300 NORTH-EAST AFEICA. 



a large population. The numerous ruins found beyond tlie group of buildings of 

 which Marawi is the centre, belong to diverse historical epochs ; they consist of 

 pyramids, dating from the period of the Byzantine influences, and fortresses 

 constructed after the triumphs of Islam. 



Old and New Dongola. 



The head of the curve which the Nile describes before resuming its northern 

 course, like that of Abu-Hamed, could not fail to become a rendezvous for 

 merchants. But the deviation of the river is here much more extensive, and the 

 caravans have had the choice of several sites for their stations of arrival and 

 departure. Thus follow in succession on the left bank of the river, going north- 

 wards, the trading stations of Korti, Amhuhol, Ahà-Dûm {Abdum), Dahheh, and 

 Ahu-Gossi, where terminates the route to Khartum through the Wady-Mokattam. 

 Dabbeh was the station chosen by the British expedition of 1884 as the centre of 

 their supplies. Abu-Gossi has been fixed by the engineers as the point where the 

 Nile railway will enter on the desert along the valley of the Wady-Melek ; at 

 the Sotahl wells the line will branch off on one side towards Khartum, and on the 

 other towards Darfur. 



Dongola-el-Ajusa, or Old Dongola, which is believed to have existed under the 

 name of Deng-ur at the period of the ancient Egyptian Empire, was till recently 

 the most important town of the country. It stands farther down on a sandstone 

 rock which commands the right bank of the river from a height of about one hun- 

 dred feet. Here was discovered a column which has since been placed in the 

 Berlin museum. 



Dongola was the capital of a Christian realm which lasted for eight hundred 

 years, down to the fourteenth century. It was still populous at the time when the 

 Mameluks, flying from the wrath of Mohammed- Ali, settled down in the country 

 in the character of devastators, the Turks, who followed close on their heels, 

 completing the work of destruction. The islands which follow in succession 

 between the arms of the Nile, from Old to New Dongola, are mostly cultivated, 

 and present a charming appearance, with their borders of palms reflected in 

 the flowing stream. Naft, one of these islands, is the birthplace of the Mahdi, 

 Mohammed Ahmed. 



Dongola-el-Jedideh, or New Dongola, the present capital of Nubia, is also known 

 by the names of Kasr Dongola (Castle of Dongola), and Al-Ordn[^e Camp), in 

 reference to the fact that it really sprang from a camp which the Mameluks pitched 

 near the village of Marakah. It lies over a mile west of the great arm of the Nile, 

 on the bank of a canal which at high tide serves as a port, but which at low water 

 becomes a mere stagnant pool emitting dangerous miasmas. Consisting of low 

 houses with courts, outhouses, and gardens, Dongola occupies a considerable extent 

 of ground, and some of its buildings, amongst others a fortress in which are to be 

 seen the remains of a castle built by the naturalist Ehrenberg, give to the whole a 

 sufficiently imposing appearance. According to Ensor, the mean population of the 



