valley of the Atbara
After sixteen hours” actual marching from Cassala we arrived at the
valley of the Atbara. There was an extraordinary change in the
appearance of the river between Gozerajup and this spot. There was no
longer the vast sandy desert with the river flowing through its sterile
course on a level with the surface of the country; but after traversing
an apparently perfect flat of forty-five miles of rich alluvial soil, we
had suddenly arrived upon the edge of a deep valley, between five and
six miles wide, at the bottom of which, about two hundred feet below the
general level of the country, flowed the river Atbara. On the opposite
side of the valley the same vast table-lands continued to the western
horizon.

• In the evening two or three gentlemen were present, and Marguerite sang
• Abou Sinn had arranged to move northward on the following day; we
• We took yesterday a drive to the western shore
• Update: Big News!