THE SOURCE OF THE NILE. 593
The whole company pafTed without difturbing me ; and Woldo, feeming to walk as well as ever, afcended a gentle- rifing hill, near the top of which is St Michael Geefh. The Nile here is not four yards over, and not above four inches deep where we croffed ; it was indeed become a very trifling brook, but ran fwiftly over a bottom of fmall ftones, with hard, black rock appearing amidft them : it is at this place very eafy to pals, and very limpid, but, a little lower, full of inconfiderable falls ; the ground rifes gently from the river to the fouthward, full of fmall hills and eminences, which you afcend and defcend almoft imperceptibly. The whole company had halted on the north fide of St Michael's church, and there I reached them without affecting any hurry.
It was about four o'clock in the afternoon, but the day had been very hot for fome hours, and they were fitting in the fhade of a grove of magnificent cedars, intermixed with fome very large and beautiful cuffo-trees, all in the flower ; the men were lying on the grafs, and the hearts fed, with the burdens on their backs, in mod luxuriant herbage. I called for my herbary *, to lay the rofe-branch I had in my hand (moothly, that it might dry without fpoiling the fliape; having only drawn irs general form, the piftil and ftamina, the finer parts of which ('hough very neceffary in clailing the plant) crumble and fall off, or take different forms in drying, and therefore ihould always be fecured by drawing while green. I juft faid indifferently to Woldo in paffing, that I was glad to fee him recovered ; that he would pre- sently be well, and ihould fear nothing. He then got up,
Vol. III. 4 F and
- I'lortus Siccus, a large book, for extending and preferring dry plants.
