Far up and far down they could see the course of the river, a quarter of a mile in breadth, and running very deep and strong, with sleek black eddies and occasional spoutings of foam.

On the other side was a frightful wilderness of black, scattered rocks, which were the _debris_ carried down by the river at high flood.
In no direction were there any signs of human beings or their dwellings.
"On the far side," said the dragoman, waving his donkey-whip towards the east, "is the military line which conducts Wady Halfa to Sarras.
Sarras lies to the south, under that black hill.

Those two blue mountains which you see very far away are in Dongola, more than a hundred miles from Sarras.

The railway there is forty miles long, and has been much annoyed by the Dervishes, who are very glad to turn the rails into spears.

The telegraph wires are also much appreciated thereby.