brilliant sunshine, especially where the quarrymen are working and the
sunburnt outside has been removed, exposing the pure whiteness of the
stone.

Along the narrow bank of shingle at the foot of the cliffs flocks of
dark-coated sheep and goats wander in search of such scant herbage as
may be found along the water's edge, and many native boats lie along
the banks loading the stone extracted by the quarrymen, who look like
flies on the face of the rock high above you. Enormous quantities of
stone are required for the building of the various dams and locks on
the river, as well as for the making of embankments and "spurs." These
"spurs" are little embankments which project into the river at a
slight angle pointing down-stream, and are made in order to turn the
direction of the current towards the middle of the river, and so
protect the banks from the scour of the water; for each year a portion
of the banks is lost, and in many places large numbers of palm-trees
and dwellings are swept away, for the native seems incapable of
learning how unwise it is to build at the water's edge. Sometimes
whole fields are washed away by the flood, and the soil, carried
down-stream, forms a new island, or is perhaps deposited on the
opposite side of the river many miles below. When this occurs, the new
land so formed is held to be the property of the farmer or landowner
who has suffered loss.

These changes of the river-banks are often rapid. One year vessels may
discharge their passengers or cargoes upon the bank whereon some town
or village is built, and which the following year may be separated
from the river by fields many acres in extent; and each year in going
up the Nile one may notice striking changes in this way.