Having no particular business with the governor of Ferke, I did not pay him a visit; but when he saw us riding on, he came gallopping after us on horseback, with one of his slaves, to enquire who we were, and insisted upon our returning with him to his house. In cases like this, compliance is always better than fruitless resistance; and we therefore crossed over the dry bed of a branch of the river to the island, where we found the whole neighbourhood assembled at the governor’s house, to partake of a cow slaughtered in honour of the same deceased relation, to whose funeral feast we had been invited at Endhana. The women who were present had a small drum; and some of them sang glees, in honour of the deceased, while others danced. Our host had a great desire to possess himself of my camels, and he would have done it, by giving me two others of no value instead of them, had it not been for his father’s letter. I excused my having rode on by saying that I thought his residence had been farther to the southward. He insisted that we should stay all the night with him; but as I knew this was only to extort a present from me, I gave him a large piece of soap, after which he suffered us to depart. From hence to Say, the route is W. 1 S. In two hours, we reached Mekrake (مقرقه). Four hours, Kennis (قِنّس). The plain is cultivated in a few spots only. Senna mekke grows in quantity, and is of a good quality, though still inferior to that of the Eastern mountain; it is collected here by the Arabs Kerrarish, whenever there is any demand for it at Esne.[34] The western borders of the river are quite sandy and barren. Five hours, Sheikh Medjdera (شيخ مجدره), a small village built round the tomb of a saint. Here, as in every other part of Nubia, the thirsty traveller finds, at short distances, water-jars placed by the roadside, under a low roof. Every village pays a small monthly stipend to some person to fill these jars in the morning and again towards evening. The same custom prevails in Upper Egypt, but on a larger scale; and there are small carawanserais often found near the wells,[35] which supply travellers with water. In five hours and a half, we reached Aamara (عَماره), the extremity of the territory of Sukkot, to the south of which begins the district of Say.