<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. 



Early 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. 



