14 EGYPT AND THE SOUDAN.

those of Abu-Halfa. It has been stated that a survey party out

on this district at Christmas-tide, 1871, induced a sheikh of the

Hassaneeyih to conduct them up one of the narrow and pre-

cipitous mountain gorges. After passing several pools of water

standing in basins worn out of the granite bed, the gorge at a

distance of above two miles from the entrance widened out into

a valley about half a mile broad, where there was a small lake,

the edges of which were fringed with bulrushes and doum palms,

while the character of the huts which formed a village, the nature

of the vegetation, and the presence of birds and conies showed

that the lake was permanent. They heard that several lakes of

this description were to be found in the wild recesses of the moun-

tains, but the Arabs were not inclined to say much on the subject.

At about ninety-five miles from Ambukol the Jebel-el-Jilif

range changes in character; the precipitous face breaking up into

spurs and intermediate jslains, and on one of these spurs, about

two miles north of the route, are the wells of Gakdul, the water

of which is sweet, though the lower wells are mostly muddy and

often contaminated by the flocks that are constantly taken there

to drink. The upper pools are much cleaner. The granite rock

ceases with Jebel Jilif, and the route traverses the upper Nubian

sandstone, and, as we have noted, is easily traversed to Abu-Klea,

where the "wells" are artificial pits, which require frequent

clearing out, but contain a good and continuous supply of water.

Describing the "desert march" in the Nineteenth Centnry,

Lieutenant Douglas Daw^son of the Coldstreams, speaking of the

route to Gadkul from Howeiyat, says: "We were now on the

edge of a vast plain stretching to our right as far as the eye could

see, while on our left, at the distance of a mile or so, rose the line

of black barren-looking mountains that we were to follow the whole way to Gakdul. Just before the halt a capture was made of a man

and his family who were watching their flocks feeding quietly in

the plain, proving how unexpected an advance by this route must

be. The man, who turned out to be a well-known hill robber chief,

from his knowledge of the desert was henceforth enlisted as a guide,

and remained with us till our return about two months later; the