DAMEK. 19

as the palm of his hand, and had before now ascended it with

Ismi^il Pascha, &c., &c., to all of wliicli I calmly listened, when we a"'aiii went bump on a hidden rock till all crashed again. Such

was again and again our fate, till, after a long passage of eleven

days, we arrived at Damer, during which we consumed various

sheep, which we had forced the natives on the banks to sell to us.

After my cold bath, my fever had left me, and all that remained

of it was a real wolf's appetite, which I, without feeling any

trace of indigestion, indulged by most ravenous devourings. So

sudden, in these climes, is the step from severe illness to perfect

health.

On the morning of the 18th May, we at length landed in front

of Damer, some three miles above the debouchement of the Atbara

into the Nile. No longer are any remains of this hierarchical

city to be seen, such as Burckhardt, in former days, beheld them:—

it is now only a village, with some high, decaying, loam walls. A

sudden alarm now seized me at not immediately beholding my

brother, and I hurried off to the Pascha's tent, pitched near the

river's bank, to announce my arrival, inquire for my brother, and

excuse the delay caused by our perilous voyage. The Pascha

received me kindly, and told me my brother had been ill, but was now recoveri^d, and busied with the sick in a neiglibouriiig tent. When the doctor and apothecary, having put on their uniform,

entered, his face flushed with anger, and he sternly alluded to their

having quitted their I'egiments and come by water; he then severely reprimanded them, saying, they had thrown the wliole burden of

looking after the sick on Ilakim Jussuff (Dr. Joseph), and dis-

missed them with a Kedi-el-kanua (ka»'w)', such is the law). The merchant RoUet, ever a bashful man, now crept in to receive

certain commissions, but I made him a sign that he would not come off well just at this moment, and we left the tent together;

but later, I so recommended him to tiie Pascha, that, so far as his

business went, he placed full confidence in him. I found my

brother perfectly recovered, after having, almost by force, made my way into his tent, where he hud got over his most pressing

business, having now little more to do than hand over tlie sick to Doctor Bellotti ; most of the cnses were opiithalmia and fever, from

the soldiers being allowed no tents to shelter them ; these halving

c 2