THE SOURCE OF THE NILE. i 75 



At half pall ten, we palled a mountain of green and red 

 marble, and at twelve we entered a plain called Hamra, 

 where we firft obferved the fand red, with a purple caft, of 

 the colour of porphyry, and this is the fignification of Ham- 

 ra, the name of the valley. Idifmounted here, to examine of 

 what the rocks were compofed ; and found, with the great- 

 ell pleafure, that here began the quarries of porphyry, with- 

 out the mixture of any other ftone ; but it was imperfecl;, 

 brittle, and foft. I had not been engaged in this purfuit an 

 hour, before we were alarmed with a report that the A- 

 touni had attacked the rear of the caravan ; we were at the 

 head of it. The Turks and my fervants were all drawn 

 together, at the foot of the mountain, and polled as advan- 

 tageoufly as poffible. But it foon appeared that they 

 were fome thieves only, who had attempted to Heal fome 

 loads of corn from camels that were weak, or fallen lame, 

 perhaps in intelligence with thofe of our own caravans. 



All the reft of the afternoon, we faw mountains of a 

 perfectly purple colour, all of them porphyry ; nor has 

 Ptolemy f much erred in the pofition of them. About four 

 o'clock, we pitched our tent at a place called Main el Mafa- 

 rek. The colour of the valley El Hamra continued to this 

 llation ; and it was very Angular to obferve, that the ants, or 

 pifmires, the only living creatures I had yet obferved, were 

 all of a beautiful red colour like the fand. 



The 20th, at fix oclock in the morning, we left Main el 



Mafarek, 



f Ptol. Almag. lib. 4. Geograph. pag. 104, 



