220 JOURNEY TO CENTRAL AFRICA.

light of the last afternoon hour, as I sailed away from it. The Bey's mansion and the mosque rose conspicuously above the long lines of clay walls, and groups of luxuriant date-trees in the gardens supplied the place of minarets and spires. Both shores, above the city, were in a high state of cultivation, and I passed many thriving villages before dust Even under the moon, the corn-fields on either hand were green and bright. I was installed in a temporary cabin, formed of my tent-canvas, stretched over a frame of palm-sticks, erected on the narrow poop-deck Achmet and Ali took possession of the hold, which they occupied as kitchen and store-room. The rai's, sailors, and the two beautiful sheep which the Bey gave me, were grouped on the forecastle. On this first evening, the men, fatigued by their extra labors on my account, were; silent, and I was left to the full enjoyment of the scene. The waves rippled pleasantly against the prow of the America ; the frogs and crickets kept up a concert along the shore, and the zikzak, or crocodile-bird, uttered his sharp, twittering note at intervals. Hours passed thus, before I was willing to close my eyes.

The landscapes next morning were still more beautiful.

The Nile was as broad as in Lower Egypt, flowing between banks of the most brilliant green. Long groves of palms behind the shore, shut out from view the desert tracts beyond, and my voyage all day was a panorama of the richest summer scenery. Early in the forenoon I passed the mouth of the Atbara, the ancient Astaboras, and the first tributary stream which the traveller meets on his journey from the Mediterranean. Its breadth is about one-third that of the main river, but the volume of water must be in a much smaller proportion.

The water is a clear, bright green, and its junction with the