mes has supplied the stone of
which the temples are built. These celebrated quarries produce the
finest stone in the country, and have always been worked in the most
scientific and methodical manner, deep cuttings following the veins
of good stone which only was extracted, while the river front has
remained practically untouched--a contrast to the modern method of
quarrying, where the most striking bluffs upon the Nile are being
recklessly blown away, causing an enormous waste of material as well
as seriously affecting the beauty of the scenery.

CHAPTER VII

THE NILE--III

After a river journey of 583 miles from Cairo, Assuan is
reached--limit of Egypt proper and the beginning of an entirely new
phase of Nile scenery. Cultivation in any large sense has been left
behind, and we are now in Nubia, a land of rock and sand, sparsely
inhabited, and, excepting in very small patches along the water's
edge, producing no crops.

[Illustration: FIRST CATARACT FROM ELEPHANTINE ISLAND.]

Built at the northern end of what is called the first cataract, Assuan
is perhaps the most interesting and prettily-situated town in Upper
Egypt. Facing the green island of Elephantine and the golden
sand-drifts which cover the low range of hills across the river,
Assuan stretches along the river-bank, its white buildings partly
screened by the avenue of palms and lebbek-trees which shade its
principal street, while to the north are dense groves of date-palms,
past which the Nile sweeps in a splendid curve and is lost to sight
among the hills. Behind, beyond its open-air markets and the
picturesque camp of the Besharin, the desert stretches unbroken to
the shores of the Red Sea.

The bazaars of Assuan are extremely picturesque, and are covered
almost throughout their length; the lanes which constitute them are
narrow and winding, forming enticing vistas whose distances are
emphasized by the occasional glints of sunlight which break in upon
their generally subdued light. In the shops are exposed for sale all
those various goods and commodities which native life demands; but
visitors are mostly attracted by the stalls of the curio sellers, who
display a strange medley of coloured beads and baskets, rich
embroideries, stuffed animals, and large quantities of arms and
armour, so-called trophies of the wars in the Sudan. Though most of
these relics are spurious, genuine helmets and coats of mail of old
Persian and Saracenic times may oc