The Zoologist— November, 1868. 1427 



"Many pools were of considerable size and of great depth. In 

 flood time a tremendous torrent sweeps down the course of the 

 Atbara, and the sudden bends of the river are hollowed out by the 

 force of the stream to a depth of twenty or thirty feet below the level 

 of the bed. Accordingly, these holes become reservoirs of water 

 when the river is otherwise exhausted. In such asylums all the 

 usual inhabitants of this large river are crowded together in a com- 

 paratively small space. Although these pools vary in size, from only 

 a few hundred yards to a mile in length, they are positively full of 

 Me; huge fish, crocodiles of immense size, turtles, and occasionally 

 hippopotami consort together in close and unwished-for proximity 

 The animals of the desert- gazelles, hyenas, and wild asses - are' 

 compelled to resort to these crowded drinking-places, occupied by 

 the flocks of the Arabs, equally with the timid beasts of the chase, 

 lhe birds that during the cooler months would wander free through 

 the country, are now collected in vast numbers along the margin of 

 the exhausted river; innumerable doves, varying in species, throng 

 the trees and seek the shade of the dome palms ; thousands of desert 

 grouse arrive morning and evening to drink and to depart ; while birds 

 in multitudes, of lovely plumage, escape from the burning desert, and 

 colonize the poor but welcome bushes that fringe the Atbara river "— 

 p. 34. 



How pleasant and how striking is this picture, but we shall see in 

 the next paragraph how evanescent also. Imagine the bustle and 

 disturbance, the excitement, the shouting, the uproar, incidental to 

 the scene which the author next describes. I think, had this scene 

 happened within the scope of my own observation, I could not have 

 resisted the temptation to accept the phenomenon described as at 

 least a precursor or accessory, if not the sole cause, of the annual 

 inundation which takes place hundreds of miles nearer the Mediter- 

 ranean. However, without speculating on either the cause or the 

 result, I will cite the author's marvellous narrative. 



" The cool night arrived, and at about half-past eight I was lying 

 half asleep upon my bed by the margin of the river, when I fancied 

 that I heard a rumbling like distant thunder: I had not heard such a 

 sound tor months, but a low uninterrupted roll appeared to increase 

 in volume, although far distant. Hardly had I raised my head to 

 listen more attentively when a confusion of voices arose from the 

 Arabs' camp, with a sound .of many feet, and in a few minutes they 



