TRAVELS OF CAILLIAUD city gates were considerable, and the ruins of the old Coptic church were far from insignificant. The latter indicate that in the early centuries of the Christian era a heathen temple was turned into a church, a fact which is proved by the crosses that have been found carved on portions of some of the drums of the pillars, and from the small bronze crosses which have been found among the ruins. The church was probably attached to some religious house or monastery which stood close by, and it may have been used for purposes of worship until the early part of the thirteenth century of our own era, but probably not later. That the ruins are not more VIEW 0\- THE TOWN OF SENNAAR ON THE BLUE NILE, SHOWING THE FORT AND MOSQUE, IN 1 842. [From Russegger, Reisen, Plate 13.

considerable is due to the custom which the inhabitants have of carrying away large stones from old buildings to turn into millstones, and to form the foundations of graves, water-wheels, &c.

From Soba Cailliaud set out for Sennaar, a kingdom which he had the greatest desire to see. On his way thither he visited the mountain of Muil, where local tradition asserted ancient ruins and statues were to be found ; these, however, turned out to be nothing more than rocks and boulders of granite which had been worn into fantastic shapes by the action of wind and water, and 43