THE SOURCE OF THE NILE. 175 



At half pall ten, we paiTed a mountain of green and red 

 marble, and at twelve we entered a plain called Hamra, 

 where we firfl obferved the fand red, with a purple call, of 

 the colour of porphyry, and this is the lignification of Ham- 

 ra, the name of the valley. Idifmounted here, to examine of 

 what the rocks were compofed ; and found, with the great- 

 ell pleafure, that here began the quarries of porphyry, with- 

 out the mixture of any other Hone ; but it was imperfect, 

 brittle, and foft. I had not been engaged in this purfuit an 

 hour, before we were alarmed with a report that the A- 

 touni had attacked the rear of the caravan ; we were at the 

 head of it. The Turks and my fervants were all drawn 

 together, at the foot of the mountain, and polled as advan- 

 tageoully as pomble. But it foon appeared that they 

 were fome thieves only, who had attempted to Ileal fome 

 loads of corn from camels that were weak, or fallen lame, 

 perhaps in intelligence with thofe of our own caravans. 



All the reft of the afternoon, we faw mountains of a 

 perfectly purple colour, all of them porphyry ; nor has 

 Ptolemy f much erred in the pofition of them. About four 

 o'clock, we pitched our tent at a place called Main el Mafa- 

 rek. The colour of the valley El Hamra continued to this 

 llation ; and it was very lingular to obferve, that the ants, or 

 pifmires, the only living creatures I had yet obferved,, were 

 all of a beautiful red colour like the fand* 



The 20th, at fix oclock in the morning, we left Main el 



Mafarek, 



f PtoL Alraag. lib. 4. Geograph. pag. 104, 



