This was really done; and, in addition to the supply required, he presented me with a fat sheep for my journey, would not receive any payment, and shewed himself altogether very desirous of gratifying every wish I might express. This sheikh possesses several very excellent horses, broken for hunting the giraffe, and almost all those beautiful animals sent to Europe and America are caught by him. At the time I speak of, he had twenty-four sons and daughters living. Before undertaking a journey into Kordofan, it is essential to understand properly the characters of the various nations inhabiting this country, to study their dispositions well, and treat them accordingly; for that which is to be effected with the one by rigour and intimidation, can only be obtained from the other by friendly and conciliating treatment. In the contrary case, the worst must be feared. The negroes, especially, should be treated with lenity and kindness; whereas, with the Arabs and Dongolavi, severity and intimidation are necessary. In my travels, during nineteen months in the various countries, I had to suffer more (consequently had more experience) than those travellers who hurried through the country, accompanied by a military escort, a number of Ghawa’zee,[37] servants, and others, whereas I had but one single servant, and, during the latter part of my travels, was not even attended by him. I was often forced to suffer the greatest torments of hunger and thirst, and was, for a short time, obliged to rest contented with locusts and putrid camels’ flesh,—bread was quite out of the question; I even held out once for thirty-six hours without water. As far as my eye could reach, I saw nothing but sand and sky,—not a worm even enlivened the dismal scene; the skeletons of men and camels lay strewn about the plains, as fitting monuments of the surrounding misery; a hot wind raised the burning sand, so as to darken the sun, and I expected with every step to find my grave. One of our camel-drivers sank under the fatigue; and the sand of the desert which rode upon the winds soon covered his bones. On my flight from Kordofan to Sennaar, sleep, during which so many cares and troubles are forgotten, frequently failed me; and what did I not suffer on my return home through the frightful desert, from Abouhamed to Krusko, on the Nile! I had not the means to purchase a second camel. My solitary beast was laden with my luggage and water-bags; it was, indeed, overloaded, I could not, therefore, mount it, and I was thus under the painful necessity of following the caravan, during two tedious days on foot, enduring a march of twenty-one hours daily on the sand, under a scorching sun. Man overcomes many difficulties, and will bear more than is generally believed. In eight days I reached Krusko, where I met Mr. Kotschy, the naturalist; he alone can tell how worn out I was with fatigue, hunger, and thirst, when I arrived at his tent, where