Al^ft> LOWER EGYPT. 23 



ihg volume. A fisherman caught them with a 

 sweep-net, which he threw from above the brink, of 

 the river. He did not catch any others ; but if the 

 fishy brood wtis rare in the waters of Scheick Itmanjij 

 numerous flocks of birds animated its vicinity. 

 The lively and active laundress rambled through 

 the fields, waving its long tail ; the ignoble kite, 

 the same bird which at Cairo is a denizen of the 

 place, interrupted with his shrill and plaintive cry 

 the amorous cooings of the turtle-doves, perched 

 upon the date-trees, while the swallows, on pointed 

 wings, cleaved the air in their rapid flight. 



On the 22d, towards mid-day, we continued \.o 

 proceed up the Nile. I very soon discovered, at a 

 little distance inland, the pyramids of Sakkaray 

 and likewise the town of that name, celebrated for 

 the mummies of men and of animals, which are 

 preserved in its vast catacombs. We passed op- 

 posite to Schim, a village situated at some distance 

 from the western shore. A little higher up we saw, 

 on the other side, a place called Berdrisge, and we 

 stopped about six o'clock in the evening before 

 Kcifr laiatj a village of earthen huts, like those 

 which I have just mentioned, and the residence of 

 a Kiaschef. The western shore of the Nile is in 

 this place lofty and ^teep, and the village built on 

 it may be perceived at a distance* 



C 4 



We 



