ream, and the progress made each day was
very slight.

Four days after leaving Ombi they arrived at Syene,[A] by far the
largest town they had come to since leaving Thebes. This brought the
first stage of their journey to an end. Hitherto they had been
traveling along a tranquil river, running strongly at times, but
smooth and even. Before them they had a succession of cataracts and
rapids to pass, and a country to traverse which, although often
subjugated, was continually rising against the power of Egypt.

[A] The modern Assouan.

At Syene they remained for three days. They would gladly have pushed
on without delay, for although the Egyptian authority extended further
up the river, Syene was the last town where the governor would concern
himself with the affairs of Egypt, or where fugitives from justice
were likely to be arrested. However, as it was customary to give
boatmen a few days of repose after their labor, and before undertaking
the still more severe work which lay before them, Jethro thought it
better to avoid any appearance of haste.

There was much to be seen that was new to them at Syene. A great trade
was carried on with Meroe. Most of the merchants engaged in it dwelt
here, buying on the one hand the products of Upper and Lower Egypt and
sending or taking them up the river, and on the other hand buying the
products of Meroe and dispatching them to Thebes. The streets were
filled with a mingled population. Egyptians with their spotless
garments and tranquil mien; merchants absorbed in business; officers
and soldiers in large numbers, for Syene was an important military
station; officials belonging to the great quarries near, and gangs of
slaves of many nationalities working under their orders.

Wild-looking figures moved among the crowd, their garments, thrown
loosely round them, affording a striking contrast to the cleanness of
those of the Egyptians, while their unkempt hair was in equally strong
contrast to the precise wigs of the middle-class Egyptians and the
bare heads of the lower class. Their skins, too, were much darker in
color, though there was considerable variation in this respect. Among
them were a sprinkling of men of entirely different type, almost black
in hue, with thicker lips and flatter features. These were Ethiopians,
whose land lay beyond that of Meroe and who had also felt the weight
and power of the arms of Egypt.

"These people of Meroe," Amuba said, "are very similar in