nd well beaten clay spread over mats laid upon rafters, which
form the roof.

The city of Sennaar is of an oblong form, its longest side opposite the
river. It stands not at any distance from the river, but directly upon
its west bank, which consists hereabouts of hard clay.

The river is now rising,[54] but exhibits itself at present to the view
as narrow and winding, as far as the eye can reach, between sand flats,
which will shortly be covered by its augmenting waters. The bed of the
Nile opposite Sennaar may be reckoned at about half a mile broad.

The environs of Sennaar are wide plains, containing large and populous
villages. A long ragged mountain, the only one visible, stands about
fifteen miles to the west of the town. Below the town is a small but
pretty island, whose inhabitants thrive by raising vegetables for the
market of Sennaar; and the opposite bank of the river, presents several
verdant patches of ground devoted to the same object.[55] Beyond these
spots, the country on the other bank appeared to be mostly covered with
trees and bushes, among which I saw four elephants feeding.

I could not find any remains of any very ancient building in Sennaar
during my stay, and I believe that none exists there. Such is the
present appearance of a town which has evidently been once rich,
comfortable and nourishing, but which, for eighteen years past, as I
have been informed, has been the lacerated prey of War and Confusion.

On the day after our arrival the conditions of the accord between the
Pasha and the Sultan of Sennaar were arranged and sealed; by which the
latter recognized himself as subject and feudatory of the Grand Seignor,
and surrendered his dominions to the supremacy and sway of the Vizier of
the Padischah, Mehemmed Ali Pasha. The next day the Tchocadar Aga of his
Highness the Viceroy of Egypt, who had arrived in our camp two months
past, embarked in the canja of the Pasha Ismael to carry the documents
of this important transaction to Cairo.

For several days after our arrival at Sennaar, our camp was incommoded
by furious squalls of wind, accompanied with thunder, lightning, and
torrents of rain. The Pasha therefore determined to caserne the troops
in the houses of the town, and to stay there during the rainy season. In
ten days after our arrival, the army was distributed throughout the town
and in the villages on the opposite bank of the river. The Pasha himself
took up his quarters in a large