At sunset, the country presented a truly charming landscape. The stream, which might have been here about an hour broad, glowed like liquid gold, whilst the sun hid itself behind the Araskòll, and the slender sickle of the moon shone clearer in the west, with Venus, in the cloudless sky. The three islands of Genna, Siàl, and Schèbesha, stood out, with their thick forests, from the tranquil water; and on the other side the pointed peaks of the mountains grew dim in the deep blue, over the dusky woody foreground of the left border of the river, with the charms of an island in the Ægean Sea. Close to me, the shore is enlivened by the coloured and black forms of the crew; some play and wrestle, with songs to the sounds of the pot-drum, (Tarabuka); others lie and squat round the fire, stir and cook by it; others hunt, while some throw themselves into the stream, pursue each other in swimming, dive, and run again to the fires, which, in the increasing darkness, throw magical streaks of light on the water, and repeat themselves in it, with the strange groups illuminated by them. So long as the flesh-pots of Egypt, distributed among them by Suliman Kashef, hold out, they are all of good cheer, and appear to have no other wish than to spend the time agreeably according to their own fashion; to play nonsensical pranks, and make jokes for the amusement of the Turks, and when that is no longer practicable, to return as quickly as possible. With respect to the real design of our expedition, I see on _all_ sides, a negligence and indifference which nearly make me mad. The latitude is 14° 5′.