From This Point We Followed The Bank Of The Nile Over A Difficult Route,
Down Steep Ravines And Up Precipitous Crags, By A Winding Path Along The
Foot Of The Range Of Syenite Hills That Hemmed In The River On The West
Bank.
Several considerable waterfalls added to the grandeur of the pass,
through which for many miles the angry Nile chafed and roared like a
lion in its confined den.
At length we arrived at a steep descent, and dismounting from our oxen
after a walk of about a quarter of a mile over rough stones, we reached
the Asua river, about a quarter of a mile above its junction with the
Nile. The bed was rocky; but although the Atabbi had subscribed its
waters above the point where we now crossed, there was merely a trifling
stream occupying about a quarter of the river's bed, with a current of
about two and a half miles an hour. Crossing this on foot, the water in
the deepest part reached to the middle of my thighs. The Asua river, as
already described at the time that I crossed it on the route from
Farajoke to Shooa, is a mountain torrent formidable during the rains;
quickly flooding and quickly emptying from its rapid inclination, it is
exhausted during the dry season.
The crossing of this river was a signal for extra precaution in the
arrangement of our march: we had entered the territory of the ever
hostile Bari tribe; we had been already warned that we could not pass to
Gondokoro without being attacked.
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