54 



NOETH-EAST AEEICA. 



destined to become the commercial outlet of the whole Upper Nile basin, shall 

 connect the Red Sea coast with the Atbara and Nile confluence, this line will have 

 to be extended up stream as far as the cataract of Garri to allow of uninterrupted 

 traffic. The fifth cataract, which is followed by the rapids of Gerasheb, Mograt, 

 and others between Berber and Abu- Ham ed, obstructs the navigation only at low 

 water ; but farther down occur more serious natural impediments. Most travellers 

 crossing Nubia between Sudan and Egypt follow the land route from Abu-Hamed 

 to Korosko, not merely because of the vast semicircle described westwards by the 

 Nile in this part of its course, but also because its bed is here obstructed by three 



Fig. 17. — Kaibar Cataract. 

 Scale 1 : 19,000. 



50°47 40' E . of Greenwich 



"Su 4« tU 



1,650 Yards. 



series of cataracts. One of these groups of rapids, known as the " fourth cataract," 

 is of considerable length, and is divided into many stages like a series of sluices. 

 First comes Dulga Island, a high rock crowned by a ruined fortress ; then follow 

 other granite boulders visible above the water, but without interrupting the 

 navigation. This first barrier is succeeded by islands and sandbanks, followed by 

 more rocks, dividing the river into steep channels, and the gorge ends near 

 Gerendid, in a sort of gateway formed by two rocks covered with the ruins of 

 fortresses. Here are no trees like those on the fifth or the third cataract situated 

 below New Dongola, not a patch of verdure on the bank to soften the wild grandeur 



