At this wretched spot the Nile is dreary beyond
description, as a vast desert, unenlivened by cultivation,
forms its borders, through which the melancholy
river rolls towards Lower Egypt in the cloudless glare
of a tropical sun. From whence came this extraordinary
stream that could flow through these burning
sandy deserts, unaided by tributary channels 1 That
was the mysterious question as we stepped upon the
shore now, to commence our land journey in search
of the distant sources. We climbed the steep sandy
bank, and sat down beneath a solitary sycamore.
We had been twenty-six days sailing from Cairo
to this point. The boat returned, and left us on thé
east bank of the Nile, with the great Nubian desert
before us.
■ Korosko is not rich in supplies. A few miserable
Arab huts, with the usual fringe of dusty date palms,
compose the village; the muddy river is the frontier
on the west, the burning desert on the east. Thus
hemmed in, Korosko is a narrow strip of a few yards
width on the margin of the Nile, with only one redeeming
feature in its wretchedness—the green shade;
of the old sycamore beneath which we sat.
I had a firman from the Viceroy, a cook, and a dragoman.
Thus, my impedimenta were not numerous.
The firman was an order to all Egyptian officials for
assistance ; the cook was dirty and incapable ; and the
interpreter was nearly ignorant of English, although a
professed polyglot. With this small beginning, Africa
y'cis before me, and thus I commenced the search for
•CHAP. i.] TEE NUBIAN DESERT. r
the Nile sources. Absurd as this may appear, it was
a correct commencement. Ignorant of Arabic, I could
not have commanded a large party, who would have
been at the mercy of the interpreter or dragoman;
thus, the first qualification necessary to success was a
knowledge of the language.
After a delay of some days, I obtained sixteen camels
from the sheik. I had taken the precaution to provide
water-barrels, in addition to the usual goat skins; and,
with a trustworthy guide, we quitted Korosko on the
16th May, 1861, and launched into the desert.
The route from Korosko across the Nubian desert
cuts off the chord of an arc made by the great westerly
bend of the Nile. This chord is about 230 miles in
length. Throughout this barren desert there is no
water, except at the half-way station, Moorahd (from
moorra, bitter); this, although salt and bitter, is
relished by camels. During the hot season in which
we unfortunately travelled, the heat was intense, the
thermometer ranging from 106° to 114°‘Eahr. in the
shade. The parching blast of the simoom was of such
exhausting power, that the water rapidly evaporated
from the closed water-skins. It was, therefore, necessary
to save the supply by a forced march of seven
days, m which period we were to accomplish the distance,
and to reach Abou Hammed, on the southern
bend of the welcome Nile.
During the cool months, from November until
February, the desert journey is not disagreeable ; but
the vast area of glowing sand exposed to the scorchino