266 jotjRxey to central Africa.

pents. I lay down in the warm grass, and watched the shadows deepen in the black gorge, as the twilight died away. The jzihzak or crocodile-bird twittered along the shore, and, after it became quite dark, the stillness was occasionally broken by the snort of a hippopotamus, as he thrust his huge head above water, or by the yell of a hyena prowling among the hills. Talk of the pleasure of reading a traveller's adventures in strange lands ! There is no pleasure equal to that of living them : neither the anticipation nor the memory of such a scene as I witnessed that evening, can approach the fascination of the reality. I was awakened after midnight by the motion of the vessel, and looking out of my shelter as I lay, could see that we were slowly gliding through the foldings of the stony mountains. The moon rode high and bright, over the top of a peak in front, and the sound of my prow, as it occasionally grated against the rocks, alone disturbed the stillness of the wild pass.

Once the wind fell, and the men were obliged to make fast to a rock, but before morning we had emerged from the mountains and were moored to the bank, to await daylight for the passage of the last rapid.

In the mouth of the pass lies an island, which rises into a remarkable conical peak, about seven hundred feet in height.

It is called the Rowyan (thirst assuaged), while a lofty summit of the range of Gerri bears the name of Djebel Attshan (the Mountain of Thirst). The latter stands on a basis of arid sand, whence its name, but the Rowyan is encircled by the arms of the Nile. In the "Wady Beit-Naga, some three or four hours' journey eastward from the river, are the ruined temples of Naga and Mesowurat, described by Hoskins. The date of their erection has been ascertained by Lepsius to be coeval