HYPOTHESIS OF HERODOTUS. 211 Monday, Dec. 17. Benisooëf. CXL. The weather, on leaving Zeitún, was less cloudy than during the preceding day; yet the sun seemed to have but little force. Here the Arabian mountains project almost into the river, with high round sand-hills in front, and present exactly the appearance of a coast deserted by the sea, seeming to bear evident marks of the gradual subsiding of the waters. The desert, too, on both sides, is covered with innumerable marine shells, some fossil, others not all tending to confirm the hypothesis of Herodotus, that the Nilotic valley was formerly an arm of the sea. There is also a perceptible decrease in the Nile itself, which here seems to be shrunk up or devoured by the sands of the desert; while many extensive sand-banks and low islands break up the stream, and diminish its grandeur. Provisions are exceedingly cheap: we purchased half a bushel of fine onions for sixpence; and thirty-two new-laid eggs for three-pence. The river continues to be covered by vast flights of pelicans; which I have never observed to fly, in the form of a wedge, like the wild duck, as has been stated by some writers. CXLI. Soon after passing Boosh, we came to a large sandy island, dividing the Nile into two very unequal streams, of which the eastern one only is navigable. This island, at the northern extremity, is very low, but rising gradually, it terminates at the south-east, in high perpendicular banks, round which 212 A MURDERED MAN. the river rushes with extraordinary velocity. A jungle of sedge and tall reeds, through which it is very difficult to force a passage, covers the whole surface of the island; and, in warm weather, must be a nest of serpents. On the south-western promontory I found, among the sand, a number of small semitransparent pebbles of various colours; and the sand itself, coarse and angular, as not yet reduced to its proper state, seemed to consist entirely of particles of decomposed granite. It was raised in clouds by the wind, and driven with so much violence into our faces, that it was painful to open the eyes; so that a few hours passed in such a place would probably cause a dangerous ophthalmia. CXLII. Not far south of this island, and nearly in front of the village of Shendawieh, where (as Denon has observed) the Nile is bordered by a bank of fine green turf, we came suddenly upon a party of three fellahs and a boy, who were employed in digging a grave for a murdered man. The body lay on having no other its back in the sun, close to the river, covering than a coarse blue shirt. The head was bare, and blood was oozing from a deep gash in the occiput, and from the mouth, eyes, and nostrils. If one might judge by the features, it was the corpse of a Nubian from about Dóngola, and appeared to have been some hours in the river, being swollen and livid. Two young men were digging the pit on the edge of a field of dhourra, close to the pathway used by the trackers; while an old man sat by silently ARAB BOAT-BUILDErs. 213 watching their operations. The boy, with a face of fear and wonder, knelt at the grave's head, looking anxiously on. When the pit was thought deep enough, the old man and the grave-diggers proceeded to take up the body; which they laid in the ground, with the head towards the west, and the feet towards Mekka and the Nile. A tattered garment, seemingly belonging to the deceased, was thrown over the face; the arms were stretched down by the sides; a quantity of dhourra straw was placed upon the body, and the earth closed over all. Not having our servants with us, we could not learn the history of this murder; but it appeared to have been effected by those rude spears, with iron heads two feet in length, which are the common weapon of the fellahs. CXLIII. Leaving this spot, we continued our walk along the shore, until, opposite Nesle, we found a number of shipwrights at work on the frame of a very neat boat. The Arabs, like the Parsees of Bombay, appear to have a kind of instinctive expertness in ship, or rather boat-building; for nowhere perhaps, in the world, are there found small vessels more excellent, or better adapted to the sort of navigation in which they are employed, than the kandjias and other small craft on the Nile. The river here expands greatly, until you reach Benisooëf, where it presents to the eye a magnificent expanse of waters, which, when we arrived, was glowing with all the golden tints of the setting sun. In front of the bar 214 ARRIVAL AT BENISOOËF. racks, a large white building of good appearance, there is an open space of ground, surrounded on three sides by rows of lofty spreading trees. One of these rows, of tall mimosas, runs along the Nile; and a fine promenade might easily be made under the shelter of its overhanging boughs. We moored near this spot, where we found a number of Turkish and Albanian soldiers lounging about, and looking at the water; very merry, and, seemingly, civil fellows, exceedingly different from what they were a few years ago, when every traveller who ventured into these inhospitable regions might be said to carry his life in his hand. TOWN OF BENISOOEF-THE BAZAR. -CONTRASTS OF COSTUME SUGAR PLANTATIONS TURTLE-DOVES RAIN - MAGNIFICENT BEND OF THE RIVER -MOUNTAIN SCENERY-HEALTH CHANGES IN THE ATMOSPHERE-BREEZES ON THE RIVER -RAINBOWS BEAUTIFUL SOURCES OF THE PICTURESQUE ANOTHER GAMES OF THE ARABS -STRAW BOATS COMPLEXION OF THE ROCK Tuesday, Dec. 18. Near Malakhah. CXLIV. Early in the morning we landed, with our Arabs, to see the town. Benisooëf is a place of some consideration, with several mosques, caravanserais, and large private houses; together with an extensive, well-supplied bazar, frequented, once a week, by all the peasants of the country round. As it happened to be market-day, this bazar, thronged with people, formed an interesting and striking, but not a gay scene. Both sellers and buyers, with but few exceptions, had an air of poverty; and among these exceptions were the officers of a regiment of cavalry quartered in the town, whose gorgeous uniforms, glittering with gold, contrasted disagreeably with the rags |