On the 12th, at ten minutes past six we set out from Sit el Bet, and a few minutes after came to a village called Ageda, and five miles further to another, whose name is Usheta. At half past nine we passed a third village, and at half after eleven encamped near a pool of water, called Wed Hydar, or the River of the Lion. All the way from Wed el Tumbel to this village we were much tormented with the fly, the very noise of which put our camels in such a fright that they ran violently into the thickest trees and bushes, endeavouring to brush off their loads. These flies do not bite at night, nor in the cool of the morning. We were freed from this disagreeable companion at Wed Hydar, and were troubled with it no more.
At four o'clock we again set out through an extensive plain, quite destitute of wood, and all sown with dora, and about five miles further we encamped at a place named Shwyb, where there is a Shekh called Welled Abou Hassan. While at Abou Hassan, we were surprised with a violent storm of rain and wind, accompanied with great flashes of lightning. This storm being blown over, we proceeded to a village called Imsurt. At one mile and a half further we joined the river. The Nile here is in extreme beauty, and winds considerably; it is broader than at Sennaar, the banks flat, and quite covered with acacia and other trees in full bloom. The thick parts of this wood were stored with great numbers of antelopes, while the open places were covered with large flocks of cattle belonging to the Arabs Refaa, who were returning from the sands to their pastures to the southward. Large flocks of storks, cranes, and a variety of other birds, were scattered throughout the plain,
