

NUBIA AND THE NILE RAPIDS. 371 



combatants with their shrill battle-cry, to raise the children aloft 

 in their arms, that the fathers, seeing them, might be fired to deeds 

 defiant of death. 



The Nubians fought in a manner worthy of their sires; bravely 

 they pressed forward against the artillery, which wrought fell 

 destruction in their ranks. Mightily they smote with their long 

 swords at the supposed monsters, leaving the deep impress of their 

 sharp blades on the brazen barrels of the cannons; but the Egyptians 

 conquered. Not bravery, but superiority of weapons won the day. 

 Amid screams of w^oe from the women, the brown warriors took 

 to flight. But the former, possessed by a wild despair, preferring 

 glorious death to shameful servitude, pressed their children to their 

 breasts and threw themselves in hundreds into the river, which the 

 blood of their husbands had reddened. The deserts on both sides 

 of the stream prevented the fugitives from reaching any refuge, 

 and finally there was nothing left to them but to surrender and to 

 bend their hitherto unbowed necks under the yoke of the conqueror. 



Only once again did the old heroic spirit burst into clear flames. 

 One of the chiefs, who is already celebrated in the saga of Melik el 

 Nimmr, or "the panther-king", collected his people at Shendy in 

 South Nubia, for the lash of the cruel conqueror had become unbear- 

 able. Suspicious of his intentions, Ismael Pasha, son of the Egyptian 

 governor and commander of the forces, set out against him, and 

 making use of all available boats, appeared at Shendy before Melik 

 Nimmr had by any means completed his preparations. Impossible 

 demands were made in order to compel Melik Nimmr to absolute 

 subjection. He, recognizing the impending ruin, braced himself for 

 action. While he feigned submission, his messengers hastened from 

 hut to hut stirring into flames the sparks of insurrection which 

 glimmered everywhere beneath the ashes. By crafty representations 

 he induced Ismael Pasha to leave the security of his ship. He 

 lured him to the roomy though straw - thatched royal dwelling, 

 surrounded by a thick hedge of thorns and by immense heaps of 

 straw which, according to the panther-king's assurance, ' were in- 

 tended to supply the camel-fodder which the Pasha demanded. 



A splendid feast, such as Ismael has never seen, will Melik 



