village on the easterly bank. We stayed here till the twenty-sixth to
obtain durra from this territory, whose chief brought, as a present to
the Pasha, some fine horses and many camels, and received, in return,
some valuable presents. Our side of the river is desert, and covered
with trees and bushes. During our stay opposite Halfya, the Nile, on the
night of the 23d, rose suddenly about two feet, and inundated some parts
of the sandy flats where we were encamped; the water entering the
tents of several, my own among others, and wetting my bed, arms, and
baggage.[46] It had risen a little shortly after the equinox, while the
army was in Berber, and afterwards subsided more than it had risen.
We find the sky every day more and more overcast; distant thunder and
lightning, accompanied with violent squalls, (which have overset my tent
twice,) are, within a few days, frequent, and drops of rain have fallen
in our camp.

On the 26th, at one hour after noon, we proceeded to the Bahar el Abiud,
about five hours march above our present position, where the Pasha
intends to cross into the territory of Sennaar. The camp arrived at
sunset at a position a little above where the Nile falls into the Bahar
el Abiud, and stopped. Immediately on my arrival, I drank of this river,
being, probably, the first man of Frank origin that ever tasted its
waters.

The Nile is not half as broad as the Bahar el Abiud, which is, from bank
to bank, one mile higher than where the Nile joins it, about a mile
and a quarter in breadth. It comes, as far as we can see it, from the
west-south-west. The Nile of Bruce must, therefore, after the expedition
of Ismael Pasha, be considered as a branch of a great and unexplored
river, which may possibly be found to be connected with the Niger.