were certain advantages to the traveller at this
season ; it was unnecessary to carry a large supply of
water, as it could he obtained at intervals of a few
mil p.r. There was an indescribable delight in the
cool night, when, in the perfect certainty of. fine
weather, we could rest in the open air with the clear
bright starlit sky above us. There were no mosquitoes,
neither were there any of the insect plagues
of the tropics ; the air was too dry for the gnat
tribe,. and the moment of sunset was the signal for
perfect enjoyment, free from the usual drawbacks of
African travel. As the river s pools were the only
drinking places for birds and game, the gun supplied
not only my own party, but I had much ta give
away to the Arabs in exchange for goat’s milk, the
-meal of the dome nuts, &c. Gazelles were exceedingly
numerous, but shy, and so difficult to approach that
-they required most careful stalking. At this season
of intense heat they drank twice a day—at about an
hour after sunrise, and half an hour before sunset.
The great comfort of travelling along the bank
of the river in a desert country is the perfect freedom,
as a' continual supply of water enables the explorer
to rest at his leisure in any attractive spot
.where game is plentiful, or where thé natural
features of the country invite investigation. W.è
.accordingly halted, after some days journey, at a
spot named Collodabad, where an angle of the river
had left a deep pool of about a mile in length.
■[hi s was the largest sheet of water that we had
seen throughout the course of the Atbara. A
number of Arabs had congregated at this spot with
their flocks and herds; the total absence of verdure
had reduced the animals to extreme leanness, as the
goats gathered their scanty sustenance from the
seed-pods of the mimosas, which were shaken down
to the expectant flocks by the Arab boys, with
long hooked poles. These seeds were extremely
oily, and resembled linseed, but the rank flavour
was disagreeable and acrid.
This spot was seven days’ march from the Nile
junction, or about 160 miles. The journey had been
extremely monotonous, as there had been no change
in the. scenery; it-was the interminable desert, with
the solitary streak of vegetation in the belt of
mimosas and dome palms, about a mile and a half
in width, that marked the course of the river.. I
had daily shot gazelles, geese, pigeons, desert grouse,
&c. but no larger game. I was informed that at
this spot, Collodabad, I should be introduced for the
first time to the hippopotamus.
Owing to the total absence of nourishing, food,
the cattle produced a scanty supply of milk; thus
the Arabs, who depended chiefly upon their flocks
for their subsistence, were in great distress, and men
and beasts mutually suffered extreme hardship. The
Arabs that occupy the desert north of the Atbara
aré the Bishareens; it was among a large concourse
of these people that we pitched our tents on the
banks of the river at Collodabad.