Descending The Pass Through A Thorny Jungle, We
Arrived At The River, And Turning Suddenly To The North, We Followed Its
Course For About A Mile, And Then Bivouacked For The Evening.
The Nile,
having entered the valley between Gebel Kookoo and the western range,
was no longer the calm river that we had seen to the south:
Numerous
rocky islands blocked its course, and mud-banks covered with papyrus
rush so obstructed the stream that the river widened to about a
mile, - -this width was composed of numerous channels, varying in breadth
between the obstructing rock and island. Upon one of the rush-covered
islands a herd of elephants was discovered, almost concealed by the
height of the vegetation. As they approached the edge of the water and
became exposed, I tried about twenty shots at them with the Fletcher
rifle, sighted to 600 yards, but in no instance could I either touch or
disturb them by the bullets; - -this will afford some idea of the width
of the river, the island appearing to be in the middle of the stream.
A short distance below this spot, the Nile rapidly contracted, and at
length became a roaring torrent, passing through a narrow gorge between
perpendicular cliffs, with a tremendous current. In some places the
great river was pent up between rocks, which confined it to a width of
about 120 yards, through such channels the rush of water was terrific,
but to a casual observer approaching from the north, the volume of the
Nile would have been underrated, unless calculated by the velocity of
the stream.
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