DULGO as the loading could not be finished before the evening, it was decided not to start until dawn the following day. This arrangement set the afternoon free, and we were able to go and look at the Dervish fort, which lies to the north of the village. Its position was well chosen, and it consisted of a very thick wall, with loop-holus and embrasures for guns, and an inner fort ; its area of fire was extensive, and in the hands of a determined foe would have caused an attacking force a good deal of trouble. The idea of visiting the famous granite quarries on the Island of Tombos was mooted, but boats were scarce, and the Nile being in high flood the possibility of returning by a given time was very doubtful. Tombos lies a little to the north of Kerma, just opposite Hannek, where the series of rapids called the Third Cataract begins. The only antiquities to be heard of consisted of a few pillars, situated about three miles from Kerma, and an examination of these showed them to have belonged to a small Egyptian temple, built probably under the XlXth Dynasty. Close by, the lower part of a seated stone figure of an ancient Egyptian official was found; it passed into the hands of Mr. Page, the engineer in charge of all the machinery at that time in Kerma, who presented it to the Trustees of the British Museum. It is tolerably certain that a town of some importance stood at or near Kerma, under the XVIIIth Dynasty, though probably on the west bank of the Nile, and as the natives declared that '"written stones " used to be found there, it might be well for the Sudan Government to make trial examinations there.

The loading of the barges being completed by sunset. Captain Oldfield took me and my kit, including the bag of papers, to the stern-wheeler, Abu Klea} and I was " handed over" to the officer in command of the steamer. The whole of the lower deck was crammed with boxes and stores, and all the space at the sides and front of the boiler was filled with logs of wood for the fire. In the barges which were lashed alongside were hundreds of Egyptian soldiers, and I recognized many of my fellowpassengers in the ti'ain. The upper deck also was crowded, and it was with the greatest difficulty that space could be found for a roll of blankets. At the end of it, seated on any odd box that ' The correct form of the name is " Abii Talih."

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