The British Campaign in the Soudan. 196 Abou-Hamed, the route follows the river or near it 1338 miles to Berber. At this point the Nile again becomes navigable 225 miles to Khartoum. Total distance from Cairo 1,298 miles.

The Korosko desert is one of those that the Arabs call Atmoors, in contradistinction from the Lerreeyeh, or wilderness in which there is vegetation as well as game, and where the Bedouins roam with their flocks, though cultivation is impossible for want of ram. The Atmoors are entirely destitute of vegetation, and consequently of animal life, excepting only the ostrich and hyena, which cross them swiftly by night, and the ever-present vultures hovering over the caravans by day. Nothing relieves the glare of the yellow sand. The marches are terrible, and yet it is worse to halt during the day than to keep in motion, for the fearful heat makes rest or sleep impossible even under the tents, with the burning sand under you and the vertical sun overhead. The Korosko atmoor being one of the great avenues of trade, the trail is perfectly well marked by the skeletons of camels, averaging over 200 to the mile, by my own actual count. Thousands of these animals perish of exhaustion on this route every year. The atmoors are generally from six to ten days’ march across, and are like oceans which caravans traverse upon their desert-ships, but where it is death to tarry.

Il. The route following the Nile continuously fulfils the paramount condition of insuring an unfailing supply of water, but it presents the disadvantage of being the longest and slowest of all. From an engineer’s point of view it is divided into three sections.

The first, from Cairo to the second cataract (795 miles), is travelled every winter by hundreds of tourists in daha-