462 
THE ASUA RIVER. 
[chap. xyii. 
could I either touch or disturb them by the bullets;— 
this will afford some idea of the width of the river, the 
island appearing to be in the middle of the stream. 
A short distance below this spot, the Nile rapidly 
contracted, and at length became a roaring torrent, 
passing through a narrow gorge between perpendicular 
cliffs, with a tremendous current. In some places the 
great river was pent up between rocks, which confined 
it to a width of about 120 yards,—through such 
channels the rush of water was terrific, but to a casual 
observer approaching from the north, the volume of 
the Nile would have been under-rated, unless calculated 
by the velocity of the stream. 
From this point we followed the bank of the Nile 
over a difficult route, down steep ravines and up 
precipitous crags, by a winding path along the foot of 
the range of syenite hills that hemmed in the river on 
the west bank. Several considerable waterfalls added 
to the grandeur of the pass, through which for many 
miles the angry Nile chafed and roared like a lion in 
its confined den. 
At length we arrived at a steep descent, and dis¬ 
mounting from our oxen after a walk of about a 
quarter of a mile over rough stones, we reached 
the Asua river, about a quarter of a mile above 
its junction with the Nile. The bed was rocky; 
but although the Atabbi had subscribed its waters 
above the point where we now crossed, there 
was merely a trifling stream occupying about a 
quarter of the river s bed, with a current of about 
two and a half miles an hour. Crossing this on 
foot, the water in the deepest part reached to the 
middle of my thighs. The Asua river, as already 
described', at the time that I crossed it on the route 
from Farajoke to Shooa, is a mountain torrent formid¬ 
able during the rains; quickly flooding and quickly 
emptying from its rapid inclination, it is exhausted 
during the dry season. 
The crossing of this river was a signal for extra 
