22 degrees 50
minutes N.; 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, unenlivened 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 sources. We climbed the steep
sandy bank, and sat down beneath a solitary sycamore.
We had been twenty-six days sailing from Cairo to this point. The
boat returned, and left us on the east bank of the Nile, with the
great Nubian desert before us.
Korosko is not rich in supplies. A few miserable Arab huts, with
the usual fringe of dusty date palms, compose the village; the
muddy river is the frontier on the west, the burning desert on
the east. Thus hemmed in, Korosko is a narrow strip of a few
yards' width on the margin of the Nile, with only one redeeming
feature in its wretchedness--the green shade of the old sycamore
beneath which we sat.
I had a firman from the Viceroy, a cook, and a dragoman. Thus my
impedimenta were not numerous. The firman was an order to all
Egyptian officials for assistance; the cook was dirty and
incapable; and the interpreter was nearly ignorant of English,
although a professed polyglot. With this small beginning, Africa
was before me, and thus I commenced the search for the Nile
sources. Absurd as this may appear, it was a correct
commencement. Ignorant of Arabic, I could not have commanded a
large party, who would have been at the mercy of the interpreter
or dragoman; thus, the first qualification necessary to success
was a knowledge of the language.
After a delay of some days, I obtained sixteen camels from the
sheik. I had taken the precaution to provide water-barrels, in
addition to the usual goat-skins; and, with a trustworthy guide,
we quitted Korosko on the 16th May, 1861, and launched into the
desert.
The route from Korosko across the Nubian desert cuts off the
chord of an arc 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 half-way station, Moorahd (from
moorra, bitter); this, although salt and bitter, is relished by
camels. During the hot season in which we unfortunately
travelled, the heat was intense, the thermometer ranging from 106
degrees to 114 degrees Fahr. in the shade. The parching blast of
the simoom was of such exhausting power, that the water rapidly
evaporated from the closed water-skins. It was, therefore,
necessary to save the supply by a forced march of seven days, in
which period we were to accomplish the distance, and to reach
Abou Hammed, on the southern bend of the welcome Nile.
