We Were Delighted With This Very Gentlemanly
Faky, And, Saying Adieu With Regret, We Hurried On To The
Promised Village "Just Beyond Those Trees."
For fourteen miles we travelled, hungry and tired, beyond the
alluring clump of trees, along the wild desert of hot sand
without a habitation; the only portion of truth in the Faky's
description was the "lovely view of the river," that certainly
accompanied us throughout our journey.
We were regularly "sold"
by the cunning Faky, who, not wishing to be incommoded by our
party, had got rid of us in a most gentlemanly manner. At length
we arrived at a village, where we had much difficulty in
procuring provisions for ourselves and people.
On the 11th June, having slept at the village of Abou Dome, we
started at sunrise, and at 9 A.M. we reached the bank of the
river, opposite to Khartoum. We were delighted with the view, as
the morning sun shone upon the capital of the Soudan provinces;
the grove of date trees shaded the numerous buildings, their dark
green foliage contrasting exquisitely with the many coloured
houses on the extreme margin of the beautiful river; long lines
of vessels and masts gave life to the scene, and we felt that
once more, after twelve months of utterly wild life, we had
arrived in civilization. We had outridden our camels, therefore
we rode through a shallow arm of the river, and arrived upon an
extensive sandbank that had been converted into a garden of
melons; from this point a large ferry-boat plied regularly to the
town on the south bank.
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