the shrine itself, the effect being overwhelming in its mystery and awe."

To the historian Abou Simbel is mainly of importance as containing a long chronicle in stone of Rameses the Great, in which he describes the great work he has carried out in his temple at Thebes. Here are also inscribed the history in great detail of the king's famous campaign in Asia. This he evidently considered his greatest military achievement, for it is inscribed on the walls of the Theban Ramasseum and at Abydos.

Temple of Hathor.-A little to the north of the Great Temple is the small Temple of Hathor, with the façade also cut out of the perpendicular face of the cliff. This is a memorial chapel dedicated to Queen Nefert-Ari, the favourite wife of Rameses II. Those who have travelled in India will be reminded, by the beautiful legend of the mutual love of husband and wife inscribed on the façade, of the famous Taj Mahal at Agra. The king writes, "Rameses, the Strong in Truth, the Beloved of Amen, made this divine abode for his royal wife, Nefert-Ari, whom he loves."

Wady Halfa-Between Abou Simbel and the frontier, Wady Halfa, the scenery is dreary and tame, and there are scarcely any ruins to break the monotony of the voyage.

Assouan to the Second Cataract.-The 200 miles' voyage to Wady Halfa is most interesting, and should not be omitted by any Nile traveller who can afford the time. The scenic and historic attractions are many, and to visit the Temple of Abou Simbel alone is worth the long 800 miles' voyage from Cairo.

The chief attractions are admirably summed up in Messrs. Cook's Nile pamphlet. They include the unrivalled Gorge of Kalabsheh, where the great river is narrowed between giant granite rocks; the mountain fortress of Ibraim-the Gibraltar of the Nile; Korosko, the old starting-point of the caravans for Khartoum; the historic battlefield of Toski; the temples of Dendoor, Dakkeh, Derr, and Abou Simbel."

Want of space will prevent even the briefest description of any of these monuments except the famous rock-hewn temples of Abou Simbel, which, in the estimation of most travellers, are only exceeded in historical and antiquarian interest by the Pyramids of Ghizeh and the Theban Temples.

Scenery. The scenery of Nubia—for geographically Nubia (Soudan) begins at the First Cataract, though politically Egypt, as distinct from the Soudan, ends at Wady Halfa- differs considerably from

that of Egypt, being bolder and more varied. For the first hundred miles or so "a glaring reddish desert, studded with black pointed rocks, and with narrow strips of green, and palm-trees by the side, make up scenery which is more beautiful and diversified than in Egypt." Afterwards, from Ibraim to Wady Halfa the scenery is more of the desert type, and is comparatively monotonous.

Temples of Abou Simbel.-These wonderful rock-temples (known to the travellers of the last century as Isampoul), which lie on the western bank close to the river, some 50 miles south of Wady Halfa, must impress the most matter-of-fact traveller, however sated with the monuments of ancient grandeur and wealth at Karnak and Thebes.

The Great Temple is a superb conception of Egypt's greatest sovereign. Rameses simply took a vast hill-side and carved a temple out of its heart, while on the immense façade, 120 feet long and 100 feet high, he placed the "four immortal warders, his own royal likeness four times repeated." These colossal statues are nearly 70 feet high, and the forefinger of each is a yard long.

The temple is so orientated that on one day of the year, probably on the day of the dedication, at sunrise one shaft of light pierces the darkness of the outer and inner halls, and "falls like living fire on

the shrine itself, the effect being overwhelming in its mystery and awe."

To the historian Abou Simbel is mainly of importance as containing a long chronicle in stone of Rameses the Great, in which he describes the great work he has carried out in his temple at Thebes. Here are also inscribed the history in great detail of the king's famous campaign in Asia. This he evidently considered his greatest military achievement, for it is inscribed on the walls of the Theban Ramasseum and at Abydos.

Temple of Hathor.-A little to the north of the Great Temple is the small Temple of Hathor, with the façade also cut out of the perpendicular face of the cliff. This is a memorial chapel dedicated to Queen Nefert-Ari, the favourite wife of Rameses II. Those who have travelled in India will be reminded, by the beautiful legend of the mutual love of husband and wife inscribed on the façade, of the famous Taj Mahal at Agra. The king writes, "Rameses, the Strong in Truth, the Beloved of Amen, made this divine abode for his royal wife, Nefert - Ari, whom he loves."

Wady Halfa-Between Abou Simbel and the frontier, Wady Halfa, the scenery is dreary and tame, and there are scarcely any ruins to break the monotony of the voyage.