XX INTRODUCTION. 
they had been charred and had not had rain for years ; but in one valley to the west 
of Erba, a favourite nursery for camels, there were masses of Salvadora and a variety of 
other shrubs. Fine deep gaps occur in the mountain, and in the Wadi Khur (Introd. 
PL I.), on its south side, amid stupendous rocky scenery, the floor of the valley was 
rich with vegetation, consisting largely of tamarisks and other shrubs. Deep pools of 
lovely water were present in the lateral gorges, in which grew bulbous plants, rushes, 
and other water-plants. The Wadi Sellal is held in high estimation by the Arabs, 
by reason of its well and its acacia-trees, but, while Mr. Bent visited it, its charms 
were hidden by a raging sand-storm. Of the many wadis that penetrate the group the 
Wadi Ambaia (Introd. PI. II.) is the most important, as it extends right into the heart 
of the mountain, and is a pastoral valley, well inhabited, "a delicious spot amid fantastic 
boulders, with rich vegetation, and a running stream forming deep green pools among 
the rocks." Similar conditions seem to prevail among the surrounding mountains, and, 
in the Wadi Kukut (Introd. PI. II.), Mr. Bent visited a pastoral village, where he 
found women engaged in making butter in skins tied to a tree. 
The next tract of country to be considered is the region intervening between Darawi, 
below Assuan, and the town of Berber. A fair conception can be gained of it from 
Burckhardt's account of his journey between these two points. He followed, in reverse 
order, the route over which Bruce had travelled 50 years before on his return from 
Abyssinia. 
Starting from Berber, the route, after the plain that skirts the bank of the Nile has 
been traversed for a short way, lies across Khor Homar, one of the numerous lines of 
drainage that run to the Nile from the east. This khor may not now merit its name 
— " Khor of the Wild Ass," — as the shrieking and puffing of railway engines have in 
all likelihood scared the animal away, but in Burckhardt's day wild asses and gazelles 
were found in this part of the desert. These khors generally support a few trees, 
chiefly acacias ; and the plain, eighty-five years ago, was the breeding-place of ostriches, 
as Burckhardt, on his tedious journey across it, picked up numerous broken pieces 
of the egg-shells of these birds. It was also frequented by lizards about a foot 
in length. Passing more wadis, the route crosses the western end of the great 
Wadi Amur, already mentioned under the account of the Erba mountains, and then 
reaches some low isolated hills, among which are situated the wells of Bir-el-Nejem, 
usually choked with sand. Further on, an immense sandy and pebbly plain is 
traversed until the wild mountain-range of Shikr is entered, rising about 304 metres 
above the plain. This range consists of huge granite blocks heaped on one another 
in the wildest confusion, and it forms the watershed between the Nile at Abu Hamed 
and the Wadi Allaki to the north, the elevation of the Nubian plateau being 
approximately 450 metres above the sea. AVater is found in the Shikr range among 
the granite blocks, in a winding valley full of dhum-palms, the natural reservoirs being 
difficult to approach, as they are situated at the end of a narrow passage in a cleft 
