THE SOURCE OF THE NILE. 435' 



palling the Nile at the mouth of the lake ; and two men, the 

 king's fervants, had perifhed there likewife. He came in 

 great hurry, full of the news from Begcmder, and of the 

 particulars of the confpiracy, fuch as have been already 

 ftated. With Ayto Adigo came the king's cook, Sebaftos, 

 an old Greek, near feventy, who had fallen fick with fa- 

 tigue. After having fatisfied his inquiries, and given him 

 what refrelhment we could fpare, he left Sebaftos with us, 

 and purfued his journey to the camp. 



On the 24th, at our ordinary time, when the fun began 

 to be hot, we continued our route due fouth, through a very 

 plain, flat country, which, by the conftant rains that now 

 fell, began to ftand in large pools, and threatened to turn all 

 into a lake. We had hitherto loft none of our beafts of car- 

 riage, but we now were fo impeded by ftreams, brooks, and 

 quagmires, that we defpaired of ever bringing one of them 

 to join the camp. The horfes, and beafts of burthen that car- 

 ried the baggage of the army, and which had palled before 

 us, had fpoiled every ford, and we faw to-day a number of 

 dead mules lying about the fields, the houfes all reduced 

 to ruins, and lmoking like fo many kilns; even the grafs, or 

 wild oats, which were grown very high, were burnt in large 

 plots of a hundred acres together; every thing bore the 

 marks that Ras Michaelwas gone before, whilft not a living 

 creature appeared in thole extenfive, fruitful, and once well- 

 inhabited plains. An awful filence reigned everywhere a- 

 round, interrupted only at times by thunder, now become 

 daily, and the rolling of torrents produced by local fliowers 

 in the hills, which ceafed with the rain, and were but the 

 •children of an hour. Amidft this univerfal filence that pre- 

 vailed all over this fcene of extenfive dcfolation, I could not 



g I 2 help 



