Rock6 in the Nile Vallei/y in Nubia, 



137 



in any part of its course in Nubia ; but Hoskins describes it as being 

 so shallow at the island of Sais, 327 miles above Philae, on the 9th 

 of June, which would be before the commencement of the inunda- 

 tion, as only to reach the knees of the camels.* Near Derr, about 

 86 miles below the Cataract of Wadi-IIalfa, Norden, in January, 

 found the river so shallow that loaded camels waded through it, and 

 his boat frequently struck the ground. In May, Burckhardt found 

 the river fordable at Kostamne, 53 miles above Philse ; and Parthey 

 states, that between Philae and the island of Bageh, to the west of 

 it, the river is so shallow before the commencement of the inunda- 

 tion, that it may be waded through.t Burckhardt says, that from 

 March to June the Nile-water, in Nubia, is quite limpid. J Miss 

 Martineau, who visited Nubia in December and January, speaking 

 of the river above Philae says, that it " was divided into streamlets 

 and ponds by the black islets. Where it was overshadowed it was 

 dark-gray or deep blue, but when the light caught it rushing between 

 a wooded island and the shore, it was of the clearest green.' '§ At 

 the second cataract she describes the river as " dashing and driving 

 among its thousand islets, and then gathering its thousand currents 

 into one, proceeds calmly in its course."! 



Although we have no accurate measurements of the velocity of 

 the Nile in Nubia, we may arrive at an approximate estimate of it 

 by comparing its fall with that of a river well known to us. 



I have stated the fall of the Nile in different parts of its course 

 to be 5-30, 9-00, 12-00, and 13-12 inches in a mile. The fall of 

 the Thames from Wallingford to Teddington Lock, where the influ- 

 ence of the tide ends, is as follows : — 



* Travels, p. 257. 



t Wanderungen durch das Nilthal, von G. Parthey, Berlin 1840. 378. 



I Travels, pp. 9 uud 11. § Eastern Life, i. lOJ. || lb., 144. 



