Africa . 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. TOMBS OF THE KALIFS. tropic of Cancer, the boundary of the tropics, is Korosko, where, with a sudden turn, the Nile begins agreat loop to south-west, a caravan route strike
Africa . 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. TOMBS OF THE KALIFS. tropic of Cancer, the boundary of the tropics, is Korosko, where, with a sudden turn, the Nile begins agreat loop to south-west, a caravan route strikes south-ward across the Nubian Desert to Abu Hamed, cuttingoff the wide circuit by the river. From Korosko to Derrthe Nile bends backward from north to south for elevenmiles, and this reach is a great obstacle to the advance ofvessels during the prevalence of northerly winds. Thecharacter of the landscape remains that of the desert; thegrotesque rocks of the banks are now closer, now farther 218 COMPENDIUM OF GEOGRAPHY AND TRAVEL. off, and here and there the remains of ancient buildingsshow themselves. Beyond Derr the river assumes a south-westerly course, and is here very broad, having within itlarge well-cultivated islands interchanging with sandbanks, the favourite resort of the crocodile. Abu Simbel, with its mighty rock temple, here im-presses the imagination almost as forcibly as the greatpyramid of
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Keywords: ., bookauthorkeaneaha, bookcentury1800, bookdecade1870, bookyear1878
