of transport charges affords great facility for commerce.”
*
Berber is a large town, and in appearance is similar
to the Nile towns of Lower. Egypt, consisting of the
usual dusty, unpaved streets, and flat-roofed houses of
sun-baked bricks. It is the seat of a Governor 'or
Mudir, and is generally the quarters for about 1,500
troops. We were very kindly received by Halleem
Effendi, the ex-governor, who at once gave us permission
to pitch the tents in his garden, close to the Nile,
on the southern outskirt of the town. After fifteen
days of desert marching, the sight of a well-cultivated
garden was an Eden in our eyes. About eight acres
of land, on the margin , of the river, were, thickly
planted with lofty date groves, and shady citron and
lemon-trees, beneath which we revelled in luxury on
our Persian rugs, and enjoyed complete rest after the
fatigue of our long journey. Countless birds- were
chirping and singing in the trees above u s, innumerable
ring-doves were cooing in the shady palms ; and
the sudden change from the dead sterility of the
. desert to the scene of verdure and of life, produced an
extraordinary effect upon the spirits. What caused
this curious transition? Why should this charming
oasis, teeming with vegetation and with life, be found
in the yellow, sandy desert ?. . . Water had worked
* Since that date, 31 May, 1861, the epidemic or cattle plague
carried off an immense number of camels, and the charges of transport
rose in 1864 and 1865 to a rate that completely paralysed the
.trade of Upper Egypt.
this change; the spirit of the Nile, more potent than
any genii of the Arabian fables, had transformed the
desert into a fruitful garden. Halleem Effendi, the
former governor, had, many years ago, planted this
garden, irrigated by numerous water-wheels; and we
now enjoyed the fruits, and thanked Heaven for its
greatest blessings in that burning land, shade and
cool water.
The tents were soon arranged, the camels were paid
for and discharged, and in the cool of the evening
we were visited by the Governor and suite.
The-firman having been officially presented by the
dragoman upon our arrival in the morning, the
Governor had called with much civility to inquire
into our projects and to offer assistance. We were
shortly seated on carpets outside the tent, and after
pipes and coffee, and the usual preliminary compliments,
my dragoman explained, that the main object
of our journey, was the search for the sources of the
Nile, or, as he described it, “ the head of the river.”
Both the Governor and Halleem Effendi, with many
officers who had accompanied them, were Turks, but, in
spite of the gravity and solidity for which the Turk is
renowned, their faces relaxed into a variety of expressions
at this (to them) absurd announcement. “ The
head of the Nile ! ” they exclaimed, “ impossible. Do
they know where it is ?” inquired the Governor of the
dragoman; and upon an explanation being given,
that, as we did not know where it was, we had proposed
to discover it, the Turks merely shook their
c 2