174 
TRAVELS IN AFRICA. Chap. LXXVI. 
be a very heavy fall of rain in A'ribinda. In one of 
these thunderstorms we nearly lost our camels, which, 
headed by one of their companions that had lately 
come from A'zawdd, were making straight for that 
district, their beloved home, and had proceeded a 
distance of some miles, before they were overtaken. 
Wednesday, length wc pursucd our journey, but 
May 31st. ^^^y for a short march of two hours ; and 
I was so disgusted at the repeated delays and sham 
travelling, that I prayed earnestly that the Almighty 
would speedily deliver me from this sort of bondage. 
Throughout our march, the bare desert, here con- 
sisting of stony ground, torn by many small chan- 
nels, closely crept up to the fertile bed of the river, 
where a green swampy lowland girded the present 
reduced sheet of water. Amongst the stones with 
which the ground was covered, fine white and red 
striped rock was discernible ; and I observed another 
island, with a rocky point, towards the west. 
The ground where we encamped was bleak in the 
extreme, without any shade, although a few hundred 
yards in front of us there was a fine grove of gerredh ; 
but as these trees adorned a cemetery, my companions, 
from superstitious motives, were too much afraid to 
choose that place for their encampment. Although 
our camping-ground was excessively hot, I was agree- 
ably surprised to find the water of the river so plea- 
santly cool at a time when the sun was high, and 
could only attribute this phenomenon to the rocky 
character of the channel and to its considerable depth. 
