after a journey of ten hours, the ruins of Naga are reached; these are usually called by the natives of the district, Musawwarât* an-Nâga, i.e., the "sculptures of Nâga," as opposed to the Muṣawwarât al-Kirbekân, i.e., the sculptures of Ben-Nâga in the Wâdî Kirbekân, and the Musawwarât as-Sufra, i.e., the sculptures of the Wâdî aş-Sufra. The ruins consist of the remains of at least four temples, and there is no doubt that they belong to the late Ptolemaïc or early Roman period. The reliefs here will illustrate how closely the architects and masons tried to copy Egyptian models, and the cartouches show that the kings, whoever they were, adopted prenomens formed on the same lines as those used by the old kings of Egypt. The gods worshipped were the same as those of Napata and other Nubian cities, but there is here in addition to them a god with three lions' heads. Before satisfactory plans of the temples here could be drawn, excavations and clearances on a large scale would have to be made. Twelve miles from Nâga, in a north-easterly direction, is a comparatively small circular valley, which, because it resembles in shape a circular brass tray, is called As-Sufra. Here are the Musawwarât aş-Şufra, or ruins of a group of buildings enclosed within walls, without inscriptions and without reliefs, which, according to Hoskins, measured 760 feet by 660 feet; there were no entrances on any side except the north-west, where there were three. The walls enclosed five or six small temples, in one of which were several pillars. Cailliaud thought that the ruins of the main building were those of a school, and Hoskins of a hospital, while Lepsius offered no opinion; but it is useless to theorise until systematic excavations have shown what the plan of the group of buildings actually was. About 1 miles distant are the ruins of a small *Arabic sculptures, bas-reliefs, images, paintings, and the like. temple with reliefs, on which men are depicted riding elephants, lions, panthers, and other wild animals; all the ruins in this neighbourhood seem to belong to a Christian period. From Shendi an almost direct route runs to Nâga, distance about 30 miles, and there is another to As-Sufra, distance about 26 miles. About 50 miles from Shendi begins the Sixth Cataract, commonly called the Shabluka Cataract; it begins at the north end of Mernat Island, on which General Gordon's steamer, the “ Bordein," was wrecked on January 31, 1885, and extends to Gebel Rawyan, a distance of 11 miles. At the entrance to the Shabluka gorge, the channel turns sharply to the east, and is only 200 yards wide; in July the rate of the current through this channel exceeds 10 miles per hour. The Dervishes guarded the northern end of the channel by five forts, four on the western, and one on the eastern bank. From this point to Omdurman there is little to be seen of general interest. The hills of Kerreri, seven miles from Omdurmân on the east bank, mark the site of the great Battle of Omdurmân, on Friday, September 2, 1898, when the Khalifa's army was practically annihilated; on the same day the Sirdar marched into the city of Omdurmân, and the rule of the Khalifâ was at an end. The city of Omdurmân, 200 miles from the Atbara, on the west bank of the Nile, was originally a small village of no importance, which General Gordon fortified with the view of resisting the advance of the Mahdi's troops. The village was then called Omdurman Fort, and was defended by a rocket battery and a small force under Faragallah Pâsha. This brave man held out during the last months of 1884, but in December the Dervishes entrenched themselves between the Fort and the river, and so stopped his supplies; on January 5th, when he and his garrison were starving, he surrendered, and was well treated by his son. Mahdi. After the fall of Khartûm the Mahdi took up his abode in Omdurmân, and gradually the people flocked there, until a city measuring 5 miles by 2 came into being. Its population was estimated at 400,000. The chief buildings were the Great Mosque, the Mahdi's Tomb, the Khalifa Abdallah's Palace, and the Palace of Yakub, The Mosque was enclosed by a brick wall, several hundreds of yards round; the Mahdi's tomb was built by the Khalifa, is close to the Mosque, and was surmounted by a dome ending in three brass balls and a spear head, and its height was about 70 feet. The dome was badly injured in the bombardment of Omdurman on September 2nd, and since the building was the symbol of, up to a certain point, successful rebellion and fanaticism, and was certain to become a goal for pilgrimages, and the home of fraudulent miracles, it was destroyed by charges. of guncotton. For the same reasons the Mahdi's body was burnt, and the ashes thrown into the river, and this was done on the advice of Muḥammadan officers and notables; the Mahdi's head is said to have been buried at Wâdî Ḥalfah. Omdurman was defended by a stone wall, which varied in height from 11 to 30 feet, and from 9 to 12 feet in thickness. The Arsenal was about 1 miles from the Mosque; the Bêt al-Mâl, or Treasury, lay on the river bank, to the north of the town; the Slave Market was to the south of it, and the prison was on the river bank, about the centre of the town. Communication was kept up with Khartûm by means of a submarine cable worked by ex-Government officials.* Five miles up stream from Omdurmân, on the tongue of land formed by the union of the Blue and White Niles, stands Kharțûm, and just below the junction is Tuti Island, which has the Blue Nile on two of its sides, and * Plans of Omdurmân and Khartum by Sir Rudolf Slatin Pâsha will be found in his "Fire and Sword in the Sudan," London, 1896. the White Nile on the third. The difference in the colour of the waters of the two Niles is very marked. The town of Khartûm (latitude 15° 36′ 38" north) was built on the northern face of the tongue of land, and all the Government buildings, and most of the residences of the Consuls, were situated along the river front. On Sunday, September 4th, 1898, the Sirdar and his Staff crossed over to Kharțûm, which was in ruins, followed by representatives of every corps belonging to the expedition, and when the troops were landed, they were formed up into three sides of a square, facing the front of General Gordon's ruined palace. The Sirdar gave a signal, whereupon the British and Egyptian flags were simultaneously hoisted on the flagstaffs which had been erected on the palace, and the bands played "God Save the Queen," and the Khedivial Hymn, whilst the gunboat fired a royal salute of 21 guns, the officers and men all standing at attention. After cheers had been given for the Queen and the Khedive, the bands played the Dead March in Saul, etc., and a solemn service was performed by the various chaplains, which concluded with Gordon's favourite hymn, "Abide with me," played by the Sudanese band. |