om the terraces of its banks one may
constantly see fishermen throwing their hand-nets, while in the
shallows and backwaters of the river, drag-nets are frequently
employed. I recently watched the operation, which I will describe.
Beginning at the lower end of the reach, seven men were employed in
working the net, three at either end to haul it, while another, wading
in the middle, supported it at the centre. Meanwhile two of their
party had run far up the banks, one on either side, and then, entering
the water, slowly descended towards the nets, shouting and beating the
water with sticks, thus driving the fish towards the nets. Usually the
fish so caught are small, or of only moderate size, though I have
frequently seen exposed for sale in the markets fish weighing upwards
of 300 pounds and 6 feet or more in length.

The Nile Valley is comparatively wide for a considerable distance
above Cairo, and while the hills which fringe the Lybian desert are
generally in view in the distance, those on the eastern side gradually
close in upon the river as we ascend, and in many places, such as
Gibel Kasr-es-Saad, or "the castle of the hunter," Feshun, or Gibel
Abou Fedr, rise almost perpendicularly from the river to the height of
1,000 feet or more, and although considerable areas of cultivated land
are to be found at intervals on the eastern side, practically all the
agricultural land of Upper Egypt lies on the western bank of the
river.

The rock of which the hills are formed is limestone, and it is a very
dazzling sight as you pass some of these precipitous cliffs in the
brilliant sunshine, especially where the quarrymen are working and the
sunburnt outside has been removed, exposing the pure whiteness of the
stone.

Along the narrow bank of shingle at the foot of the cliffs flocks of
dark-coated sheep and goats wander in search of such scant herbage as
may be found along the water's edge, and many native boats lie along
the banks loading the stone extracted by the quarrymen, who look like
flies on the face of the rock high above you. Enormous quantities of
stone are required for the building of the various dams and locks on
the river, as well as for the making of embankments and "spurs." These
"spurs" are little embankments which project into the river at a
slight angle pointing down-stream, and are made in order to turn the
direction of the current towards the middle of the river, and so
protect the banks from the scour