itself, 'My love, my dove, my undefiled, is but one,' than if he had filled pages with sonnets about Venuses and Cupids, love-sick shepherds and cruel nymphs? 9. And was there no poetry, true idyllic poetry, as of Longfellow's 'Evangeline' itself, in that trip round the old farm next morning; when Zeal-for-Truth, after looking over every heifer, and peeping into every sty, would needs canter down by his father's side to the horse-fen, with his arm in a sling; while the partridges whirred up before them, and the lurchers flashed like grey snakes after a hare, and the colts came whinnying round, with staring eyes and streaming manes, and the two chatted on, in the same sober businesslike English tone alternately of 'The Lord's great dealings' by General Cromwell, the pride of all honest fen-men, and the price of troop-horses at the next Horncastle fair? 10. Poetry in those old Puritans? Why not? They were men of like passions with ourselves. They loved, they married, they brought up children; they feared, they sinned, they sorrowed, they fought, they conquered. There was poetry enough in them, be sure, though they acted it like men, instead of singing it like birds. KINGSLEY'S Plays and Puritans. By permission of Messrs. THE NUBIAN DESERT. 1. WE have been lying the entire day becalmed in stifling heat, below the ruins of Philæ. These are the most imposing monuments of the Nile, owing to their peculiar situation upon a rocky island that commands the passage of the river above the cataract. The banks of the stream are here hemmed in by ranges of hills from 100 to 250 feet high; these are entirely destitute of soil, being composed of enormous masses of red granite, piled block upon block, the rude masonry of nature that has walled in the river. 2. The land appears as though it bore the curse of Heaven misery, barrenness, and the heat of a furnace are its features. The glowing rocks, devoid of a trace of vegetation, reflect the sun with an intensity that must be felt to be understood. The miserable people who dwell in villages upon the river's bank snatch every sandbank from the retiring stream, and immediately plant their scanty garden with melons, gourds, lentils, and other fruits, this being their only resource for cultivation. Not an inch of available soil is lost, but day by day, as the river decreases, fresh rows of vegetables are sown upon the newly-acquired land. At Assowar the sandbanks are purely sand brought down by the cataracts, therefore soil must be added to enable the people to cultivate. They dig earth from the ruins of the ancient town; this they bring by boats across the river and spread upon the sandbank, by which excessive labour they secure sufficient mould to support their crops. 3. In the vicinity of Phile the very barrenness of the scenery possesses a charm. The iron-like sterility of the granite rocks, naked except in spots where the wind has sheeted them with sand; the groves of palms springing unexpectedly into view in this desert wilderness, as a sudden bend of the river discovers a village; the ever blue and never clouded sky above; and the only blessing of this blighted land-the Nile, silently flowing between its stern walls of rocks towards the distant land of Lower Egypt, form a total that produces a scene met with nowhere but upon the Nile. 4. Korosko is the halting place for all vessels from Lower Egypt with merchandise for the Soudan. At this wretched spot the Nile is dreary beyond description, as a vast desert, unenlightened by cultivation, forms its borders, through which the melancholy river rolls towards Lower Egypt in the cloudless glare of a tropical sun. From whence came this extraordinary stream, that could flow through these burning sandy deserts unaided by tributary channels? That was the mysterious question as we stepped upon the shore, now to commence our land journey in search of the distant source. 5. The route from Korosko across the Nubian desert cuts off the chord of an arc1 made by the great westerly bend of the Nile. This chord is about 230 miles in length. Throughout this barren desert there is no water, except at the halfway station, Moorabad; this, although salt and bitter, is relished by camels. During the cool months, from November until February, the desert journey is not disagreeable; but the 1 The chord of an arc is the straight line which joins the two ends of any portion of the circumference of a circle. vast area of glowing sand exposed to the scorching sun of summer, in addition to the withering breath of the simoom, renders the forced march of 230 miles in seven days, at two and a half miles per hour, the most fatiguing journey that can be endured. 6. Farewell to the Nile! We turned our backs upon the life-giving river, and our caravan commenced the silent desert march. A few hours from Korosko the misery of the scene surpassed description. Glowing like a furnace, the vast extent of yellow sand stretched to the horizon. Rows of broken hills of black basalt, all of volcanic origin, broke the flat plain; and the molten air quivered on the overheated surface of the fearful desert. Noiselessly the spongy tread of the camel crept along the sand: the only sound was the rattle of some loosely-secured baggage of their packs. The Arab camel-drivers followed silently at intervals; and hour by hour we struck deeper into the solitude of the Nubian desert. 7. Far as the eye could reach were waves like a stormy sea grey, cold-looking waves in the burning heat, but no drop of water; it appeared as though a sudden curse had turned a raging sea to stone. The simoom blew over the horrible wilderness, and drifted the hot sand into the crevices of the rocks, and the camels drooped their heads before the suffocating wind; but still the caravan noiselessly crept along the rocky undulations until the stormy sea was passed; once more we were upon a boundless plain of sand and pebbles. The sun, that relentless persecutor of the desert-traveller, sank behind the western hills, and the long wished-for night arrived: cool, delicious night! The desert had a charm by night, |