APPROACH TO EL, ORDEE. 453 curse upon its desertion, for they never appeared where the country was thickly inhabited and all the soil cultivated.

On the first clay after leaving Handak, we passed the villages of Kiar, Sori and Urub, and stopped at a place called Tetti. The wind blew so violently during the night that every thing in my tent, my head included, was thickly covered with dust. The next day we passed a large town called Hannak.

The greater part of it was levelled to the earth, and evidently by violence, for the walls were of stone. It stood on a rocky rise, near the river, and had on its highest part the remains of some defences, and a small palace, in tolerable preservation.

The hills behind were covered for half a mile with the graves of the former inhabitants, among which I noticed the cones and pyramids of several holy men. As we approached El Ordee (by which name New Dongola is usually called), the ap pearance of the country improved, although there was still as much deserted as cultivated land. The people we met were partly Dongolese and partly Arabs from the Desert, the latter with bushy hair, shining with grease, and spears in their hands. They cheered us with the news that El Ordee was not distant, and we would arrive there at asser — the time of afternoon prayer, two hours before sunset. My camel-men rejoiced at the prospect of again having mareesa to drink, and I asked old Mohammed if he supposed the saints drank mareesa in Paradise. "Why!" he joyfully exclaimed; "do you know about Paradise ?" " Certainly ;" said I, " if you lead a good life, you will go straight there, but if you are wicked, Eblis will carry you down into the flames." " "Wallah ! " said the old fellow, aside to Achmet ; " but this is a good Frank. He certainly has Islam in his heart."