"evaporation of its surface into consideration, such a supposi"tion can, however, hardly be allowed, and the Kagera can only be considered as an item, an important one, it is true, "in the great system of streams which pour into the lake, and "not as in any way influencing the discharge at the Nile "outlet. It is true that it is asserted that there is a drift or slight current across the lake from the Kagera in the south to the Ripon Falls in the north, but it seems scarcely credible "that this can be due to the volume of the former river. Moreover, this drift is perceptible, even when the volume of "the Kagera is low, and it seems most probable that it is due "to the prevailing wind which blows over the lake from the "south to the north for the greater portion of the year.

66

It

cannot then be seriously considered that the Kagera is the 66 source of the Nile. The lake itself constitutes the true source of this river, and forms a vast reservoir, receiving "the waters of numerous streams, and discharging a certain "limited portion of their united volume into the great river "which forms the life of the Soudan and Egypt." (Report on Basin of the Upper Nile, p. 19.)

The length of the Nile from the Ripon Falls to the Rosetta Mouth of the Nile is, according to the most recent calculations of Captain H. G. Lyons, R.E., 3,473 miles, or 5,589 kilometres. According to the Sûdân Almanac for 1911 the total length of the Nile from Victoria N'yanza to Damietta is 3,526 miles.

5 ROUTES FROM KANA TO THE RED SEA.

THE desert between the Nile and the Red Sea has been traversed by invaders and merchant caravans from time immemorial. These caravans brought the products of India, Arabia, and Somaliland into Egypt, generally to some town on the Nile in Upper Egypt, whence they were distributed by boat up and down the Nile, and on the west bank of the river by caravans which traded between northern and western Africa, and remote countries in the south, e.g., Dâr Fûr and Kordôfân. The towns to which the products of India and Arabia were brought were Kûft, Kûs, Kanâ, and perhaps Luxor. During the Middle Ages Kûft was the favourite market-place for Oriental produce of all kinds, and the pilgrims for Mecca usually made their pilgrimage under the

protection of caravans returning to the Red Sea; little by little Kûft was abandoned by the desert traders for Kanâ, and now both merchants and pilgrims use it as the successor to Kûft. Three main routes to the Red Sea were used by the Egyptians. The most important of these was that which ran from Kûfṭ to Kusêr. It was used for bringing copper from the mines in Sinai, and gold from Punt, ie., some part of Somaliland, and objects of luxury that came from India and Southern Arabia, i.e., silk, spices, precious stones and gold. The second route ran from Ķûft to Myos-Hormos, a port to the north of Kuşêr, founded by Ptolemy II Philadelphus; and the third ran from Kûft to Berenice Trogloditica, a port to the south of Kuşêr which was also founded by that king. The journey from Kanâ to Kuşêr usually occupies five or six days. The first halt is made by the traveller from Kanâ, at Bîr 'Ambar, a short day's journey of about 10 miles. The Khân at Bîr 'Ambar was built by Sa'îd Pâshâ, and every traveller must bless his generosity. Passing Gabal al-Karn, the dreary road runs to Lakêtah, a village about 35 miles from Kanâ. The roads from Kanâ, Kûft, Ķûs, and Luxor meet here, and in the Middle Ages the Khânjî, or Khân-keeper, was a prosperous host. Lepsius counted five wells in this place, but some have been filled in. About eight miles further on we reach the rocky eminence called Kasr al-Banât, or the "Fort of the Women," on which there are many graffiti in Coptic, Arabic, Sabean, Greek, and apparently Nabatean. Close by are the remains of a large, strong, rectangular building, which the Greeks called Hydreuma; here the caravan guides obtained water, and housed their goods for the night. Hydreuma was a Greek Khân. Five miles further on is Abu Ķu'a, where Lepsius found the cartouches of Amenḥetep IV; after a few miles more the whole character of the scenery changes, and we come to a region of mountains which the Egyptians called Rehennu, and the Arabs Wâdî Ḥammâmât. Here there are large numbers of hieroglyphic inscriptions; several of these were copied and published by Lepsius in his Denkmäler, and in recent years the Russian Egyptologist Golénìscheff visited the Wâdî, and copied several more, which Lepsius either did not discover or thought unimportant. The inscriptions prove that the Egyptians quarried here the famous diorite, breccia, and granite, which they made into vases, statues, etc., and many other kinds of stone used in buildings from the Vth dynasty down to the latest period of their history; and an ancient papyrus map, published

by Lepsius, Chabas, and Lauth, makes it quite certain that gold mines existed in the neighbourhood. The most important inscriptions here are those dated in the reigns of Assa, a king of the IVth dynasty, Seānkhka-Rā, a king of the XIth dynasty, and Rameses IV. Ásså appears to have made a journey to Wâdî Maghârah in the Sinaitic Peninsula by way of the Wâdî Ḥammâmât, which is called ANT REHENNU,

L

i.e., the Valley of Rehennu; Seānkhka-Rā sent an expedition to Punt through it, under the command of Ḥennu, whose orders were to bring back large quantities of anti perfume; and Rameses IV employed 8,368 workmen in quarrying stone for the temples at Thebes. Another very important inscription is that of Khnemu-åb-Rā, an architect who flourished in the reign of Darius I; this official gives his whole pedigree, i.e., the names of 25 ancestors, all of whom, save one, had been an architect like himself, and many of whom had held high ecclesiastical offices. The family is traced back to an ancestress, who probably lived some 700 years before the last link in the chain, and she may, as a child, even have seen Rameses II. The Well of Hammâmât was said by Lepsius to be 80 feet deep; it is lined with

stones, and could be descended by a winding staircase. Passing the ruins of the great mining settlement called Al-Fawâkhar, and traversing the Wâdî Sîrân, the Wâdî Rûşafah, the Wâdî Bêda, and the Wâdî Ambagi (two days journey) we reach Kuşêr, ie., the "Little Fortress" with 2,582 inhabitants. It is about 110 miles from Ķanâ, and Boinet Bey makes it a six days' journey by camel from that place. It lies a little to the north of the old seaport town, which existed in mediæval times, ruins of which still remain, and south of Leukos Limen, where the roads from Myos-Hormos and Coptos joined and continued to Berenice. There is nothing of interest at Kuşêr, but the bâzârs are increasing in size, and since the British occupation of Egypt the local trade has developed considerably.

The second route, that from Kanâ to Myos - Hormos, inay be traversed in six days. About half-way in the Wâdî Fatîrah is Gabal Fatîrah, which has been identified with Mons Claudianus, and in the neighbourhood are the remains of the quarries and gold mines that were worked by the Roman Emperors Trajan and Hadrian. The workers were protected by a garrison stationed in a strong rectangular fort about 100

paces square. About two days' journey from this fort are the famous porphyry quarries (Mons Porphyrites, or Gabal Dukhân). Here are the remains of a temple built by Hadrian in honour of Zeus Helios Sarapis, and a fort, and close by are some wells. Another day's journey brings the traveller to Abu Shâr alĶiblî, near which are the remains of Myos-Hormos. journey is most fatiguing and not interesting.

The

The third route, that from Kanâ or Kûft, or Edfû, to

Berenice, may be traversed in from 12 to 14 days, though Golénischeff made the journey in I I or 12 days. The Itinerary of Antoninus says that there were ten stations on the road to Berenice, and gives their names thus: Phoenicon, Didyme, Aphrodite, Kompasi, Jovis, Aristonis, Phalacro, Apollonos, Kabalsi, Kaenon Hydreuma, Berenike. The distance from Kûft to Berenice is said by him to be 258 Roman miles. Berenice was named in honour of the daughter of Ptolemy I Soter and Arsinoë. A temple about 100 feet

long and 40 feet wide was built here by Ptolemy II, in honour of the goddess Hathor, and its remains are still visible. The traveller to the Emerald Mines (Gabal Zâbarah) should leave the road to Berenice at the fifth station, Jovis. They were visited by Mr. Brindley, the expert in stones, in 1898, and he believed that if adequate transport could be provided, they could be re-opened with great advantage to the opener. Throughout the Middle Ages the yield of precious stones from them was very considerable.