The royal cranes, so often mentioned, are in extraordinary quantities here, and we provide ourselves abundantly with them, but got very few other birds. They keep together in flocks, and walk now on the dry old river-bed, which consists of the most fruitful earth, and extends at two hundred paces distant from the Nile. This ancient, flat, and choked-up bed of the Nile, being subject to inundations, is perhaps the place between which and the country beyond the vigorous forest was planted; for I remarked yesterday, that the forest stands more under the horizontal line than on the rising of the shores. Just now Fadl and Sale came from the Shilluks, some of whom have encamped at a tolerable distance from the river. I did not accompany them, because the natives would infallibly have gone away again, if they had seen a white countenance, as that is connected in their minds with a Turkaui. A broad spear could not be procured from them; they said that every one had his spear, and ought to keep it: moreover, they gave my men to understand that their Mek would not appear until we had also a sultan on board, and that we ourselves had come to their land as spies. Two of them were tolerably conversant in the Arabic language, but very few of the others understood it. One of them possessed a small elephant’s tooth, as my servants further related, but the glass beads I had given them were not sufficient to purchase it, nor a sheep. They do not despise ornaments, and were presented with abundance of white, thick glass beads (the blue are not esteemed); but they prefer, however, objects of real value, and wanted, for example, half a ferda for the sheep. They said that they were frequently visited by Gelabis (slave-dealers, merchants), and that even the day before yesterday, they (the Shilluks) had been visited by some of them, who had come from Khartùm on camels, and brought cotton goods, ferdas, beads, &c., which they had exchanged for cows, teeth, honey, simsim, and kurbàks. A cow costs a ferda, and such a piece of cotton stuff is valued as money, for we never see them clothed in it. It is a striking circumstance, that a merchant is esteemed by them almost a sacred person; however, I would not recommend any white man to undertake this business here, if he does not wish to be murdered as a _much-beloved_ Turkaui. _31st March._—We leave our landing-place at three o’clock, without having seen the sultan of one of the largest, if not the very largest nation of the White Nile. Another fellow, however, who came, pretended to be the Sheikh-el-Bellet (according to him, a son or relation of the sultan and his envoy), and was presented with pearls and a piece of calico conformably to the Turkish policy. We halt for the night at the left shore. A very large number of black ibes are remarked on the trees: their flesh has a fine flavour.