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Electronic Commerce 2012, 7e (Turban)
Chapter 7 Social Commerce

7.1 True/False

1) User-generated content refers to various kinds of media content that are produced by end users
and are publicly available.
Answer: TRUE
Diff: 1 Page Ref: 299

2) With social media, users, rather than organizations, produce, control, use, and manage content,
often at little or no cost.
Answer: TRUE
Diff: 1 Page Ref: 301

3) Knowledge management is one of the six different types of social media.


Answer: FALSE
Diff: 2 Page Ref: 303

4) Expression Engine and Xanga are examples of media sharing social networking spaces.
Answer: FALSE
Diff: 3 Page Ref: 303

5) The social graph is digital and defined explicitly by all connections involved.
Answer: TRUE
Diff: 3 Page Ref: 304

6) According to an InformationWeek survey of business technology experts, the most useful Web
2.0 tools in Enterprise 2.0, based on percentage, are mashups.
Answer: FALSE
Diff: 2 Page Ref: 304

7) According to an InformationWeek survey of business technology experts, security issues are a


major concern with Enterprise 2.0.
Answer: TRUE
Diff: 1 Page Ref: 304

8) Off-deck is one of the two basic types of mobile social networks.


Answer: TRUE
Diff: 3 Page Ref: 308

9) Adding social software and features to existing commerce sites is one of the two basic
practices of social commerce.
Answer: TRUE
Diff: 2 Page Ref: 310

1
Copyright © 2012 Pearson Education, Inc. publishing as Prentice Hall
10) Social shopping is done in social networks and in vendors' socially oriented stores, but is not
done in stores of special intermediaries.
Answer: FALSE
Diff: 3 Page Ref: 310

11) According to a Gartner Inc. study about roles in social media and e-commerce, mavens
prefer to find out for themselves what they need to know in order to satisfy their needs.
Answer: FALSE
Diff: 3 Page Ref: 310-311

12) Building and sharing wish lists is one of the benefits associated with social shopping.
Answer: TRUE
Diff: 1 Page Ref: 311

13) Spot buying is one of the major models of social shopping.


Answer: FALSE
Diff: 2 Page Ref: 311

14) A common strategy of flash sale sites is to focus on an industry.


Answer: TRUE
Diff: 2 Page Ref: 314

15) Brand communities are a common feature of communities and forums.


Answer: TRUE
Diff: 2 Page Ref: 316

16) Flipsy is an online auction marketplace where users swap virtual currency for free stuff.
Answer: FALSE
Diff: 2 Page Ref: 318

17) According to Zwilling (2011), location-based service opportunities for B2B include the
creation of social hubs.
Answer: FALSE
Diff: 2 Page Ref: 319-320

18) The major current revenue source for social commerce vendors is advertising.
Answer: TRUE
Diff: 1 Page Ref: 321

19) Social apps involve placing advertisement in paid-for media space on social media platforms
such as Facebook, YouTube, and Twitter, as well as on blogs and forums.
Answer: FALSE
Diff: 1 Page Ref: 321

2
Copyright © 2012 Pearson Education, Inc. publishing as Prentice Hall
20) Geolocation apps report your location to other users, and they associate real-world locations
to your location.
Answer: TRUE
Diff: 2 Page Ref: 323

21) An opt-out is a permission-based network that requires a user to join or sign up.
Answer: FALSE
Diff: 1 Page Ref: 324

22) Social networks are an ideal place to disseminate viral videos.


Answer: TRUE
Diff: 1 Page Ref: 325

23) According to Learmonth (2011), the 2012 ad revenue for Twitter is estimated to be over $1
billion.
Answer: FALSE
Diff: 2 Page Ref: 325-326

24) Conversational marketing is the trend where companies utilize Web 2.0 tools to get feedback
from customers.
Answer: TRUE
Diff: 2 Page Ref: 330

25) Social customer relationship management is the new replacement for customer relationship
management.
Answer: FALSE
Diff: 2 Page Ref: 335

26) Facebook is the most popular business-oriented social network service.


Answer: FALSE
Diff: 2 Page Ref: 339

27) To build and nurture a community is one of the major reasons to use or deploy business
social networking.
Answer: TRUE
Diff: 1 Page Ref: 341

28) Yammer is a clone of Facebook for business and is used by more than 1.5 million people in
over 90,000 companies.
Answer: TRUE
Diff: 2 Page Ref: 341

29) The collaboration space in a virtual world is where software agents, on your behalf, seek
information and engage with other agents to fulfill or facilitate transactions.
Answer: FALSE
Diff: 3 Page Ref: 358

3
Copyright © 2012 Pearson Education, Inc. publishing as Prentice Hall
30) A social game is a video game played in a social network.
Answer: TRUE
Diff: 1 Page Ref: 367

31) The tangible cost of many social commerce projects can be very low, but the total cost can
be very high due to the cost of the risks that may materialize.
Answer: TRUE
Diff: 2 Page Ref: 369

32) Interfacing with social networks does not involve risk.


Answer: FALSE
Diff: 1 Page Ref: 371

33) Social commerce support systems include payments, order fulfillment, security, and system
development and business plans.
Answer: TRUE
Diff: 2 Page Ref: 372-373

34) Recent studies have shown that small companies do no succeed in social commerce.
Answer: FALSE
Diff: 2 Page Ref: 374

35) Web 2.0 tools can generate revenue growth, user growth, and increased resistance to
competition in indirect ways.
Answer: TRUE
Diff: 1 Page Ref: 376

4
Copyright © 2012 Pearson Education, Inc. publishing as Prentice Hall
7.2 Multiple Choice

1) The online platforms and tools that people use to share opinions, experiences, insights,
perceptions, and various media, including photos, videos, and music, with each other best
describes
A) social media.
B) cloud computing.
C) social marketing.
D) mobile commerce.
Answer: A
Diff: 2 Page Ref: 301

2) A combination of social policy and marketing practices to achieve a set of social behavioral
goals within a target audience best describes
A) mobile marketing.
B) social marketing.
C) electronic enterprise.
D) social justice.
Answer: B
Diff: 2 Page Ref: 301

3) Which of the following focused on marketing children's health care insurance for working
families and made affordable comprehensive medical care available to over 300,000 children?
A) Apple Care
B) Peach Aid
C) PeachCare for Kids
D) Orange Care
Answer: C
Diff: 3 Page Ref: 302

4) A sociological concept that refers to connections within and between social networks; the core
idea is that social networks have value. This best defines
A) interactive intelligence.
B) knowledge management.
C) social media marketing.
D) social capital.
Answer: D
Diff: 2 Page Ref: 302

5
Copyright © 2012 Pearson Education, Inc. publishing as Prentice Hall
5) Which of the following is a term that describes use of social media platforms such as
networks, online communities, blogs, wikis, or any other online collaborative media for
marketing, market research, sales, CRM, and customer service?
A) social media marketing
B) interactive marketing
C) consumer marketing
D) impulse marketing
Answer: A
Diff: 1 Page Ref: 302

6) Social media categories include each of the following except


A) blogs.
B) records management.
C) collaborative projects.
D) content communities.
Answer: B
Diff: 2 Page Ref: 303

7) Referencing the social networking space categories, NutshellMail and FriendFedd are
examples of
A) leisure-oriented sites.
B) professional networking sites.
C) social network aggregation.
D) social news.
Answer: C
Diff: 3 Page Ref: 303

8) Which of the following is a term coined by Mark Zuckerberg of Facebook, which originally
referred to the social network of relationships between users of the social networking service
provided by Facebook?
A) social tapestry
B) social range
C) social tweet
D) social graph
Answer: D
Diff: 3 Page Ref: 304

9) The delivery of e-commerce activities and transactions through social networks and/or via
Web 2.0 software best describes
A) social commerce.
B) mobile commerce.
C) intelligent commerce.
D) knowledge commerce.
Answer: A
Diff: 2 Page Ref: 305

6
Copyright © 2012 Pearson Education, Inc. publishing as Prentice Hall
10) Benefits of social commerce to customers include
A) identifying brand advocates.
B) paying less for products and services.
C) creating viral advertisements.
D) using low-cost user-generated content.
Answer: B
Diff: 3 Page Ref: 307

11) Benefits to vendors of social commerce include


A) better self-service is possible.
B) customers can assist other customers.
C) identifying problems quickly.
D) customers' expectations can be met in full and quickly.
Answer: C
Diff: 2 Page Ref: 307

12) The benefits of social commerce to retailers include


A) word-of-mouth marketing.
B) increased website traffic.
C) increased sales.
D) all of the above.
Answer: D
Diff: 1 Page Ref: 307-308

13) Which of the following refers to fellow consumers connecting with and listening to other
consumers somewhere in the world who think and consume the way they do?
A) taste twins
B) social double
C) taste buddy
D) social buddy
Answer: A
Diff: 2 Page Ref: 308

14) Members conversing and connecting with one another using cell phones or other mobile
devices best describes
A) mobile marketing.
B) mobile social networking.
C) mobile media clubs.
D) telemarketing.
Answer: B
Diff: 2 Page Ref: 308

7
Copyright © 2012 Pearson Education, Inc. publishing as Prentice Hall
15) Risk factors associated with conducting social commerce include each of the following
except
A) security and privacy issues.
B) possibilities of fraud.
C) establishing multiple crowdsources.
D) integration with existing IT systems.
Answer: C
Diff: 3 Page Ref: 309

16) A method of e-commerce where shoppers' friends become involved in the shopping
experience best describes
A) social coaching.
B) personal shopping.
C) familial shopping.
D) social shopping.
Answer: D
Diff: 2 Page Ref: 309

17) As suggested by Jefferies (2008), drivers for selling in social networks include
A) recommendations/suggestions made by friends.
B) pressure to increase top-line revenue growth.
C) efforts to improve overall sales productivity.
D) all of the above.
Answer: D
Diff: 1 Page Ref: 309

18) A method of shopping where the shoppers enlist others to participate in the purchase
decision best describes
A) communal shopping.
B) social retailing.
C) social connections.
D) social browsing.
Answer: A
Diff: 2 Page Ref: 310

19) Which of the following social media and e-commerce roles, as identified by Gartner Inc.,
perform a bridging function between disparate groups of people?
A) salesman
B) seeker
C) connector
D) maven
Answer: C
Diff: 2 Page Ref: 310-311

8
Copyright © 2012 Pearson Education, Inc. publishing as Prentice Hall
20) Which of the following social media and e-commerce roles, as identified by Gartner Inc.,
connects with other people in order to find out the information, skills, and obligations they need
to conduct their daily lives?
A) self-sufficient
B) seeker
C) maven
D) connector
Answer: B
Diff: 3 Page Ref: 310-311

21) Benefits of social shopping include


A) discovering products/services you never knew existed.
B) confidence and trust in online shopping increases.
C) learning from others' experience.
D) all of the above.
Answer: D
Diff: 1 Page Ref: 311

22) Major models of social shopping include each of the following except
A) social hubs.
B) flash sales.
C) group buying and shopping together.
D) shopping communities and clubs.
Answer: A
Diff: 2 Page Ref: 311-312

23) Shopping communities and common forum features include


A) brand communities.
B) idea boards.
C) user galleries.
D) all of the above.
Answer: D
Diff: 1 Page Ref: 316

24) The largest social community is


A) Kaboodle.
B) AOL.
C) Calvin Klein.
D) MySpace.
Answer: A
Diff: 2 Page Ref: 316

9
Copyright © 2012 Pearson Education, Inc. publishing as Prentice Hall
25) An online community that harnesses the power of one's social networks for the introduction,
buying, and selling of products, services, and resources, including one's own creations best
describes
A) social vortal.
B) social marketplace.
C) relaxed commerce.
D) reverse commerce.
Answer: B
Diff: 2 Page Ref: 318

26) Which of the following social marketplaces allows anyone to list, buy, and sell books, music,
movies, and games, and it was created to fill the need for a free and trustworthy media
marketplace?
A) Listia
B) Craigslist
C) Flipsy
D) Fotolia
Answer: C
Diff: 2 Page Ref: 318

27) Which of the following is a social marketplace for a huge community of creative people who
enjoy sharing, learning, and expressing themselves through images, forums, and blogs? Members
provide royalty-free stock images that other individuals and professionals can legally buy and
share.
A) Flipsy
B) Listia
C) Craigslist
D) Fotolia
Answer: D
Diff: 2 Page Ref: 318

28) Components to expect in a social shopping site include


A) how-to-guides.
B) product page discussions.
C) project journals.
D) all of the above.
Answer: D
Diff: 1 Page Ref: 319

29) Which of the following is a word-of-mouth method by which customers promote a product
or service by telling others about it?
A) viral marketing
B) vortal commerce
C) social expression
D) branded commerce
Answer: A
Diff: 2 Page Ref: 322
10
Copyright © 2012 Pearson Education, Inc. publishing as Prentice Hall
30) Viral marketing done by bloggers best describes
A) extreme blogging.
B) viral blogging.
C) freedom of expression.
D) social diving.
Answer: B
Diff: 2 Page Ref: 322

31) A type of social networking in which geographic services and capabilities such as geocoding
and geotagging are used to enable additional social dynamics best describes
A) geolocation.
B) georeferencing.
C) geosocial networking.
D) geoplacement.
Answer: C
Diff: 3 Page Ref: 323

32) The identification of the real-world geographic location of an Internet-connected computer,


mobile device, website, or visitor best describes
A) digital forensics.
B) social forensics.
C) social analytics.
D) geolocation.
Answer: D
Diff: 2 Page Ref: 323

33) Any video that is passed electronically, from person to person, regardless of its content best
describes
A) viral video.
B) malicious video.
C) spiral video.
D) social video.
Answer: A
Diff: 2 Page Ref: 325

34) The process of measuring, analyzing, and interpreting the results of interactions and
associations among people, topics, and ideas best describes
A) social intelligence.
B) social analytics.
C) social brainstorming.
D) familial statistics.
Answer: B
Diff: 2 Page Ref: 331

11
Copyright © 2012 Pearson Education, Inc. publishing as Prentice Hall
35) The ability of humans to interact with each other effectively best describes
A) social civility.
B) social diplomacy.
C) social intelligence.
D) social integration.
Answer: C
Diff: 2 Page Ref: 331

36) Members of social networks who do social shopping and understand their rights and how to
use the wisdom and power of crowdsourcing and communities to their benefit best describes
A) brand loyalists.
B) social climbers.
C) intelligent mavens.
D) social customers.
Answer: D
Diff: 2 Page Ref: 335

37) A customer service approach that focuses on building long-term and sustainable customer
relationships that add value both to the customers and the merchants best describes
A) customer relationship management.
B) mobile commerce.
C) social marketing.
D) social analytics.
Answer: A
Diff: 2 Page Ref: 335

38) Which of the following refers to a customer engagement strategy in support of companies'
defined goals and objectives toward optimizing the customer experience and where success
requires a focus on people, processes, and technology associated with customer touchpoints and
interactions?
A) People Across Nations (PAN)
B) Social Customer Relationship Management (SCRM)
C) Social Academy of Customers Unite (SACU)
D) Society, Community, Customers (SCC)
Answer: B
Diff: 2 Page Ref: 335

39) A social network whose primary objective is to facilitate business connections and activities
best describes
A) commercial network.
B) social vortal.
C) business social network.
D) social marketplace.
Answer: C
Diff: 2 Page Ref: 339

12
Copyright © 2012 Pearson Education, Inc. publishing as Prentice Hall
40) Major reasons to use or deploy business social networking include
A) increasing revenue.
B) reducing operation and travel costs.
C) reducing communication and improving collaboration.
D) all of the above.
Answer: D
Diff: 1 Page Ref: 341

41) Which of the following is a community of entrepreneurs and small business owners
dedicated to helping each other succeed through the premise that collaboration beats
competition?
A) Entrepreneur Connect
B) E.Factor
C) Biznik
D) Startup Nation
Answer: C
Diff: 2 Page Ref: 342

42) The act of outsourcing tasks, traditionally performed by an employee or contractor, to an


undefined, large group of people or community, through an open call best describes
A) social advertising.
B) crowdsourcing.
C) social remediation.
D) collective marketing.
Answer: B
Diff: 2 Page Ref: 350

43) Dimensions of virtual worlds include


A) social space.
B) entertainment space.
C) experimental space.
D) all of the above.
Answer: D
Diff: 1 Page Ref: 358

44) According to Soat (2009), the most important business objective of social networking is
A) business model innovation.
B) increasing customer loyalty.
C) generating more word of mouth.
D) improving partner relationships.
Answer: C
Diff: 3 Page Ref: 370

13
Copyright © 2012 Pearson Education, Inc. publishing as Prentice Hall
45) Each of the following is a way social networks generate revenue except
A) create affiliations with physical venues where members can meet.
B) partner with organizations that pay a monthly service fee.
C) offer premium service to individuals for a monthly or per-service fee.
D) send direct mailings to customers based on recent in-store purchases.
Answer: D
Diff: 2 Page Ref: 375

7.3 Essay

1) Identify five categories of social networking space. For each identified category, provide an
example.
Answer: Of the 11 categories listed in the textbook, 5 categories are social news, social network
aggregation, events, communication sites, and professional networking sites. In respective order,
Digg, FriendFedd, Meetup.com, Xanga, and LinkedIn are examples.
Diff: 2 Page Ref: 303

2) Identify Howe's four categories of crowdsourcing.


Answer: Howe identified collective intelligence, crowd creation, crowd voting, and crowd
supporting and funding.
Diff: 1 Page Ref: 350

3) Briefly discuss five major categories of virtual world applications.


Answer: The textbook identifies 19 major categories from which students can pick. The major
categories include storefronts and online sales; front offices or help desks; advertising and
product demonstrations; content creation and distribution; meetings, seminars, and conferences;
training; education; recruiting; tourism promotion; museums and art galleries; information
points; data visualization and manipulation; renting virtual world land and buildings; platform
for social science research; market research; platform for design; providing CRM to employees
and a platform for socialization; commercial gaming; and virtual trade shows.
Diff: 3 Page Ref: 358-360

4) Identify five major drivers of social commerce in virtual worlds.


Answer: Five major drivers are resemblance to the real-world environment, immersive online
environment of choice by the younger generations, new means of navigation and discovery,
better online meeting spaces and collaborative platforms, and interactive environment for
education and training.
Diff: 2 Page Ref: 362

5) Identify seven uses of virtual worlds to facilitate learning.


Answer: Simulation, distance learning, class meetings, exploration, visualization, imaginative
scenarios, and information dissemination are seven uses of virtual worlds to facilitate learning.
Diff: 2 Page Ref: 363

14
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My ride back to Luxor, towards evening, was the next best thing
after Karnak. The little animal I rode had become excited by jumping
over stones and sliding down sand-heaps; our guide began to show
his Bedouin blood by dashing at full gallop toward the pylons and
reining in his horse at a bound; and, to conclude, I became infected
with a lawless spirit that could not easily be laid. The guide’s eyes
sparkled when I proposed a race. We left my friend and the water-
carriers, bounded across the avenue of sphinxes, and took a smooth
path leading toward the Desert. My mare needed but a word and a
jog of the iron stirrup. Away we flew, our animals stretching
themselves for a long heat, crashing the dry dourra-stalks, clearing
the water-ditches, and scattering on all sides the Arab laborers we
met. After a glorious gallop of two or three miles my antagonist was
fairly distanced; but one race would not content him, so we had a
second, and finally a third, on the beach of Luxor. The horses
belonged to him, and it was a matter of indifference which was the
swiftest; he raced merely for the delight of it, and so did I.
The same gallant mare was ready for me at night. It was precisely
full moon, and I had determined on visiting Karnak again before
leaving. There was no one but the guide and I, he armed with his
long spear, and I with my pistols in my belt. There was a wan haze in
the air, and a pale halo around the moon, on each side of which
appeared two faint mock-moons. It was a ghostly light, and the fresh
north-wind, coming up the Nile, rustled solemnly in the palm-trees.
We trotted silently to Karnak, and leaped our horses over the
fragments until we reached the foot of the first obelisk. Here we
dismounted and entered the grand hall of pillars. There was no
sound in all the temple, and the guide, who seemed to comprehend
my wish, moved behind me as softly as a shadow, and spoke not a
word. It needs this illumination to comprehend Karnak. The unsightly
rubbish has disappeared: the rents in the roof are atoned for by the
moonlight they admit; the fragments shivered from the lips of the
mighty capitals are only the crumpled edges of the flower: a maze of
shadows hides the desolation of the courts, but every pillar and
obelisk, pylon and propylon is glorified by the moonlight. The soul of
Karnak is soothed and tranquillized. Its halls look upon you no longer
with an aspect of pain and humiliation. Every stone seems to say: “I
am not fallen, for I have defied the ages. I am a part of that grandeur
which has never seen its peer, and I shall endure for ever, for the
world has need of me.”
I climbed to the roof, and sat looking down into the hushed and
awful colonnades, till I was thoroughly penetrated with their august
and sublime expression. I should probably have remained all night,
an amateur colossus, with my hands on my knees, had not the
silence been disturbed by two arrivals of romantic tourists—an
Englishman and two Frenchmen. We exchanged salutations, and I
mounted the restless mare again, touched her side with the stirrup,
and sped back to Luxor. The guide galloped beside me, occasionally
hurling his spear into the air and catching it as it fell, delighted with
my readiness to indulge his desert whims. I found the captain and
sailors all ready and my friend smoking his pipe on deck. In half an
hour we had left Thebes.
CHAPTER XI.
FROM THEBES TO THE NUBIAN FRONTIER.

The Temple of Hermontis—Esneh and its Temple—The Governor—El Kab


by Torch-light—The Temple of Edfou—The Quarries of Djebel Silsileh
—Ombos—Approach to Nubia—Change in the Scenery and
Inhabitants—A Mirage—Arrival at Assouan.

Our journey from Thebes to Assouan occupied six days, including


a halt of twenty-four hours at Esneh. We left Luxor on the night of
December 8th, but the westward curve of the Nile brought us in
opposition with the wind, and the next day at noon we had only
reached Erment, the ancient Hermontis, in sight of the three peaks of
the Theban hills. We left our men to tug the boat along shore, and
wandered off to the mounds of the old city, still graced with a small
temple, or lying-in house of the goddess Reto, who is here
represented as giving birth to the god Hor-pire. The sculptures in the
dark chambers, now used as stalls for asses, were evidently
intended only for the priesthood of the temple, and are not repeated,
as are those of other temples, in the halls open to the public.
Notwithstanding the great license which the Egyptian faith assumed,
its symbols are, in general, scrupulously guarded from all low and
unworthy forms of representation.
The group of pillars in the outer court charmed us by the richness
and variety of their designs. No two capitals are of similar pattern,
while in their combinations of the papyrus, the lotus and the palm-
leaf, they harmonize one with another and as a whole. The abacus,
between the capital and the architrave, is so high as almost to
resemble a second shaft. In Karnak and the Memnonium it is narrow,
and lifts the ponderous beam just enough to prevent its oppressing
the lightness of the capital. I was so delighted with the pillars of
Hermontis that I scarcely knew whether to call this peculiarity a
grace or a defect. I have never seen it employed in modern
architecture, and judge therefore that it has either been condemned
by our rules or that our architects have not the skill and daring of the
Egyptians.
We reached Esneh the same night, but were obliged to remain all
the next day in order to allow our sailors to bake their bread. We
employed the time in visiting the temple, the only remnant of the
ancient Latopolis, and the palace of Abbas Pasha, on the bank of the
Nile. The portico of the temple, half buried in rubbish, like that of
Dendera, which it resembles in design, is exceedingly beautiful.
Each of its twenty-four columns is crowned with a different capital, so
chaste and elegant in their execution that it is impossible to give any
one the preference. The designs are mostly copied from the doum-
palm, the date-palm, and the lotus, but the cane, the vine, and
various water-plants are also introduced. The building dates from the
time of the Ptolemies, and its sculptures are uninteresting. We
devoted all our time to the study of the capitals, a labyrinth of beauty,
in which we were soon entangled. The Governor of Esneh, Ali
Effendi, a most friendly and agreeable Arab, accompanied us
through the temple, and pointed out all the fishes, birds and
crocodiles he could find. To him they were evidently the most
interesting things in it. He asked me how old the building was, and
by whom it had been erected. On leaving, we accepted his invitation
to partake of coffee and pipes. The visit took place in due form, with
many grave salutations, which we conscientiously imitated. Achmet
had returned to our boat, and my small stock of Arabic was soon
exhausted, but we managed to exchange all the necessary common-
places.
The day of leaving Esneh, we reached El Kab, the ancient
Eleuthyas, whose rock-tombs are among the most curious in Egypt.
We landed at twilight, provided with candles, and made our way
through fields of wiry halfeh grass, and through a breach in the brick
wall of the ancient town, to the Arabian Desert. It was already dark,
but our guide, armed with his long spear, stalked vigorously forward,
and brought us safely up the mountain path to the entrances of the
sepulchres. There are a large number of these, but only two are
worth visiting, on account of the light which they throw on the social
life of the Egyptians. The owner of the tomb and his wife—a red man
and a yellow woman—are here seen, receiving the delighted guests.
Seats are given them, and each is presented with an aromatic
flower, while the servants in the kitchen hasten to prepare savory
dishes. In other compartments, all the most minute processes of
agriculture are represented with wonderful fidelity. So little change
has taken place in three thousand years, that they would answer,
with scarcely a correction, as illustrations of the Fellah agriculture of
Modern Egypt.
The next morning we walked ahead to the temple of Edfou,
shooting a few brace of fat partridges by the way, and scaring two
large jackals from their lairs in the thick grass. The superb pylon of
the temple rose above the earthy mounds of Apollinopolis like a
double-truncated pyramid. It is in an entire state of preservation, with
all its internal chambers, passages and stairways. The exterior is
sculptured with colossal figures of the gods, thirty feet in height, and
from the base of the portal to the scroll-like cornice of the pylon, is
more than a hundred feet. Through the door we entered a large open
court, surrounded by a colonnade. The grand portico of the temple,
buried nearly to the tops of its pillars, faced us, and we could only
judge, from the designs of the capitals and the girth of the shaft, the
imposing effect which it must have produced on those who entered
the court. The interior is totally filled with rubbish, and a whole village
of Arab huts stands on the roof.
A strong wind carried us, before sunset, to the quarries of Djebel
Silsileh, the “Mountain of the Chain,” where the Nile is compressed
between two rugged sandstone hills. The river is not more than three
hundred yards broad, and the approach to this rocky gateway, after
so many weeks of level alluvial plain, is very striking. Here are the
sandstone quarries whence the huge blocks were cut, to build the
temples and shape the colossi of Thebes. They lie on the eastern
bank, close to the river, and the ways down which the stones were
slid to the vessels that received them, are still to be seen. The stone
is of a pale reddish-brown color, and a very fine and clear grain. It
appears to have been divided into squares of the proper size, and
cut from above downward. The shape of many of the enormous
blocks may be easily traced. In one place the rock has been roughly
hewn into a sort of temple, supported by pillars thirty feet square,
and with an entrance as grand and rude as a work of the Titans.
In the morning we awoke in the shadow of Ombos, which stands
on a hill overlooking the Nile, into which its temple to Isis has fallen.
Little now remains of the great temple to Savak, the crocodile-
headed god, the deity of Ombos, but its double portico, supported by
thirteen pillars, buried nearly waist-deep in the sands. The aspect of
these remains, seated on the lonely promontory commanding the
course of the river and the harvest-land of the opposite shore, while
the stealthy Desert approaches it from behind, and year by year
heaps the sand higher against the shattered sanctuary, is sadly
touching. We lingered and lingered around its columns, loth to leave
the ruined grace which a very few years will obliterate. Two such
foes as the Nile and the Desert make rapid progress, where no
human hand is interposed to stay them. As we sailed away, a large
crocodile, perhaps Savak himself, lay motionless on a sand-bank
with his long snout raised in the air.
We were two days in sailing from Ombos to Assouan owing to a
dead calm, the first in two weeks. The nights were very cool, and the
mid-day temperature not too warm for comfort. One morning my
thermometer stood at 40°; the Arabs complained bitterly of the cold,
and, wrapped in their woolen mantles, crawled about the deck as
languidly as benumbed flies. At noon the mercury did not often rise
above 75° in the shade. As we approach Nubia, the scenery of the
river undergoes a complete change. The rugged hills of black
sandstone and granite usurp the place of the fields, and leave but a
narrow strip of cultivable land on either side. The Arabs are darker
and show the blood of the desert tribes in their features. They are,
however, exceedingly friendly. The day before reaching Assouan, we
walked ahead of our boat and were obliged to wait two or three
hours. We had a retinue of boys, who pummelled one another as to
which should pick up the pigeons we shot. The successful one came
bounding back with a face sparkling with delight, and kissed the bird
and touched it to his forehead as he gave it to us. As we were
resting under the palm-trees, my friend regretted that we had not
brought our shebooks along with us. One of the Arabs, guessing his
wish from the word “shebook,” instantly ran off and scoured the
dourra-fields until he found a laborer who owned a pipe. He brought
the man back, with the sickle in his hand and a corn-stalk pipe of
very indifferent tobacco, which he gravely presented to my friend.
Before returning on board we saw a wonderful mirage. Two small
lakes of blue water, glittering in the sun, lay spread in the yellow
sands, apparently not more than a mile distant. There was not the
least sign of vapor in the air, and as we were quite unacquainted with
the appearance of the mirage, we decided that the lakes were Nile-
water, left from the inundation. I pointed to them and asked the
Arabs: “Is that water?” “No, no!” they all exclaimed: “that is no water
—that is a bahr Shaytan!” (a river of the Devil).
The white tomb of a Moslem saint, sparkling in the noon day sun,
on the summit of a hill overlooking the Nile, finally announced our
arrival at the Nubian frontier. We now beheld the palms of Assouan
and the granite cliffs beyond—which we had been so impatient to
reach, a few hours before—with regret, almost with dread. This was
our point of separation. My pathway was through those desolate
hills, into the heart of Nubia, into the Desert, and the strange
countries beyond, where so few had been before me. The vestibule
was passed: Egypt lay behind me. The long landscape of the Nile
was but the dromos to that temple of African life, whose adytum was
still far in advance, deep in the fiery tropical silence of Ethiopia.
While my blood thrilled at the prospect, and the thirst of adventure
and discovery inspired me as the wind of the Desert inspires the
Arab charger, I could not part with indifference from the man who
had shared with me the first august impression, the sublime
fascination of Egypt. Nor was the prospect of a solitary voyage back
to Cairo at all cheering to him. Achmet would of course accompany
me, and the cook, Salame, who knew barely twenty words of French
and Italian, must perforce act as dragoman. My friend was therefore
completely at the mercy of the captain and crew, and saw nothing
but annoyance and embarrassment before him. I had much trust in
Raïs Hassan’s honesty and good faith, and was glad to learn,
several months afterwards, that his conduct had confirmed it.
CHAPTER XII.
PHILÆ AND THE CATARACT.

An Official Visit—Achmet’s Dexterity—The Island of Elephantine—Nubian


Children—Trip to Philæ—Linant Bey—The Island of Philæ—
Sculptures—The Negro Race—Breakfast in a Ptolemaic Temple—
The Island of Biggeh—Backsheesh—The Cataract—The Granite
Quarries of Assouan—The Travellers separate.

“Where Nile reflects the endless length


Of dark-red colonnades.”—Macaulay.

We had scarcely moored our vessel to the beach at Assouan,


before a messenger of the Governor arrived to ask if there was an
American on board. He received the information, and we were
occupied in preparing ourselves for an excursion to the island of
Elephantine, when Achmet called to us: “The Governor is coming.”
We had no time to arrange our cabin for his reception; he was
already at the door, with two attendants, and the most I could do was
to clear sufficient space for a seat on my divan. His Excellency was a
short, stout, broad-faced man, with large eyes, a gray beard and a
flat nose. He wore a semi-European dress of brown cloth, and was
blunt though cordial in his manners. His attendants, one of whom
was the Captain of the Cataract, wore the Egyptian dress, with black
turbans. They saluted us by touching their hands to the lips and
forehead, and we responded in similar manner, after which the
Governor inquired after our health and we inquired after his. I
delivered my letter, and while he was occupied in reading it, Achmet
prepared the coffee and pipes. Luckily, we had three shebooks, the
best of which, having an amber mouth-piece, was presented to the
Governor. I waited for the coffee with some trepidation, for I knew we
had but two Turkish finjans, and a Frank cup was out of the question.
However, Achmet was a skilful servant. He presented the cups at
such intervals that one was sure to be empty while the other was full,
and artfully drew away the attention of our guests by his
ceremonious presentations; so that not only they but both of us
partook twice of coffee, without the least embarrassment, and I
believe, had there been ten persons instead of five, he would have
given the two cups the effect of ten.
After the Governor had expressed his pleasure in flowing Oriental
phrases, and promised to engage me a boat for Korosko, he took his
leave and we crossed in a ferry barge to Elephantine. This is a small
but fertile island, whose granite foundations are fast anchored in the
Nile. It once was covered with extensive ruins, but they have all been
destroyed except a single gateway and an altar to Amun, both of red
granite, and a sitting statue of marble. The southern part is entirely
covered with the ruins of a village of unburnt brick, from the topmost
piles of which we enjoyed a fine view of the picturesque environs of
Assouan. The bed of the Nile, to the south, was broken with isles of
dark-red granite rock, the same formation which appears in the
jagged crests of the mountains beyond the city. Scattered over them
were the tombs of holy men, dating from the times of the Saracens.
A thin palm-grove somewhat concealed the barren aspect of the city,
but our glances passed it, to rest on the distant hills, kindling in the
setting sun.
The island is inhabited by Nubians, and some twenty or thirty
children, of from six to ten years of age—the boys entirely naked, the
girls wearing the ràhad, a narrow leathern girdle, around the loins—
surrounded us, crying “backsheesh!” and offering for sale bits of
agate, coins, and fragments of pottery. Some of them had cunning
but none of them intelligent faces; and their large black eyes had an
astonishingly precocious expression of sensuality. We bought a few
trifles and tried to dismiss them, but their numbers increased, so that
by the time we had made the tour of the island we had a retinue of
fifty followers. I took the branches of henna they offered me and
switched the most impudent of them, but they seemed then to
consider that they had a rightful claim to the backsheesh, and were
more importunate than ever. As we left, they gathered on the shore
and sang us a farewell chorus, but a few five para pieces, thrown
among them, changed the harmony into a scramble and a fight, in
which occupation these lovely children of Nature were engaged until
we lost sight of them.
The next day we visited Philæ. We took donkeys and a guide and
threaded the dismal valley of Saracenic tombs south of the town, into
a pass leading through the granite hills. The landscape was wintry in
its bleakness and ruggedness. The path over which we rode was
hard sand and gravel, and on both sides the dark rocks were piled in
a thousand wonderful combinations. On the surface there is no
appearance of regular strata, but rather of some terrible convulsion,
which has broken the immense masses and thrown them confusedly
together. Russegger noticed that the structure of the primitive strata
of Assouan was exactly similar to that of Northern Lapland. The
varieties of landscape, in different climates, depend therefore upon
the difference of vegetation and of atmospheric effect, rather than
that of geological forms, which always preserve their identity. Dr.
Kane also found in the bleak hills of Greenland the same structure
which he had observed in the Ghauts of tropical India.
After three or four miles of this travel the pass opened upon the
Nile, just above the Cataract. At the termination of the portage is a
Nubian village, whose plantations of doum and date-palms and
acacias are dazzling in their greenness, from contrast with the bleak
pyramids of rock and the tawny drifts of the Lybian sands on the
western bank. We rode down to the port, where a dozen trading
vessels lay at anchor, and took a large boat for Philæ. The Governor
of Assouan was there, and His Excellency showed me the vessel he
had engaged for me—a small and rather old dahabiyeh, but the best
to be had. The price was one hundred and fifty piastres for the trip—
about one hundred and twenty miles—besides something for the
men. Achmet attributed this moderate demand to the effect of a
timely present, which had been delicately conveyed into the
Governor’s hands the night before. There was a tall gentleman, in
the official Egyptian costume, in company with the Governor. Achmet
said he was a French engineer in the service of Abbas Pasha, and I
afterwards learned that he was none other than M. Linant, or Linant
Bey whose name is so well known through his connection with the
exploration of Petra, and of the antiquities in Ethiopia. He was
accompanied by his wife, a French lady, who greeted us courteously,
and two daughters of semi-Abyssinian origin. The latter were
dressed in Oriental costume, but unveiled. M. Linant is a tall, grave
person, about fifty years of age. He wore a crescent of diamonds on
his breast, and his features expressed all the dignity and repose of
one who had become thoroughly naturalized in the East.
As the wind carried us out into the stream, we saw the towers of
the temple of Isis, on Philæ, through a savage gorge of the river. The
enormous masses of dark granite were piled on either side to a
height of several hundred feet, taking in some places the forms of
monoliths and sitting colossi, one of which appeared so lightly
balanced on the loose summit that a strong gale might topple it down
the steep. The current in the narrow channel was so violent that we
could make no headway, but a Nubian boy, swimming on a palm-log,
carried a rope to the shore, and we were at length towed with much
labor into the more tranquil basin girdling Philæ. The four lofty towers
of the two pylons, the side corridors of pillars and the exterior walls
of the temple seem perfectly preserved, on approaching the island,
the green turf of whose banks and the grouping of its palms quite
conceal the ruins of a miserable mud village which surrounds the
structures. Philæ is the jewel of the Nile, but these ruins are an
unsightly blotch, which takes away half its lustre. The setting is
nevertheless perfect. The basin of black, jagged mountains, folding
on all sides, yet half-disclosing the avenues to Egypt and Nubia; the
hem of emerald turf at their feet, sprinkled with clusters of palm, and
here and there the pillar or wall of a temple; the ring of the bright
river, no longer turbid as in Lower Egypt: of these it is the centre, as
it was once the radiant focus of their beauty.
The temple, which belongs to the era of the Ptolemies, and is little
more than two thousand years old, was built by various monarchs,
and is very irregular in its plan. Instead of preserving a fixed
direction, it follows the curve of the island, and its various corridors
and pylons have been added to each other with so little regard to
proportion, that the building is much more agreeable when viewed as
a collection of detached parts, than as a whole. From its locality, it
has suffered comparatively little from the ravages of man, and might
be restored to almost its original condition. The mud which Coptic
Christians plastered over the walls of its sanctuaries has concealed,
but not defaced, their richly-colored sculptures, and the palm-leaf
and lotus capitals of its portico retain the first brilliancy of their green
and blue tints. The double corridor of thirty-six columns, in front of
the temple, reaching to the southern end of the island, has never
been finished, some of the capitals last erected being unsculptured,
and others exhibiting various stages of completion. In Egypt one so
accustoms himself to looking back four thousand years, that Philæ
seems but of yesterday. The Gothic Cathedrals of the Middle Ages
are like antediluvian remains, compared with its apparent newness
and freshness.
We examined the interior chambers with the aid of a torch, and I
also explored several secret passages, inclosed in the thickness of
the walls. The sculptures are raised on the face of the stone, and
painted in light and brilliant colors. They represent Isis and Osiris,
with their offspring, the god Horus, which three constituted the Trinity
worshipped in Philæ. In one place Isis is seen giving suck to the
infant god—a group which bore a singular resemblance to some
painting I have seen of the Virgin and Child. The gods are here
painted of fair, Greek complexion, and not, as in the oldest tombs
and temples, of a light red. Their profiles are symmetrical and even
beautiful, and the emblems by which they are surrounded, are drawn
and colored in admirable taste. Those friends of the African Race,
who point to Egypt as a proof of what that race has accomplished,
are wholly mistaken. The only negro features represented in
Egyptian sculpture are those of slaves and captives taken in the
Ethiopian wars of the Pharaohs. The temples and pyramids
throughout Nubia, as far as the frontiers of Dar-Fūr and Abyssinia, all
bear the hieroglyphs of these monarchs, and there is no evidence in
all the valley of the Nile that the Negro Race ever attained a higher
degree of civilization than is at present exhibited in Congo and
Ashantee.
East of the great temple is a square, open building, whose four
sides are rows of columns, supporting an architrave, and united, at
about half their height, by screens of stone. The capitals are all of
different design, yet exhibit the same exquisite harmony which
charmed us in Hermontis and Esneh. The screens and pillars were
evidently intended to have been covered with sculpture, and a roof of
sandstone blocks was to have been added, which would have made
the structure as perfect as it is unique. The square block, or abacus,
interposed between the capital and architrave, is even higher than in
the pillars of Hermontis, and I was equally puzzled whether to call it
a grace or a defect. There was one thing, however, which certainly
did give a grace to the building, and that was our breakfast, which
we ate on a block large enough to have made an altar for the
Theban Jupiter, surrounded by a crowd of silent Arabs. They
contemplated the ruins of our cold fowls with no less interest than did
we those of the temples of Philæ.
Before returning, we crossed to the island of Biggeh, where two
pillars of a temple to Athor stand sentry before the door of a mud hut,
and a red granite colossus is lucky in having no head, since it is
spared the sight of such desecration. The children of Biggeh fairly
drove us away with the cries of “backsheesh!” The hideous word had
been rung in our ears since leaving Assouan, and when we were
again saluted with it, on landing at the head of the Cataract, patience
ceased to be a virtue. My friend took his cane and I the stick of my
donkey-driver, and since the naked pests dared not approach near
enough to get the backsheesh, they finally ceased to demand it. The
word is in every Nubian mouth, and the very boatmen and camel-
drivers as they passed us said “backsheesh” instead of “good
morning.” As it was impossible to avoid hearing it, I used the word in
the same way, and cordially returned the greeting. A few days
previous, as we were walking on shore near Esneh, a company of
laborers in a dourra-field began the cry. I responded, holding out my
hand, whereupon one of the men pulled off his white cotton cap (his
only garment), and offered it to me, saying: “If you are poor, take it.”
We walked down to the edge of the Cataract and climbed a rock,
which commanded a view of the principal rapid. There is nothing like
a fall, and the passage up and down is attended with little peril. The
bed of the Nile is filled with granite masses, around which the swift
current roars and foams, and I can imagine that the descent must be
very exciting, though perhaps less so than that of the Rapids of the
St. Lawrence. Boats are towed up, under the superintendence of one
of the raïs, or captains of the Cataract. There are four of these
officers, with a body of about two hundred men. The fee varies from
two to four hundred piastres, according to the size of the boat. One
third of the money is divided among the captains, and the remainder
falls to the portion of the men. This also includes the descent, and
travellers going to the Second Cataract and back, pay half the fee on
returning.
On the following morning we visited the ancient granite quarries of
Assouan. They lie in the hills, south of the town, and more than a
mile from the river. I never saw a more magnificent bed of rock. Its
color is a light red, flecked with green, and its grain is very fine and
nearly as solid as porphyry. An obelisk, one hundred feet long and
twelve feet square at the base, still lies in the quarry, having been
abandoned on account of a slight fissure near its summit. Grooves
were afterward cut, for the purpose of separating it into blocks, but
for some reason or other the design was not carried out. In many
parts of the quarry the method employed by the Egyptians to detach
the enormous masses, is plainly to be Been. A shallow groove was
first sunk along the line of fracture, after which mortices about three
inches wide and four deep, were cut at short intervals, for the
purpose of receiving wooden wedges. These having been driven
firmly into their sockets, were saturated with water, and by their
expansion forced the solid grain asunder.
We rode back to the Cleopatra with heavy hearts. Every thing had
been prepared for our departure, my friend for Cairo and Germany,
and I for the Nubian Desert and White Nile. The Governor of
Assouan had despatched a letter to the Governor of Korosko, asking
him to have camels ready for the Desert, on my arrival, my own
letters to my friends were finished, my equipage had been
transferred to the shore, and camels had arrived to transport it
around the Cataract to the Nubian village, where my boat was in
readiness. Our handsome sailor, Ali, begged so hard to be allowed
to accompany me, that I finally agreed to take him as a servant, and
he was already on duty. Achmet was nearly as cheerful as he,
notwithstanding he had just written to his family to say that he was
going to Soudân, and had given up, as he afterwards informed me,
all hopes of ever seeing Egypt again. The American flag was run
down, and the Saxe-Coburg colors—green and white—hoisted in its
stead. We had a parting visit from the Governor, who gave me
another letter to Korosko, and we then sat down to a breakfast for
which we had no appetite. The camels were loaded and sent off in
advance, under Ali’s charge, but I waited until every man was on
board the good old vessel and ready to push off for Cairo. The large
main-sail was unshipped and laid over the cabin, and the stern-sail,
only to be used when the south-wind blows, hoisted in its place. The
tow-rope was wound up and stowed away, and the large oars hung
in the rowlocks. Finally, every sailor was at his post; the moment
came, and we parted, as two men seldom part, who were strangers
six weeks before. I goaded my donkey desperately over the sands,
hastened the loading of my effects, and was speedily afloat and
alone on the Nubian Nile.
Ali.
CHAPTER XIII.
THE NUBIAN NILE.

Solitary Travel—Scenery of the Nubian Nile—Agriculture—The Inhabitants


—Arrival at Korosko—The Governor—The Tent Pitched—Shekh
Abou-Mohammed—Bargaining for Camels—A Drove of Giraffes—
Visits—Preparations for the Desert—My Last Evening on the Nile.

We passed to the west of the island of Biggeh, where the current


is less rapid, and a gentle north wind soon carried us away from
Philæ. Dark mountains of porphyry rock inclosed the river, and the
solitude of the shores, broken only by the creaking of an occasional
sakia, or irrigating wheel, made me feel keenly the loneliness of my
situation. Achmet, who now became cook as well as dragoman,
served me up three fowls, cooked in different styles, for dinner—
partly as an earnest of his skill, and partly to dispel my want of
spirits. But the fragrant pipe which followed dinner was the true
promoter of patience, and “Patience,” says the Arab poet, “is the key
of Content.” My boat was a small, slow craft, and Raïs Hereedee, the
captain, the most indolent of Nubians. His weak, feminine face
showed a lack of character, which Achmet soon turned to advantage,
by taking the command into his own hands. The wind was barely
strong enough to obviate the necessity of towing, and my three
sailors sat on the bow all day, singing: “andèrbuddee! andèrbuddee!”
as we lazily ascended the river.
Those who do not go beyond Thebes are only half acquainted with
the Nile. Above Esneh, it is no longer a broad, lazy current, watering
endless fields of wheat and groves of palm, bounded in the distance
by level lines of yellow mountain walls. It is narrower, clearer and
more rapid, and its valley, after the first scanty field of wheat or
dourra, strikes the foot of broken and rocky ranges, through the gaps
in which the winds of the Desert have spilled its sands. There is not
the same pale, beautiful monotony of color, but the landscapes are
full of striking contrasts, and strongly accented lights and shadows.
Here, in Nubia, these characteristics are increased, and the Nile
becomes a river of the North under a Southern sun. The mountains
rise on either hand from the water’s edge; piles of dark sandstone or
porphyry rock, sometimes a thousand feet in height, where a blade
of grass never grew, every notch and jag on their crests, every
fissure on their sides, revealed in an atmosphere so pure and
crystalline, that nothing but one of our cloudless mid-winter days can
equal it. Their hue near at hand is a glowing brown; in the distance
an intense violet. On the western bank they are lower; and the sand
of that vast Desert, which stretches unbroken to the Atlantic, has
heaped itself over their shoulders and poured long drifts and rills
even to the water. In color it is a tawny gold, almost approaching a
salmon tint, and its glow at sunrise equals that of the snow-fields of
the Alps.
The arable land is a mere hem, a few yards in breadth on either
side of the river. It supports a few scattering date-palms, which are
the principal dependence of the Nubians. They are taxed at the rate
of a piastre and a half each, annually, the trees being counted every
five years by a Government officer appointed for that purpose. If half
of them should die in the mean time, the tax remains the same until
the next count. The trees are seven years in coming to maturity, after
which they produce dates for seven years, and then gradually decay.
They are male and female, and are generally planted so that the
pollen may be blown from the male to the female flowers. In some
parts of Egypt this impregnation is artificially produced. The banks
are planted with wheat, beans and a species of lupin, from which
bread is made, and wherever a little shelf of soil is found along the
base of the mountains, the creaking sakias turn day and night to give
life to patches of dourra and cotton. In a rough shed, protected from
the sun by palm-mats, a cow or buffalo walks a weary round, raising
the water, which is conveyed in small channels, built of clay, to all the
numerous beds into which the field is divided. These are filled, in
regular succession to the depth of two inches, and then left to stand
until dried by the sun. The process is continued until the grain is
nearly ripe. The sakias pay a tax of three hundred piastres a year,
levied in lieu of a ground tax, which the Egyptians pay. With all their
labor, the inhabitants scarcely produce enough to support
themselves, and the children are sent to Cairo at an early age,
where they become house-servants, and like the Swiss and
Savoyards, send home a portion of their earnings. This part of Nubia
is inhabited by the Kenoos tribe, who speak a language of their own.
They and their language are designated by the general name of
Baràbra (nearly equivalent to “barbarians”) by the Arabs. They are
more stupid than the Egyptian Fellahs, but their character for truth
and honesty is superior. In my walks on shore, I found them very
friendly, and much less impudent than the Nubians about Assouan.
The northern part of Nubia is rich in Egyptian remains, but I
hastened on without visiting them, passing the temples of Dabôd,
Kalabshee, Dakkeh, Dendoor and Sebooa, which looked at me
invitingly from the western bank. Near Dendoor I crossed the Tropic
of Cancer, and on the fourth afternoon after leaving Assouan, Raïs
Hereedee pointed out in the distance the mountain of Korosko, the
goal of the voyage. I was charmed with the near prospect of desert
life, but I fancied Achmet was rather grave, since all beyond was an
unknown region to him. The sharp peak of the mountain gradually
drew nearer, and at dusk my boat was moored to a palm-tree, in
front of the village of Korosko.
In less than half an hour, I received a visit from the Governor,
Moussa Effendi, who brought me good news. A caravan had just
arrived from Sennaar, and camels were in readiness for the journey
to Berber, in Ethiopia. This was very lucky, for merchants are
frequently detained at Korosko twenty or thirty days, and I had
anticipated a delay of at least a week. I also learned that Dr.
Knoblecher, the Apostolic Vicar of the Catholic Missions in Central
Africa, had left for Khartoum about twenty days previous. The
Governor was profuse in his offers of assistance, stating that as
Shekh Abou-Mohammed, a chief of the Ababdeh tribe, through
whose territories my road lay, was then in Korosko, he would be
enabled to make every arrangement for my safety and convenience.
Early the next morning my equipage was taken ashore and my
tent pitched for the first time, under a clump of palm trees,
overlooking the Nile. Leaving Ali to act as guard, I took Achmet and
walked up to the village of Korosko, which is about a quarter of a
mile from the shore, at the foot of the lofty Djebel Korosko. The
Governor’s mansion was a mud hut, differing from the other huts in
size only. His Excellency received me cordially, and immediately sent
for Shekh Abou-Mohammed, with whom the contract for camels
must be made. The Shekh was a tall, imposing personage, with a
dark-brown complexion, but perfectly straight and regular features.
He was accompanied by a superb attendant—an Ababdeh, six feet
two inches in height, with sharp, symmetrical features, and a fine,
fierce eye. His hair was raised perpendicularly from his forehead, but
on each side hung down in a great number of little twists, smeared
with mutton-fat and castor-oil. His long cotton mantle was wrapped
around him like a Greek chlamys, and his bearing was as manly and
majestic as that of an Ajax or a Diomed. There was some
controversy about the number of camels; Achmet and I had decided
that we should not require more than five, and the Shekh insisted
that we should take more, but finally agreed to furnish us with six,
including one for the guide, at the price paid by officers of the
Government—ninety piastres (four dollars and fifty cents) each, to El
Mekheyref, the capital of Dar Berber, a journey of fourteen days.
This included the services of camel-drivers, and all other expenses,
except the hire of the guide, whose fee was that of a camel—ninety
piastres. Merchants who travel this route, pay according to the
weight of their loads, and frequently from one hundred and twenty to
one hundred and fifty piastres.
Soon after returning to my tent, I was again visited by the
Governor, who found my choice Latakieh very acceptable to his
taste. I therefore presented him with two or three pounds of it, and
some gunpowder, which he received in a way that made me sure of
his good offices. Shekh Abou-Mohammed also came down,
inspected my baggage, and was satisfied that the camels would not
be overloaded. He declared, however, that the four geerbehs, or
water-skins, which I had brought from Cairo, would not be sufficient,
and as none were to be purchased in Korosko, loaned me four more
for the journey, on my agreeing to pay him half their value. I also
paid him for the camels, he giving a formal receipt therefor, which
was intrusted to the guide, to be delivered to the Governor of Berber,

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