bank which has, perhaps, been formed in a few hours by
a sudden shift of the wind or slight diversion of the current, caused
by the tumbling in of a portion of the bank a little higher up-stream.
Many of these boats travel long distances, bringing cargoes of coal,
cement, machinery, cotton goods, and hardware from the coast for
distribution in the provinces of Upper Egypt, and on their return
voyage are laden with sugar-cane or corn, and many other articles of
produce and native manufacture. As night falls, they usually moor
alongside the bank, when fires are lit, and the crews prepare their
simple evening meal. The supply of food, it may be noticed, is usually
kept in a bag, which is slung from the rigging, or a short post where
all can see it and no one be able to take advantage of another by
feeding surreptitiously.

It is often a pretty sight when several of these boats are moored
together, when, their day's work over, their crews will gather round
the fires, and to the accompaniment of tambourine or drum sing songs
or recite stories until it is time to sleep. No sleeping accommodation
is provided, and all the hardy boatman does is to wrap his cloak about
his head and lie among whatever portion of the cargo is least hard
and offers most protection from the wind.

The Nile banks themselves are interesting. In colour and texture
rather like chocolate, they are cut into terraces by the different
levels of the water, while the lapping of the waves is perpetually
undermining them, so that huge slabs of the rich alluvial mud are
continually falling away into the river. Each of these terraces, as it
emerges from the receding water, is planted with beans or melons by
the thrifty farmer, while the sand-banks forming in the river will
presently also be under cultivation, the natives claiming them while
still covered with water, their claims being staked by Indian-corn
stalks or palm-branches.

Like the canal banks in the Delta, the Nile banks form the great
highway for Upper Egypt, and at all times of the day one may see the
people and their animals silhouetted against the sky as they pass to
and fro between their villages. In the neighbourhood of large towns,
or such villages as hold a weekly market, the banks are very animated,
and for many miles are thronged with people from the surrounding
district, some walking, others riding on camels, donkeys, or
buffaloes, pressing towards the market to enjoy the show, or sell the