Identifier: africa00johnrich (find matches)
Title: Africa
Year: 1878 (1870s)
Authors: Johnston, Alexander Keith, 1804-1871 Keane, A. H. (Augustus Henry), 1833-1912
Subjects: Africa -- Description and travel Africa -- Social life and customs
Publisher: London : Edward Stanford
Contributing Library: University of California Libraries
Digitizing Sponsor: MSN

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e desert, onthe east of a prevailing gray, on the west of a yellow hue.The cidtivated land disappears almost entirely at this point,which may, perhaps, be regarded as the extreme southernlimit of Egypt proper. Beyond the palm-fringed island of Elephantine isAssuan, a place of about 6000 inhabitants, where theNile assumes the appearance of a lake, with the darkmasses of the granite hills forming the Cataracts as itssouthern boundary. The navigation of the river betweenthe Cataracts becomes difficult in the dry season, but inthe season of inundation the Nile boats and even steamerscan pass easily. The first Cataract is not properly a waterfall, and evenin the most difficult place, named the Gate of the Cataract(Bab-e-Shelal), the gradient is not more than one in fifteen.Black rock masses rise abruptly from the foaming cur-rent, and here and there blocks fallen from them formislets of 15 0 to 2 0 0 feet in height. Sometimes the ascentof the Cataract requires more than a day, but the boat
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EGYPT. 217 floats down stream through the pass in little more thanan hour. The first of these Cataracts forms the proper frontierof Egypt and Nubia. Above it the Nile valley expandsinto the magnificent basin of Philae, encircled by wild ruggedhills ; but, still higher up, the rocky pass of Kelabshehagain narrows the stream to 150 paces in width, anda few hours later, in passing the temple of Dandur, the

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