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Neptune in his car drawn by dolphins was not more completely at home than I in my gun-case, towed by my fish-like hippopotami hunters. After pirouetting in several strong whirlpools, during which time a crowd of women on the Sofi side of the river were screaming to Allah and the Prophet to protect us from crocodiles, we at length arrived.

We were met by the sheik of the village, and by a German who had been a resident of Sofi for some years; he was delighted to see Europeans, especially those who were conversant with his own language, and he very politely insisted that we should dismount at his house.

After this success, Mek Nimmur succeeded in retiring with his people and herds to Sofi, on the Atbara, to which place we were bound; this was about twelve miles from Tomat. The body of Ismael Pasha was found beneath those of some of his women, all of whom that were within the inclosure having perished.

The Arabs have murdered one of the Egyptian soldiers, about five miles from Sofi. All my people are more or less ill, but we, thank Heaven, are in excellent health; in fact, I have never been better than in this country, although I am constantly in hard exercise in the burning sun. "October 15.

I accordingly determined to arrange our winter quarters as comfortably as possible at Sofi for three months, during which holiday I should have ample time for gaining information and completing my arrangements for the future. Violent storms were now of daily occurrence; they had first commenced at about 2 P.M., but they had gradually altered the hour of their arrival to between 3 and 4.

Lady Merrifield gathered up her work and departed, while Valetta, addressing the public, said, 'Something's up. 'Oh! cried Primrose, 'Sofi hasn't run away again? 'I hope Kalliope isn't worse, said Mysie anxiously. 'I guess, said Valetta, 'somebody said something the other day! 'Something proving us the hotbeds of gossip, muttered Gillian.

After some hesitation he consented to this plan, and promised not only to mount us on our journey, but to send with us an escort commanded by one of his grandsons. Sofi was about seventy-eight miles distant. Abou Sinn had arranged to move northwards on the following day; we therefore agreed to pass one day in his camp, and to leave for Sofi the next morning.

"I started off a man to recall Mahomet and my entire camp fronm Ehetilla to Wat el Negur, as that village was only seven hours' march from Geera; the three points, Sherif el Ibrahim, Geera, and Wat el Negur formed almost an equilateral triangle. We reached the latter village on the following day, and found that Mahomet and a string of camels from Sofi had already arrived.

Emerging from the uneven valley of the Atbara, we arrived upon the high and level table land above; here the speed increased, and in the exhilaration of the pace in the cool morning air, with all nature glowing in the fresh green of a Nubian spring, we only regretted the shortness of the journey to Sofi, which we reached before the heat of the day had commenced.

I therefore agreed that he should accompany me until I should have sufficiently explored that river, after which I proposed to examine the rivers Salaam and Angrab, of which great tributaries of the Atbara nothing definite was known, except that they joined that river about fifty miles south of Sofi.