RAMBLE IN THE DESERT.

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CHAPTER XIX.

RAMBLE IN THE NUBIAN DESERT

NITROUS EFFLORESCENCE PLANTS OF THE DESERT -RUINED VILLAGES BEAUTIFUL CIRCULAR HOLLOWS NUBIAN GOAT-HERDS ENORMOUS CROCODILE

PARTRIDGES ROPE-WALKS STORM ON THE RIVER-ARRIVAL AT WADY HALFA - NUBIAN CAMEL-DRIVERS — TURKISH GOVERNOR GOLDEN SANDS OF THE DESERT-A GAZELLE-SOUND OF THE CATARACT-SAND CLOUDS -BRUCE THE ROCK ABOUSIR MAGNIFICENT VIEW OF THE CATARACT -GRANDEUR OF THE NILE MOST SOUTHERN POINT REACHED BY THE AUTHORWANDER AMONG THE ROCKS OF THE CATARACT ISLANDS OF GREEN PORPHYRY LIST OF TRAVELLERS IN NUBIA GREEK CHAPEL- ABABDE CHIEF-RETURN DOWN THE NILE-UNABATED INTEREST OF THE VALLEY.

Sunday, January 27th. Wady Halfa. CCCXLVIII. THIS morning, a calm having succeeded to the high wind of yesterday, we landed on the western bank, and rambled into the desert, which presents a very picturesque and original appearance. Here and there, over the whole surface of the plain, the sand has been raised by the wind into small hillocks, varying in shape and height; overgrown, in many places, with the tamarisk and silk-tree, whose entire foliage had now, by the peculiar nature of the atmosphere, been encrusted with a nitrous efflorescence, which hung upon the leaves and branches in tiny white beads, like the pearls of hoar-frost. Far in the desert we found a number of gray sandy hills,

470

RUINED VILLAGES.

which, probably, owe their origin to the winds, and the growth of small creeping grasses, with whose roots their whole surface is netted. Few spots, however arid and barren, are so unvisited by the vivifying influence of warmth and moisture, as not to produce some diminutive plant, some fine moss or lichen, whose curious structure enables it to imbibe nourishment from the slightest dew. The desert has many such. In several places, indeed, it is gemmed with wild flowers, which, though small, pale, and delicate, are not without beauty. And, in these sands, where the eye is not satiated with the luxuriance and splendour of a tropical flora, such unobtrusive objects please, more, perhaps, for the modesty of their pretensions, and because, like ascetic virtue, they flower in the wilderness, than for their intrinsic charms.

CCCXLIX. Returning towards the river, we once more entered among the small wooded hillocks abovementioned, where we observed the ruins of several villages, whose destruction may, probably, be attributed to the incursions of the Moggrebyn Bedouins. Their appearance is exceedingly desolate, the drifting sands having gradually filled up the houses, which, in a few years, they will entirely overwhelm. Separate dwellings were also seen, some inhabited, others in ruins; and there is a large village still thickly peopled, at the southern extremity of which we observed a large clay-built fortress, with battlements and square towers, exactly resembling the

ROMANTIC HOLLOWS.

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castle stormed by the Egyptians in the bas-reliefs of Aboosambal. Our path lay over the yellow sand, where we sometimes sank up to the ankles, ascending and descending among the hillocks, and emerging at intervals to the edge of the high precipitous bank of the Nile, traversing several circular basins, surrounded by sand hills, which exhibit a singularly romantic aspect. Thickly covered with tamarisks, interspersed with silk-trees, doum palms, and copses of low bushes of beautiful foliage, and carpeted with grass and fragrant wild flowers, they are precisely the spots the Bedouins would choose to encamp in, affording both shelter from the winds and browsing for their camels; and here, in an atmosphere perfumed by nature, enjoying the cool shade, silence, and the most perfect tranquillity, the traveller may for a moment taste the sweetness of a desert life, free from the sordid views and degrading sentiments which, in those who habitually lead it, too frequently, it is to be feared, place them upon a level with the least estimable portion of civilised society. Among the tamarisks in these beautiful hollows was a small tree of unknown species, strongly resembling them in appearance, which, when frosted with nitre, presented a perfectly blue appearance, as if it had been steeped in a solution of indigo. Here and there were the marks of recent fires, and around them heaps of the half-roasted fruit of the doum tree, which, in Nubia, attains a magnificent height, and being covered all the way down to the earth with leaves and branches,

472

NATIVE ROPE WALKS.

exhibits a rich and picturesque aspect. Several goatherds, -the kindlers, no doubt, of the fires, with flocks as black as themselves, were wandering in Arcadian idleness among these woody eminences and undulating valleys; but if the exterior be an index to the contents of the inner man, their passions and schemes of life would have furnished few materials for pastoral poetry.

CCCL. The channel of the Nile is in this part divided by several small islands, or rather sand-banks, on one of which we saw an enormous crocodile,—not less, I should imagine, than thirty feet in length, basking in the sun; and near him a smaller one, that, as soon as we came in sight, plunged into the water. In a field covered with dhourra stubble, near one of the inhabited villages, we observed a large covey of that peculiar species of partridge mentioned by Burckhardt, which often made, he observes, a welcome addition to his supper. But we were less fortunate, for they all escaped. Here we passed several of the rude rope-walks of the natives, where cordage, generally of a large size, is manufactured from the leaf of the date palm; the one end being fastened to a tree, and the other, whenever the workman quits his task, secured from untwisting by a strong wooden peg, driven into the ground; but we were unable closely to observe the process, for, whenever the rope-makers beheld us advancing towards them, they quitted their work, and escaped across the fields, fearing, no doubt, we intended to

kidnap them for the "victorious armies" of the Pasha. Both the mimosa and tamarisk flourish luxuriantly in these sands, and we observed about the villages many which had attained an enormous size; though, the winds having half uncovered their roots, it is probable the first tempest will lay them level with the earth. There was here very little cultivation, and that little occurring in patches at intervals, on the banks of the river. The water-wheels likewise were few.

CCCLI. The wind at length springing up, we recommenced our voyage, soon after which it blew almost a hurricane, covering the river with vast waves, while the sands were whirled aloft many miles into the air. We however ascended the stream with extraordinary rapidity; but the force of the wind continuing to increase, the Arabs, after many narrow escapes, were compelled to lower the mainsail, and even with the small one the boat was more than once nearly capsizing: but no accident happened; and early in the afternoon we arrived at Wady Halfa, in the neighbourhood of the second cataract.

CCCLII. It was not my original intention to make the second cataract the extreme boundary of my travels, but, quitting the river at this point, to proceed with dromedaries through the Batn el Hajjar to Sukkot and Mahass, on the confines of Dongola. Beasts proper for the journey it would, we imagined, be easy to procure; and accordingly, when