136 SONG OF THE NEGROES oh. to.

"brought into Pharaoh's treasuries. The prisoners were
many of them sent to work in the emerald mines at
Wady-Magharah, or to the scorching country of Ua-ua-t
to dig for gold. In the neighbourhood of the local
temples villages sprang up, whose busy inhabitants
were supported by the supplies of Egyptian corn which
their own soil denied them. The natives of the cataract
districts were employed as sailors by the king, his
generals, and his merchants, nor did the reward of their
labour fail them.

"When Pharaoh visited the Nubian country in his
richly adorned Nile ship, there was no end to the
wonder and admiration, the joy and the hurras, for the
king and his courtiers bestowed rich gifts on the inha-
"bitants. For it was well worth while for the kings to leave
behind them generous presents, to teach the inhabitants
that Pharaoh was the father and benefactor of his
subjects. Then those dusky-coloured men might well

Sing-

Hail to thee ! king of Egypt, | Sun of the foreign people !

Thy name is great | In the land of Cush,

Where the war-cry resounded through

The dwellings of the men.

Great is thy power, | Thou beneficent ruler.

It puts to shame the peoples.

The Pharaoh !—life, safety, health to him !—

He is a shining Sun.

After Tehuti-mes I., in the first years of his reign, had
undertaken a campaign against Cush, and had fixed the
boundaries of his empire to the South, it seemed to him
that the favourable moment had arrived to send troops
eastward to attack the hated inhabitants of Asia. Thus
began that great war of 500 years, which was carried
on by successive Pharaohs with almost uninterrupted
good fortune.

It may be as well to say a little about these