302 NORTH-EAST AFEICA. 



destruction carried on by the termite, an insect unknown to the riverain peoples of 

 the Lower Nile, and which compel the people to be continually engaged in repairing 

 their dwellings. Before the war, which for several months caused Dongola to be 

 one of the most important bulwarks of the Egyptian Empire, this town enjoyed a 

 fair amount of commerce ; and its port was often crowded with craft scarcely inferior 

 in size to the dahabîyeh, but carrying a square instead of the lateen sail used below 

 the cataracts. 



Below Dongola the course of the Nile is divided by Argo, one of the largest 

 islands of Nubia and one of the most beautiful, thanks to its wooded hills, cultivated 

 fields, villages hidden beneath the foliage, and its sakieh or waterwheels, which the 

 oxen turn slowly beneath the shade of the sycamores. Thousands of years ago 

 Argo was one of the centres of Egyptian civilisation in the Nubian regions ; here 

 was settled, at the period of the third dynasty, a powerful colony of Egyptians. 

 On this island have been discovered huge ruins dating from this epoch, notably 

 two quadrangular masses or tombs, a magnificent colossus of Sookhotpu lY. and 

 remains of sculptures of the most exquisite style and partially engraved with hiero- 

 glyphics. Two unfinished columns of grey granite lying upon the ground have 

 been probably overthrown by some conquering people before being able to witness 

 to the glory of the sovereign who had caused them to be erected by his enslaved 

 subjects. At the period of the conquest of the country by the Turks Argo consti- 

 tuted a distinct kingdom. 



The Wady-Kab and Selimeh Oases. 



To the west of Dongola lies the Wady-Kab, a chain of twelve oases running 

 northwards, and following the Nile at a short distance from it. According to 

 Russegger it should be regarded as an ancient arm of the Nile, continuing that 

 occupied by the present depression of Wady-Mokattam. Bounded right and left 

 by low eminences disposed like the cliffs along a watercourse, the Kab undoubtedly 

 resembles a river-bed, and passes into the Nile valley above the cataract of 

 Hannek. It is supposed to lie at a lower level than that of the present Nile ; but 

 the numerous sources and sheets of water contained in the wady might be 

 accounted for by the infiltration of water from the river. The pasturages, brush- 

 wood, and groves of dates and other trees make of this depression a chain of oases 

 which could support a numerous population, yet it is only periodically visited 

 by Kababish nomads, who come to graze their herds and to procure dates, and 

 the wood which they sell at Dongola for the construction of the houses and 

 sakiehs. 



Still farther north are other oases, but of much less extent. That of Selimeh, 

 which lies on the caravan route between Assuan and Darfur, had no fixed popula- 

 tion at a recent period, although its springs, sheltered by groves of palms, are filled 

 with good water. At the period of Browne's expedition, towards the end of the 

 last century, it is said to have had nothing but pasturages ; but in the year 1822 

 Cailliaud here found tamarisks and some hundreds of palms, which had probably 



