und him in a clay-built palace
covering a very extensive area, and of one story. The dress of the king
was simply a loose shirt of Surat blue cotton cloth. I was asked to
treat medically the three principal queens. The favourite was six feet
high, and corpulent beyond all proportion. She seemed to me, next the
elephant and the rhinoceros, to be the largest living creature I had
ever met. A ring of gold passed through her upper lip and weighed it
down like a flap to cover her chin. Her ears reached to her shoulders,
and had the appearance of wings. In each was a large ring of gold; she
had a gold necklace of several rows, and her ankles bore manacles of
gold.

At Sennaar the Nile gets its name of Babar El Azergue, the Blue River.
The meat diet of the upper classes is beef, partly roasted and partly
raw. That of the common people is camel's flesh, the liver and
spare-rib of which are eaten raw. During my stay here I was compelled
to part with all but six of the 184 links of the gold chain which I
received from the king of Abyssinia, to pay for supplies, and I was glad
when permitted to depart on September 2, 1772.

On October 26 we arrived at Gooz, the capital of Barbar. There we made
preparations to cross the great desert, beginning the journey on
November 9. One day we saw twenty moving pillars of sand. On another
occasion we met the simoom, the purple haze in rushing past threatening
suffocation. Many of the wells had dried up, our water and our
provisions became exhausted, our camels died, all of the party suffered
from thirst and fever, and on November 25, in order to save our lives,
we abandoned my valuable papers, quadrant, telescopes, and other
instruments, at Saffieha.

Two days afterwards we got a view of a range of hills marking the course
of the Nile. In the evening we heard the noise of water, and saw a flock
of birds. Christians, Moors, and Turks all burst into tears, embracing
one another and thanking God for our deliverance. That night we encamped
at Seielut, and next morning we came on foot to Assouan. With one accord
we ran to the Nile to drink. I sat down under the shade of a palm and
fell into a profound sleep. We were received heartily by the aga, and
after resting five or six days to recover, we retraced our steps to
Saffieha, and I had the satisfaction of recovering all my baggage. On
December 11 we left Assouan, and sailed down the Nile for Cairo, where
we arrived on January 10, 1773.

J