AN EGYPTIAN LANDSCAPE. 
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the panorama of mud-hut villages, embowered in groves of shapely 
leafy palms; sunny sand-banks, alive vi^ith wings, and sparkling with 
the plumage of the flamingo and the ibis ; quaint native boats, of all 
sizes and types, carrying dusky faces contrasted sharply with white 
cotton turbans ; a yacht or two, belonging to some civilized Egyptian 
millionaire or adventurous European; men paddling along on rafts of 
pottery or water-melons ; busy little caf^s, planted beneath the sliade 
of far-spreading sycamores; creaking sakias, or water-wheels, after the 
pattern of those used in the days of Joseph ; and beyond the emerald 
ribbon of fertile valley, the yellow boundary of the drear and in- 
hospitable desert. 
Here is a sketch by a competent hand : — 
" Egyptian landscape is in reality beautiful, though of a peculiar 
character ; for flat though the strips of cultivated land, or even wider 
plains, necessarily are, seeing they are annually inundated by the 
river, they are always backed by the red or yellow rocks of the 
desert ; and these rocks, though rarely bold or grand, form a most 
picturesque background to our view, and, from the contrast which 
their barren glowing heights present to the rich green of the alluvial 
soil, so marvellous in its fertility, stand out as broad gilt frames to 
throw out the colours of our picture, or as deep gold settings to en- 
hance the brilliancy of our jewels. Then the broad stream of the great 
river is in itself a noble sight ; the palm-trees with which its banks are 
often lined, and the villages which cluster beneath them ; the ruins of 
vast temples which here and there stand out on the verge of the 
desert; the mighty pyramids which are conspicuous in certain dis- 
tricts, — combine to make the views of the Nile really remarkable. 
But there are points of the river where the rocks approach nearer 
the stream, as at Hagar Silsilis, at Assouan, and at Philse, and in 
several spots in Nubia, where i.he cliffs assume bolder forms and 
grander dimensions, and the Nile, hemmed in by the mountains, looks 
wilder and more grim; and tlien the combination of rock and river 
scenery will stand comparison with that of any other country. Then, 
again, the living forms on the banks and the moving scenes which 
constantly come into our view, immensely enhance the interest of our 
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