176 
DESCRIPTIONS OF EGYPT. 
cond five, and the third, which is situated lower on 
the river, of still greater height. * The boats of 
the Arabs both ascend and descend these rapids, 
which do not correspond to the magnificent de- 
scriptions of them left by the ancients. Among the 
ancient poets, who, in their descriptions, have de- 
picted it as a scene of sublimity and grandeur, Lu- 
can deserves to be particularly mentioned, t But 
even the historians and naturalists have caught the 
enthusiasm, and describe, in the most brilliant 
colours of fancy, the roaring, dashing, and foam- 
ing of the agitated stream, the tremendous whirl- 
pools it forms, and the rapidity of the current, 
which is compared to the velocity of an arrow. 
The Persian garrison are described by Seneca as 
stunned by the loud and dreadful echos of the 
waterfalls, and retreating from its vicinity to a more 
* Pococke's Travels in Egypt, Vol. I, p. 121. 
-~_ Quis te tatn lene fluentem 
Moturum tantas violent! gurgitis iras 
Nile, putet ? Sed cum lapsus abrupta viarum 
Excepei e tuos, et precipites cataractae, 
Ac nusquam vetitis ullas obsistere cautes 
Indignaris aquis; spuma tunc astra lacessis; 
Cuncta fremunt undis, ac multo murmure montes 
Spumeus invictis canescit fluctibus amnis. 
Lucnn. Pharsal. 1. x. 315* 
