14 EGYPT AND THE SOUDAN.

those of Aba-Haifa. It has been stated that a survey party out on this district at Christmas-tide, 1871, induced a sheikh of the Ilassaneeyih to conduct them up one of the narrow and precipitous 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 mountains, 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 plains, 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 Century, Lieutenant Douglas Dawson 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