"The birds in this country moult twice during the year, and those
of the most brilliant colours exchange their gaudy hues for a
sober grey or brown. Several varieties sing beautifully; the
swallow also sings, although in Europe I have never heard it
attempt more than its well-known twitter.
"One of the mimosas yields an excellent fibre for rope-making, in
which my people are busily engaged; the bark is as tough as
leather, and forms an admirable material for the manufacture of
sacks. This business is carried to a considerable extent by the
Arabs, as there is a large demand for sacks of sufficient size to
contain two hundred and fifty or three hundred pounds of gum
arabic (half a camel load). Thus one sack slung upon each side
can be packed easily to the animal.
"August 19.--A dead elephant floated down the river to-day: this
is the second that has passed within the last few days; they have
been most probably drowned in attempting to cross some powerful
torrent tributary to the Atbara. As usual, upon the fact becoming
known, the entire village rushed out, and, despite the
crocodiles, a crowd of men plunged into the river about a quarter
of a mile below Sofi, and swimming out they intercepted the
swollen carcase, which was quickly covered with people; they were
carried several miles down the river before they could tow the
body to shore, by ropes fastened to the swimmers.
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