ere
ranged along the steep bank, and formed, as it were, a suburb. Marshy
pasturages occupied the modern site of Syene; beyond these were gardens,
vines, furnishing wine celebrated throughout the whole of Egypt, and a
forest of date palms running towards the north along the banks of the
stream. The princes of the nome of Nubia encamped here, so to speak,
as frontier-posts of civilization, and maintained frequent but variable
relations with the people of the desert. It gave the former no trouble
to throw, as occasion demanded it, bodies of troops on the right or left
sides of the valley, in the direction of the Red Sea or in that of the
Oasis; however little they might carry away in their raids--of oxen,
slaves, wood, charcoal, gold dust, amethysts, cornelian or green felspar
for the manufacture of ornaments--it was always so much to the good, and
the treasury of the prince profited by it. They never went very far in
their expeditions: if they desired to strike a blow at a distance,
to reach, for example, those regions of Puanit of whose riches the
barbarians were wont to boast, the aridity of the district around the
second cataract would arrest the advance of their foot-soldiers, while
the rapids of Wady Haifa would offer an almost impassable barrier to
their ships. In such distant operations they did not have recourse to
arms, but disguised themselves as peaceful merchants. An easy road led
almost direct from their capital to Ras Banat, which they called the
"Head of Nekhabit," on the Red Sea; arrived at the spot where in later
times stood one of the numerous Berenices, and having quickly put
together a boat from the wood of the neighbouring forest, they made
voyages along the coast, as far as the Sinaitic peninsula and the
Hiru-Shaitu on the north, as well as to the land of Puanit itself on
the south. The small size of these improvised vessels rendered such
expeditions dangerous, while it limited their gain; they preferred,
therefore, for the most part the land journey.

[Illustration: 269.jpg SMALL WADY, FIVE HOURS BEYOND ED-DOUEIG, ON THE
ROAD TO THE RED SEA]

Drawn by Faucher-Gudin, from a photograph by Golenischeff.

It was fatiguing and interminable: donkeys--the only beast of burden
they were acquainted with, or, at least, employed--could make but short
stages, and they spent months upon months in passing through countries
which a caravan of camels would now traverse in a few weeks.*

* The _Histor