one hundred sahs. This they have
purchased with various little wares, principally knives and
looking-glasses. The ghaseb is always mixed with ghafouley, a species of
grain about a third the size of a small pea. Ghafouley is called _koula_
in Soudanese. The Aheer cheese has appeared for the first time amongst
us to-day. It is made in little squares, three by two inches broad, and
a quarter of an inch thick. It is eaten fresh, but has a poor flavour.
The people prefer pounding it into dust when dry, and drinking it with
ghaseb-water, which is white as milk, and very cool. The paste thus made
is very white, and becomes as hard as a stone when dry. I have also made
acquaintance with _doua doua_, round black balls of a vegetable
composition, eaten with various dishes as seasoning. It is very abundant
in Soudan. There is also a species of ghaseb-paste, called
_d[=a]bo[)a]_, not unlike macaroni in very small pieces. This is very
much esteemed. It swells exceedingly when boiled, like paste. We begin
to get into regions where the preparation of food is greatly changing.
Yesterday my servants purchased me a fowl, and I learned for the first
time that this delicacy was to be procured.
I have studied but little since I left Tripoli. Our affairs have always
been worse and worse, and we have had a continual battle to preserve our
existence. Such is the beginning of this expedition: God only knows what
may be its _end_.
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