TRAVELS IN ABYSSINIA. 
67 
On the 6th January 1699, the party left Don- 
gola, and arrived at Korti, in the kingdom of Sen- 
naar. The people who inhabit the banks of the 
river, above this place, are in a lawless state, and 
plunder all the caravans that pass by ; travellers 
are therefore obliged to take their course through 
the desert of Bahiouda. This desert, however, is 
less frightful than those of Libya, herbs and trees 
being found in it. After some days, they arrived 
at Derrara, (Derri,) on the banks of the Nile ; and 
some time after, at Guerri, (Gerri,) they crossed 
that river. The goods and passengers were con- 
veyed in boats, but the cattle were fastened with 
ropes, and obliged to swim over. After travelling 
through some fine forests of acacias, they arrived 
at the city of Sennaar, the situation of which ap- 
peared to them enchanting. Poncet describes 
it as large, containing 100,000 souls. The 
houses are poorly built, though the flat roofs form 
agreeable terraces. The king's palace is surround- 
ed with a lofty brick wall, but the edifices which 
compose it are not arranged with any degree of 
order or taste. The apartments, however, are 
richly adorned with carpets. They were intro- 
duced to the king the day after their arrival. Af- 
ter passing through a spacious court, paved with a 
kind of delft ware, they found the monarch seated 
cross legged on a very neat sofa, surrounded by 
about twenty old men. He himself was only 
