82 MEMOIR OF BURCKHABDT. 



Fezzan, was made profitable to African geography 

 in another quarter. " I mean," says he, " to set 

 out next month by land for Upper Egypt, as soon 

 as the state of the Nile renders the journey practi- 

 cable. I shall push on beyond the first cataract, 

 and follow the course of the river, by the second 

 and third cataracts, towards Dongola. That coun- 

 try, farther up than Derr, has never been visited 

 by any travellers ; yet I am informed by many of 

 the natives that the borders of the river are full of 

 ancient temples and other antiquities, resembling 

 those of Luxor and the Isle of Philae. The present 

 tranquil state of Egypt renders such an undertaking 

 of much less danger than it might have been during 

 the whole of last century ; for the Pasha is com- 

 pletely master of the country, and is in friendly 

 intercourse with the princes of Nubia. This jour- 

 ney will, I hope, make me acquainted with the 

 character of the Negro nations, and of those who 

 traffic for slaves, and will thus facilitate my travels 

 in the interior of the continent/' 



The expectations which he had thus formed were 

 realized to the full. On the llth of January, 1813, 

 he left Cairo with a guide and letters of recom- 

 mendation (from Ali Pasha among others) to all 

 the governors of Upper Egypt. On the 22d of 

 February he reached Assouan, the Aga of which 

 procured him a guide up to Derr, the chief place in 

 Nubia; and thence he proceeded to Mahass, on 

 the northern frontier of Dongola. As he had fol- 

 lowed the course of the Nile, he had an opportunity 



