VAST CHASM IN THE PLAIN. 467 in some places has bubbled up in semi-globular masses like pitch, and cooled in that form; in others, it has spread itself over the sandstone rock in a thin crust, which, when struck, sounds like a metallic plate. Beyond this we found an immense chasm in the rocks, extending across the whole plain from the roots of the mountains to the river, about fifty or sixty feet in depth, with perpendicular sides; and, in breadth, varying from about eight or nine to fourteen feet. The bottom is covered with sand. This vast rent in the plain was probably produced by the earthquakes attending the eruptions of the neighbouring volcanoes, which have covered the slopes of the mountains and the whole surface of the desert with showers of calcined stones and black lava. Being desirous of examining the termination of this singular opening, we followed its course inward, but were frequently compelled to diverge from the direct route by deep lateral chasms, branching off from the main fissure like boughs from the trunk of a tree. Here we collected numerous specimens of black lava. On arriving at the point where the opening enters the gorges of the mountains, and becomes shallower, we from a fissure, and rolled down in the direction of the river. It was of no great thickness, and at the place where the course of the stream had been broken, and the remainder of it washed away by the river, it became very thin. As it passed over the sandstone, the under portion was full of long cavities, and the upper part a continued surface, and the portions of rock every where near it were of a red colour, as if partially burnt. At some distance farther, where there was no appearance of this melted matter, a large fissure in the sandstone had all the appearance of having been reddened by the action of heat coming up from below." 468 VALLEY OF HELL. found, near its brink, a petrified tree, which had been overthrown ages ago, and converted into stone; yet the knots and fibres of the wood are so admirably preserved, that to the eye many of the pieces have no appearance of a petrifaction; less so even than those specimens of agatised trunks and branches found in the Valley of the Wanderings. Near this was a mass of carbonated chips, imbedded in sandstone, and completely petrified. Of both we took away specimens ; but enough remains for future travellers. A geologist would find ample scope for his researches in this spot, one of the most extraordinary in Nubia, which, for its solitary position, and desolate infernal aspect, we denominated Wady Gehenna, or the "Valley of Hell." In many parts of the chasm, the rocks have been rent asunder in so violent a manner, that portions of them are left standing in the midst, divided all the way down from both precipices, and seemingly trembling on their bases. Night now approaching, we descended through a lateral fissure into the main opening, and climbing the rocks on the opposite side, regained the level plain, and hastened to our boat. There, sitting at the cabin door, we continued to observe the aspect of the country, and, just as the shadows were thickening into darkness, discovered what we had landed in search of, a number of artificial mounds, like the tumuli or barrows on the plains of Troy. at Faras. Moored RAMBLE IN THE DESERT. 4.69 CHAPTER XIX. RAMBLE IN THE NUBIAN DESERT -NITROUS EFFLORESCENCE VAL AT WADY HALFA NUBIAN CAMEL-DRIVERS -TURKISH GO- ISLANDS OF NUBIA - GREEK Sunday, January 27th. Wady Halfa. CCCXLVIII. THIS morning, a calm having succeeded to the high wind of yesterday, we landed on the western bank, and rambled into the desert, which presents a very picturesque and original appearance. Here and there, over the whole surface of the plain, the sand has been raised by the wind into small hillocks, varying in shape and height; overgrown, in many places, with the tamarisk and silk-tree, whose entire foliage had now, by the peculiar nature of the atmosphere, been encrusted with a nitrous efflorescence, which hung upon the leaves and branches in tiny white beads, like the pearls of hoar-frost. Far in the desert we found a number of gray sandy hills, 470 RUINED VILLAGES. which, probably, owe their origin to the winds, and the growth of small creeping grasses, with whose roots their whole surface is netted. Few spots, however arid and barren, are so unvisited by the vivifying influence of warmth and moisture, as not to produce some diminutive plant, some fine moss or lichen, whose curious structure enables it to imbibe nourishment from the slightest dew. The desert has many such. In several places, indeed, it is gemmed with wild flowers, which, though small, pale, and delicate, are not without beauty. And, in these sands, where the eye is not satiated with the luxuriance and splendour of a tropical flora, such unobtrusive objects please, more, perhaps, for the modesty of their pretensions, and because, like ascetic virtue, they flower in the wilderness, than for their intrinsic charms. CCCXLIX. Returning towards the river, we once more entered among the small wooded hillocks abovementioned, where we observed the ruins of several villages, whose destruction may, probably, be attributed to the incursions of the Moggrebyn Bedouins. Their appearance is exceedingly desolate, the drifting sands having gradually filled up the houses, which, in a few years, they will entirely overwhelm. Separate dwellings were also seen, some inhabited, others in ruins; and there is a large village still thickly peopled, at the southern extremity of which we observed a large clay-built fortress, with battlements and square towers, exactly resembling the ROMANTIC HOLLOWS. 471 castle stormed by the Egyptians in the bas-reliefs of Aboosambal. Our path lay over the yellow sand, where we sometimes sank up to the ankles, ascending and descending among the hillocks, and emerging at intervals to the edge of the high precipitous bank of the Nile, traversing several circular basins, surrounded by sand hills, which exhibit a singularly romantic aspect. Thickly covered with tamarisks, interspersed with silk-trees, doum palms, and copses of low bushes of beautiful foliage, and carpeted with grass and fragrant wild flowers, they are precisely the spots the Bedouins would choose to encamp in, affording both shelter from the winds and browsing for their camels; and here, in an atmosphere perfumed by nature, enjoying the cool shade, silence, and the most perfect tranquillity, the traveller may for a moment taste the sweetness of a desert life, free from the sordid views and degrading sentiments which, in those who habitually lead it, too frequently, it is to be feared, place them upon a level with the least estimable portion of civilised society. Among the tamarisks in these beautiful hollows was a small tree of unknown species, strongly resembling them in appearance, which, when frosted with nitre, presented a perfectly blue appearance, as if it had been steeped in a solution of indigo. Here and there were the marks of recent fires, and around them heaps of the half-roasted fruit of the doum tree, which, in Nubia, attains a magnificent height, and being covered all the way down to the earth with leaves and branches, |