74 TRAVELS TO DISCOVER 



the river being no longer navigable above, and there they* 

 are employed till the next feafon. 



They know little, therefore, and carelefs about the name?, 

 or inhabitants of thefe villages, who have each of them 

 barks of their own to carry on their own trade. There arc 

 fome indeed employed by the Coptic andTurkiih. merchants, 

 who are better verted in the names of villages than others ; 

 but, if they are not, and find you do not underftand the 

 language, they will never confefs ignorance ; they will tell 

 vou the lirll name that comes uppermoft, fometimes very- 

 ridiculous, often very indecent, which we fee afterwards 

 pafs into books, and wonder that luch names were ever 

 given to towns. 



The reader will obferve this m comparing Mr Norden's 

 voyage and mine, where he will feldom fee the fame vil- 

 lage pafs by the fame name. My Rais, Abou Cuffi, when 

 he did not know a village, fometimes tried this with mc> 

 But when he law me going to write, he ufed then to tell 

 me the truth, that he did not know the village ; but that 

 fuch was the -cuibm of him, and his brethren, to people that 

 did not underftand the language, efpecially if they were 

 prielis, meaning Catholic Monks. 



We paffed with great velocity Nizelet Embarak, Cubabac; 

 Nizelet Omar, Racca Kibeer, then Racca Seguicr, and came 

 in light of Atria, a large village at fome diitance from the 

 Nile ; all the valley here is green, the palm-groves beautiful,, 

 and the Nile deep. 



Still 



