Having Explored
Those Rivers, I Passed Through An Extensive And Beautiful Tract Of
Country Forming A Portion Of Abyssinia On
The south bank of the river
Salaam; and again crossing the Atbara, I arrived at the frontier town of
Gellabat,
Known by Bruce as "Ras el Feel." Marching due west from that
point I arrived at the river Rahad, in about lat. 12 degrees 30 minutes;
descending its banks I crossed over a narrow strip of country to the
west, arriving at the river Dinder, and following these streams to their
junction with the Blue Nile, I descended that grand river to Khartoum,
having been exactly twelve months from the day I had left Berber.
The whole of the above-mentioned rivers - i.e. the Atbara, Settite,
Salaam, Angrab, Rahad, Dinder, and Blue Nile - are the great drains of
Abyssinia, all having a uniform course from southeast to northwest, and
meeting the main Nile in two mouths; by the Blue Nile at Khartoum, 15
degrees 30 minutes, and by the Atbara, in lat. 17 degrees 37 minutes.
The Blue Nile during the dry season is so reduced that there is not
sufficient water for the small vessels engaged in transporting produce
from Sennaar to Khartoum; at that time the water is beautifully clear,
and, reflecting the cloudless sky, its colour has given it the
well-known name of Bahr el Azrak, or Blue River. No water is more
delicious than that of the Blue Nile; in great contrast to that of the
White river, which is never clear, and has a disagreeable taste of
vegetation.
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