THE SOURCE OF THE NILE. 7 « 



and as beautiful as the firft ; but the night here was exceed- 

 ingly cold, though the fun had been hot in the day-time. 

 Our defire for water was, by this time, confiderably abated. 

 We were everywhere furrounded by mountains, bleak, bare, 

 black, and covered with loofe ftones, entirely deftitute of 

 foil ; and, befides this gloomy profpecT:, we faw nothing but 

 the heavens. 



On the 19th, at half pad fix in the morning, we left Sa- 

 doon, our road Hill winding between mountains in the bed, 

 or torrent of a river, bordered on each fide with rack and 

 fycamore trees of a good fize. I thought them equal to the 

 largeft trees I had ever feen ; but upon confidering, and 

 roughly meafuring fome of them, I did not find one 7^ feet 

 diameter.; a fmall tree in comparifon of thofe that fome 

 travellers have obferved, and much fmaller than I expected ; 

 for here every caufe concurred that mould make the 

 growth of thefe large bodies exceffive. 



At half pad eight o'clock, we encamped at a place called 

 Tubbo, where the mountains are very fteep, and broken, 

 very abruptly, into cliffs and precipices. Tubbo was by 

 much the moll agreeable ftation we had feen ; the trees 

 were thick, full of leaves, and gave us abundance of very 

 dark made. There was a number of many different kinds 

 fo clofely planted that they feemed to be intended for na- 

 tural arbours. Every tree was full of birds, variegated with 

 an infinity of colours, but deftitute of fong ; others, of a 

 more homely and more European appearance, diverted us 

 with a variety of wild notes, in a ftile of mufic flill diftincl: 

 and peculiar to Africa ; as different in the compofition from 

 cur linnet and goldfinch, as ourEngliih language is to that 

 Vox. III. k f 



