‘A JOURNEY IN THE EAST” 293 
Just as it was getting quite dark, a large bird swept down 
to the tank like a shadow, and on firing a chance shot at it, I 
found a heron lying dead upon the bank. I then left my post 
and rode back to Luxor, where I learnt that the other gentle- 
men had returned empty-handed. 
Harly next morning we all rode over to the opposite Libyan 
banks for our long and highly interesting excursion to the 
Tombs of the Kings. Riding on donkeys, we first crossed a 
well-tilled plain where fellaheen were working industriously 
in the fields, and camels, long-eared goats, buffaloes, donkeys, 
and sheep were browsing on the yellowish pastures, while 
numbers of Egyptian Vultures were sitting near the scattered 
mud-hovels. The way then led to a very poor little village, 
past some pools still filled with the water of the inundations, 
and over a shallow arm of the Nile much silted-up with sand. 
The palms and bushes were now followed by the desolate sands 
of the desert, and we soon reached the base of the high 
towering mountains, where a narrow valley enclosed by preci- 
pices and steep slopes opened out before us. Along the bottom 
of the valley ran the bridle-path to the Tombs of the Kings. 
This road most of the gentlemen followed, but the Grand 
Duke and I decided to reach the same destination by taking 
a slightly roundabout way through the mountains. 
Guided by an Arab well known in this district as an excel- 
lent sportsman, we clambered over some hillocks of sand and 
rubble, beyond which the real ascent began, and a narrow 
path wound up along the cliffs over flat rocks and loose 
stones. 
Right and left we saw countless graves and rock-tombs, for 
the lower slopes of the whole mountain-chain west of ancient 
Thebes are hollowed out with burial-places of extreme antiquity. 
From one of the excavations a wolf sprang out at our 
approach and fled up the steep hillside, but unfortunately he 
was too far off for shot. 
