During this voyage they remained in many towns several days, when trade, curiosity, or inclination induced them to sojourn: in three places they found the Nile so shallow, by reason of the numerous channels which are cut from the mainstream, for the purpose of irrigating the lands of the adjacent country, that they could not proceed in the boat, which they transported over land, till they found the water flowing again in sufficient body to float it; they also met with three considerable cataracts, the principal of which was at the entrance from the west of Wangara; here also they transported the boat by land until passing the fall of water, they floated it again in an immense (merja) lake, whose opposite shore was not visible; at night they threw a large stone overboard as a substitute for an anchor, and watch was regularly kept to guard against the attacks of crocodiles, elephants, and river horses, which abound in various parts. When they arrived at Cairo they joined the great accumulated caravan of the west, called Akkabah el Garbie, and proceeded therewith through Barca, Tripoli, Tunis, Algiers, and Angad, to Fas and Marocco, where they joined the Akka caravan, and again reached Jinnie, after an absence of three years and two months. Finally it appears from the corroborating testimony of all who have performed the journey from Timbuctoo to Egypt, that the country contiguous to the Nile El Abeede is rich and productive, that the banks of the river are adorned with an incredible number of cities and towns of incalculable population, that the Mohammedan religion prevails; that the Arabic is the general language spoken throughout these countries. The cities and towns are crowded with mosques, having square towers attached to them: fondaques or caravanseras for the accommodation of travellers are spacious and convenient, so that we may conclude that the banks of the Nile El Abeede from Timbuctoo to the confines of Egypt may be as populous as the banks of any river in China. FOOTNOTES: [Footnote 195: See the author’s letter to Sir Joseph Banks in Proceedings of the Association for Promoting the Discovery of the Interior Parts of Africa, in 2 vols. 8vo. vol. ii. page 364.] [Footnote 196: الواح _Elwah_; this is the Arabic name; modern Europeans have, by adding an s made it wahs, the Romans not having the letter w have made it oas, and by the propensity to use this letter, it has been again added to make it plural; hence the word oasis, or wahsis. The plural in Arabic is _El Wahaht_.]