PHILAE. 17

If Egyptians do their manoeuvres so well, said we,

what won't the ''Brigade" do?

Next day we trained to Philae, about seven miles

round the first cataract, and went on board our

steamer. Though the country, so far, had been the

reverse of lovely, the view from Shellal, the head

of the cataract, looking down stream with the island

and ruined temples of Philae in the foreground, was

quite beautiful ; the towering gates of the big temple,

:he graceful pillars of the little one overhanging the

baming water some eighty feet sheer, with the cataract

tearing between the wild black rocks in the back-

ground, formed the most beautiful piece of scenery we had yet seen on the river. By moonlight it

was still prettier. The steamer we found ourselves on was much

arger than the last ; in fact, it was the Khedive's

own, and towed, besides the two large barges for our

men, some twenty whalers, wherein were stowed part

of the 56th (Essex). Nothing much occurred worthy

of remark during this voyage, except the shooting

of a large crocodile by one of us.