Birds by the Wayside 391 



called far-reaching- since they reach nearly two hundred 

 miles : that is several miles beyond Abu Simbel to a point 

 scarcely more than a score of miles below the Second Cata- 

 ract. For many miles south of Philse the depth of the water 

 is so great that no more than the tops of the tallest palm- 

 trees appear above the surface. As we go farther south inch 

 by inch more of the trees show above the water, until at the 

 end of about two hundred miles small deposits of Nile mud 

 mark the last effects of the damming. In front of the fa- 

 mous rock-hewn temple of x\bu Simbel, which is 175 miles 

 above the dam, may be seen one of the results. It is in the 

 form of about twenty acres of land that has been formed 

 there since the dam was built. A portion of it is under culti- 

 vation, in other places the Nile mud is baked in the sun until 

 it resembles broken pottery, and the ground is seamed with 

 crevices, some of which are a foot and a half to two feet in 

 depth. Formerly the Nile boats lay close to the cliff, and in 

 recent years the visiting steamers furnished electricity for the 

 lighting of the temple before the new land was formed. 



Abruptly, almost as abruptly as darkness fills a room at 

 night when the lights are turned off, come changes on the 

 Nile as we enter Nubia. The dam has caused some of these 

 changes and intensified those previously existing. Forty 

 years ago, when Miss Amelia B. Edwards made her obser- 

 vations that are recorded in "A Thousand Miles up the 

 Nile," the arable land between Philse and Wadi Haifa aver- 

 aged from six to sixty yards in width. This slender strip 

 is now under water for the greater part of the year. The 

 natives driven to the rocky heights above their former homes 

 have in some places gathered pitiably small patches of soil, 

 some no larger than a grave, upon which vegetation was 

 growing. For the dispossession the Government paid them a 

 small sum with which to rebuild their homes. Their new 

 homes of stone look more comfortable than the mud-walled 

 houses of Egypt. They exhibit unique taste in mural deco- 

 ration, for vaulting ambition is displayed in the enrichment 

 of the frieze. The unit of design is a plate. There appear 



