Having received all the assurances possible from Idris that he would live and die with us, after having repeated the prayer of peace, we put on the best countenance possible, and committed ourselves to the desert. There were Ismael the Turk, two Greek servants besides Georgis, who was almost blind and useless. Two Barbarins, who took care of the camels, Idris, and a young man, a relation of his, who joined him at Barbar, to return home; in all nine persons, eight only of whom were effective. We were all well-armed with blunderbusses, swords, pistols, and double-barrelled guns, except Idris and his lad, who had lances, the only arms they could use. Five or six naked wretches of the Tucorory joined us at the watering place, much against my will, for I knew that we should probably be reduced to the disagreeable necessity of seeing them die with thirst before our eyes; or by assisting them, should any accident happen to our water, we ran a very great risk of perishing with them.
It was on the 9th of November, at noon, we left Gooz, and set out for the sakia, or watering-place, which is below a little village called Hassa. All the west side of the Nile is full of villages down to Takaki, but they are all Jaheleen, without government, and perpetually in rebellion. At half past three in the afternoon we came to the Nile to lay in our store of water. We filled four skins, which might contain altogether about a hogshead and a half. As for our food, it consisted in twenty-two large goats skins stuffed with a powder of bread made of dora here at Gooz, on purpose for such expeditions. It is about the size and shape of a pancake, but thinner. Being much dried, rather than toasted at the fire, it is afterwards rubbed between the hands into a dust or powder, for the sake of package; and the goat's skin crammed as full as possible, and tied at the mouth with a leather thong. This bread has a sourish taste, which it imparts to the water when mingled with it, and swells to six times the space that it occupied when dry. A handful, as much as you could grasp, put into a bowl made of a gourd sawed in two, about twice the contents of a common tea-bason, was the quantity allowed to each man every day, morning and evening; and another such gourd of water divided, one half two hours before noon, the other about an hour after. Such were the regulations we all of us subscribed to; we had not camels for a greater provision. The Nile at Hassa runs at the foot of a mountain called Jibbel Ateshan, or the Mountain of Thirst; the men, emphatically enough, considering that those who part from it, entering the desert, take there the first provisions against thirst, and there those that come to it from the desert first assuage theirs.
On the 11th, about eleven o'clock in the forenoon we left Hassa. It required a whole day to fill our skins, and soak them well in the water, in order to make an experiment, which was of the greatest consequence of any one we ever made, whether these skins were water-tight or not. I had taken the greatest care while at Chendi to dawb them well over with grease and tar, to secure their pores on the outside; but Idris told us this was not enough, and that soaking the inside with water, filling them choak-full, and tying their mouths as hard as possible, was the only way to be certain if they were water-tight without.
While the camels were loading, I bathed myself with infinite pleasure for a long half hour in the Nile, and thus took leave of my old acquaintance, very doubtful if we should ever meet again. We then turned our face to N. E. leaving the Nile, and entering into a bare desert of fixed gravel, without trees, and of a very disagreeable whitish colour, mixed with small pieces of white marble, and pebbles like alabaster. At a quarter past four we alighted in a spot of high bent grass, where we let our camels feed till eight o'clock, and at three quarters past ten we halted for the night in another patch of grass; the place is called Howeela. Jibbel Ateshan bore S. W. and by W. of us, the distance about seven miles. I inquired of Idris, if he knew, to point out to me, precisely where Syene lay, and he shewed me without difficulty. I set it by the compass, and found it to be N. and by W. very near the exact bearing it turned out upon observation afterwards. He said, however, we should not keep this tract, but should be obliged to vary occasionally in search of water, as we should find the wells in the desert empty or full.
On the 12th, at seven o'clock in the morning we quitted Howeela, continuing our journey through the desert in the same direction, that is to the N. E.; our reason was, to avoid as much as possible the meeting any Arab that could give intelligence of our being on our journey, for nothing was so easy for people, such as the Bishareen, to way-lay and cut us off at the well, where they would be sure we must of necessity pass. At twenty minutes past eight we came to Waadi el Haimer, where there are a few trees and some bent grass, for this is the meaning of the word Waadi in a desert. The Arabs, called Sumgar, are here on the west of us, by the river side. At half past twelve we alighted on a spot of grass. Takaki from this distance will be twenty-four miles, between the points N. W. and N. N. W. and from Takaki to Dongola ten short days journeys, I suppose 180 miles at most. We are now in the territory of the Bishareen, but they were all retired to the mountains, a high even ridge, that is something above two days distance from us, and runs parallel to our course, on the right hand of us, all the way into Egypt.
At half past eight we alighted in a sandy plain without trees or grass. Our camels, we found, were too heavily loaded, but we comforted ourselves that this fault would be mended every day by the use we made of our provisions; however, it was very much against them that they were obliged to pass this whole night without eating. This place is called Umboia. We left Umboia, still stretching farther into the desert at N. E. At nine we saw a hill called Assero-baybe, with two pointed tops N. of us, which may be about twelve or fourteen miles distant, perhaps more. This is the next Hybeer's mark, by which he directs his course. On the east is Ebenaat, another sharp-pointed rock, about ten miles distant. All this day, and the evening before, our road has been through stony, gravelly ground, without herb or tree. Large pieces of agate and jasper, mixt with many beautiful pieces of marble, appear everywhere on the ground.
At two o'clock in the afternoon we came to Waadi Amour, where we alighted, after we had gone six hours this day with great diligence. Waadi Amour has a few trees and shrubs, but scarce enough to afford any shade, or night's provision for our camels. Being now without fear of the Arabs who live upon the Nile, from which we were at a sufficient distance, we with the same view to safety, declined approaching the mountains, but held our course nearly N. to a small spot of grass and white sand, called Assa-Nagga. Here our misfortunes began, from a circumstance we had not attended to. Our shoes, that had needed constant repair, were become at last absolutely useless, and the hard ground, from the time we passed Amour, had worn the skin off in several places, so that our feet were very much inflamed by the burning sand.
About a mile north-west of us is Hambily, a rock not considerable in size, but, from the plain country in which it is situated, has the appearance of a great tower or castle, and south of it two hillocks or little hills. These are all land-marks of the utmost consequence to caravans in their journey, because they are too considerable in size to be covered at any time by the moving sands. At Assa Nagga, Assiro-baybe is square with us, and with the turn which the Nile takes eastward to Korti and Dongola. The Takaki are the people nearest us, west of Assa Nagga, and Assero-baybe upon the Nile. After these, when the Nile has turned E. and W. are the Chaigie, on both sides of the river, on to Korti, where the territory called the kingdom of Dongola begins. As the Nile no longer remains on our left, but makes a remarkable turn, which has been much misrepresented in the maps, I put my quadrant in order, and by a medium of three observations, one of Procyon, one of Rigel, and one of the middle star of the belt of Orion, I found the latitude of Assa Nagga to be 19° 30´, which being on a parallel with the farthest point of the Nile northward, gives the latitude of that place where the river turns west by Korti towards Dongola, and this was of great service to me in fixing some other material points in my map.