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THE SOURCE OF THENILE. 487 
But there is another wakea ufed by the merchants called. 
the Atareys. 
1 Rotol 12 Wakeas;. 
1 Wakea 12 Drams. 
But this is only ufed for coarfe goods. There is but one: 
long meafure in Sennaar, called the Draa, which is the- 
peek, or cubit, and is meafured from: the center of the: 
elbow-joint to the point of the middle finger. This is 
probably the ancient cubit of Egypt, and of the holy fcrip- 
ture: i 
I nave faid, that the sth and 6th of Auguft it rained, and 
the river brought down great quantities of fragments of 
houfes which it had {wept away from the country to the © 
fouthward. It was avery unufual fight to obferve a mul- 
titude of men fwimming: in this violent current, and then 
coming afhore riding: upon :fticks and pieces of timber. 
Many people make a-trade of this, as fuel is exceedingly 
fearce at Sennaar. But there were other figns in this inunda- 
tion, that occupied the imagination of this fuperftitious 
people. Part of the town had fallen, and a hyzna, as-already 
obferved, had ‘come alive acrofs the river, from which the 
wife ones drew melancholy prefages. . 
I wap not been out of the houfe for two days on account 
of the rain. On the 7th I intended to have gone to Aira; 
but on the morning was told by Hagi Belal, that Mahomet 
Abou Kalec had advanced to the river El-aice, to’crofs it in- 
to Atbara, and that Shekh Adelan had decamped from ‘Aira, 
and was gone to meet him; to this it was added, that Wed 
