98 On the Climate of Sennar. 



the whole family is in a state of daily and nightly uproar, in 

 their anxiety to provide against any forcible entry of the de- 

 scending enemy. And, with all these miseries, the season af- 

 fords no set-off, like our autumn, of multifarious fruits, smiling 

 and diversified pastures, the varied produce of the vegetable 

 garden, or any of those useful productions which render a 

 southern autumn so delightfully attractive. 



Being at Sennar at the commencement of the rains, I quitted 

 it to pass the remainder of the season at Chartum. The rains 

 of the former place are heavier, of more frequent occuiTence, 

 and of greater duration, and are accompanied by a storm of 

 wind from the south, which drives the rain with prodigious fury 

 before it. So soon as the shower approaches the earth, it is dis- 

 persed and rebounds, whilst the wind tosses up the rain-drops, 

 grinding them into such minute particles, that the ground ap- 

 pears covered with a layer of dense fog. These pluvious storms 

 are waited upon by thunder, lightning, and sometimes hail ; 

 the latter, however, is a phenomenon unknown at Chartum. 

 The clouds frequently descend, and cover the surface of the 

 ground ; but at Chartum, which is close upon the skirts of the 

 pluvial zone, the rauis are later, nor are they so abundant, or so 

 continued. The first of them fell this year on the 18th of July ; 

 and, from that time until this day (the 31st of August), the 

 thermometer remained constantly stationary between the 26th 

 and 28th degrees of Reaumur; nor did it rise, during that 

 space, for more than three days to 30°, nor for more than one 

 single day to 31°. Before the rains came on, and during the pre- 

 ceding months, it had risen every day to 33° and 34°. It must be 

 regarded as a rare occurrence, that, when the rainy season is at 

 its height, namely, on the 2d of August, the thermometer, as 

 Bruce relates, should rise to 116° of Fahrenheit, which corres- 

 ponds with 37° of Reaumur. It is remarkable, that, at sunrise, 

 and during the rainy season, the thermometer should have 

 maintained nearly the same elevation of 21° and 22°, which it 

 usually maintains in the hottest weather at the same hour. The 

 cause I should assign for this fact, is the calmness which pei- 

 vades the atmosphere during the night : it was seldom interrupt- 

 ed by the smallest breath of wind. 



Throughout these countries there are not more than three or 



