_Thursday, Dec. 8._——Some one was sick in the night. Thinking it might be the Doctor I jumped out of bed to go to him, and landed in cold water! The ship had sprung a leak. All the rooms on one side were found to be flooded, and the engine-room was a pond. The pumps were put to work, but it was some hours before the water was where it belonged. Some things in my room were spoiled. We started early for Philæ, where our dahabeyeh lay, at the other end of the cataract. It was five miles, and we took camels so as to gain a little experience in riding preparatory to the long desert journey. Our route lay through the ancient bed of a river. On the way we visited the famous granite quarries, and saw the huge obelisk left partially cut out of its bed. We all went on board our dahabeyeh for lunch. The stars and stripes had been raised, and we also ordered up the English flag in honor of our guests. After lunch, while Ibrahim and Mourgan were getting our baggage on board, we, the party, took a small boat and rowed out to the interesting island of Philæ. First we rowed around it to get a comprehensive view of its beautiful temples. Then we landed, and examined them all in detail. We also visited the ruins of a little Christian church, which an American has discovered. _Friday, Dec. 9._——For some reason I did not sleep well, and was up early and over the side of the dahabeyeh for a good swim in the Nile. A light breeze soon sprang up, the sail was set, and at 8.30 A.M. we were off, the Englishmen still in the cataract. We passed an island to the right of Philæ, stopped for a few moments at a little village where some of our sailors lived and then we were off again, slowly passing immense granite boulders, between narrow banks fringed with dom-palms and very black Nubians, creeping along pretty fast for the light wind that just fills our big sail. We pass Debod, and then towards evening the wind goes down, and we have to make the bank and tie up. We do not remain here long, however. Our Reis, who is a fine fellow, ever on the alert, hears a rustling in the trees, a gale is upon us; the big sail is quickly flung out, and we start almost with a bound and strike a rock! The captain reports “no leak,” and off we go again, fairly flying before the wind. After a while it dies down and once more we have to make the bank and tie up just this side of Gebel Kalabshe. Here we go ashore and wander about, but are quickly recalled by the Reis. A good steady breeze has followed the lull after the gale, and off we go. Now we enter scenery that in the deep shadows of the moonlight is grand and sublime in the extreme. The granite mountains tower up from the water’s edge close to us on either side. There are deep gorges and overhanging cliffs, and huge boulders around which the pent up river swirls and eddies. I have named this wild spot “The Gates of the Tropics,” for now we pass the invisible line and enter the tropics. The southern cross