THE EGYPTIAN SUDAN old Rest Camp compound, wherein I had lived in 1886, when excavating the tombs on the other side of the river with General (now Lord) Grenfell. It was about eight years since I had been in Aswan, and the developments which had taken place in the town came as a revelation to me. The first quay, which was built by Colonel Leach, R.E,, in 1887, had been removed, and a fine, broad road had been built along the river front, extending nearly as far as North End, and along it were numerous shops kept by Greeks and other Europeans. The rocky barrier, and the houses which marked the limit of the town in 1886, and the old offices of Messrs. Thomas Cook and Son had been taken away, trees had been planted, and everywhere signs of prosperity were apparent. Aswan had, in short, become a fashionable health resort, and the squalor and misery which filled the town in 1885 and i885 no longer existed. We found Captain Pedley in his garden, -trying to eat a late dinner and to answer the batches of telegrams from the Sirdar, General (now Lord) Kitchener, and from the Egyptian War Office in Cairo. He was the only British officer in Aswan, and in order to keep pace with the work of all kinds which poured in upon him he had to be on duty all the day, and often a part of the night, for boats had to be unloaded as soon as they arrived, no matter when they made their appearance. His duty was to receive and to pass on without any delay the supplies necessary for some twenty thousand men, to say nothing of the materials required for the Sudan Railway, and this great work went on day and night without any serious hitch or fuss. In the intervals between the reading of telegrams. Captain Pedley told me that the Sirdar had instructed him to " take me over " on my arrival, and to " pass me on " by the first boat leaving for the south, and he went on to inform me that he would " despatch " me on the following day.

The improvements in the town, which could only be guessed at by night, became plain in the light next morning, and their effect was heightened by the peculiar natural beauty of the surroundings. Aswan had grown greatly towards the south, and new streets had been built on the east side which testified to the prosperity of the householders. The new municipal buildings 68