SS TRAVELS tN ABYSSI&IA. 
in the meantime, fills the place of master of the 
household, and is closely attached to the person of 
the king ; nor is there said to exist any grudge be- 
tween the two individuals on account of this ex- 
traordinary relation in which they stand. 
After leaving Sennaar, Mr Bruce came in a few 
days to Halifoon, near which the Bahr el Abiad 
falls into the Bahr el Azergue. The last of these 
rivers he uniformly considers as the Nile, though 
he observes, that the Abiad rolls three times the 
quantity of water, and is constantly full, while 
the other is a very great stream only in the rainy 
season. He proceeded thence to Chendi, where 
he found extensive ruins, which he conjectures 
might be those of the ancient Meroe. Soon after 
the party lost sight of the Nile, which here takes a 
great bend to the west. They entered then upon 
the desert of Nubia, where, for five hundred miles, 
they travelled without meeting a human habitation. 
Only a few watering places interrupted the expanse 
of naked rock and burning sand. The travellers 
had nearly sunk under this journey, especially as, 
towards the close of it, the camels lay down, and 
were unable to proceed. They made, however, a 
last effort, by which they at length came in sight 
of the Nile near Syene, which proved the termina- 
tion of their sufferings. 
After following Mr Bruce through this train of 
adventure, it may not be uninteresting to take some 
