tained garrisons at certain points on the Nile between the Third and Fourth Cataracts, e.g., Donkola and Napata, for at each of these places considerable remains of the walls of their forts exist to this day; such forts, however, were neither as large nor as strong as those which existed between Phila and Wâdi Ḥalfah. During the early centuries of our era the princes of Meroë ruled their country without much interference from the Romans, and the large groups of pyramids, and the ruins of their temples and other buildings which are found on the eastern bank of the Nile between the Atbara and Kharțûm, indicate that their kingdom lasted for some hundreds of years. In the fifth century there were many Christians in Nubia, and about A.D. 545 the Nubians (or Nobada), under their Christian king Silko, defeated the Blemmyes and founded a kingdom at Donkola. After the conquest of Egypt by the Arabs in 640, the Muhammadans entered Nubia, but the Christians held their ground, and the kingdom founded by Silko lasted for several centuries. In the 14th century the Arabs conquered the Nubians, and they were obliged to become followers of the Prophet. For centuries before this date, however, the Nubians intermarried with tribes that came into the Nile valley from Arabia, and with the dwellers in the south and to the west of the Nile, and there was no chief who was powerful enough to make himself king over the whole of their country.

Of the manners and customs of the Nubians or Ethiopians classical writers do not speak very highly. Strabo (XVII., 2, § 2 ff.) says that they went naked for the most part; that they were nomadic shepherds of sheep, goats, and oxen, which were very small. They lived on millet and barley, from which also a drink was prepared, and made use of butter and fat instead of oil. They fought with bows and arrows, and some of their soldiers were armed with leather shields. They worshipped Hercules, Isis and Pan (by

which we may understand Amen Rā, Mut, and Khonsu), and believed in one god who was immortal, and in another who was mortal and without a name. It is clear though that Strabo often refers to tribes and peoples who lived south of Khartûm, and that he treats them all as Ethiopians or Nubians.

The traveller wishing to visit Kharṭum from Wadi Ḥalfah may do so by two routes. He may either travel there direct by the Sûdân Military Railway, or he may go to Kerma by rail, by steamer from Kerma to Kassingar at the foot of the Fourth Cataract, by horse or camel to Abu Hamed, and thence to Khartûm by the Sûdan Military Railway. The distance by the former route is about 560 miles, and by the latter about 880 miles. A glance at the map will show how much time and distance are saved by the Sûdân Railway, which, in going direct to Abu Ḥamed, cuts off the great bend of the Nile between Korosko and Abu Hamed; on the other hand, the traveller who goes direct to Khartûm from Wâdi Ḥalfah will see little of the temples and other remains which still stand in certain parts of the Cataracts and at Kurru, Zûma, Gebel Barkal, Nûri, and on the "Island of Meroë."

The Sûdan Military Railway consists of two sections: the older section runs from Wâdî Halfah to Kerma, at the head of the Third Cataract, a distance of about 201 miles, and the newer section runs from Wâdî Halfa to a spot on the east bank of the Nile, just opposite Khartûm, a distance of about 560 miles. The gauge throughout in both sections is 3 feet 6 inches. The older section was begun in the days of the Khedive Ismâ'il, who had the line laid as far as Sarras, a distance of 33 miles, and it was continued by the British to Akasheh, 55 miles further south, in 1884. In 1896, when the reconquest of the Sûdân was ordered by the British Government, Lord Kitchener determined to carry the line on to the head of the Third Cataract. It was found that

the original piece of line had been badly laid; that the Dervishes had torn up 55 miles of it, and burnt the sleepers and twisted the rails; that only two engines were capable of moving; and that practically an entirely new line from Wâdî Halfah to Kerma would have to be built. This wonderful work was done in thirteen months by a few young Royal Engineer officers under Lieut. Girouard, R.E. On March 21 the Sirdar ordered the advance; by June 4 the line was working to Ambuķûl Wells, 68 miles from Wâdî Ḥalfah; on August 4 it reached Kosheh, 108 miles from Wâdi Ḥalfah; and on May 4 it reached Kerma, 201 miles from Wâdî Ḥalfah. Of the thirteen months occupied in its construction, five had been almost wasted for want of engines and material, and in repairing the damage caused by rain storms, and meanwhile, at intervals, the Sirdar, Lord Kitchener, fought and defeated the Dervishes at Ferket (June 7) and elsewhere, and reconquered the Donkola province. The line from Wâdî Ḥalfah to Abu Ḥamed, a distance of 232 miles, was begun on May 15, 1897, and reached Abu Hamed on October 31 of the same year; the average daily progress was about 14 miles, but 34 miles were made in one day early in October. The line was laid during the hottest time of the year, through a previously unmapped and waterless desert, and the work was so well done that trains carrying 200 tons of stores and supplies, drawn by engines weighing, without tender, 50 tons, could travel over it in safety at the rate of 25 miles per hour. The survey camp was always six miles in advance of railhead, the embankment party, 1,500 strong, followed at the average rate mentioned above, and the plate-laying party, 1,000 strong, came next. One section of the last party unloaded the sleepers, and another laid and spaced them, a third party adjusted them, a fourth party fixed and spiked the rails, and a fifth party levelled the line with levers. This dore, the engine and train advanced, and so

kept supplies of material at hand for the workers in front, whilst gangs of men behind straightened, levelled, graded, and ballasted the line. The camp moved forward about six miles every four days, and rations and water were supplied from Wâdi Ḥalfah. Every 20 miles a loop siding was made to allow trains to pass each other, and each station had a station-master, two pointsmen, and a telephone clerk. Between Wâdî Ḥalfah and Abu Hamed the line rises about 1,200 feet. The stations are nine in number, and the various sections of the line may be thus described :—

At No. 4 station are three wells, two of which yield water from a depth of 90 feet, and a reservoir was made there; at No. 6 station are two wells, 84 feet deep, which join each other, and there is no reservoir. The water is pumped up by Worthington pumps. At other places in the desert small supplies of water were found, but they were too highly charged with mineral salts to be used in the engine boilers. Nos. 2, 4, 6, and 9 are coaling stations, but all coals have to be brought up from Alexandria. The head shop for railway repairs is at Wâdi Halfah, where there are lathes, drilling machines, planing machines, steam hammer, lathe for turning up the 5-feet wheels of the American engines, etc.; in 1899 the number of workmen was 150, of all nationalities, the heads of departments being all Royal Engineers. The locomotives and rolling stock are of all kinds and classes,

but in recent years many substantial additions to both have been made; the upkeep of engines has always been a serious matter, for it is difficult to make the native clean and oil the running parts regularly. Thirty-six quarts of oil are allowed for running between Wâdi Ḥalfah and the Atbara, and six pounds of tallow. In 1899 the Sûdân Military Railway possessed about 40 locomotives, varying in weight from 30 to 70 tons. The most powerful type of locomotive on the line is that built by Neilson, of Glasgow, which is said to be able to haul 600 tons at the rate of 15 miles per hour; it was used in laying the greater part of the Wâdî Ḥalfah-Atbara line, but it is useless on the Wadi Ḥalfah-Kerma line, because of the curves. The sight of one of these "steamers on wheels," as the natives call them, hauling its tender, and water tanks, and a long row of trucks piled up with 400 tons dead weight of railway material across the desert at night, and breathing forth fire and smoke like a genuine 'Afrit in the Arabian Nights, impressed the imagination of the dwellers in the desert with the idea of Lord Kitchener's "magic" more than did the British soldier. When the first locomotive reached Berber, many of the natives hastened to touch its oily and dusty tender, believing it to possess magical powers, and some of them declared that the touch had cured their ailments! The revenue from the Sûdân Railway in 1899 was £31,000, and the telegraphs and post office, which are worked chiefly through it, E.10,000 more. There are no antiquities in the desert between Wâdî Halfah and Abu Ḥamed, and as the route of the railway may be described as containing nothing but sand, rock, a few desert trees, and blazing sunshine, the principal places of interest between Wâdi Ḥalfah and Khartûm, travelling by the Wâdi Ḥalfah -Kerma Railway and river may be thus described :—

Leaving Wâdî Halfah, the train proceeds slowly past the signal box and points, and keeping to the track on the right,