w% Eyoub, the Ababdah Guide.

CHAPTER XIV.

THE GREAT NUBIAN DESERT.

The Curve of the Nile — Routes across the Desert — Our Caravan starts — Riding on a Dromedary — The Guide and Camel-drivers — Hair-dressing — El Biban— Scenery — Dead Camels — An Unexpected Visit — The Guide makes my Grave— The River without Water — Characteristics of the Mirage — Desert Life — The Sun — The Desert Air — Infernal Scenery — The Wells of Murr-hit — Christmas — Mountain Chains — Meeting Caravans — Plains of Gravel — The Story of Joseph — Djebel Mokrat — The Last Day in the Desert — We see the Nile again.

" He sees the snake-like caravan crawl O'er the edge of the Desert, black and small, And nearer and nearer, till, one by one, He can count its camels in the sun." — Lowell.

A glance at the map will explain the necessity of my Desert journey. The Nile, at Korosko (which is in lat. 22° S8'), makes a sharp bend to the west, and in ascending his current,