Srom Egypt to Western Africa. 3 
guns, but did not see the engagement, he, and a great many 
more of his countrymen having retired from the scene of action 
through fear. A few years after this period, feeling himself con- 
scientiously impelled to propagate his belief, he set out on a 
journey westward alon g the shores of the Mediterranean, and tra- 
velled as far as Fez, where, finding an insurmountable barrier 
in the great desert of Sahara, to his advance to the southward 
amongst the Kafir nations, he turned his face towards the rising 
sun, retraced his steps to Alexandria, and (to use his own ex- 
pressions) sat down there for some time, uncertain as to his 
future intentions; at length, without any fixed or determinate 
plan, he departed from Alexandria, and following a southerly 
course, arrived in nine days at Ariff, four at Dongola, and in 
ten arrived at Sennaar, a low sandy country, abounding with 
camels, horses, and cattle; the Nile, which he describes as 
running from the S. W. or country of the Kafirs, where it bears 
the name of Baher el Abeed, is about a mile in breadth here, and 
is slow and majestic in its progress; the natives of Sennaar are 
Mahomedans, and the king is named Khamadoo. 
Turning his back upon Sennaar, the Kolunjumi (Red Sea) 
and Mecca, he arrived. in one day at the eastern frontiers of the 
kingdom of Kordofan, which is only habitable on the borders, 
the centre being a desert of ten days’ journey across, and not 
to be traversed during the dry season: here Mahomed was 
under the necessity of awaiting the departure of a caravan which 
took some time in collecting, and did not eventually set out 
till the wet season had been pretty well advanced. In this part 
of his journey, the Priest suffered much from the scarcity of 
water, that which they carried in skins having evaporated, and 
there being no oasis or well in the desert, at which they could 
procure any; in this dilemma, they spread their garments at 
night on the sand to catch the rain or dew, and in the morning, 
a scanty supply was procured by squeezing them; which (says 
the Priest) is the practice always resorted to in such cases, and 
it is for the sake of this advantage, that the journey is always 
performed during the rains. The king of Kordofan is named 
Musa Bah, and his subjects are rigid Mahomedans. 
B2 
