317 



pressive, of the calamitous scenes that were exhibited 

 to their views. 



<l From Media, or Passage," says Mr. Bruce, " ouv 

 road lay through very dry sand, to avoid which, and 

 seek a firmer footing, we were obliged to ride up to 

 the bellies of our horses in the sea. If the wind blows 

 this quantity of dust or sand into the Mediterranean, 

 it is no wonder the mouths of the branches of the Nile 

 are choaked up." 



All Egypt is like to this part of it, full of deep dust 

 and sand, from the beginning of March till the first in- 

 undation. It is this fine powder and sand, raised and 

 loosened by the heat of the sun, and want of dew, and 

 not being tied fast, as it were, by any root or vegeta- 

 tion, which the Nile carries off with it, and buries in 

 the sea ; and which many ignorantly suppose, comes 

 from Abyssinia, where every river runs in a bed of 

 rock."* 



Of the deserts on the west side of the Nile, Sonini 

 observes : " Wretched is the situation of those who 

 find themselves entangled in the vast sandy deserts 

 with which Egypt is bordered ; intrepidity is then of 

 no avail whatever ; and the most valiant armies may 

 be thus overwhelmed with clouds of sand, which the 

 wind drives impetuously along, may be stifled to 

 death, and perish in despair. The atmosphere was 



* Bruce's Travels, vol. i. p. 20. 



