THEBES. 45 



one, wliich, on dissection, proved to contain in its stomach 

 all the ornaments of a native child. 



At Dendera there is a large wood of dhoum palms and 

 other trees, rendering it a good locality for the collector ; in 

 fact, the vrhole way from Dendera to the First Cataract I con- 

 sider the best part of Egypt for collecting all kinds of birds 

 except Gulls and Waterfowl. At Thebes we find many other 

 dahabeahs moored in front of the ruins of Luxor. The front of 

 the temple, with its huge columns, now forms the face of the 

 Consul's house, a Consul of all nations, speaking good English. 

 A few miles south of Thebes, on the west bank, towards 

 Erment, there is a good lake for Snipe and Waders, which, 

 however, becomes dried up by the middle of March. Near 

 El Kab, on the shore, are plenty of water-birds ; and this is 

 the only place in Egypt at which I met with the Glossy Ibis ; 

 in the mountains I found also Saxicola monacha, a rather 

 rare species of Chat, abundant. About four miles inland 

 from Edfoo there are two or three ponds frequented by wild- 

 fowl. At Gebel Silsilis the river is hemmed in on both sides 

 by steep sandstone-rocks ; and the whole scenery becomes 

 wilder and more rocky between this and the First Cataract. 

 Some seven or eight miles below Kom Ombo there is a 

 large tract covered with halfa grass, which affords good Sand- 

 grouse- and Quail-shooting. 



At Assouan we first meet with the granite rocks which 

 extend throughout Nubia from the First to the Second Cata- 

 ract, changing the scenery from the wide fertile valley, bounded 

 by flat-topped limestone ridges, into the contracted river, 

 hemmed in by irregular masses of granite and greenstone, 

 scantily bordered with vegetation along its banks. The 

 scenery of this part of the Nile is more grand and pic- 



