THE TEMPLE OF AMADA. 497 Ibreem overhanging us. We swept silently under the base of the heights, which in the indistinct light, appeared to rise four or five hundred feet above us. By sunrise, the dategroves of Derr, the capital of the Nuba country, were in sight, and we were soon moored beside the beach in front of the town. Derr stretches for some distance along the shore, and presents an agreeable front to the river. A merchant, from a boat near ours, brought me two small loaves of delicious Egyptian bread. He had been in Soudan, and knew how such bread would relish, after the black manufacture of that country.

An hour afterwards my boat ran to the eastern bank, to allow me to visit the little temple of Amada. This temple stands on a slight rise in the sands, which surround and entirely overwhelm it. It consists only of a low portico, supported by eight pillars, a narrow corridor and the usual three chambers — all of very small dimensions. The sculptures on the walls are remarkable for the excellent preservation of their colors. The early Christians, who used this temple for their worship, broke holes in the roof, which admit sufficient light for the examination of the interior. Without knowing any thing of the hieroglyphic inscriptions on the temple, I should judge that it was erected by some private person or persons.

The figures making the offerings have not the usual symbols of royalty, and the objects they present consist principally of the fruits of the earth, which are heaped upon a table placed before the divinity. The coloring of the fruit is quite rich and glowing, and there are other objects which appear to be cakes or pastry. While I was examining the central chamber, I heard a sound as of some one sharply striking one of the out-