STEAMING THROUGH THE LAND OF CUSH queens named Candace, one of whom made war upon the Romans. The Nubian people very early adopted Chris¬ tianity, but later, when the Mohammedans took possession of Egypt and the Upper Nile valley, they were converted to Islam. They are still followers of the Prophet, and were among the boldest soldiers of the fanatical Mahdi in his fights against the troops of Egypt and Great Britain.

A land with such a history ought to be a rich one. The Nubia of to-day is about as barren as any country on earth. With the exception of a narrow band along the Nile, it is altogether desert. Beginning in the sands of Libya, it extends several hundred miles eastward to the Red Sea, but only in a few places has the soil enough moisture to furnish even a scanty pasturage for camels and sheep. The bulk of the desert population is made up of Bisharin Bedouins, living in tents made of matting and moving about from place to place with their flocks. Each tribe has a certain number of wells, and water is the principal part of its visible wealth. The British officials of the Su¬ dan have surveyed these wells and investigated their depth and the quality of the flow of the water. The government has also sunk some new wells and found water at a depth of about one hundred feet.

Nubia is now a part of the Upper Nile valley, a cultivat¬ ed strip, in places only a quarter of a mile wide, winding its way like a snake from north to south as far as from New York City to Detroit, and extending on both sides of the river. It is of irregular width, for in some places the desert comes close to the river, while in others the stream winds through black rocky hills which rise straight above it a thousand feet. Farther on, one sees yellow sand, spotted with black rocks, which show signs of volcanic 141