I Only
Had One Run, But I Fortunately Landed A Handsome Little Baggar
About Twelve Pounds Weight, Which Afforded Us A Good Dinner.
The
river Dinder is between fifty and sixty miles from the Rahad at
this point, but towards the north the two rivers approximate
closely, and keep a course almost parallel.
The banks of the
Rahad are in many places perpendicular, and are about forty-five
feet above the bed. This river flows through rich alluvial soil;
the country is a vast level plane, with so trifling a fall that
the current of the river is gentle; the course is extremely
circuitous, and although, when bank full, the Rahad possesses a
considerable volume, it is very inferior as a Nile tributary to
any river that I have visited to the east of Gallabat."
CHAPTER XXI.
FERTILITY OF THE COUNTRY ON THE BANKS OF THE RAHAD.
WE daily followed the banks of the Rahad, the monotony of which
I will not inflict upon the public. This country was a vast tract
of wonderfully fertile prairie, that nearly formed an island,
surrounded by the Rahad, Blue Nile, Great Nile, and Atbara; it
was peopled by various tribes of Arabs, who cultivated a
considerable extent upon the banks of the Rahad, which for
upwards of a hundred miles to the north were bordered with
villages at short intervals. Cotton and tobacco were produced
largely, and we daily met droves of camels laden with these
goods, en route for the Abyssinian market.
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