, and we bad been subjected to dust storms
and sudden whirlwinds similar to those we bad
experienced at this season on the preceding year,
when about to start from Berber. We left Bufaar,
and continued our march along the banks of the
Blue Nile, towards Khartoum. It was intensely hot
whenever we felt a breeze it was accompanied with
a suffocating dust, but the sight of the broad river
was cool and refreshing. During the dry season the
water of the Blue Nile is clear, as its broad surface,
reflects the colour of the blue sky; hence the appellation,
but at that time it is extremely shallow,
and in many places it is fordable at a depth of
about three feet, which renders it unnavigable for
large boats, which, laden with corn, supply Khartoum
from the fertile provinces of the south. The
river had now. begun to rise, although it was still
low, and the ; water was muddy, as the swelling
torrents of Abyssinia brought impurities into the
main channel. ; It was at this same time last year
when at Berber, that we had noticed the sudden,
increase and equally sudden fall of the Nile, that
was influenced by the fluctuations of the Blue Nile,,
at a- time when the Atbara was dry.
From Abou Harraz throughout the route to Khartoum
there, is no object of interest; it is the same