thence travelled across the Nubian Desert to Berber and Shendi. From this last place he travelled to Suakin and to Jiddah. From Jiddah he made (the first of all European Christians) the pilgrimage to Mecca. Returning again to Cairo and preparing once more to start for Fezzan and the Niger, he was seized with an illness of which he died at Cairo. His journeys had resulted in the collection of eight hundred volumes of Oriental manuscripts, all of which he sent to Cambridge University. All the works of this brilliant traveller and profound Orientalist were published after his death. [Illustration: BLUE NILE, TWENTY MILES EAST OF FAZOKL.] In 1827 Adolphe Linant (Bey), a Belgian, who subsequently called himself Linant de Bellefonds, took service under the British African Association,[36] ascended the White Nile (first of all Europeans, so far as we know, since Dalion the Greek), and reached a point (Al Ais) nearly one hundred and fifty miles south of Khartum. But the next great blow at the Nile mystery was to be struck by the orders of the Pasha of Egypt. Muhammad[37] Ali was the native of a little Vlach (Wallach) town or settlement in Albania called Cavalla. In appearance he might at any time have been mistaken for a Frenchman of eastern France, a German, or an Englishman. He was born in 1768, and was adopted as a son by the Governor of the town, who, as a reward for his bravery as a soldier, gave him his daughter in marriage. His three eldest sons, Ibrahim, Tusun, and Ismail, were born in Albania. In 1801 he was sent to Egypt with the rank of a major, rising soon to be colonel. When the French had evacuated Egypt, the Turks endeavoured to gain direct control over the country by attacking the power of the Mameluks or Circassian soldiery who had really ruled in the name of the Turks. In 1803 the British evacuated Egypt, and gradually the situation resolved itself into a struggle for power between the Albanian soldiery under Muhammad Ali and the Turks. The Albanians allied themselves at first with the Mameluk or Circassian party, the former rulers. At length, after a civil war lasting for two years, the Turkish government appointed Muhammad Ali to be Governor of Egypt. In 1807 the British attempted to reoccupy Egypt, and took possession of Alexandria. This action temporarily united Muhammad Ali with his enemies, the Circassian Beys. The British expedition ended in disaster and withdrawal. At last, by means of treachery and an appalling massacre, Muhammad Ali got rid of the Circassian party and became the undisputed master of Egypt. He then assisted the Porte to put down the Wahabi revolt in Arabia. These expeditions resulting in many military successes, the ambition of Muhammad Ali grew, and he desired to create for himself a perfectly disciplined army. To this end he decided to employ his disaffected troops who were opposed to innovations in discipline in conquering the Sudan. He commenced with Nubia, Dongola, and Sennar. From the Sudan