The one lion of Wady Halfa is the famous Pulpit Rock of Abusir some 300 ft. high, with the incomparable view of the Nile and the Libyan Desert. This rock is a veritable "visitors' list" in stone, and the names of almost every traveller of note has been inscribed here. The dragoman firmly believes that Moses' name might once have been seen among the graven autographs, though he is careful to add, in order to take the wind out of the sails of the sceptical tourist, "that it has long been worn away!" At all events, Belzoni's name is to be seen there, high up on the rock, and, still higher, Gordon's.

There are few views which impress the spectator so much as the grand prospect from the platform which forms the summit of the rock. Looking down on one side is the rushing and eddying Nile, studded with black shining rocks dividing the river into endless channels-these are the rapids known as the Second Cataract the eastern bank is a wild jumble of black rocks and boulders, the debris brought down in high flood. The absence of any sign of habitation intensifies the sensation of wild desolation and awful grandeur. In the distance misty blue mountains conceal Dongola, some 150 miles south. Turning round and looking westward, the view is even more impressive.

IV.-KHARTOUM

KHARTOUM, 575 miles by rail from Wady Halfa, 1330 miles by rail and river steamers from Cairo, may be regarded as the ultima Thule of tourist colonisation in Egypt. As a holiday resort for tourists of sporting proclivities, this renascent capital of the Soudan has already become popular; but for those wintering in Egypt for their health it must only be regarded as an invalid resort in posse. Though a wonderful transformation has been effected by the Royal Engineers in what was a few years ago a moribund city, yet it is still to a large extent in the hands of the builders, and "is noisy and dusty with gangs of native workmen levelling roads, digging foundations, making bricks, hammering, digging, building, etc. A large number of workmen, too, are helping to convert Khartoum into a capital worthy of the new Soudan provinces. Their principal duty is bearing water for the young trees that will one day make each street a shady avenue. There is now a first-class but small hotel, the streets

and others, who naturally feared that the Philæ temples would be submerged by the artificial lake which would be created. At low Nile these fears have been justified. However, every precaution to minimise injury to these priceless monuments has been taken by the Government, and partly out of deference to antiquarian objections, the dam has been built some fourteen feet less high than was originally intended. Besides, as embanking and damming the Nile at Assouan is estimated to increase the amount of crops in Egypt to nine times their present yield, purely sentimental and aesthetic reasons could not be allowed to stand in the way of this enormous material benefit to the country.

Next to the famous Temples of Phile the Barrage is the great sight of Assouan, and from the mere tourist's point of view it makes up for the cataract which it has done away with. It is unnecessary to attempt a description of the Barrage, with its subsidiary works, locks, canals, etc.certainly, next to the Suez Canal, the greatest engineering work ever undertaken in Egypt in modern times. Besides, columns of statistics would fail to bring home to the lay mind either the stupendous nature of the work, or the incalculable benefits to be derived from it. The bald facts that the reservoir formed by the Barrage will affect the

level of the river some 140 miles south of Assouan, and will hold water more than sufficient for a year's domestic supply to every town in Great Britain, are sufficient to make the ordinary reader understand the grandeur of the task undertaken by Sir Benjamin Baker and Sir John Aird, the "genii of the waters." If he who makes two blades of grass grow where formerly only one grew, is a benefactor, then, indeed, Sir William Garstin and Sir William Willcocks, its designers, and Sir Benjamin Baker and Sir John Aird, its makers, the creators of this great enterprise, should be regarded as ninefold benefactors to Egypt.

PRACTICAL INFORMATION

Hotels.-Assouan is now as well supplied with first-class hotels as Luxor, which says much for the increasing vogue of the place. There are three good houses. The Savoy, built by the Anglo-American Steamer Company on Elephantine Island, is a thoroughly up-to-date and well-equipped hotel, standing in its own grounds of eight acres. The sanitary arrangements are of the most approved type. Altogether, the Savoy is a worthy rival of the well-known Cataract Hotel. The latter hotel was opened in 1900, and has a healthy situation south of Assouan, commanding extensive and picturesque views over the Nile and the desert. The sanitary arrangements are beyond reproach, and every modern hotel luxury seems to be provided (electric light, hot and cold baths), while striking features of the hotel are

the covered terraces and verandahs. This is emphatically the invalid's hotel. Then there is the old-fashioned and popular Grand Assouan, belonging to Mr. Pagnon. The accommodation is fair, and the cuisine good. There is an English housekeeper qualified to act as nurse, and there are European chambermaids. The hotel is now lighted throughout by electricity. Considering the distance from Cairo, the base of supplies, and the shortness of the season, the charges, the same as at the largest hotels in Cairo, viz. 16s. a day (from Jan. 1st. to end of season), are justifiable.

Church Services.-Every Sunday from December to April at the English Church, which has recently been built near the Cataract Hotel. There is also a Roman Catholic Church. Bank.-Bank of Egypt.

English Doctors.-H. Leigh Canney, M.D.; G. D. Edwards, M.D., Villa des Palmiers.

Clubs.-Golf and Tennis Club; Dr. Leigh Canney, Hon. Sec. There is also a Circulating Library.

Cafés. Khedivial, fronting the Nile; Assouan Bar.

Conveyances.-Cabs, 5 p., by the hour 10 p. Boats plentiful. For an afternoon row among the islands the charge would be about 20 p.

Post and Telegraph Office.-Three mails a week to and from Cairo

Shops. There is a European Pharmacy and an "English Store." The native bazaars are good and well supplied with Oriental and European curios.

Tourist Agent.-Messrs. Thos. Cook & Son.

Books of Reference.—The Winter Climate of Egypt, by Dr. Leigh Canney (see "Bibliography"); Medical Notes on Assouan, by Dr. G. D. Edwards; Assouan as a Health Resort, by W. E. Kingsford, 1899. Thos. Cook & Son.