The country was utterly barren at that season, as
the extreme heat of the sun and simoom destroys all vegetation so
thoroughly that it becomes as crisp as glass; the dried grass
breaks in the wind, and is carried away in dust, leaving the
earth so utterly naked and bare that it is rendered a complete
desert.
In the rainy season, the whole of this country, from the south to
Gozerajup, is covered with excellent pasturage, and, far from
resembling a desert, it becomes a mass of bright green herbage.
The Arabs and their flocks are driven from the south by the flies
and by the heavy rains, and Gozerajup offers a paradise to both
men and beasts; thousands of camels with their young, hundreds of
thousands of goats, sheep, and cattle, are accompanied by the
Arabs and their families, who encamp on the happy pastures during
the season of plenty.
We had now passed the hunts occupied by the Bishareens, and we
had entered upon the country of the Hadendowa Arabs. These are an
exceedingly bad tribe, and, together with their neighbours, the
Hallonga Arabs, they fought determinedly against the Egyptians,
until finally conquered during the reign of the famous Mehemet
Ala Pasha, when the provinces of Nubia submitted unconditionally,
and became a portion of Upper Egypt.
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