318 EXTRACTS FROM 



The following morning we drove at an early hour to the 

 large barracks of Kasr-el-Nil, and went on board the steamer, 

 which was lying below them. It was our good old vessel the 

 ' Feruz/ with which were connected so many delightful 

 recollections of the happy plains of Upper Egypt. The dusky 

 Admiral was again in command of his trusty boat, and in a 

 few minutes we were moving down-stream. 



To eyes accustomed to far greater charms, Cairo and Lower 

 Egypt, at first so enchanting, now looked tame and dull; and it 

 is not until one returns to them that one learns to fully 

 appreciate the glorious colouring and the striking, almost 

 tropical aspects of nature in Upper Egypt. 



We were now on our way to the famous Barrage of the 

 Nile. We first passed a number of old houses leading down 

 to the water's edge, and then came to the place where several 

 of the Viceroy's yachts, the mail steamers, and a perfect fleet 

 of dahabeeyahs were lying side by side. On the left bank 

 were country houses and luxuriant gardens ; on the right the 

 town, the Shubra Avenue, the palace of the same name, and 

 the lofty trees of the great park. These interesting scenes, 

 however, soon vanished, and we saw over the crumbling banks 

 of the river the monotonous cultivated districts of Lower 

 Egypt. 



Several solitary Egyptian Geese and numbers of ducks, but 

 not many other water-birds, were observed as we steamed past 

 various long sandy islands, and we soon came in sight of the 

 singular bridge-like construction of the Barrage. 



At this southernmost point of the delta the Rosetta and 

 Damietta arms of the Nile separate, and the tongue of land 

 dividing the two channels is connected with the mainland by 

 iron bridges and gigantic dams. These were built by 

 Mohammed Ali to keep back the Nile when it is low, so that 

 the innumerable canals of the delta might then be supplied 

 with water as well as during the time of the inundation. 



