AMBATCH RAFT. 143 through a considerable swaimp, which had a welldefined flow to the east, but the people assured me that there is no river there. Between Kohl and Djour Ghattas the water was very bad, having a very disagreeable smell and taste, and it also acted as a brisk aperient. Many antelopes are found in this district, chiefly the A. oreas, A. leucotis and A. megaloceros. At Mouchta we saw quantities of ground-nuts {Eracius hipoga ?).

We were about six hours and a half in getting from Mouchta to the next Egyptian station. The first four hours and a half led us through high grass jungle, with small trees, the soil being alluvial, with some ironstone. We then came to a large flat plain, which is marked by a group of tall palms, and through which the river Euha flows. When we came to it we found its banks some ten feet above the water-level. The breadth was then forty yards, the depth fifteen to sixteen feet, and the current one knot and a half an hour. There was no ferry-boat here, and we had to learn a new mode of crossing a river. A good deal of ambatch was growing near the river, so men were sefc to cut it and tie it into bundles about a foot in diameter. These bundles were then all tied together, and in a very short time a large triangular raft was formed. Several of the porters then stripped and swam across the river, taking in their teeth a good rope, which had been left by