_Wednesday, Jan. 4._—Was up in the night to see about the sailing. Dared not trust the men. We have had a good breeze, but made miserable time. We stopped a little while for wood, and then stood out with a good wind. A merchant boat came up in the rear, passed us, and left us far behind. The Doctor is feeling rather poorly. We reached Shendy about noon, and were fully an hour in passing it. This is a large town. We saw about a thousand cattle on the bank, and camels coming and going. The larger proportion of the houses that are visible from the river have been destroyed by the rains and stand in ruins. This is said to be a very healthy place, and it has every appearance of it. The desert comes to the river. About eight fine sycamore trees in one place on the bank make a fine site for a building. There are other trees near. A wall has been built along the river to protect the bank. Here we saw a number of whirlwinds carrying the desert sand hundreds of feet into the air. The town of El Metammeh, on the west side, and a few miles farther up the river is a very large place—said to be larger than Berber. Here also the desert comes to the river. The town stands back a little, and the banks are not quite so high. We rounded a point. A fine wind was blowing, but the men insisted that they must put to shore “to pick up the sail,” or in other words tighten the rigging. Soon after I found them sitting on the bank contemplating the rigging instead of working at it, and sailed into them lively. They soon had it done.