io RECOLLECTIONS OF FORTY YEARS. 



degree, which is at present the extreme limit known. 

 We encountered flocks of waterfowl the sacred 

 ibises, which are no longer to be seen in Egypt, royal 

 cranes, grey cranes, Nile geese, and pelicans. At 

 about two o'clock, the wind having dropped, we let 

 our barks drop down stream, and while they were 

 running down, we landed on the right bank, about 

 two leagues to the south of Mount Oueli. "We made 

 for the direction of the mountain, following some very 

 densely-wooded paths, and Arakel Bey and myself 

 went up the mountain while the two others were 

 shooting game. From this height and in so clear 

 an atmosphere we saw, for a distance of ten or 

 twelve leagues all round us, plains covered with 

 forests, and natural vegetation which could, with 

 the facilities for irrigation, be made of enormous 

 value. 



" Upon coming down from the mountain, we all 

 assembled at an encampment of the Bindja tribe. The 

 sheik and his family received us very cordially, and 

 the most elegant of the cocoa-nut mattings were taken 

 down from the walls and placed at our feet. We were 

 treated as personages belonging to the suite of the 

 Viceroy, whose deeds of benevolence are already 

 known throughout the country, and who is called the 

 1 Father of the Unhappy.' The women who, despite 

 their colour of Florentine bronze, are very handsome 

 bring us milk and fruit. Old men, surrounded by 

 their families, sing the praises of the Effendinah ( our 



