14 . ARRIVAI AT TIIE NILE. I ['chap. i.
. v « May £2.—Started at' 5.30 a .m . till 9.30 ; again, at:
2d 5 p .m . till 7.15 p .m . Eested to dine, and started'
again at 8.30 p .m . ; till 4.25 A.M. reaching Abou.
Hammed, thank Heaven ! *
“ Yesterday evening we passed through a second
chain of rugged hills of grey granite, about 600 feet high,
and descended through a pass to an extensive plain, in
which rose abruptly, like huge pyramids, four granite
hills, at great distances apart. So exactly do théy :
resemble artificial pyramids at a distance, that it is,
difficult to believe they are natural objects. I fceL
persuaded that the ancient Egyptians took their designs;
for monuments and buildings from the hills themselves,;
and raised'in the plains of Lower Egypt artificial'
pyramids in imitation of thè granite hills of this form.
Their temples were in form like many of the granite
ranges, and were thoroughly encased with stone. The,
extraordinary massiveness, of these works suggests that
Nature assisted the design ; the stone columns are
imitations of the date palms, and the buildings are
copies of the rocky hills—the two common features of
Egyptian scenery.
“ Throughout the route from Korosko, the skeletons
of camels number about eight per mile, with the
exception of the last march on either side of the
watering-place Moorahd, on which there are double:
that number, as the animals have become exhausted,
as they approach the well. In the steep pass through
the hills, where the heat is intense, and the sand,
deep, thè mortality is dreadful ; in some places I
c h a p. i .J DISTANCE FROM KOROSKO. 1 5
counted six and eight in a heap; and this/difficult
portion of the route is a mass of bones, "as every weak
animal gives in at the trying place.
“ So dreadful a désert is this between Korosko and
Abou Hammed, that Said Pasha ordered the. route to:
be closed; but it was re-opened upon the" application
of foreign consuls, as the most direct road to the
Soudan. Our Bishareen Arabs are first-rate walkers,
as they hâve performed the entire journey on foot.:
Their water and provisions were I all exhausted
yesterday, but fortunately I had guarded the key:
of my two water-casks ; - thus I had a supply;
when every watér-skin was empty, and on the Iàst
day I divided my sacred stock .amongst the men,
and the still more thirsty camels. In. the hot
months, a camel cannot march longer than three
days without drinking, unless at the cost of great
suffering.
“ Having arrived here (Abou Hammed) at 4.25 this
morning, 23d May, I had the luxury of a bath. The
very sight of the Nile was delightful, after the parched
desolation of the last seven days. The small village is
utterly destitute of everything, and the sterile desert
extends to the very margin of the Nile. The journey
having occupied ninety-two hours of actual marching
across the desert, gives 230 miles as the distance1 from:
Korosko, at the loaded-camel rate of two and a half
miles per hour, i The average duration of daily march
has been upwards of thirteen hours, including a day’s,
halt at Moorahd. My camels have arrived in tolerable