The Arabs Obtained Water From Deep Pools In The
River, Similar To Those In The Atbara, But On A Small Scale, Of
Not Sufficient Importance To Contain Hippopotami, Which At This
Season Retired To The River Dinder.
Wherever we slept we were
besieged by gaping crowds of Arabs:
These people were quite
unaccustomed to strangers, as the route we had chosen along the
banks of the Rahad was entirely out of the line adopted by the
native merchants and traders of Khartoum, who travelled via Abou
Harraz and Katariff to Gallabat. These Arabs were, as usual,
perfectly wild, and ignorant of everything that did not
immediately concern them. My compass had always been a source of
wonder to the natives, and I was asked whether by looking into it
I rould distinguish the "market days" of the different villages.
My own Tokrooris continually referred to me for information on
various topics, and, if I declined to reply, they invariably
begged me to examine my moondera (mirror), as they termed the
compass, and see what it would say. This country swarmed with
Arabs, and abounded in supplies: superb fat oxen were seven
dollars each; large fowls were a penny; and eggs were at the rate
of nine for a penny farthing.
We arrived at a large village, Sherrem, on May 11, having marched
118 miles in a straight line along the course of the Rahad. The
heat was extreme, but I had become so thoroughly accustomed to
the sun that I did not feel it so much as my men, whose heads
were covered with a thin cap of cotton (the tageea). My camel-men
had expected to find their families at a village that we had
passed about six miles from Sherrem, and they had been rejoicing
in anticipation, but on arrival we found it deserted,--"family
out of town;" the men were quite dejected; but upon arrival at
Sherrem they found all their people, who had migrated for water,
as the river was dry. We waited at Sherrem for a couple of days
to rest the men, whose feet were much swollen with marching on
the burning soil. Although frequent showers had fallen at
Gallabat, we had quickly entered the dry country upon steering
north, where neither dew nor rain had moistened the ground for
many months. The country was treeless on the north bank of the
Rahad, and the rich alluvial soil was free from a single stone or
pebble for many miles. Although for 118 miles we had travelled
along the course of the Rahad, throughout this distance only one
small brook furrowed the level surface and added its waters
during the rainy season to the river; the earth absorbed the
entire rainfall. Our camels were nearly driven mad by the flies
which swarmed throughout the fertile districts.
On the 15th of May we arrived at Kook, a small village on the
banks of the Rahad, and on the following morning we started to
the west for the river Dinder.
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