In A Few Minutes We Found Ourselves On
Board, With Our Sole Remaining Horse, Tetel, Also The Donkeys
That We Had Purchased In Berber Before Our Expedition, And Our
Attendants.
As we gained the centre of the river, that was about
800 yards broad, we were greeted by the snort of three of our old
friends, the hippopotami, who had been attracted to the
neighbourhood by the garden of water-melons.
We landed at
Khartoum, and, having climbed up the steep bank, we inquired the
way to the British Consulate.
The difference between the view of Khartoum at the distance of a
mile, with the sun shining upon the bright river Nile in the
foreground, to the appearance of the town upon close inspection,
was about equal to the scenery of a theatre as regarded from the
boxes or from the stage; even that painful exposure of an optical
illusion would be trifling compared with the imposture of
Khartoum; the sense of sight had been deceived by distance, but
the sense of smell was outraged by innumerable nuisances, when we
set foot within the filthy and miserable town. After winding
through some narrow dusty lanes, hemmed in by high walls of
sun-baked bricks, that had fallen in gaps in several places,
exposing gardens of prickly pears and date palms, we at length
arrived at a large open place, that, if possible, smelt more
strongly than the landing spot. Around this square, which was
full of holes where the mud had been excavated for brickmaking,
were the better class of houses; this was the Belgravia of
Khartoum.
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