MO UNTAIN-PA SSES. 329 through a dark raountain gorge. The Tvind was so hot that it was almost like going through a fiery furnace. At the top we came to the plain of Kokreb, which is about fifteen miles broad. Tradition says that an Arab girl, on the night before her marriage, danced across the plain without stopping, so rejoiced was she at the near approach of that desirable event. From Kokreb to Haratree the road rises more rapidly, and near Haratree we passed through the highest mountain-pass, the road being about three thousand feet high. It is a difficult march for the Arabs, but the scenery is very grand. A great deal of excavation would be required in making a railway, but it does not seem to be at all impossible to believe that a good one might be constructed, at a moderate cost. It would be an immense help in opening up the Soudan. A good deal of the opposition to such a scheme is on account of the heavy tax which is levied upon the camel-men, both in the Nubian and Korosko deserts.

This would, of course, be lost to the revenue should a railway be constructed, and the authorities seem to prefer a present source of income to a future one, though infinitely more profitable.

March 15 is a day I shall never forget, for when we had ridden for about six hours, on turning a sharp curve we caught a glimpse of the sea. At first we could hardly believe it, but thought it must be the mirage again mocking us; but the