of this warlike little city in a great state of excitement, on account of the desolation of the island, which I have narrated in ascending the river. They asked eagerly for powder, and we only wished we could have given them barrels of it; they also inquired anxiously if we had seen the governor, whose avenging visit they also were expecting, and preparing a warm reception for. Here is one of the largest and most perfect temples in Nubia, and, about two miles distant, another, named Beit el Wellce. This last is of the Pharaonic times, and is adorned with beautiful paintings, whose colors are very fresh and vivid.

Near here are some rapids, which we had great difficulty in prevailing on our drunken Nubian pilot to take us through without daylight: we insisted on it, however; and the moon glanced on eddies of foam as we darted here and there among the rugged reefs that strewed the river. It required great exertion to keep steerage-way on the boat in this rapid stream, but our crew pulled gallantly, rising to their feet at every stroke of their ponderous oars, flourishing their naked figures, as they tossed one hand wildly in the air, and then, with a frightful yell, threw themselves back upon their stroke, till they reached their

seats.

The following day we passed the temple of Debod unvisited, and, towards evening, arrived at Philoe, having been only fifteen days on our journey to the Second Cataract.

Being now much recovered, I struggled up to visit once more those marvellous temples; once more I gazed from their terraces on the exquisitely beautiful prospect below, and then flung myself exhausted on the carpet in the shadow of our tent, which was now pitched upon the island shore. The lake was soon specked by people swimming, or rowing themselves on logs of wood, to visit and sell to us; so that we had soon a large levee, and before the sun went down, had accumulated articles of savage virtù sufficient to have stocked an Ethiopian Howell and James's.

Soon after day-light on the following morning, the Rais of the Cataract made his appearance, bringing with him eight athletic Nubians accustomed to the rapids and his voice, to row the boat instead of our own crew. After salams, and pipes, and coffee, we made sail and floated away, surrounded by rafts and swim

mers, and water-logs, carrying double. We soon left all these behind, and, in a short time, our beautiful Philo disappeared behind the tall cliffs for ever.

When we approached the Cataract, we stopped near a reef of rocks, to take in the old grey pilot of the falls, and instantly a score of Nubians darted out of the crowd into our boat. Being already very top-heavy, owing to the mast and spars that were lashed to the fore-mast and poop, we desired Mahmoud to clear the decks-in vain: one was a rais, and had a right to the risk of being drowned; another was his servant, another his cousin ; and we finally shoved off, with five-and-thirty natives crowded on our narrow deck. The celebrated old Rais of all the Cataract is dead, and his possessions seem to have descended in various falls to each of his sons, for there were several of these on board looking after their claims. The village Sheikh was there for the same purpose, and the Rais of the Lower Cataract also favored us with his company, in order to ensure his share.

"Yallough!" we are off. The Nubian river-guides pull away desperately, shouting a vehement song to which their oars keep rapid time, and we rush on to the calm space where the waters seem to pause before they plunge below. The chief Rais stands at the bow, gesticulating violently, watching eagerly every motion of the boat, and shouting out directions to the pilot, which were drowned in the yell of the rowers, the roar of the torrent, and the vociferations of every one on board, except ourselves and the old pilot, who stood erect and silent, watching every wave with a calm but vivid eye.

Now we are in the Cataract-the waves foam up over the deck, and the spray renders everything invisible, except where the dark cliffs loom for a moment through its clouds: the boat darts wildly on through the weltering waters-a sharp rock seems to await her-she shuns it like a bird, and plunges down another cataract; then fairly spins round in its eddies, till, urged into way again by the sweeping oars, she seems to hover for a moment over the great fall ;-then, down she goes, as if performing a summerset; and we emerge about a hundred yards off from rock, and rapid, and exploit, which this last descent certainly deserves the name of.

We were now on the Egyptian Nile once more; we discharged our Raises, who did not even ask for backsheesh, and went away, looking as cheerful as their care-worn countenances would permit; and we also dismissed our drunken pilot, but in a very different temper.

OUR anxiety for English letters and news acquired force, like gravitation, as we descended the river; and we only stopped at Assouan long enough to take in necessary stores, such as charcoal, flour, &c. I may mention here, for the information of travellers, that during the first month of our voyage we had used only the bread of the country, which was often very indifferent; but, on entering Nubia, we could no longer obtain even this, and Mahmoud thenceforth made Arab cakes for us of flour and water, which he baked upon a flat piece of iron; this we found so excellent and wholesome, that we used nothing else until we reached Cairo. Our crew also laid in little stores of merchandise, for presents or for profit, of the Nubian articles most prized in Egypt. The premiums and prizes for work which we had given them from time to time, enabled them to do this; and our boat became heavily laden with the dates of the Ibreehmee and other luxuries.

We found a steamer belonging to the Pasha at Assouan, which he had sent so far with Prince Albert of Prussia, who was now visiting Nubia, and we had here the luxury of reading some newspapers two months old, which were to us as precious as when they lie on our breakfast-tables in London, still reeking from the press, and containing all the news which only started into existence a few hours before.

Bacheet and another inhabitant of these parts had obtained leave of absence from Philo, and we now set forward on our Egyptian voyage with a diminished crew. We stopped about midnight to take in the absent men under a grove of the best date-trees in Egypt. It was bright moonlight, and we found our excellent pilot waiting for us, surrounded by his family. It was interesting to observe the affectionate partings of these poor people, and the old father held up his hands to bless his son, remaining in that attitude till our boat glided out of sight. We offered fifty piastres to the crew if they took us to Esneh by the following evening, and they accomplished the undertaking, having been thirty hours at the oars, without a moment's respite, except for meals, and while we were visiting Koum Ombos and the quarries of Hadjar Silsili.

The former is a noble relic of other times, and has still visible the tank wherein the sacred crocodile bathed, and the brick terrace on which he took his daily promenade. These Ombites were worshippers of this fishy beast; a record survives of one of them, who was taken prisoner by the crocodile-haters of Dendera, and handed over by them, in a spirit of controversial irony, to his gods. It is unnecessary to add that these carnivorous deities conferred immediate immortality on their luckless worshipper. The quarries of Hadjar Silsili afforded material for many of the cities along the Nile, and they now present an extraordinary appearance; hollowed out of the solid rock, there are squares as large as that of St. James's; streets as large as Pall Mall; and lanes and alleys without number; in short, you have here all the negative features of a town, if I may so speak ; i. e., if a town be considered as a cameo, these quarries are one vast intaglio.

One of our chameleons died here of cold, the thermometer