8o EGYPT AND THE SOUDAN.

the mud huts of the ordinary inhabitants, built, or rather " stuck up," under the shade of a great thicket of palm-trees, there is an encampment of black traders who have pitched their tents, unloaded their camels, set out their merchandise, and for a time settled with their families on the banks of the Nile till it is time for them either to take the desert journey or to proceed into Egypt. But it is from Korosko, the scattered village at the foot of a strangely-shaped volcanic mountain from the peak of which a grand and vast view of river and desert can be obtained, that the journey across the wilderness is mostly taken. Starting from a green oasis in a valley, but leading at once to a gloomy gorge inclosed by black frowning precipices, the travellers enter upon the track across the Nubian desert which traverses the chord of an arc made by the great westerly bend of the Nile. This was Gordon's route, and though there was considerable anxiety for his safety when it was known that he had mounted his camel, struck into the desert, and was about to accomplish the journey by one of his rapid rides, neither he nor Colonel Stewart considered that there was any great peril either from the journey or from probable attacks of Arabs. The monopoly of the desert transit between Korosko and Abu Hamed was possessed by the Khalife family, the representative of which was Hussein Pasha Khalife Mudir of Berber and a man of great influence. Close to Korosko was a camp of Bedouins, who were supposed to guard the desert road and assist in the general defence of the country. The country was traditionally dangerous, however, and the desert between Korosko and Abu Hamed was so dreaded that Said Pasha once ordered the route to be closed; but it was opened again, upon application of the foreign consuls, as the most direct route to the Soudan. So far as interruptions or attacks by natives were concerned Gordon was not the man to regard such probabilities. All his anxiety was to get to his destination as quickly as possible, and he sped on, over the plain of orangecoloured sand, through barren valleys, amidst bare broken hills of black basalt, conical accumulations of slag and volcanic or granite boulders; across desolate wastes with a few stunted trees only breaking the drear monotony; through the "Bab" or gates, an