was well received by his Excellence, and his presents were returned by
the Pasha, by others of great value. Nousreddin is a very tall and very
large man, about sixty years of age. Two days after, having occasion to
go to the other side of the river, I found Nousreddin upon the shore,
awaiting the arrival of a boat to carry him and some of his chiefs
over. I paid him some compliments relative to the handsome horses he had
presented to the Pasha, which pleased him considerably; he invited me
to come to his house and partake of his hospitality. I told him, if
circumstances would admit it, I would visit him in a few days.

From the 10th of Regeb to the end of the moon, nothing worth notice took
place, except the successive and gradual arrival of the remainder of
the cannon,[41] ammunition, stores and troops from the cataract, which
had been left there when the Pasha quitted it, for want of camels to
transport them. On the last day of the month, arrived the cavalry
of Ibrihim Cacheff from Egypt, consisting of four hundred excellent
horsemen; one thousand infantry were yet far distant, but on their way
to join us. Ibrihim Cacheff is at Wady Halfa, severely sick.

On the 2d of the moon Shaban, shortly after the hour of afternoon
prayer, the signal was fired and the tents fell. We mounted our snorting
horses, now lusty from long repose, and commenced our march to traverse
the famous country of the Ethiopian shepherds, at present subject to the
Malek of Shendi. We arrived opposite Shendi, by easy marches, in eight
days, and encamped on the west side of the river, near a very large
village called "Shendi el Garb," i.e. Shendi on the west bank.

Our route from Berber led us through a country consisting of immense
plains of fertile soil, extending many miles from the river, and mostly
covered with herbage; mountains or hills were rarely visible.[42]