ABSTRACT
The first Cataract, called SheIla I by the Arabs, begins a little to the south of Aswan, and ends a little to the north of the island of Philre j six great cataracts are found on the Nile, but this is the most generally known. Here the Nile becomes narrow and flows between two mountains, which descend nearly perpendicularly to the river, the course of which is obstructed by huge boulders and small rocky islands and barriers, which stand on different levels, and cause the falls of water which have given this part of the river its name. On the west side the obstacles are not so numerous as on the east, and sailing and rowing boats can ascend the cataract on this side when the river is high. The noise made by the water is at times very great, but it has been greatly exaggerated by both ancient and modern travellers, some of whom ventured to assert that the "water fell from several places in the mountain more than two hundred feet." Some ancient writers asserted that the fountains of the Nile were in this cataract, and Herodotust
reports that an official of the treasury of Neith at Sais stated that the source of the Nile was here. Many of the rocks here are inscribed with the names of kings who reigned during the Middle Empire; in many places on the little islands in the cataract quarries were worked. The island of Seh~l should be visited on account of the numerous inscriptions left there by princes, generals, and others who passed by on their way to Nubia. On February 6th, 1889, Mr. Wilbour was fortunate enough to discover on the south-eastern part of this island a most important stele consisting of a rounded block of granite, eight or nine feet high, which stands clear above the water, and in full view from the river looking towards Philre. Upon it are inscribed thirty-two lines of hieroglyphics which form 3, remarkable document, and contain some valuable information bearing upon a famous seven years' famine. The inscription is dated in the eighteenth year of a king whose
name is read by Dr. Brugsch as Tcheser C \:=#' :;;; ]. C ~ \:=#' ~J, or C -2="\ \:=#' <:::> J, who reigned early in the IIlrd dynasty; but internal evidence proves beyond a doubt that the narrative contained therein is a redaction of an old story, and that it is, in its present form, not older than the time of the Ptolel~1ies. In the second line we are told :-
~ ~ ® c A c==. ~ <::> ~ ~ ~ @ c em ttl er aa ur xeft tem IU By misfortune the 'llery greatest not had come fortll
{ ~~~ <=>¥ ,-;: { III c=:=. c=:=. I I ~0 I 1111 I;Iapu em rek em ai;a renpit sexef
the Ntle during a period lasting )'ears sel'en.
