The governor of Sukkot had left Kolbe early in the morning, to go in search of a cow that was due to him, as tribute, from the chiefs of the Omsherifs in Batn el Hadjar; I therefore breakfasted with his slaves, and pursued my journey. Kolbe appears to be an artificial island; a deep canal, too regular to be the work of nature, runs along the western side of it, and is dry in the spring season, so that we could at present wade across it. On the west side of this canal is a recess in the mountain, where is a plain that bears traces of former cultivation. There is a small village upon the island, and several ruins of brick buildings, one of which I entered, and was not a little surprised to find myself in a Greek chapel: figures of saints were painted in gaudy colours upon the walls, and the names of many visitors or pilgrims inscribed. The colours of the paintings are extremely well preserved, probably owing to the extreme dryness of the air of Nubia. I found the date {ΥC} to several of the names. It should seem from the quantities of brick ruins upon the islands of Batn el Hadjar, that the builders of those edifices were unable to hew the rocks of the neighbouring mountains, which are throughout of considerable hardness. In proceeding towards the northern limits of the island, I found a deep and wide well, lined on the inside, up to the top, with large stones. The rock on this side of the river is granite, crossed by strata of quartz three or four inches in thickness. From Kolbe we rode two hours and a half to Wady Okame, in the direction of N. N. E.; in the Batn el Hadjar the Wadys on both sides of the river bear the same name. We continued four hours in the Wady, where we saw only some ruined houses. From thence the road lies over high sandy hills. Six hours and a half, Wady Sonk: the sands here descend into the river like torrents; the northerly winds blew the sand directly in our faces, and greatly annoyed us. We supped at Wady Sonk, at the hut of a poor Arab woman, whose husband had gone to Derr to sell a few goats, and bring home Dhourra in return. A plant called Kharoua (خروع), which is also found in Upper Egypt, growing to the height of four or five feet, is cultivated here, as well as in several parts of the Batn el Hadjar; a medicinal oil is extracted from its fruit, with which the people anoint their hair. The situation of most of these Wadys among the rocks and tamarisk trees is delightful, especially wherever the water is collected in little pools; but the gnats frequent the pools in such numbers, that we could get no rest for them, and we therefore quitted our station, when the moon rose, and halted again, half an hour farther, on the sands of the upper plain, at the foot of the mountain called Djebel Lamoule. We heard here the noise of the river rushing over the rocks at the foot of the western Lamoule.