CHAPTER XII±.

THE NUBIAN NILE.

Solitary Travel— Scenery of the Nubian Nile— Agriculture— The Inhabitants— Arrival at Korosko — The Governor — The Tent Pitched— Shekh Abou-Mohammed — Bargaining for Camels — A Drove of Giraffes — Visits — Preparations for the Desert — My Last Evening on the Nile.

We passed to the west of the island of Biggeh, where the current is less rapid, and a gentle north wind soon carried us away from Philae. Dark mountains of porphyry rock inclosed the river, and the solitude of the shores, broken only by the creaking of an occasional sakia, or irrigating wheel, made me feel keenly the loneliness of my situation. Achmet, who now became cook as well as dragoman, served me up three fowls