HEKREREM. 39 up on one another as if some giant's hand had piled them. The grey whitish gi-anite also shows in its refts round holes smoothed out by rain, and, in some places, crusts of red granite as at Assuan ; but ruins there were none to explore. We saw much dried grass, and some small green trees like wild pear-trees, called Sammer: this shows the rain here must be abundant. A crowd of flints and pebbles of all colours were scattered round above, but almost all were broken in pieces, like those placed on graves here to prevent the wild beasts digging up the corpses. It is possible, however, these stones had been broken up to discover the precious stones supposed to be hid in the coarser casket.

The view over the plains covered with small trees and stretching out farther than eye can reach, is monotonous ; and here the Atbara is very small, and resembles a bi'ook with naked banks. To the N.W. is Gos-Rajeb with its tokuls and decaying roofs ; to the N.N.E. a day and a halfs journey oti", is the Hill of Job. N.N.E. and by N. one day's journey off, is the Hill of Ofrek ; the smaller bills of Derra, Tokul, and Aried, the centre one of which has three pointed tops, lie from Y. by N. to W.N. W. The Hill of Sabath, W. S.W. is about half a day's journey from Gos ; behind the Hill of Job to the N. N. W. is a yet higher mountain, wdth a smaller neighbour, and a chain of hillocks. The distance as the crow flies to the hills of Kassela in the E. may be some thirty hours. The other rock of Herrerem lies southward of the first, and may be some 400 feet high. At the foot of it is a quantity of debris rolled down from it, and large pieces of rock also lie about. On this rough ground are many graves of later time ; some old bricks red outside, black inside and very hard, lie about. A quarter of an hour N.E. of this Rockery, in a spot to which the Sheik led me, I saw some broken and burnt bricks ; hereabouts must once have stood a town as large as Massr (Cairo) and inhabited by Christians. The ground is now level, and neither grave-hill nor bone-house to be seen. There must indeed have been a fearful conflagration here, as the bricks at one spot are melted down into a black glassy mass. Most probably, the city was on both hiUs, and principally on the first, round which many isolated mounds or hillocks may be seen ; but these are covered either with stones or small pieces of granite, and seem to have been used as sepulchres ; » 4