Every Day's Journey
South Had Proved By The Increased Vegetation That We Were
Invading The Rainy Zone, And That, Although The Northern Deserts
Possessed Their Horrors Of Sandy Desolation, They At The Same
Time Afforded That Great Advantage To The Traveller, A Dry
Climate.
In a few rapid marches we arrived at Tomat, the commencement of
the Dabainas and the principal head-quarters of the sheik of that
tribe, Atalan Wat Said.
This was a lovely spot, where the country
appeared like green velvet, as the delicate young grass was about
two inches above the ground. The Arab camp was situated upon a
series of knolls about a hundred and fifty feet above the Atbara,
upon the hard ground denuded by the rains, as this formed a
portion of the valley. At this spot, the valley on the west bank
of the river was about two miles broad, and exhibited the usual
features of innumerable knolls, ravines, and landslips, in
succession, like broken terraces from the high level table land,
sloping down irregularly to the water's edge. On the opposite
side of the river was the most important feature of the country;
the land on the east bank was considerably higher than upon the
west, and a long tongue formed a bluff cliff that divided the
Atbara valley from the sister valley of the Settite, which,
corresponding exactly in character and apparent dimensions,
joined that of the Atbara from the S.E., forming an angle like
the letter V, in a sudden bend of the river.
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