Not Far From Our Halting Place, On The Ascent Of The Mountain, Is A
Reservoir Of Rain Water, Where We Filled Our Skins.
The acacia trees of
the valley were thickly covered with guin arabic.
The Towara Arabs often
bring to Cairo loads of it, which they collect in these mountains; but
it is much less esteemed than that from Soudan. I found it of a somewhat
sweet and rather agreeable taste. The Bedouins pretend, that upon
journeys it is a preventive of thirst, and that the person who chews it
may pass a whole day without feeling any inconvenience from the want of
water. We set out in the afternoon, and at the end of three hours and a
half from Wady Nabk, passed the Mofassel el Korfa, which I have already
mentioned. At four hours and a quarter we crossed Wady el Orta, the
direction of our road N.W. by N., and at the end of five hours and a
quarter we halted in Wady Rahab [Arabic]. All these valleys resemble one
another; the only difference of appearance which they afford, is that in
some places the ground is parched up, while in others, where a torrent
passes during the winter, the shrubs still retain some green leaves.
WADY ORTA
[p.534] May 16th.—During the night we had a heavy shower of rain with
thunder and lightning, which completely drenched both ourselves and our
baggage. A beautiful morning succeeded, and the atmosphere, which during
the last three days had been extremely hot, especially on the low coast,
was now so much refreshed, that we seemed to have removed from a
tropical to an alpine climate.
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